Arizona republican., 1908-11-03

There IS nothing more decorative than bowl of beautiful gold fish. and recently interest in keeping fish as pets has been revived by the advent of the balanced nquarlum. The conditions in nature are practically reproduced in these ny care fully arranged combination of animal and vegetable life. The plants give of oxygen and this Is taken up by the fish, and the latter give it of ns a carbon dlOJide which is taken up in turn by the plants. As the result. the water seldom needs chang Ing and Is practically self-sustaining.
 Much Of the care and expense of the uld-fashloned kind Is eliminated In the balanced aquarium. Piping to maintain a supply of running water is not necessary. and almost any kind OF q glass receptacle will serve 10 keep few fish.
 II Is only recently that aquariums have come to be recognized as possessing value in the decorative scheme Of house inte- riors. and often architects include place for them in the plans of city houses as well as country estates. Probably there Is no easier and cheaper way of keeping some living thing about the house than by this means. The attention required by an aquarum IS so slight that 1t may be almost dlsregardcd
 The most practical way 10 secure an aquarium Is to purchase 1t complete at store. The price will vary from dol lar up to any amount that purse and fancy dictate. The all-glass kind is the simplest. Those made of clear white BO- hemian glass, rectangular in shape cost slightly less than S1 per gallon capacity. Globes cost about the same.
 The round aQuaria of white glass are somewhat cheaper; those made of domes- tic glass, which is slightly greenish In color. are the cheapest, rectangular tank holding eight gallons costing but s2.50. The imported tanks are far more attrsc- tive and they will stand the pressure of the water and the changes of temperature without cracking.
 The number of fish put fin an aquarium should be on the scale of one fish of three inches length to each gallon of water. That Is, a ten gallon tank will hold ten fish. and no more When the fish are smaller the number can be increased. The capacftT of a rectangular tank can easily be computed by allowing 231 cubic inches to gallon. The product of the three d. mensions gives the number of cubic inches tn the tank. But lt IS easy 10 measure it's capacity by the amount of water put into 1t.
 The bottom should be covered with peb- bles and sand to a depth of two inches, and the plants rooted In this. There are many different aquatic plants for this purpose Fanwort is the best of these.
 Hornwort, water starwort, tape grass, water poppy, milfoil, willow moss, and also a number of floating plants as duck weed, hydrocharis hyacinths. and salvina are available Plants to stock an aquar- ium will cost from ten to fifty cents bunch.
 Of course. the fish are the most impor- tant. and the basis of all aquaria Is the goldfish or common carp. The common variety can be bought for 10 cents each. but the real enthusiast will indulge his fancy in purchasing some of the marvel ous and rare Japanese varieties, with flowing tails and magic colors, which chauge from week to week and from year to year, starting perhaps velvety black. as in the case of telescope fish, and gradually becoming silvery, then white, and. finally. after three years,