THE STUDENT'S AQUARIUM. 



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opportunity of studying their modes of life, which can only be 

 seen to advantage in the aquarium. But I fancy I can hear 

 you ask, "Why can I not keep a flounder, striped bass, black- 

 fish, and other fish in the Marine Aquarium?" You can if you 

 are inclined to go to the expense of a tank, say from 4 to 6 feet 

 long, and about 2 l / 2 feet wide and 3^ feet high, and then your 

 tank must be one mass of algaes to keep two or three fish 

 alive, and perhaps besides you might have to go to the ex- 

 pense of a circulation or an artificial aeration, and for that rea- 

 son the keeping offish is generally left in the hands of institu- 

 tions and colleges who will go to the expense. But I have no 

 hesitation in saying, that if you could have fish swimming 

 around you, say ten or twenty varieties, you and your friends 

 who have the least love of nature would nine out of ten times 

 be attracted by what we would call the lower orders of life, 

 among which say the varieties named for the bell glasses. 

 Such has been my experience in institutions where we have 

 had a very large variety of fish ; the lovers of nature could 

 always be found studying the anemones, corals, &c, &c. 

 Now as regards plants or algaes for the Marine Aquaria. 

 There are two kinds whose reputations are well established : — 

 the first is Uliva, which is a plant that grows in long strips, 

 sometimes found measuring 6 inches across and 18 or 20 inches 

 long, again not y 2 inch wide and only about 5 or 6 inches long ; 

 you cannot mistake it, — it is dark green in color and looks 

 very much like a lettuce. This is by all odds the best oxygen- 

 giving algae known. The other is Sylira : this grows in bunch- 

 es like coral ; it is dark red in color and almost transparent. 

 These are really the only two algaes that are of any service as 

 oxygen-giving plants. I have thoroughly tested some twenty 

 other varieties, and although I found some that do throw off a 

 certain amount of air, but none that I would venture to recom- 

 mend to a new beginner for the purpose of supporting life in 

 an aquarium. The two algaes mentioned being of two such 



