Accessories

This is the field where modern aquarium management takes over in an important way. The first 75 years of the hobby saw the development of an elaborate theory of proper proportioning of water volume and area, plantings, and fish population, called the "balanced aquarium", in which the waste matter of the fish was completely consumed by the plants; the plants, in turn, gave up oxygen to the water in proportions necessary to maintain the fish life. Although this theory was exploded in England by scientists of great reputation nearly 50 years ago, it persists to this day. We do not intend to present the arguments for or against it. Our purpose is to present the modern conception.

About 30 years ago, the use of aerators and niters of various types began—with the sole aim of presenting a more pleasing appearance in the aquarium. Air and water pumps to operate them followed in great variety. An aerator consists of a porous stone or felt pads held between metal plates. When attached to an air pump it releases myriads of very fine bubbles which create a current in the water as they rise to the surface. The current serves to lift water from the bottom to the surface. It is erroneously thought that the oxygen exchange from the very fine bubbles is the important value of an aerator but this is not the case. The major oxygen-toxic gas exchange takes place at the surface of the water and the real value of an air stone is the circulation of water.

All old-style filters are similar in operation, that is, they are designed to take water out of the aquarium, pass it through filtering material enclosed in a container, and put it back in the aquarium. The purpose of these filters is to remove the floating debris in the water. However, the filtering material, usually glass wool, must be removed and cleaned or replaced every week or ten days, otherwise the debris will develop obnoxious odors that become noticeable throughout your home.

Along with glass wool in the filter, many use charcoal also. The purpose of the charcoal is to remove color and odor from the water. Unfortunately, a very misunderstood point enters here. To be effective, the charcoal must be fresh and new; in other words, activated. Using old charcoal is useless. It will do all the good it is capable of doing within the first couple of hours. After that it must be re-activated by heating in an oven. This, as you can see, is a lot of bother and fuss when the effective life of the charcoal is only a few hours.

Most all old-style filters are boxy affairs which are hung either inside or outside the aquarium. These arrangements require extra space above and behind the aquarium, giving it an unsightly look and the outside filters use a syphon which frequently must be restarted.

The latest development in aquarium management is built around the fact that bacteria will multiply in unlimited quantities where the two life necessities—food and oxygen— are present. As you will see, this method upsets all previous concepts of aquarium management and eliminates the need for an aerator or unsightly outside filter.

Biological Filtration

There are two types of bacteria always present in an aquarium—aerobic, which take their oxygen from the water surrounding them, and anaerobic, which take their oxygen from their food. The conditions under which each type thrives are quite different.

The natural pond, with its accumulation of algae and other growth at the surface and with its layer of slime and scum at the bottom, is the ideal condition for anaerobic bacteria. But no one wants a smelly "natural" pond in the living-room, with its odors and unsightliness.

On the other hand, aerobic bacteria thrive where there is lots of aeration and a clean, sandy or rocky bottom—the "bubbling brook" of poetic fame. The waste matters are destroyed in each case by bacterial action, but the type of bacteria makes the difference between one tank being a smelly nuisance and the other being a brilliant decorative asset to the home.

In order to promote the increase of aerobic bacteria, the water must be circulated from the bottom of the aquarium to the top. This permits the escape of carbon dioxide and increases the pickup of fresh oxygen. The downward circulation of this oxygen increases the growth of aerobic bacteria.

The discovery of this principle in aquarium usage was accidental, and evidence shows that several of the original experimenters did not fully realize the importance of what they were doing. After prolonged experimentation, the problem was solved by use of one or a pair of false bottoms covered with suitable sand or gravel in the aquarium. Each false bottom panel is equipped with a vertical tube through which the water from beneath the gravel is pumped to the surface.

The absolute clarity of water which this system produces, and the enhanced beauty of the fish is so surprising that many old-time aquarists almost refuse to believe it. The system of Biological Filtration is taking the hobby by storm, however, and sub-sand filters are available almost everywhere. {See back of book.)

Pumps

Every filter requires a pump of some sort. Usually it is one of two types of air pumps. One is a vibrator type which pumps air by operating a rubber diaphragm. These are satisfactory when well made, and are generally guaranteed by the manufacturer to operate for at least one year.

For the lobbyist with more than one aqviarram, motor-driven compressors of very small size are available. These midget compressors require some maintenance and parts replacement but will last, with care, for several years.

Both of these types of pumps operate the filter by introducing a small stream of successively rising air bubbles into the larger tube through the use of a second smaller vertical tube in each panel.

Pumps that circulate water alone will soon be available. These will further reduce the care needed to maintain a beautiful aquarium. The current requirement for any of these pumps is so slight that the cost, if run continuously day and night, is negligible.

Lighting

Most aquariums nowadays are illuminated by electricity because the amount of light can be controlled and you may place the tank wherever you wish, irrespective of the amount of daylight. Some people, however, still have to be dependent on daylight for one reason or another. In such cases, measures have to be taken against too much light in summer and too little light in the winter.

Light is essential in the aquarium because the plants cannot flourish without it. Under the influence of light on the green coloring matter (chlorophyll) of the leaves, they are able to break up the molecules of carbon dioxide and water in their tissues and combine the carbon and hydrogen to form the carbohydrates of which they are largely built, while the oxygen thus released is discarded into the water. So during the hours of light plants mainly breathe carbon dioxide in and breathe oxygen out. Since this is the reverse of what fishes do, it will be seen that the plants and fishes help each other.

At night, of course, photosynthesis (building by light) ceases, and the plants use up a little oxygen and get rid of a certain amount of carbon dioxide. This does not harm the fishes for at night they are resting and do not require much oxygen.
If you are to have a naturally healthy tank, you must have healthy plants, and these depend on the right amount of light. If given too little, the plants will be sickly and will not grow properly. If given too much, the plants will grow too Fast, becoming long and stalky with leaves far apart and the excess light will be utilized by the microscopic plants called algae, which soon cover the glass of the tank and turn the water green. As you want your aquarium to present a decorative appearance at all times, this condition should be controlled by limiting the amount of light.

If daylight is used, this means that in the summer the back and sides, and perhaps also the top at mid-day, will need to be covered.

In the Eastern part of the United States, glass covers are commonly used to control evaporation and to prevent fish from jumping out of the aquarium. These are manufactured in various sizes and types. They are all good. Sometimes a half-cover of glass is used. The other half is covered by a stainless steel reflector which holds a lighting fixture. In the West, complete covers of stainless steel, including the lighting fixture, are more common.

While recommending electric lighting wherever possible, however, we must make it clear that it is not really the perfect substitute for sunshine as far as the plants are concerned. It does mean that if algae begins to be troublesome, the electric light can be switched off earlier to counteract it, whereas during periods of sunless weather the hours of artificial light can be stepped up. With this method your plants should flourish. Plants will, however, establish themselves very nicely, and grow reasonably well with the electric lighting exclusively, and this is the best method for those without much time to attend to the aquarium. All that has to be done in this case is to remember to switch on the light in the morning, and switch it off again at night.

On larger tanks it is generally better to have two lamps, one at each end, rather than one in the middle, as this spreads the light to aid growth of plants in all parts of the tank. Another type of lamp that will accomplish this is the elongated tube-like show-case lamp. The disadvantage of the incandescent lamp is it may raise the temperature of the water excessively.

Fluorescent lamps are used extensively for aquariums. In first cost they are a little more expensive to install than incandescent lamps, but they soon overcome this by the savings in current. A 40-watt tube gives visual light equal to 200 watts of an ordinary incandescent lamp. We suggest you use warm daylight tubes rather than blue daylight as these do not have all the rays needed by the fish. The big advantage lies in their coolness. They will not affect the temperature of the aquarium. The disadvantage is that some fish dislike the high intensity illumination—they like to lurk in shadows. In this case, it is desirable to use reduced lighting or give them hiding-places to which they can retreat.

Heating

For goldfish and other cold-water fish, such as Medakas and White Cloud Mountain fish and some North American midgets like the pigmy sunfish, no extra heat is necessary. For most tropicals which include the South American, Mexican and Asiatic fishes, temperatures never lower than 70 degrees are needed.

There are several ways of maintaining suitable temperatures for the tropical aquarium. If it is placed in a room which is warm at all times, it may be possible to dispense with special heating altogether if the temperature falls no lower than 68 degrees in the water. Aquarists with many tanks in fish-rooms or fish-houses usually favor general heating of this kind, which is cheaper than individual heating and has the advantage of keeping the aquarist warm as well as his fishes. A vented gas or oil heater is best if central heat is required.

In the average home the single tank will need to be given special heating of its own. The usual heaters are resistance wire wound on ceramic forms and enclosed in glass tubes, sometimes filled with fine sand to conduct the heat faster to the wall of the tube and into the water. These are inexpensive but the cheaper kinds often have a short life. The better ones are more strongly made and have heatproof (Pyrex) glass tubes.

To be effective, the capacity of the heater must be such as to prevent a temperature drop below 65 degrees even in severest weather. This means that the heater must be arranged with an automatic switch to turn the electricity on and off as needed. This switch is called a "thermostat". Most aquarium thermostats consist of a bar of metal (called bimetal), really two different metals fused together, which bends when heated. The bend is always in the same direction and the same amount with the same heat increase. This movement is used to open the electrical contact points.

Construction features vary with price and quality. The oldest and simplest consists of the thermostat enclosed in a glass tube which is suspended in the water. It is connected to the heater which is similarly suspended in the water.

Combinations in which the thermostat and heater are enclosed in the same glass tube are available also, and some are good. These units use heavy bi-metal bars and depend on over-heating in order to operate because the thermostat and heating element are so close together. The contact points on the heavy bi-metal bar usually corrode eventually and stick together, causing your fish to be cooked by over-heating. These units, of whatever construction, are not very attractive in the aquarium, and certainly do not add anything to its value as a "living picture".

A recent development is an extremely sensitive thermostat which is installed on the outside of the aquarium, against the glass. It responds to both the inside and the outside temperatures. This prevents over-heating should the outside temperature rise, and prevents chilling should the outside temperature drop. Thus extremely close temperature control is possible, as close as two degrees F. variation. This is desirable in breeding and raising small fish, but is generally not necessary. A temperature range of 10°F. is usually considered satisfactory.

This outside thermostat is equipped with a very small permanent magnet that causes the contact points to snap sharply together when switching on, and causes an equally sharp snap-off when switching off, thus preventing "arcing" of the points, the cause of corroding. This fast make-and-break eliminates the need of a condenser, another frequent cause of thermostat failure. (Fuller information about this thermostat will be found on pages 125-26.)

The thermostat may be used with the regular suspended heater, or with a submergible heater lying on the sand or partially concealed. The heater size should be from 3 watts per gallon for protected locations to not more than 5 watts per gallon for more exposed aquariums. Do not switch your heater on unless the heating element is immersed in water, otherwise it will overheat and break.

Small thermometers which float in water or that can be attached to the side of the tank by a suction disk are available rather cheaply from your dealer. Those with red spirit are usually suitable and easy to read, but develop an increasing error after a year or two. Mercury-filled ones are more reliable but cost more.

So, having decided where the aquarium will go, and how it is to be illuminated and heated, purchase just the tank and necessary apparatus for these purposes. The materials for furnishing the tank will be described in the next chapters

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