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The indoor aquarium is rapidly coming to the
fore for its decorative value and there can be
little doubt that a well set up aquarium is a
delight. On the other hand, to see a poor
goldfish die a lingering death in the confines
of a jam jar is an abomination. Yet it would
not be an exaggeration to say that, literally,
hundreds of thousands of goldfish die in this
manner annually.
The aquarium need not be particularly
large, but it is important that the water is
oxygenated and that, even then, there is not
more than an inch of fish to the gallon of
water. The ideal aquarium should be as
close to Nature as possible, not only from the
fish's point of view, but from the artistic
aspect, also.
The best size for the indoor tank is two feet
long, a foot wide and a foot deep. This will
accommodate a good variety of aquatic plants,
and, as the fishes will have a reasonable area
in which to swim, they will both look and thrive
better. Nevertheless, it is possible to convert
a smaller tank, or even bowl, into an efficient
aquarium ; in fact I have seen aquaria of less
than half the size given that have excelled
many of the larger kinds. The secret in
maintaining the very small types is to have a
few small fishes only, and it cannot be doubted
that a healthy ' tiddler ' is streets ahead of the
large dolorous kind that are always ailing.
Still, whether the aquarium is just a bowl-
this is the least suitable, by the way-or an
all-glass rectangular tank or one of the
elaborate affairs so popular now with glittering
metal frames and a clock set in the cover, the
method of ' setting up ' is the same.
I will give details, then, of the procedure
of setting up the ideal tank referred to earlier
in this chapter.
The tank itself should be made of quarter-
inch plate glass set in a frame of welded angle
steel ; the bottom should consist of fairly
thick slate. The price of such an aquarium
may be anything from twenty shillings to twice
that amount, according to quality.
To set up this aquarium a quantity of sand,
sufficient to layer the bottom an inch and a
half, should be procured and well washed in a
bucket of water until the water is not clouded
when the sand is stirred. Water plants,
although they obtain most of their nourishment
from dissolved matter in the water, will root
and grow better in loam. If loam alone
layered the bottom of the tank the water
would be foul looking and in any case the
bright, clear look that sand gives would be
lacking.
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