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[Illustration: CABINET AQUARIUM.]

THE BOOK

OF

THE AQUARIUM

AND

WATER CABINET;

OR

Practical Instructions

ON THE FORMATION, STOCKING, AND MANAGEMENT, IN ALL
SEASONS, OF COLLECTIONS OF FRESH WATER AND
MARINE LIFE:

BY SHIRLEY HIBBERD,

AUTHOR OF "RUSTIC ADORNMENTS FOR HOMES OF TASTE," &c., &c.

LONDON:
GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1856.

W. H. COLLINGRIDGE, PRINTER, 1, LONG LANE.




CONTENTS.




THE FRESH-WATER TANK.

                                                             PAGE

Chapter I.--What is an Aquarium?                                6

  The Name and the Object--Philosophy of the Aquarium.


Chapter II.--Proper Kinds of Vessels                           10

  Rectangular Tanks--Construction of Tanks--Warington's
  Stope-back Tank--Bell Glasses and Vases--Stands for Vases.


Chapter III.--Fitting-up--Rockwork                             17

  The Bottom--Mould--Planting--The Water--Aspect.


Chapter IV.--Plants for the Aquarium                           21

  How to stock a Tank quickly--Selection of Plants--Water
  Soldier--Starwort--Vallisneria--Anacharis--Myriophyllum--
  Potamogeton--Nuphar Lutea--Pipewort--Utricularia--Isopelis--
  Subularia--Ranunculus--Hydrocaris--Alisma--Lemna, &c.


Chapter V.--Fishes for the Aquarium                            32

  Cyprinus Carpio, Gibelio, Carassius, Auratus, Brama,
  Leucisus, Rutilus, Alburnus, Phoxinus, Gobio, Tinca,
  Barbus, Barbatula, Cephalus--Percidae--Gasterosteus.


Chapter VI.--Reptiles, Mollusks, and Insects                   44


Chapter VII.--Selection of Stock                               46


Chapter VIII.--General Management                              48

  Feeding--Confervae--Uses of Mollusks--Objections to
  Mollusks--Use of Confervoid Growths--Periodical
  Cleansing--Exhaustion of Oxygen--Temperature--Dead
  Specimens--Disease of Fishes.




THE MARINE TANK.


Chapter I.--The Vessel                                         53

  Points in which the Marine differs from the River Tank--
  Stained Glass.


Chapter II.--Fitting-up                                        56

  The Bottom--Rocks, Arches, and Caves--The Water--Artificial
  Sea Water--Marine Salts--Management of Artificial Water--
  Caution to the Uninitiated--Filtering.


Chapter III.--Collecting Specimens                             66


Chapter IV.--The Plants                                        69


Chapter V.--The Animals                                        71

  Fishes--Mollusks--Annelides--Zoophytes--Actinia
  Mesembryanthemum--Anguicoma, Bellis, Gemmacea,
  Crassicornis, Parasitica, Dianthus, &c.


Chapter VI.--What is an Anemone?                               84


Chapter VII.--General Management                               91

  Grouping of Objects--Sulphuretted Hydrogen--Preservation
  of the Water--Aeration--Filter--Decay of Plants--Death of
  Anemones--Removal of Objects--Density of the Water--
  Green Stain--Feeding--The Syphon--Purchase of Specimens.




THE WATER CABINET.


Chapter I.--Construction of Cabinets                          101

  Distinctions between the Cabinet and the Aquarium--
  Construction of a Cabinet--Glasses.


Chapter II.--Collecting and Arranging Specimens               106

  Implements for Collecting--Nets, Jars, and Phials--
  Pond Fishing.


Chapter III.--The Stock                                       110


Chapter IV.--Larva                                            114

  The Dragon Fly--The Gnat--The Case Fly.


Chapter V.--Coleoptera                                        130

  Dytiscus Marginalis--Hydrous Piceus--Colymbetes--
  Gyrinus Natator.


Chapter VI.--Heteroptera                                      139

  Hydrometra--Notanecta, Nepa, &c.


Chapter VII.--The Frog--Notes on Management                   140




LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.


  Cabinet Aquarium                                _Frontispiece._

  Tank containing Vallisneria Spiralis, Anacharis,
  Gold Carp, Roach, and Minnow                         _Page_  11

  Vase Aquarium                                                15

  Callitriche                                                  22

  Stratoides Aloides                                           24

  Vallisneria Spiralis                                         25

  Myriophyllum Spicatum                                        27

  Potamogeton Densus                                           28

  Ranunculus Aquatalis                                         30

  Hydrocaris Morsus Ranae                                       31

  Tank containing Gudgeon, Prussian Carp, Loach, and Bream     33

  Tank containing Minnow, Tench, and Perch                     41

  Tank containing Planorbis Corneus, Paludina Vivipara,
  Lymnea Stagnalis, Unio Pictorum, Tumidus, and Anodon
  Cygneus                                                      45

  Cleansing Sponge                                             50

  Actinia Mesembryanthemum, Dictyota Dychotoma                 64

  Porcellana Platycheles, and Cancer Pagurus                   72

  Carcinas Maenas                                               73

  Actinia Anguicoma, Trochus Ziziphinus, Ulva Latissima,
  Bryopsis Plumosa, Acorn Barnacle                             75

  Actinia Bellis and Gemmacea, Delesseria Alata,
  Polysiphonia Urceolata                                       76

  Actinia Dianthus, Delesseria Sanguinea, Callithamnium
  Roseum, Griffithsia Setacea                                  82

  Edwardsia Vestita, AEsop Prawn, Enteromorpha Compressa,
  Ulva Latissima                                               86

  Dipping Tube                                                 96

  Syphon                                                       99

  Hand Net                                                    107

  Diving Spiders and Nests                                    112

  Transformation of the Dragon Fly                            120

  Virgin and Green Dragon Flies                               122

  Larva of the Gnat                                           124

  Larva of Stratiomys                                         125

  Larvae and Imago of Case Fly                                 128

  Grating of Case Worm, Magnified                             129

  Dytiscus and Larva, Reduced                                 132

  Hydrous Piceus                                              134

  Colymbetes                                                  135

  Gyrinus Natator                                             137

  Gyrinus, Magnified                                          138

  Water Scorpion                                              142

  Transformations of the Tadpole                         144, 145

  Pocket Lens                                                 147




PREFACE.


Every day adds to the popularity of the Aquarium, but every day does not
add to the accuracy of the published descriptions of it, or the
perspicuity of the directions everywhere given for its formation and
maintenance. Lately the periodical press has teemed with essays on the
subject; but it does not require a very close scrutiny for the practical
man to discern that a majority of such papers express the enthusiasm
rather than the knowledge of their authors--a few weeks' management of a
tank seeming to be considered a sufficient qualification for the
expounding of its philosophy, though it demands an acquaintance with the
minutest details of the most refined departments of botany and zoology
to do anything like justice to it.

I have done my best to explain and illustrate the whole _rationale_ of
marine and fresh-water tanks in my lately published work, _Rustic
Adornments for Homes of Taste_; but since that work, owing to the
expense incurred in its production, is published at a price which every
lover of the Aquarium cannot command, I have thought it no less a duty
than a pleasure to treat the subject more briefly, but still
practically, and I hope profitably, in a volume of less dimensions and
less cost, written for another class of readers.

The object of this little work is to teach the beginner how to proceed
safely and pleasurably in setting up aquaria, whether for mere ornament
or for the study of the novel forms of animal and vegetable life which
these collections enable us to observe closely, no less for the increase
of our knowledge of the world, than for the exaltation of our sense of
the omnipotence and benignity of Him who created it.

  The Nursery, Tottenham.




THE BOOK OF THE AQUARIUM.




THE FRESH WATER TANK.




CHAPTER I.

WHAT IS AN AQUARIUM?


_The Name._--The term _vivarium_ was first applied to the vessel
containing a collection of specimens of aquatic life, and the first
vivarium of such a kind, on anything like an extensive scale, was that
opened to public exhibition in the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens.
Many naturalists had previously made experiments to ascertain some
certain method of preserving aquatic animals in a living and healthy
state; and the vivarium, which is the result of those experiments, may
be considered as an imitation of the means employed by nature herself in
the preservation and perpetuation of the various forms of animal and
vegetable life which people the oceans and the streams.

The vivarium is, therefore, no recent or sudden discovery, but a growth
of years; and its present perfection is the fruit of many patient
investigations, trials, disappointments, and determinations to achieve
success.

The term _vivarium_ applies to _any_ collection of animals, to a park of
deer, a rabbit warren, a menagerie, or even a travelling show
containing an asthmatic lion, a seedy cockatoo, and a pair of snakes
that are hourly stirred up with a long pole. Hence such a term could
never convey the very special idea of a vessel containing such specimens
as form the stock of the aquarium. When this was felt, the affix _aqua_
was added, to convey the idea of the watery medium in which the
specimens are immersed, and hence we had _aqua-vivarium_, a compound of
too clumsy a character to remain long in use. It is the _water_ that
gives the collection its special character; and water always reminds us
of old Aquarius, who treats us to an annual drenching from his celestial
watering-pot. Aquarius triumphed, and the pretty prison in which his
cool companions of the sign Pisces were doomed to be confined acquired
his name; and, since it is better to follow than to oppose usage, we
leave the philological part of the question to the learned, and adopt
_Aquarium_ as the name of our collection.

_The Object_ of the Aquarium is to enable us to study the economy and
derive pleasure from the contemplation of various forms of aquatic life,
contributed by the lakes, the mountain rills, and the "resounding sea."
Collections of objects that inhabit rivers and lakes are of course
called Fresh-water aquaria; those that owe their origin to the sea are
called Marine aquaria. A more simple name for the first would be _River
aquarium_, which I humbly suggest it shall in future be called. But an
aquarium is not a mere cabinet of specimens; it is a water garden in
which we cultivate choice plants, and it is also in some sort a
menagerie, in which we see living creatures of kinds hitherto the least
studied by naturalists, displaying to our close gaze their natural
forms, and colours, and instincts, and economy, as freely and as happily
as if they were still hidden from us in their native depths. In this
sense, the aquarium remunerates for any trouble it may cost, in the
lessons it affords of the workings of Almighty Wisdom, in those regions
of life and wonder to which it introduces us.

_The Philosophy of the Aquarium_ must be clearly understood by those who
purpose to cultivate it. It is a self-supporting, self-renovating
collection, in which the various influences of animal and vegetable life
balance each other, and maintain within the vessel a correspondence of
action which preserves the whole. A mere globe of fish is not an
aquarium in the sense here indicated; because, to preserve the fish for
any length of time, the water must be frequently changed; and even then
the excess of light to which they are exposed, and the confinement in a
small space, in which they quickly exhaust the vital properties of the
water, are circumstances at variance with their nature, and sooner or
later prove fatal to their lives.

In an aquarium, _the water is not changed at all_, or at least only at
long intervals, as we shall explain hereafter; and besides the enclosure
of fishes in a vessel of water, _growing plants_ of a suitable kind,
always form a feature of the collection. Formed on this plan, an
aquarium is an imitation of Nature on a small scale. The tank is a lake
containing aquatic plants and animals, and these maintain each other in
the water in the same way as terrestrial plants and animals contribute
mutually to each other's support in the preservation of the purity of
the air.

What happens when we put half-a-dozen gold fish into a globe? The fishes
gulp in water and expel it at the gills. As it passes through the gills,
whatever free oxygen the water contains is absorbed, and carbonic acid
given in its place; and in course of time the free oxygen of the water
is exhausted, the water becomes stale, and at last poisonous, from
excess of carbonic acid. If the water is not changed the fishes come to
the surface and gulp atmospheric air. But, though they naturally
_breathe air as we do_, yet they are formed to extract it from the
water; and when compelled to take air from the surface, the gills, or
lungs, soon get inflamed, and death at last puts an end to their
sufferings.

Now if a gold-fish globe be not over-crowded with fishes we have only to
throw in a goodly handful of some water weed--such as the _Callitriche_,
for instance--and a new set of chemical operations commences at once,
and it becomes unnecessary to change the water. The reason of this is
easily explained. Plants absorb oxygen as animals do; but they also
absorb carbonic acid, and from the carbonic acid thus absorbed, they
remove the pure carbon, and convert it into vegetable tissue, giving out
the free oxygen either to the water or the air, as the case may be.
Hence, in a vessel containing water plants in a state of healthy growth,
the plants exhale more oxygen than they absorb, and thus replace that
which the fishes require for maintaining healthy respiration. Any one
who will observe the healthy plants in an aquarium, when the sun shines
through the tank, will see the leaves studded with bright beads, some of
them sending up continuous streams of minute bubbles. These beads and
bubbles are pure oxygen, which the plants distil from the water itself,
in order to obtain its hydrogen, and from carbonic acid, in order to
obtain its carbon.

There is one more feature, which no writer on the aquarium has yet
noticed, namely--when a tank is properly stocked, the water soon gets
crowded with infusorial animalculae, which swarm among the plants, and on
the sides of the glass in countless thousands, visible only by the aid
of the microscope. These are in accordance with a natural law; the
presence of vegetable matter in water always induces them. But observe
their value: they contribute to the sustenance of the smaller fishes, by
supplying them with food; and, strangely enough, the researches of
modern chemists have proved that these minute creatures respire in much
the same way as plants. While all other animals absorb oxygen, and
perish if the supply of that gas is withdrawn, these minute organisms
absorb carbonic acid, _and give out oxygen in abundance_. This has been
proved by Professor Liebig, who collected several jars of oxygen from
tanks containing infusoria only. Every one who has had experience in the
management of tanks must have noticed that the water in a tank which has
been established some months will sustain a much greater amount of
animal life than one of the same dimensions, but recently stocked. The
presence of infusoria in immense numbers is _one_ of the reasons for
this.

So far I have endeavoured to explain the theory of the aquarium, in the
merest outline. Still, brief as this chapter must be, I must here
impress upon the mind of the beginner, that unless the leading features
of the theory are borne in mind, success can never be achieved in the
establishment of water collections of any kind.

If a tank requires frequent cleansing, or frequent changing of water, if
the fishes come to the surface for air, or perish through the presence
in the water of offensive matter--in fact, if the whole affair has not a
distinctly self-supporting character, such as will preserve its purity,
and strength, and beauty, without alteration of any kind--it must be
concluded that it has been either unskilfully stocked or injudiciously
managed.

It is my object to explain briefly, but clearly, the whole _rationale_
of aquarium management, whether the tank be adopted as a mere
ornament--than which there is nothing more beautiful--or as a museum of
instruction and a school of study--than which there is nothing more
suggestive, nothing that can afford finer lessons of the subtlety of the
forces, or the refinement of the instincts, that give life and
loveliness to the "world of waters."




CHAPTER II.

PROPER KINDS OF VESSELS.


_Rectangular Tanks._--Any vessel that will hold water may be quickly
converted into an aquarium; but as we desire to have at all times a
clear view of the contents of the vessel, glass takes pre-eminence among
the materials for tanks. For elegance and general utility, a properly
built vessel of rectangular outline, having at least two sides of glass,
is found by most aquarians to be the best. Of course, no rule can be
laid down as to the dimensions or forms of tanks--those details will
best be determined by the means and tastes of the persons requiring
them--but a few general remarks may prove useful.

[Illustration: VALLISNERIA SPIRALIS, ANACHARIS ALSINASTRUM--GOLD CARP,
ROACH, AND MINNOW.]

The tanks in use at the Regent's Park Gardens were constructed by
Messrs. Saunders and Woolcot, of 54, Doughty Street, London, and that
firm has since set apart a portion of the premises in Doughty Street, to
meet the new and increasing demand for vessels for domestic aquaria, and
have brought the manufacture to a perfection which leaves little to
desire.

For the adornment of a dwelling room or a conservatory, an oblong tank,
measuring three feet by one foot four inches, and one foot six inches
deep, would be very suitable, and would be supplied by Messrs. Saunders
and Woolcot for L5, though vessels of smaller dimensions are sent out by
them at from L2 to L3. In my work on "Rustic Adornments," I have given
several designs for rectangular tanks, but must here beg my reader to
remain content with a simple explanatory outline. Messrs. Treggon and
Co., of 57, Gracechurch Street, and 22, Jewin Street, London, are also
manufacturers of tanks for aquaria. I can recommend either of these
houses with the greatest confidence.

_Construction of Tanks._--As this work may reach many remote districts,
where an aquarian would find it difficult to get a tank properly made, a
few hints on the proper mode of construction may be acceptable.

It must be borne in mind, then, that when a tank is filled, its weight
is enormous, and hence it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to move it
without first removing the whole or greater portion of its contents.
Strength in the joints to resist pressure from within, and strength in
the table or other support on which the tank is placed, is of the first
importance. The bottom of such a tank as we have figured (p. 11), is
best formed of a slab of slate, and the two ends may be of slate also;
the front and back of plate or very stout crown glass. The most elegant
form for such a body is that of the double cube, the length of the tank
being just double its width and depth, so that if it were cut into two
equal parts two cubes would be formed. The glass must be set in grooves
in the slate, and bound outside with zinc or turned pillars of birch
wood. The best cement is white-lead putty, or what is known as Scott's
cement; the composition of which it is not in my power to inform the
reader. If a coating of shell-lac, dissolved in naptha, and made into a
paste with whiting, were laid over the white-lead cement, as suggested
by Mr. W. Dodgson, of Wigton, the water would be kept from contact with
the lead, and the tank would require less seasoning.

The use of slate at the ends is to enable us to affix rockwork or carry
across a rude arch; the cement used in constructing rockwork does not
adhere to glass. But if rockwork is not thought desirable the slate ends
may be dispensed with, and the vessel may be composed wholly of glass,
except the bottom, which may be of slate or wood.

In some districts slate is not to be easily obtained, and wood or stone
are then the best substitutes, wood being preferable of the two. I have
seen some handsome tanks composed wholly of wood and glass; it is only
necessary to choose well-seasoned material, and unite the joints very
perfectly.

The yellow clay used by potters would be found suitable in some
districts; and if the two ends and bottom were formed of such a
material, and buttressed together by means of a rude arch, the fire
would unite the whole, and render it as hard as stone. Mr. Dodgson, of
Wigton, states, through Mr. Gosse's pages, that he has formed two tanks
of this kind of clay: they measure three feet long by thirty inches
broad and high, holding thirty gallons each. The weight being very
enormous, the cost of carriage is so serious a matter that such tanks
can only be had in the neighbourhood of a pottery. In London, the
substitute for the clay would be _terra cotta_.

_Mr. Warington's Tank_ is of a peculiar construction, and is intended to
admit the light from above only, and also to enable the water to absorb
atmospheric air freely. Mr. Warington says:--"After five years' and
upwards experience, I have now adopted an aquarium, the form of which
consists in a four-sided vessel, having the back gradually sloping
upwards from the bottom at an angle of fifty degrees. The chief
peculiarity of this tank is, that it admits light at the top only; the
back and sides are usually composed of slate."

[Illustration (Bell Glasses)]

_Bell Glasses_, or vases, are now largely used for aquaria. Mr. Hall, of
the City Road, was the first who thought of turning a propagating glass
upside down to extemporise an aquarium; but he surely never thought that
in a few months the aquarium would gain thousands of new followers
through that simple trick of his in creating a cheap and elegant tank.
Bell glasses for aquaria are to be obtained of any of the dealers in
aquarian stock, and at most horticultural glass warehouses. The sizes
range from ten inches to twenty inches in diameter, and the prices from
one to fifteen shillings. For general purposes of use and ornament, I
should recommend vessels of from twelve to eighteen inches. Those below
twelve inches are too small to be of much service, and those above
eighteen are liable to fracture on the occasion of any sudden change of
temperature, especially in winter. Messrs. Phillips have lately, at my
suggestion, produced a bell-glass expressly for aquarian purposes; those
in use hitherto were made for gardening purposes, and were carelessly
blown. The shape I have suggested is one nearly approaching to that of
the blossom of the great bearbind, the sides of the vessel describing
straight lines, and the edges lipping over in an elegant vase-like
form. These are made of whiter and stouter glass than the common
propagators, and are, of course, charged at a slightly advanced rate.

_Stands for Vases_ are to be had of various forms and materials. Those
formed of turned wood have the preference for elegance and safety; and,
as the knob of the vase fits loosely in the depressed top of the stand,
the vase can be turned round for inspection.

Messrs. Claudet and Houghton, of 89, High Holborn, have recently brought
out improved forms of stands for vases. They are made of terra cotta,
elegantly fluted, or ornamented with architectural scrolls, and