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Simply because sea water has a strong corrosive action on metal, saltwater aquarium should ideally be made entirely of glass, or plastics. Regrettably, glass tanks of the size needed, and with glass fronts totally free from imperfections caused during moulding, aren’t readily accessible. Moulded glass-fibre tanks are becoming accessible, but they’re costly. Tanks made from wood have been made by keen fish lovers for a considerable number of years, and you will find some benefits to be gained from this kind of construction, but the most practical is still the standard metal frame, glazed with plate glass. Naturally the frame has to be made from a corrosion-proof metal, or has to be suitably protected, and it’s feasible to obtain tanks with nylon-coated frames, or frames covered with some other suitable plastic.

Tanks manufactured from Plexiglas are also fairly suitable except that the material scratches rather effortlessly. For tanks holding over ten gallons of water, the thickness should be i in.-anything thinner than this will bow in the course of time owing to the pressure of water, and when setting up the tank the entire area of the base should be supported. On the other hand, Plexiglas doesn’t discolour like most clear plastics and demands small or no maintenance. Cements are essential; they should be non-toxic and if feasible should not be allowed any contact with the water. If a seam of cement is visible at the glass joints, it’s advisable to cover the joint with liquid plastic, black asphaltum varnish, or aqua-sealer.

It might be helpful on occasions to use aquariums that had been originally designed for freshwater. This could be done if the seams, any exposed metal, and also the underside of the top if then frame is protected with black asphaltum varnish, or some other suitable insulant.

The aquarium should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected prior to it’s finally filled. Wash the inside thoroughly with clean water, never use soap or any detergents, and then rub the inside with a damp cloth that has been dabbed in table salt. Wash again, and disinfect with a weak solution of permanganate of potash or, should you prefer, wipe the inside of the tank with methylatel spirits, having initial dried the interior. Make certain that the underside of the frame and all corners and seams have been fully treated. Should you have chosen a metal-framed tank, fill it with fresh water for a couple of days. The water pressure will trigger the cement to thin just a little between the glass and frame, and will expose a wider seam inside. Empty the tank by siphoning off, dry the interior and treat the seam with a scaler.

The tank is now ready for siting. Choose the position with some care as once the tank is set up it should not be moved. An perfect position would be near a window facing south, the quantity of sunlight falling on to the tank could then be controlled by blinds or by shading with curtains, but if such a position isn’t accessible, then attempt to website the tank where the rays of the sun will fall on to the tank for a period during the day. It might well occur that it’s impossible to satisfy either of these suggestions If this is so, then artificial light will need to be relied upon.

Artificial light is a lot the much better simply because you I can control the quantity of light required to stimu-1 late the plants, and to some extent stop the excessive growth of algae.

The quantity of light required per day for an aquarium measuring 24 in. x 12 in. x 12 in., assuming the quantity of daylight reaching the tank is negligible, is 50 watts for 9 hours.

It should be remembered that whilst extremely decorative effects could be obtained by varying the position of the lamps, the source of light should be above the tank to ensure that the rays enter the water in a natural way.

We know that plants should have light if they ( are to be healthy, so to give them the maximum benefit from artificial lighting, arrange the light source as near to the surface as feasible, but take care not to scorch the leaves of tall plants that spread their leaves along the surface.

Fluorescent lighting, which is the subject of a lot controversy, is, in my encounter, practically useless, as the coating on the inside of the tube absorbs most of the infra-red rays.

Aquariums covered with a sheet of glass could be illuminated with a light box, in which one or two lamps are mounted in sockets and stood open side down on the glass. The box should be well ventilated as excessive heat considerably shortens the life of the lamp, and cracks the glass cover. Strip lights in their reflectors could be stood directly on the glass if distance pieces are fixed to every end of the reflector to permit totally free passage of air around the lamp. The very best technique would be to combine the lighting with a top cover, which screens all extraneous light beams, and illuminates the interior uniformly.

If it had been feasible to collect daylight, and by some technique store and control it in the exact same manner as we can with electricity, we would have the ideal lighting. Regrettably, at the time of writing anyway, it’s not feasible, and we need to resort to means within our scope.

Whenever you choose a position for your aquarium, attempt to place it to ensure that it’ll get its fair share of daylight. The light should be diffused, and also the tank should obtain a minimum of two hours of direct sun every day, which is really a minimum if plants are to function correctly. If too strong a light penetrates the tank, it’ll trigger the excessive growth of algae, which takes the form of cloudy green water, mossy growth on the plants, or a green film on the glass, and occasionally a combination of all 3. Should you need to use extremely raw water the actual surface will turn out to be coated.
You are able to control this by shading the aquarium with newspaper, green tinted Cellophane, or by painting the glass sides with a green paint. The shading or cutting down of the light should be treated with caution.

It’s much better to have too a lot light than not sufficient. Algae aren’t harmful to fish, but just the opposite. Plants can’t give off oxygen unless they’re stimulated by light. But should you can arrange I your tank in a position where it’ll get just the correct quantity of light, so a lot the much better. There’s no formula for this. You obtain the very best outcomes by trial and error, and all that’s essentially needed is really a small patience.

Some aquarists use coal gas as a fuel for heating, but as many houses using this kind of fuel have a slot meter control, you’ve to be careful in case the gas supply runs out.

The maintenance of temperature in the techniques I have mentioned will, to some extent, be affected by room temperature. The warmer the room, the less extra heat will probably be needed. Should you have a thermostatically controlled tank, outside temperature influences will automatically be balanced, but an electric light lamp utilized with out a thermostat demands various wattage bulbs for winter and summer.

There’s a cheaper way than supplying electricity to individual tanks. The essential question here is regardless of whether you are able to find the space and wish to breed in quantity. Should you do, a fish home is the answer. This is cheaper than supplying electricity to individual tanks, all you require is really a greenhouse suitably laid out with racks for the tanks and you are able to use the boiler system Or the electrical unit to maintain the correct temperature.

Even though oil heating has been utilized for tropical tanks for the last 30 years, it has the drawback of not having the capability to be controlled automatically, and requirements every day attention. It’s feasible to obtain standard equipment for this technique of heating, but as an alternative you are able to make your own.

You are able to get the burners and wick from the local hardware shop. The most satisfactory kind of burner has a porcelain insert around the wick, which helps to give a a lot cleaner flame and cuts down fumes to a minimum. The container should be sufficiently big to hold sufficient oil to last 24 hours. A sweet or paint tin cut down to 2 in- is perfect, but you should solder the seams and lid to make certain that the joins are sealed, then cut a circular hole in the centre of the lid, and insert the burner.

You are able to make the filler cap from the top of any tin with a screw cap. Cut the top off the tin just below the cap level and solder to the top of the container, initial making a hole in the lid to correspond. You are able to effortlessly supply some indication of the oil level should you make a gauge in the filler cap. To do this, pierce a 1/4 in. hole in the centre of the cap and solder a short length of copper tube into it, and then cut a piece of 1/16 in. wire to the depth equal to the distance of the bottom of the container to the top of the 1/4 in. o/d tube. Should you press a cork on to the end of the wire which is inside the container, it’ll act as a float, and also the position of the wire above the tube will tell you the fuel content.

Don’t permit a naked flame to come into direct contact with any component of the aquarium, as it’ll most certainly crack it. It’s not challenging to overcome this, should you have a shield of a minimum of 1/16 in. thick metal fixed directly over the flame. The illustration shows an simple technique of doing this.

When using oil as a technique of heating, it’s advisable to have an experimental run to give some indication of the flame height essential to maintain the needed temperature.

To steer clear of loss of heat, the bottom of the aquarium could be enclosed in an asbestos skirt or stood on a box comparable to that described for heating with an electric light bulb.

Whatever technique of heating is utilized, its purpose would be to maintain a reasonably constant temperature range comparable to the requirement of the fish.

It should be realized that the temperature of the water in an aquarium isn’t the exact same throughout; this is simply because heat rises. The lower regions of the tank will probably be cooler than just below the surface, fairly a couple of degrees cooler in reality. Fish in natural waters are also subjected to these conditions; as a result it’s not unnatural to them. To obtain average temperature readings, the thermometer bulb should be positioned midway between the surface and also the bottom.

The majority of thermometers are calibrated in degrees Fahrenheit, and all references in this book are to this scale, but should you wish to convert to degrees Centigrade the following formulae could be utilized: The easiest and most efficient is the electrical technique. The heat is supplied by an immersion heater, which is really a coil of resistance wire wrapped around a ceramic former, a lot the exact same as a bar element of an electric fire. The former is in a heat-resistant glass tube, and sealed with a rubber stopper via which the connecting wires arc passed. These heaters could be obtained in numerous wattages to suit various sizes of tanks.

A thermostat controls the temperature by switching on the heater when it drops below a preThe easiest and most efficient is the electrical technique. The heat is supplied by an immersion heater, which is really a coil of resistance wire wrapped around a ceramic former, a lot the exact same as a bar element of an electric fire. The former is in a heat-resistant glass tube, and sealed with a rubber stopper via which the connecting wires arc passed. These heaters could be obtained in numerous wattages to suit various sizes of tanks.

A thermostat controls the temperature by switching on the heater when it drops below a preset figure, and off when the temperature reaches the temperature you need. The thermostat is made of a bimetal strip which has various coefficients of expansion, causing the strip to bend away from the contact when heat is applied, and vice versa. The thermostat clips over the top edge of the aquarium, and also the adjustment of temperature is controlled by a knob which alters the pressure on the strip (see below).

Another kind of thermostat has an adjusting screw inside the tube, along with a rubber stopper, comparable to the heater. This kind could be laid on the bottom of the tank. This has the benefit of allowing you to lower the depth of water for breeding purposes. The disadvantage is that you’ve to remove it for adjustment. The heater and thermostat are supplied complete. Don’t worry if at initial the thermostat varies as a lot as 10°F. Don’t attempt to correct this with the adjusting screw, as this screw only controls the temperature at which the strip will break and make contact. The thermostat should not vary more than ±2°F. If it does, it generally means that the magnet, which ensures a snap action and prevents arcing, is too near the strip, and has some difficulty in making its escape. A quarter turn on the contact screw is generally sufficient to decrease the pull of the magnet sufficiently to bring it within the needed range. The ratio of electrical power to volume of water is 10 watts per gallon of water.

When the contacts of the thermostat make and break, they trigger a tiny spark which can trigger a disturbance, both to radio and television sets. This could be overcome if a 0.1 microfarad tubular capacitor is connected across the contacts.

To do this, bare the two wires leading from the thermostat as near to the top as feasible, and then wrap the capacitor leads around the bared sections, one from every end of the capacitor to every wire, and solder securely.

Make certain the bared portions of wire are then covered totally with insulation tape to steer clear of a short circuit. A further precaution would be to cover the entire capacitor by wrapping insulation tape around the complete assembly.

The kind of capacitor utilized should be of a robust nature, it has to withstand the mains present, as a result it’s advisable to tell your dealer the use to which it’ll be put to ensure that he can give you the correct kind.

Another kind of heater combines both heating elements and thermostat. The glass tube is mounted vertically in the tank, to ensure that the lower section of the tube containing the heater is well down in the water. This arrangement might be suitable for little tanks, but it most likely concentrates the heat energy in too little an area, and too locally.

The flexible heater is another technique of electrical heating which is becoming widely utilized. This consists of a flexible loop containing the clement which could be arranged around the inside of the tank, just below the surface of the sand, and is virtually invisible except for the connecting wires.

The option of equipment is obviously a matter of personal option, but there’s a lot to suggest two heaters, suitably positioned in the tank to give uniform distribution of heat, and an outside fitting thermostat. These clip on the frame in close proximity to the glass and are effortlessly adjusted for temperature control.

Little aquariums might be heated with an electric light lamp only, with or with out a thermo-stat. I have discovered from encounter that it’s not advisable to use this technique in a tank over 1 ft. in length, but should you use this technique to heat an aquarium which is only utilized for quarantine or some comparable job, it saves the expense of other equipment. The lamp is utilized in a box, and also the aquarium stood on top.

If your tank is 12 in. x 6 in. x 6 in., the outside dimensions of the box will probably be 12 in. x 6 in., and it’ll be about three in. deep. Line the inside with thin asbestos sheet, and make a couple of holes for ventilation. Screw a base fixing lamp holder inside- you are able to use the exact same screws to hold a strip of aluminium, bent over the bulb to steer clear of the direct heat of the lamp, which might tend to crack the glass. I have discovered a 15 watt lamp is sufficient, but in extremely cold weather a 40 watt lamp is essential. Whenever you have done this cover the top of the aquarium with a sheet of glass, and usually have sand’ on the bottom, otherwise the unnatural position of the light will trigger ‘discomfort to the fish.
set figure, and off when the temperature reaches the temperature you need. The thermostat is made of a bimetal strip which has various coefficients of expansion, causing the strip to bend away from the contact when heat is applied, and vice versa. The thermostat clips over the top edge of the aquarium, and also the adjustment of temperature is controlled by a knob which alters the pressure on the strip (see below).

Another kind of thermostat has an adjusting screw inside the tube, along with a rubber stopper, comparable to the heater. This kind could be laid on the bottom of the tank. This has the benefit of allowing you to lower the depth of water for breeding purposes. The disadvantage is that you’ve to remove it for adjustment. The heater and thermostat are supplied complete. Don’t worry if at initial the thermostat varies as a lot as 10°F. Don’t attempt to correct this with the adjusting screw, as this screw only controls the temperature at which the strip will break and make contact. The thermostat should not vary more than ±2°F. If it does, it generally means that the magnet, which ensures a snap action and prevents arcing, is too near the strip, and has some difficulty in making its escape. A quarter turn on the contact screw is generally sufficient to decrease the pull of the magnet sufficiently to bring it within the needed range. The ratio of electrical power to volume of water is 10 watts per gallon of water.

When the contacts of the thermostat make and break, they trigger a tiny spark which can trigger a disturbance, both to radio and television sets. This could be overcome if a 0.1 microfarad tubular capacitor is connected across the contacts.

To do this, bare the two wires leading from the thermostat as near to the top as feasible, and then wrap the capacitor leads around the bared sections, one from every end of the capacitor to every wire, and solder securely.

Make certain the bared portions of wire are then covered totally with insulation tape to steer clear of a short circuit. A further precaution would be to cover the entire capacitor by wrapping insulation tape around the complete assembly.

The kind of capacitor utilized should be of a robust nature, it has to withstand the mains present, as a result it’s advisable to tell your dealer the use to which it’ll be put to ensure that he can give you the correct kind.

Another kind of heater combines both heating elements and thermostat. The glass tube is mounted vertically in the tank, to ensure that the lower section of the tube containing the heater is well down in the water. This arrangement might be suitable for little tanks, but it most likely concentrates the heat energy in too little an area, and too locally.

The flexible heater is another technique of electrical heating which is becoming widely utilized. This consists of a flexible loop containing the clement which could be arranged around the inside of the tank, just below the surface of the sand, and is virtually invisible except for the connecting wires.

The option of equipment is obviously a matter of personal option, but there’s a lot to suggest two heaters, suitably positioned in the tank to give uniform distribution of heat, and an outside fitting thermostat. These clip on the frame in close proximity to the glass and are effortlessly adjusted for temperature control.

Little aquariums might be heated with an electric light lamp only, with or with out a thermo-stat. I have discovered from encounter that it’s not advisable to use this technique in a tank over 1 ft. in length, but should you use this technique to heat an aquarium which is only utilized for quarantine or some comparable job, it saves the expense of other equipment. The lamp is utilized in a box, and also the aquarium stood on top.

If your tank is 12 in. x 6 in. x 6 in., the outside dimensions of the box will probably be 12 in. x 6 in., and it’ll be about three in. deep. Line the inside with thin asbestos sheet, and make a couple of holes for ventilation. Screw a base fixing lamp holder inside- you are able to use the exact same screws to hold a strip of aluminium, bent over the bulb to steer clear of the direct heat of the lamp, which might tend to crack the glass. I have discovered a 15 watt lamp is sufficient, but in extremely cold weather a 40 watt lamp is essential. Whenever you have done this cover the top of the aquarium with a sheet of glass, and usually have sand’ on the bottom, otherwise the unnatural position of the light will trigger ‘discomfort to the fish.