Management Of The Freshwater AQUARIUM

The common freshwater tropical fish is a hardy creature and on the whole adapts very well to the environmental changes to which it is subjected in the aquarium. This type offish is kept by thousands of aquarists who have never measured the hardness or pH of the water in their fish tanks, but to keep the more delicate species or to breed the more difficult egg-layers the aquarist may have to modify the environmental conditions. A basic under-standing of water chemistry will help him to carry out these modifications successfully. water and this is satisfactory for keeping most fishes. For some species, however, and this is mentioned in the catalogue section under the appropriate entry, the water must be soft or in rarer cases hard to keep the fishes in the best condition and to breed them successfully. Hardness can be measured in three different units: darks degrees (grains of calcium carbonate CaCO3 per UK gallon); German degrees DH (parts of CaO per 100,000); or in parts per 1,000,000 of CaCO3 present in the water (ppm). The latter scale will be used through-out this book. For comparative purposes 14 ppm is approximately one darks degree or 0-8 DH.

WATER
Paradoxically the source of fresh water is the sea. The sun causes evaporation from its surface which, as water vapour, rises into the atmosphere and forms clouds. When clouds cool, their water vapour may be precipitated as rain which picks up various impurities as it falls through the atmosphere. These are very few if the rain is falling on rural areas but over towns it picks up carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbons, tars and dust particles. Once on the ground the water may dissolve chemicals from the soil and the rocks through which it passes. In limestone areas the water will dissolve calcium salts and become hard (temporary hardness) or may dissolve magnesium salts and become hard (permanent hardness). The main quality that most people notice about hard water is that it will not lather soap properly arid that it furs up kettles, but from the fishkeeping point of few, some fishes prefer soft water, for example killifishes and characins, whereas others, such as the Australian Rain-bow (Melanotaenia nigrans) and the Lake Nyasa cichlids, prefer hard water. Public water supplies which come from deep wells are usually hard; water which comes from surface reservoirs on moors and mountains is usually soft. In the process of purifying water for human consumption the public water companies subject the water to a number of chemical and mechanical processes. Minute amounts of some of these chemicals remain in the water but the only one of importance to the freshwater fish keeper is chlorine, added to most public water supplies as a disinfectant. Chlorine in the free state disperses if left standing in the aquarium for twenty-four hours and fishes, therefore, should not be put into newly filled aquaria. Most freshwater tropical fish keepers use tap

CLASSIFICATION OF WATER BY PPM SCALE

Description of water Soft Medium soft Hard Very hard ppm 0-50 50-150 150-300 Over 300

Local water companies will supply information on the hardness of the water in their area. Gravel containing limestone or limestone rockwork will increase the hardness of water in the aquarium. The aquarist can measure the hardness of his tank water by the E.D.T.A. (Schwarzenbach) Method. This test can be carried out by any aquarist who has studied simple chemistry at school. Chemicals for this test are available from most suppliers of laboratory chemicals. If the local water supply is hard, soft water may be obtained by collecting rainwater in plastic containers from glass or plastic roofs via plastic pipes, providing the aquarist lives in an area with relatively unpolluted air. Metal roofs or pipes may cause contamination. Hard water can be softened by ion-exchange resins giving demineralized water, or very expensive distilled water may be purchased. Temporary hardness may be re-moved by boiling the water and filtering off the precipitated calcium carbonate. These soft waters are better aerated for a few hours before placing fishes in them. The acidity or alkalinity of the water he uses is another chemical factor very important to the aquarist.

This depends upon the concentration of hydrogen ions present in the water, of which the pH value is the measure. Neutral water has a pH of 7, strong alkalis a pH of 14, and strong acids a pH of 1. Water for fish keeping is within the limits of pH 4 to pH 9. Most fishes which prefer soft water also prefer it to be acid and water may be acidified by adding peat. It is not recommended to add the peat directly to the tank as although it sinks to the bottom after a few days, it is easily swished about by the fishes; it is better to add the peat to the aquarium filter. Use a good sphagnum peat moss and boil it in soft water for five minutes. Squeeze out and discard the surplus water (this contains excess

humic acid from the peat) and put the peat in the filter between two layers of filter wool. Running the filter gradually acidifies the aquarium water. There are a number of fishes which live at the mouths of rivers, in coastal waters and estuaries, where the water is brackish. Some authorities recommend the addition of one teaspoonful of salt (NaCl) per gallon of water when keeping these species in the aquarium. Examples of such fishes are the Scat or Argus (Scatophagus argus), the Green Puffer Fish (Tetraodon fluviatilis) and the bumble bee fishes (Brachygobius species).
Glass Catfish (Kryptopterus bicirrhus)

EQUIPMENT
Tanks - The best shape for fish tanks is rectangular with the length two, three or four times greater than the depth. This gives the most common size of fish tank as

24x12x12 in (60x30x30 cm), although larger sizes 36x12x12 in (90x30x30 cm) and 48x12x12 in (120x30x30 cm) are also common. The smallest size for a community of small fishes is 18x10x10 in (45x25x25 cm). Tanks of this shape offer a large surface

area in relation to depth and allow carbon dioxide expired by the fishes to be given off to the atmosphere easily. Smaller tanks can be moulded completely in glass or plastic but the large tanks have angle iron or stainless steel frames into which the glass is fixed. The angle iron must be painted to stop it rusting. The upper surface of the angle iron on which the tank cover rests is most susceptible to rust and a good technique to prevent this is to rub down the paint on the top surface as soon as a new tank is bought and to paint the bare metal with two coats of a cold galvanizing paint, finishing off with two coats of good enamel paint in the same colour as the rest of the tank. The stainless steel and nylon-coated angle iron tanks are both trouble-free in this respect. Home-made, all-glass aquaria, in which synthetic bonding agents are used to fix the glass together, are another recent innovation. Always put a glass cover on top of the tank; as well as preventing fishes leaping out and evaporation, it stops dust from gaining access. There are various tank covers which can be-placed on top of the cover glass to house the lighting arrangements. Heating The majority of tropical fishes are happy at a temperature of 72-78F (22-26C). Most aquarists use the conventional immersed heater and separate immersed thermostat to provide this controlled temperature. The immersed thermostats are of two main types; one is completely submersible and can be used in very shallow tanks but has to be taken out of the water to alter its setting, and the other has a control at the top which projects over the top of the tank. This type, therefore, cannot be completely submerged but alterations to its setting are easily made. External thermostats are also popular these are either stuck or fixed by a stainless steel clip to the side glass of the aquarium. They have the advantage that their setting can be easily altered. In recent years a few aquarists have used a base heating system employing the metal-encased electric heater used for greenhouse heating. This heater is placed about 2 in (5 cm) under the tank and is connected to an external thermostat, thus avoiding wires or heaters inside the tank. Combined submersible heater-thermostats are gaining in popularity. Thermometers These are basically of two sorts; those using the bimetal strip mechanism or those using alcohol or mercury. The best type for the aquarium is a mercury thermometer with the scale marked directly on the glass. Nevertheless, the experienced aquarist develops the habit of touching the front of the tank with the back of his hand, for with practice he can tell if the temperature is right thermometers have been known to go wrong.

Lighting Ordinary light bulbs, allowing 25 watts per square foot of water surface area, for eight to twelve hours per day will give adequate lighting. The length of time depends upon the amount of daylight falling on the tank and the plants the aquarist wants to grow. Fluorescent lighting is becoming popular and in recent years tubes emitting light of special wavelengths have been specially developed for aquarium use. There have been criticisms of these tubes and the latest idea is to use both a fluorescent tube and incandescent bulbs at the same time. Although fluorescent tubes are more expensive initially than ordinary bulbs, in the long term they are more economical because of their greater efficiency and longer life. Aeration and filtration Aeration by passing a stream of air bubbles through the water helps to oxygenate it, mainly by agitating the surface and allowing a better exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. It also helps to cause circulation of water within the tank. A good stream of bubbles is easily produced by using an electric-ally driven pump and an air stone. The only real ad-vantage of aeration is in tanks which are overcrowded and the normal aquarium should not need this aid. Filtration filters from the water of the aquarium any particulate matter suspended in it and thus helps to keep the water crystal clear. However, not all fishes like a crystal clear tank; many of the catfishes, for example, like a layer of sediment on the bottom. If the filter material contains active charcoal some of the other chemicals, including waste products produced by the fishes, are also removed. Modern filters help provide a brisk circulation of water in the tank which fishes from running water enjoy but those from still water dislike. Filters are of two main types, the box filter in which dirt is removed from the aquarium and the under gravel filter in which the sediment is sucked down into the gravel and subsequently broken up by bacterial action. Some aquarists believe under gravel filters interfere with the growth of aquarium plants.

PLANTS
One of the advantages of tropical freshwater tanks is that the aquarist can grow plants in them. The function of plants in the aquarium is to provide decoration and hiding places, and to give shade in some areas of the tank. Although plants give off oxygen during the daylight hours, this oxygen is small in proportion to the amount that is transmitted through the surface layer of a properly shaped aquarium. The genus Cryptocoryne consists of a number of favourite aquarium plants. They are bog plants in their natural condition in South-east Asia but they also grow

Tropical Freshwater plants - 1 floating fern; 2 Cryptocoryne; 3 Amazon Sword; 4 Cabomba; 5 Valisneria

very well when submerged. One of the most popular is C. affinis, which can grow up to 12 in (30 cm) tall. C. beckettii is another similar plant but not as fast growing. C. blassii, which is a very intense dark red under the leaf, is a more recently discovered Cryptocoryne, growing in popularity. Most of the members of this genus do not insist on bright light but do better in soft acid water. There are a number of small-sized species such as C. nevillii, which only grows to 2 in (5 cm). The genus Echinodorus comes from America and also contains broad-leafed plants. E. paniculatus, the Amazon Sword Plant, is a popular species, but needs more light than the Cryptocorynes to grow well. There are a number of fine-leafed plants such as Cabomba caroliniana and Myriophyllum brasiliense which are very attractive but in my experience either grow so well that they continually need thinning or never grow at all. The species with grass-like leaves, Vallisneria spiralis and Sagittaria species, for example, are also attractive and popular plants. Both genera grow well in well-lighted aquaria with ordinary aquarium gravel as compost. The floating or top plants such as Lemna species (Duckweed) or Salvinia species do not grow well under artificial light. The two species of the genus Ceratopteris (Floating Fern), however, do very well under artificial light and their roots and leaves are very useful as a place for the Anabantidae to anchor their bubble nests.

DECOR
Every tropical fish hobbyist should have one tank which he sets, up with the intention of creating a beautiful and attractive piece of furniture in his home. This tank should be at least 24x12x12 in (60x30x30 cm) and preferably larger so that he has scope for aquascaping.

For this furnished aquarium it is a good idea to paint the ends and back of the tank black on the outside to provide a background which sets off the colours of the plants and fishes. Choose an attractively coloured gravel of a particle size of about 1/8 3/16 in (3-5 mm), and even though the gravel is sold as well washed, always wash it again. Choose your rockwork carefully; it is possible to buy rockwork but it is far better to find your own on the mountains, on rocky shorelines or in mountain streams. My furnished aquarium has some beautiful red sand-stone rocks found on the shore of the Isle of Skye. Do not use limestone rockwork in your tank. Plants are now needed to set the scene for the fishes. Aquascaping is a very personal choice and I prefer to use only Cryptocorynes they do not require excessive light, they grow reasonably slowly so that the picture in the tank remains unchanging, and there is not the constant necessity of having to thin out plants as with faster-growing species. It is a good idea before setting up a furnished aquarium to have a look at other aquarists tanks and at show tanks at major fish shows to find out what appeals to you. Finally the fishes are added, preferably all more or less of the same size and chosen so that they will all live together peaceably. It is a good idea never to have just one fish of a species; if you have a few they always stimulate each other to better colour and more interesting behaviour. It is also advisable to have one species more numerous than the rest, one of the small tetras, for example, such as the Cardinal Tetra (Cheirodon axelrodi) or Glowlight Tetra (Hemigrammus gracilis), as these species shoal together so well. Include some livebearers Red Platies (xiphophorus maculatus) or Swordtails (x. helleri) look well against the black background and also a couple of Sucking Loaches (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri). These are not chosen for their looks but because they will act as vacuum cleaners and keep algae from growing on the glass and plants. Fishes are best fed daily, and at the same time the hobbyist can check that they all look well and healthy and also on the temperature of the water and that it looks clear. About every three to four weeks the front glass may need to be scraped with a razor blade scraper if algae are found growing there. From time to time it may be necessary to siphon off any collection of mulm on the bottom and to top up the water to replace evaporation losses. This is a lot less care and attention than most other pets require and fishes do not suffer damage if left unattended for two to three weeks when the aquarist is away on holiday fishes in good condition come to no harm if left without food for this period of time.