Oceanic Aquarium Sitemap

01. Modern Aquarium - Aquarium keeping in the Western World is a fairly recent hobby. The keeping of fish in small indoor tanks was seriously undertaken only in the middle of the last century, when both in Britain and on the Continent of Europe a considerable interest in the subject developed. It is not surprising that the hobby as practiced then was short lived, as the principles governing successful aquarium maintenance were little understood and their practice confined to few.

02. Anatomy + Physiology - Fishes are cold-blooded vertebrates. This means that they remain at approximately the same temperature as the water surrounding them, in contrast to the whale or the water rat, which like ourselves maintain a much higher temperature. Aquarium fishes share with ourselves and other mammals, however, the possession of a backbone, or vertebral column, and are built on the same fundamental plan, having the same basic system of bones and organs as we do.

03. Feeding Fishes - The food requirements of fish have not been studied in detail as have those of man and the domestic animals. It is not surprising, therefore, that a lot of research must be done before we can be very certain of anything. Relatively vast numbers of reports have been produced on the feeding of some of the laboratory animals used in scientific research, such as the guinea pig and the rat, and yet there are still many problems about the exact vitamin and mineral requirements, the roughage volume needed, and so forth, even for these intensively studied creatures.

04. Aquarium Principles - The construction of aquaria is an art in itself and, like the details of the various individual species of fish, will not be discussed in this volume. For most amateurs, it is cheaper in the long run to purchase suitable tanks than to make them, and generally it is more satisfactory. Aquaria for decorative purposes should be made from clear glass, without the irregularities and flaws frequent in ordinary window glass, and the glass should be thicker than window glass in any but the very smallest tanks.

05. The Tank - The first important consideration when starting an aquarium is its location. It should preferably receive some daylight, but this is not essential, and it may be maintained in perfect health with electric illumination alone. Indeed, the control of plant growth, both in extent and direction, and the suppression of green water or other unwanted algae is much easier with artificial light.

06. Lighting + Heating - Indoor aquaria, not in a special fish room, rarely receive ideal illumination, which is natural daylight coming from directly overhead. If they get sufficient daylight, they usually receive it at an acute angle through a window at one side or at the back. This is satisfactory for most fishes and does not cause too much disturbance to plant growth as long as the tank doesn't get a great preponderance of very oblique light.

07. Aeration + Filtration - There are probably more misconceptions about aeration than about any other section of aquarium lore; indeed, as we do not fully understand the effects of aeration in relation to the action of plants, etc., this is not surprising. We do know, however, that aeration does not force air (or oxygen) into solution in the water, which is the most popular misconception.

08. Aquarium Rooms - Sooner or later the keen aquarist decides that he must have a room or separate house set apart for his fishes. By this time he will usually have a dozen tanks or more in odd corners all over the house, or perhaps concentrated in one section where they tend to spread out in an alarming manner. He will be getting tired of makeshift arrangements, water on the carpets, and perhaps a mounting electricity bill which could be much reduced by heating and lighting all the tanks in a confined space by a really efficient system.

09. Breeding Livebearers - The livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae) are the easiest of all aquarium fishes to breed; indeed, the only problem usually encountered is that of saving the young from the cannibalism of their parents. They breed all the year round if kept warm and well lighted, but a deficiency of either light or warmth can arrest reproduction completely, as also can acid water.

10. Egg Scatterers - The egg laying fishes are quite a different proposition from the livebearers when it comes to breeding. They are a more immediate nuisance but ultimately less trouble. That is to say, induction of spawning and coping with it needs more preparation as does feeding and raising the young, but, when all that is over, the adults can be kept in communities and will generally only spawn to order.

11. Anabantids + Cichlids - Anabantid and cichlid fishes take care of their eggs and young. The extent of this care differs with different species and is most fully developed in the cichlids, which provide instances of most fascinating parental solicitude and painstaking supervision of affairs. Linked with this development is a strong tendency to a savage disposition toward other fishes in general or to others of the same species.

12. Feeding + Rearing - Two quite recent fish foods have revolutionized the rearing of fry. These are mikro worms and brine shrimp. Before they were available or had been popularized, raising a tank of two or three hundred young fishes was quite a task, particularly if the fry were very small at first and required an extensive period of small, live food.

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