The Complete Aquarium Guide - Fish, Plants and Accessories for your Aquarium

288 Pages·1999·22.54 MB·English

The Complete
Aquarium Guide
FISH, PLANTS AND ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR AQUARIUM
© 1995, ATP - Chamalieres - France
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any
forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the copyright owners.
Original title: Le Grand Guide de I'Aquarium
© 2000 for the English edition:
Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH
Bonner Strasse 126, D - 50968 Cologne
Translation from French: Matthew Clarke and Ian West in association with First Edition Translations Ltd.
Editing: Kay Hyman in association with First Edition Translations Ltd.
Typesetting: The Write Idea in association with First Edition Translations Ltd.
Project Management: Beatrice Hunt for First Edition Translations Ltd., Cambridge, England
Project Coordination: Nadja Bremse-Koob
Production: Ursula Schumer
Printed in Italy by STIGE - Turin
ISBN 3-8290-1736-7
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 8
WATER: A HAVEN FOR LIFE 10
Fresh water 12
Sea water 24
Diferent types of aquarium 32
FISH 40
Anatomy and biology 42
Feding 50
Reproduction 60
Health 6
Nomenclature and distribution of aquarium fish 72
Catalog of freshwater fish 75
Catalog of marine fish 126
INVERTEBRATES 162
Freshwater invertebrates 16
Marine invertebrates 167
Catalog of invertebrates 179
PLANTS 18
Origin and variety of plants 190
Algae problems 193
Caring for plants 196
Catalog of plants 201
TECHNIQUES 216
Asembling a tank 218
Equipment and acesories 26
A balanced aquarium 253
Chosing the bed 260
Decor and background 264
Final preparations 272
CUSTOMIZING YOUR TANK 278
USEFUL INFORMATION 282
INDEX 283
INTRODUCTION
here was a time when the keeping of our living rooms, a small window onto the
and study of exotic fish was the pre- wide world outside. An aquarium also pro-
Tserve of serious researchers clos- vides a glimpse into a different universe - but
eted in their laboratories; today, it is an this time inhabited by real, live creatures.
established and popular hobby. Dealer- A lot of thought and work goes into a top-
ships and specialized sales areas in large class aquarium. We select the best site, we
stores are springing up everywhere, paral- want fish and decor which satisfy our
leling an explosion in the number of pub- sense of beauty. Before long, our new
lic aquariums and books or magazines purchase has relegated to the background
devoted to the subject. More and more our photos, pictures and even the TV.
people of all ages are falling under the The last ten or so years have seen the
spell, enjoying permanent access to a part aquarium come into its own in institutions
of the natural world that was formerly and public buildings. In educational estab-
beyond their reach. There are almost as lishments it represents an important teach-
many kinds of hobbyists as there are types ing aid, enabling students to observe
of fish: the semiprofessional, the "small" creatures in conditions resembling their
and the "modest" collector, the specialist. natural habitats. The medical profession
There are the fanatics, who spend every has likewise realized its benefits. The fish
minute of their time and energy on their gliding through their silent, predominantly
aquariums, while for others fishkeeping is green world in a kind of underwater ballet
just a passing fad. Enthusiasts include the are the perfect sedative for nervous
young - and the not so young; those with patients; it is by no means unusual to
scientific knowledge or mere novices; come across tanks in the waiting-rooms of
those actively working and the retired. doctors and dentists, in physiotherapy
Such an immensely varied following guar- rooms, hospitals, and indeed in psychiatric
antees that the world of the aquarist is full clinics. More recently, aquariums have
of interest and color. been introduced into prisons.
In a dentist's A WINDOW ONTO ANOTHER FISHKEEPING, SCIENCE, AND
surgery, a tank of WORLD AQUACULTURE
Amazonian fish
faces the patient's We have all become familiar with how our Keeping fish contributes to the development
chair. • television screens offer us, from the comfort of scientific research into aquatic environ-
ments, and is relevant to the study of animal
and plant biology, ecology, reproduction,
feeding, and behavior. Researchers use
some species to test the toxicity of pollu-
tants or suspected pollutants.
Aquaculture or fish farming - the produc-
tion of living creatures with the principal
aim of selling them as food - has features
in common with fishkeeping. In both
cases, it is a matter of maintaining fish in
captivity and encouraging them to repro-
duce, always under the best possible con-
ditions. The use of aquariums has allowed
us to improve our knowledge of, for
8
example, the breeding of marine larvae struct Nature in microcosm, which • Salmonidae in
Le Bugue
destined eventually for human consump- requires the maintenance of a constant
Aquarium. Public
tion. It can also aid the preservation of equilibrium. Nature, if not disturbed by
aquariums have
species threatened with extinction for var- some cataclysmic imbalance, obeys a an important role
ious reasons; we can study their behavior finite set of laws. As aquarists, we need to to play, offering
unrestricted access
and reproductive methods with the aim of understand these laws and reproduce
to the beauty of
rearing young which can be released into them on a smaller scale, where the density
this miniature
their natural habitats. of animals and plants is considerably world.
On the other hand, aquarists are regularly higher. Everything that takes place within
accused of being party to the destruction this mini-universe is under our control -
of certain environments. up to a point. The final, inviolable law is
The fact is that though the vast majority of that conditions in the aquarium must
freshwater fish kept in aquariums are the always approach those found in Nature. If
result of captive breeding, the same is not not, the ecosystem will break down,
true of marine fish, which are caught spelling disaster.
mainly in their natural habitats. The num-
bers taken are out of all proportion to the
THE AQUARIUM: AN
needs of aquarists owing to unsatisfactory
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO
conditions of capture and transport. For
ECOLOGY
every marine fish which arrives alive in an
aquarium, how many have died as they A closed system like this lends itself par-
were being caught - often in a highly ticularly to the understanding of ecology,
questionable manner - or during ship- providing an excellent introduction to a
ment or in the course of acclimatization? branch of science which emerged in the
In this sense, the accusation is justified. 19th century but has acquired a high pro-
The only solution is to impose stricter file only in the last twenty or so years. It
controls and improve techniques so that is not concerned simply with Man and his
the number of fish caught to supply world, as many believe, but covers all the
aquarists remains within a safe limit. mechanisms regulating relationships
between living creatures and their envi-
ronments, so that all can live in harmony.
A SYSTEM IN EQUIPOISE
The days of goldfish swimming in endless
circles in a glass bowl are long past.
Today, an aquarium is something much
more sophisticated: we are able to recon-
9