|
 A
tropical aquarium in the home or office can bring a
slice of tropical sunshine into everyone's life! The
ever-changing panorama of fascinating and colourful
fish darting through the glades formed by the garden
of aquatic plants, is a source of never ending pleasure.
The soothing therapeutic qualities are well known, and
is the reason for an aquarium often being found in doctor's
and dentist's waiting rooms, or in hospitals. The basic
necessary elements for putting together a successful
tropical freshwater aquarium are really quite simple.
Controlled heating, lighting, and some form of filtration
are the principal considerations beyond acquiring the
actual glass or acrylic "box", which is the
aquarium.
 There
is a large range of differently shaped aquariums available
today that hardly sits comfortably within this description
of a "box". The use of moulded acrylic permits
bow fronts, magnifying "port-hole" windows,
large globular shapes, and much more. But the traditional
glass rectangular-fronted aquarium remains the firm
favourite, and a basic design can be surprisingly low
priced. Various gravels to form the base covering of
the aquarium range from natural beach gravels to brightly
coloured stones. The heating is usually provided by
an electrical heating element encased inside a waterproof
glass tube together with a controlling thermostat, to
be tucked unobtrusively and neatly into a back corner
of the aquarium. A thermometer monitors the performance
of this heating combo. There are a few options when
it comes to choosing a filtering system, and your aquarium
shop staff will advise you about what will suit your
needs best. A simple filter utilises an air-lift system
supplied with air from a pump, and is usually connected
to an under-gravel base plate or a floss-filled filter
box of some kind. But the most popular type of filter
used today has a compact body charged with the filter
medium and topped with a power head, all fitting neatly
inside the aquarium. A more effective filter has a large
canister body, charged with various beneficial filter
media, and has an impellor fitted within the top lid.
This unit stands outside of the aquarium, taking out
and returning the aquarium water efficiently by means
of tubes. The facility of choosing the types of filter
media to charge the body with makes this the most versatile
format.
 High-intensity
output fluorescent tube lighting is the normal means
of illuminating the aquarium, without using too much
electricity nor generating too much heat, yet putting
out a remarkable strength of light. There are many makes
of tube with different spectrums of light to choose
from to achieve the effect that most pleases you. Small
electrically powered air pumps provide a ready source
of aeration, sometimes a necessity for the fish's welfare,
but perhaps more often used for the decorative effect
streams of bubbles can create .How
you decorate your aquarium is very much a personal choice
for you to make. Guidance from the aquarium shop staff
will help you if needed. Natural growing plants undoubtedly
play some part in the natural conditioning of the aquarium
water, and can boast more uses than just that of being
decorative. For success with these natural plants you
might choose some of the more robust and less demanding
species for simplicity. If the care of the aquarium
garden is more than you wish to be involved with, you
might opt for using artificial plants. These have moved
on far from the old "plastic plants" which
were once the only option. Many of today's artificial
aquatic plants are most convincing - more so underwater
than when they are still in their packets on the shop
display shelf. When choosing the selection of fish for
your aquarium, first consider what you want from it.
If you are primarily looking for something simply as
an ornamental addition to the home you will be advised
to stay with a certain selection of fish known by reputation
to be easy to keep and feed. If your thoughts are that
you want the aquarium to be more of a hobby venture
and can accept there will be some demands on your time
accordingly, you might then opt for something more adventurous.
Advice from knowledgeable shop staff, or referring to
helpful books, can be a big help in forming your strategy
in this important respect. Feeding alone can be a big
issue, and range from simply using one tin of good quality
food for every feed (not recommended!), to stocking
a whole range of nutritious frozen foods, or even live
aquatic insect foods, to be administered to a programme,
according to the type of aquarium and fish species you
are keeping and caring for in your home.
|
