Around
the world, millions of people own pets. Some people
prefer the standard type pet such as a dog or cat, some
people love horses, some birds, and some fish. Owning
freshwater fish has a number of advantages over other
pets. For instance, owning fish is perfect for people
with allergies, people that live in large cities without
backyards, people on the go, and so on.
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In
addition to being easy to care for, freshwater fish
are beautiful, graceful, and sometimes, even comical.
If you are interested in owning your own freshwater
fish, this article will provide you with everything
you need to know on setting your tank up correctly.
An
aquarium is not only supposed to be aesthetically pleasing
but must also be suitable for its inhabitants. Fortunately
these two ideas are quite compatible, because whatever
suits are fish also appeals to our sense of beauty.
Fish need ample room for swimming, that they must also
have a few plan pickets for cover where they can also
hide, if need be. In such a confined space even with
large aquariums, when compared against the larger bodies
of water in the wild, there can be arguments among some
of the inhabitants. Therefore, it is important that
a weaker or smaller fish can easily find protection
and thick plant cover. Similar protection is also afforded
by large rocks or suspended aerial roots for terrestrial
plants. Consequently, these items are more than just
decoration.
I
want an aquarium, but where do I put it? The answer
to this question depends very much on respective home
situation. One place the must be avoided is the windowsill!
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, fish do not
look very good against backlighting, which is essentially
unavoidable one of aquarium is placed in front of a
window. Secondly, and more importantly, an aquarium
close to the window would get too much light and the
inevitable algae plaque would be very difficult to avoid.
The best location would be the darkest bod in a room!
The artificial illumination, which we must have any
way, makes us independence of daylight the last daylight
we get into our aquarium the better off we are. In addition,
an illuminated aquarium impresses the viewer more when
it is in a dark location.
Wherever
we end up placing the aquarium, be it on a desk or on
a special standalone wall, we must always remember to
be within easy reach of electrical outlets and remember
the tank must be serviced without difficulty. The latter
is important for occasional tank maintenance. Placing
the tank on a shelf to make service access extremely
difficult, even dangerous moreover, serious consideration
must be given to the anticipated weight of an aquarium
full of water, rocks, etc., when placed on a shelf.
A 25 gal. tank full of water weighs 220 lbs. plus its
own weight, and this does not include sand and rocks.
With such a weight a sturdy table would make a far better
in safer support for aquarium.
Now
a final point. We want to position our aquarium is such
a way that we can easily watched the fish in the best
of comfort. Therefore, it should be at eye level when
the viewer is sitting down. Many aquarists tend to overlook
this when placing a setting up a tank.
The
basic materials needed are sand or gravel, a few rocks,
and decorative roots. The water plants to be used are
discussed separately.
Sand
or gravel is required as substrate for the plants. Some
careful consideration should go into the selection and
preparation of the substrate.if mistakes are avoided
the substrate can remain in the tank for years. Garden
soil and fertilize flowerpot soil must be avoided. Beach
sand, because of its high carbonate components, is also
highly unsatisfactory. Pure sand and gravel have proven
to be the best substances.
Personally,
I prefer fine-grained gravel which is not too light
in color. It is usually available from pet shops. In
an emergency such gravel may be available from building
material suppliers, or, failing that, it can even be
collected personally from a river or stream close by.
Before the gravel can be introduced into the tank it
must be thoroughly washed in order to remove any organic
material or clay particles. The gravel is washed, stirring
it continuously as water is run through the washing
container, until the water above the gravel remains
clear. Even though this is sometimes a somewhat laborious
task, thoroughness is important if you want your freshwater
aquarium to be a success. Every aquarist soon develops
his or her own methods. One may use his hand to stir
up the gravel while another may prefer a wooden spoon.
Some aquarist prefer the method of sifting the gravel
under running water. With some degree of thoroughness
it may take a quarter of an hour or more until the gravel
is cleaned; that is, there are no more gray clouds rising
from the gravel in the bucket when it is stirred up
underwater, but only some very fine sand grains which
will settle again quickly.
It
is particularly easy to wash the sand outdoors. There
we can fill the wash bucket halfway with sand or gravel
and use a running garden hose to flush and stir the
sand at the same time until it is completely clean.
Even advanced aquarists sometimes still believe that
this wash to bottom substrate must be fertilized; after
all, nothing can grow on nothing. Nevertheless, such
initial or fertilization must be omitted. During the
early stage are plants are quite capable of removing
sufficient nutrients from the aquarium water. Soon there
will be ample fertilizer in the water from the excretion
of fish. Experience has shown that in newly established
aquarium's there is never any danger of lack of nutrition
for water plants, but there is always the risk of overfertilization.
Moreover, a large supply of plant nutrients always tends
to favor the development of algae during this early
stage. Then the substrate, including rocks and plants,
will start to be covered with a green, musty smelling
layer of algae within a few days after such a tank has
been set up..
Rocks
most suitable for a freshwater aquarium are those of
a crystalline type, such as granite; slate is also very
useful. I must warn against the use of carbonate rocks,
because they can cause an undesired increase in water
hardness. If in doubt, a click hydrochloric acid test
can be made. If you drops of the acid are placed on
the rock to be tested. If bubbling develops it contains
calcium, and it should not be used in the aquarium.
If we are alert during this early stage, when adding
substrate and rocks, not to introduce any calcareous
substances into the tank, we must then not make the
mistake of using clam and snail shells as decorative
aquarium items. All seashells are virtually pure calcium.
A
realistic underwater atmosphere can easily be created
by the introduction of a bizarre shaped tree root. Rarely
are aquarists lucky enough to find suitable, well leached
roots in some pond, swab or similar habitat, but specialist
aquarium shops usually have a wide selection of bog
roots and driftwood for sale. It is important to estimate
the right size needed. Experience has shown that most
aquarists tend to select pieces of wood that are too
large. In order to avoid any problems with these roots,
, flotation, fungus development, etc. the wood must
first be soaked in water. Inevitably, this will take
at least several days, sometimes even weeks, depending
on the type of wood, until enough water has been absorbed
so that the root will no longer float and instead will
sink to the bottom. This process can, however, be hastened
by boiling the root in a large cooking pot. This forces
the air out of the wood pores and the root can no longer
float.
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