Many people have had a small aquarium as children with maybe one or two gold fish in a small bowl that was barely large enough to hold the fish. This may have been our first experience with an aquarium and also providing a healthy environment for our new pets. Our parents often helped us as well to make sure we did not feed them too much and to change the water on a regular basis. This was our first experience, all be it a small a bowl, with an aquarium and gold fish.
Aquariums and the fish that swim in them can be quite elaborate and consumers can spend a great deal of money on the aquarium, the decoration of the aquarium, the fish that go in them and of course the ongoing maintenance that goes along with having an aquarium. Aquarium owners find that they receive many enjoyable benefits to owning an aquarium, especially if part of their effort is also directed at decorating the aquarium with multicoloured sand, rocks and other items that provide places for the fish to hide and play in. In fact these aquariums can be real works of art!
Our
web site is meant to help both the novice with his or
her first aquarium and maybe even provide a few new
ideas to someone who has had an aquarium for several
years. We do not pretend to have all of the answers,
however we hope that the various categories that we
provide information on will assist you in gaining additional
enjoyment and pleasure from your aquarium and the fish
that you have in your aquarium!
Some
of the topics that we will cover on our web site will
include the advantages and disadvantages of acrylic
and glass aquariums, filters, various lighting techniques,
plants, stands, tanks, freshwater and saltwater aquariums
and much more.
Remember you are never too old town an aquarium! Many of us started as kids with our first aquarium, however as adults and seniors we can still gain a great deal of enjoyment from designing and building an aquarium. For example, a neighbour, who I never would have suspected of being interested in aquariums, built one this year outside in his back yard! It consists of an oak barrel, cut in half, filled with water and water lilies and a few other water plants. The plants keep the water clear since they use up the nutrients and the carbon dioxide that builds up in the water.
He also has a Japanese water pump for decoration and circulation, which also oxygenates the water for his gold fish. There are four gold fish in his tank and over the summer it is amazing how much they have grown. Of course he will have to take them in for the winter, so he has gone to a more traditional aquarium for the winter time inside his home. But next summer they will be back in their home outside in his backyard!
Make
sure you review some of the other articles on this site
and by all means enjoy your hobby of maintaining an aquarium
full of tropical fish!
