The fresh-water aquarium, or drawing-room fish pond, is a pleasing
and interesting ornament for a city or suburban town. It is cheaply
and easily made, and requires but little care. Comparatively few per-
sons can adorn their homes with costly pictures and statues, but almost
anyone with a love of nature and art can have an aquarium, fulfilling
in miniature realities the glowing and poetic water legends of Northern
and Oriental climes. It is the expression of the cultured taste, more
than the embellishment of wealth, that makes a charming home.
A tank for a fresh-water aquarium may be constructed of four plate9
of glass, with a large piece of slate, marble or metal for the bottom ;
or the tank may be made wholly of metal and set like a large sink in a
bay or oriel window ; or one may be constructed of a seamless bowl or
i
2 AQUARIUMS.
tub, either earthen or wooden; if the latter, all seams (providing a
seamless one cannot be obtained) must be made water-tight by the use
of a cement manufactured for the purpose, and sold as "aquarium
cement." No lead or paint must be where the water can touch it. The
placing of this bowl will call into use your artistic fancies ; it may be
surrounded upon a stand with earth and rocks, among which may be
planted the drooping vines of the house plants and others that may
suggest themselves, though not surrounded with plants so thickly as to
darken the pool, for fish enjoy a little sunlight — but do not broil them.
SELECTION OF WATER PLANTS.
These can be procured from brooks and ponds near at hand. A
good way to plant them is to tie a small pebble to the roots or base of
stems and sink them below the surface of the bed. The arrangement
of the plants should be made with regard to the best effect, the smallest
plants being placed in front and the tallest in the center or at the back
of the tank.
A tank of water-plants can be made quite as ornamental as a fernery,
while the fish, snails and mussels prove very attractive to all beholders,
old as well as young.
Among the best varieties of water-plants are : Arrowhead, a very
common plant in brooks and creeks, which has white flowers with
golden centers and arrowhead-shaped leaves ; eel-grass is a very popu-
lar plant for aquaria, as its habitat is in slow-moving waters ; water-
nymph, a slender, thread-like plant, with knot-like lobes ; water-feather,
a lovely little plant, a gem for the aquarium; water-cress, water-mill-
foil. After all the plants are arranged, throw in a few lemna minor, or
duckweeds, which are tiny, stemless, floating plants that harbor minute
insects that are delicacies for the fish.
Page 7
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The fresh-water aquarium, or drawing-room fish pond, is a pleasing and interesting ornament for a city or suburban town. It is cheaply and easily made, and requires but little care. Comparatively few persons can adorn their homes with costly pictures and statues, but almost anyone with a love of nature and art can have an aquarium, fulfilling in miniature realities the glowing and poetic water legends of Northern and Oriental climes. It is the expression of the cultured taste, more than the embellishment of wealth, that makes a charming home.
A tank for a fresh-water aquarium may be constructed of four plates of glass, with a large piece of slate, marble or metal for the bottom ; or the tank may be made wholly of metal and set like a large sink in a bay or oriel window ; or one may be constructed of a seamless bowl or
2 AQUARIUMS.
tub, either earthen or wooden; if the latter, all seams (providing a seamless one cannot be obtained) must be made water-tight by the use of a cement manufactured for the purpose, and sold as "aquarium cement." No lead or paint must be where the water can touch it. The placing of this bowl will call into use your artistic fancies ; it may be surrounded upon a stand with earth and rocks, among which may be planted the drooping vines of the house plants and others that may suggest themselves, though not surrounded with plants so thickly as to darken the pool, for fish enjoy a little sunlight — but do not broil them.
SELECTION OF WATER PLANTS.
These can be procured from brooks and ponds near at hand. A good way to plant them is to tie a small pebble to the roots or base of stems and sink them below the surface of the bed. The arrangement of the plants should be made with regard to the best effect, the smallest plants being placed in front and the tallest in the center or at the back of the tank.
A tank of water-plants can be made quite as ornamental as a fernery, while the fish, snails and mussels prove very attractive to all beholders, old as well as young.
Among the best varieties of water-plants are : Arrowhead, a very common plant in brooks and creeks, which has white flowers with golden centers and arrowhead-shaped leaves ; eel-grass is a very popular plant for aquaria, as its habitat is in slow-moving waters ; waternymph, a slender, thread-like plant, with knot-like lobes ; water-feather, a lovely little plant, a gem for the aquarium; water-cress, water-millfoil. After all the plants are arranged, throw in a few lemna minor, or duckweeds, which are tiny, stemless, floating plants that harbor minute insects that are delicacies for the fish.