Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-11

work two coats " paint Of some desirable
color prepared with oil for outside use.
When the lead in In place, slide down
each plate Of glass, and force IT into the
groove In the base; then fasten on the top
rails as previously suggested. After allow
Ing the lead to dry for week or more.
scrape on the surplus and the hardened
| edges around the grooves. A putty knife
| Is most convenient for this purpose. 1t il
better to use an excess Of white lead rather
than to be too sparing of 1t.
To prepare the inside for water, give the
wood several successive thin coats of
| enamel paint or asphaltum yarnish. Final
ly treat the outside to a finishing coat of
eral good prepared enamels in various light
shades, well adapted to aquarium use. and
they can be applied to wood. glass or metal.
Testing the Tank.
Before filling the aquarium, put in about
| quart Of water and hold 1t in such po-
| sition that the water will cover an entire
seam. Each groove and union of glass to
wood can be tested in this manner. If a
leak should be detected, repaint the joint,
| allowing some of the paint to adhere to the
glass, so that when dry it will seal the fis-
| sure, and in painting the inside OF the tank
| with the waterproof coating 1t is always
best to let the paint go over on the glass
| an eighth Of an inch so. even If 1t does
| hurt the looks a little, but IL the line of
paint on the glass is evenly drawn with
| the brush 1t will have good appearance
Brass knobs for ornaments can be pur-
| chased at any hardware store if desired.
A substantial table should be made for
| this aquarium, and a suggestion for one is
| shown in the illustration, where solid top
and the upper ends of the legs may be
| seem The table top should be two inches
| larger all around than the bottom board
| Of the tank, and 1t should be supported on
| legs not less than two inches square. a
hole may be made through the top under
q
/ Of rubber.
Stocking the Aquarium.
When your tank is finished and proved
seawerthy-for a leaky aquarium in house
| is worse than leaky roof-the next thing
| is to stock it. And it is right here that the
| fun comes in. The careful work of franz
| ing and cemsnting the water-tight recep-
tacle you perhaps found something of a
| task; now you begin to enjoy the fruits Of
your labor.
First comes the general lay-out-which
Is really bit of landscape gardening I'm
miniature. Here is chance to exercise
your ingenuity to the full. and the attrac-
tiveness of your aquarium will depend
greatly upon your skill In arrangement.
Get quantity of clean white sand full
| of small rounded pebbles. 1t is worth while
| to take some pains in selecting the latter
| with view TO beauty of effect. You will
| find abundance of material along the shore
! of sea or lake or river. Remember that
| pebbles which are dull when dry are often
beautifully lustrous in the water, so 1t is
best to make choice while they are wet
| Spread this ballast evenly over the bot
tom of your tank.
Then procure a number Of larger stones
OF irregular shape, and pile them up in the
middle. SO as to form sort of grotto. The
fish delight TO lie in wait under the shad-
ows and glide in and out through the crew
ices. If you can afford to spend a little
! money, buy for this purpose pieces of tufa
"a very porous stone of volcanic origin.
which somewhat resembles coral If you
can get a few branches of real coral, red
or white, it will add greatly to the effect
| iveness Of your display.
The next thing is to decide whether you
will have a salt or fresh water aquarium;
| though. Of course. if you are not near the
sea, you have no choice When that ques-
ton is settled you must pick out your
plants accordingly.
A vegetable Garden.
Perhaps it had not occurred to you that
you must have a vegetable garden, as well
as a supply of live stock, your little
| aquatic farm; but this is necessary to keep
! the water sweet and your queer little cat
| lie healthy. Fishes. though they breathe
| with gills instead of lungs. require oxygen
| no less than creatures that live in the air;
and If left wholly to themselves they would
soon exhaust and poison the water OF the
] tank. But aquatic plants take up this poi
/ Al
ache in a close room and to some extent
gives out oxygen in its place. thus both
purifying and vitalizing the water. Almost
any convenient plants that grow in shall
lew, water will answer the purpose. IF they
grow from muddy bottom take up little
of the earth with them: scoop out small
hole in the sand on the bottom Of your
tank. and carefully cover the roots and
mud with clean gravel This will prevent
any hing unsightIy from appearing; and
the plants, being rooted in their native soil,
will thrive. For a fresh water aquarium.
the common sagittarius-easily recognized
by its arrow-shaped leafs good choice.
Bulrushes are less effective and are easily
broken. but they are very picturesque while
they last.
CLAIMS and Mussels.
CLAIMS and mussels are not vegetables
but they are scavengers, and a few Of
them dropped on the bottom Of the tank
will help keep its water pure Indeed, II
you get a happy balance between plants
and animals, the water will rarely need to
| be changed; yet it is well to renew it occa-
sionaliy, just as nature does In the pools
and streams.
In the aquarium thus prepared you may
keep almost any aquatic creatures that you
can catch. provided they are not too large.
Besides real fish, little crabs or crayfish
shrfmps are amusing stock For salt water
the sea anemone is very beautiful, though
rather hard to get and keep alive Black
snails are homely enough, but interesting.
They have a fashion of crawling up, one
after another, in a line on the inside Of the
glass, and look like string of beads.
In fresh water don't fail to have a few
polliwogs: 1t is most interesting to watch
them as they gradually change into frogs.
The time to get them, of course, is In the
spring or early summer. Littie-very little
turtles make another most entertaining
addition to ones live stock: but If you let
them grow to any considerable size they
nay depopulate your tank, for they are
as greedy as alligators. Let some Of the
stones Of the grotto come to the surface
for them to crawl up on-or have a hit
Of wood or cork floating on the water.
Don't forget that turtles are not true
fishes, and need to come out into the air
from time to time.
Feeding the Fish.
OF course your stock must be fed-though
rot too often; every other day is quite
enough. In the city. fish-food in packages
is cheap and easily obtained; but bits OF
raw beef will suit most of the members of
your meaagerie just well. The meat
should be cut up in tiny particles-smaller.
If possible. than the head of a pin. for