20 - Kriday. August 7, 9487

North Shore News

GREAT FAMILY HOBBY

Aquar

N GREAT way to add ta the en
Kevment of indoor living is by ad-
ding a touch of the outdoors.

And a home aquaria is the
perlecl way to bring live outdoor
enjoyment and added decor to any
indoor living area.

There are many positives to
owning a home aquarium, First, it
is always a@ conversation piece
because of its atinaetiveness and
the beauty of the fish and decor
tive accessories such as plants and
ornaments,

Second, it is a family hobby,
great for educating youngsters
both in maintaining life and = in
assuming responsibility. Third,
new aquarium life-support equip-
ment is noiseless and easy to main-
tain, making a@ home aquarium
even more appealing.

And fast, w recent study by
researchers proved that) watching
fish in an aquarium is a definite
benefit in relieving stress.

How do vou get started? First,
you will want to Jocate a good
dealer in your area. If you have a
friend who has an aquarium, ask
for a reference; otherwise the tele-
phone book lists most tropical fish
retailers.

During your visit to a tropical
fish store, you will want to. get
some ideas on aquarium size and
on the equipment you will need,
and look over the selection of the
fish so that you can choose the
ones you will want to keep.

lt is advisable to purchase a
book that provides complete in-
structions on setting up and main-
taining an aquarium. However,
one important rule is to buy the
largest aquarium practical since the
greater the water environment, the
less chance of water problems.

When determining where to put
your aquarium, several factors
should be considered. You will not
want to put it in direct sunlight
since this will cause algae to grow
on the glass and plastic accessories.

You also may not want to put it
on your best carpeting since during
water changes it is possible for
some water to splash on the floor.
You also should be sure to put
your aquarium on a firm stand
since water is heavy.

After you have decided on the
aquarium, your first accessory will
be a tightly-fitting canopy cover
equipped with a fluorescent fix-

ture. Fluorescent. fixtures throw
off a cool light and will not cause
fluctuations in the water
temperature.

While on the subject of water
temperature, tropical fish require
an environment maintained at
around 75°F (25°C). You will
therefore need a good heater and
an aquarium thermometer.

A recent development in this
technology is the liquid crystal
digital thermometer which affixes
to the outside of the aquarium yet
measures most accurately the water
temperature.

You will also need a quality
filter. Your dealer can give you
proper advice since there are sev-
eral types of filters and your needs
will vary with the size of your
aquarium. If you are going to keep
a lot of fish, you will also want a
separate air’ pump to add oxygen
to the water.

Decorating an aquarium is great
fun. There are multi-colored grav
els, highly decorative backgrounu_
and hundreds of ornaments, as
well as plastic plants so real in
reproduction it’s almost impossible
to distinguish them from live
plants.

Most good retailers will have a
cemplete assortment and your
selection should be based on the
size of your aquarium and the
amount of money you decide to
spend.

Once you have set up your
aquarium, you should add a chlo-

See Aquarium
Pags 21

ie Owners

: Wingless Adult
Carpenter Ant

Have you seen
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ium adds decor to

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Serving the Lower Mainland

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BRING A littl of the outdoors, indoors, with a colorful, tively
aquarium,

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WATCH FOR UPDATES HERE!

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WAYNE VEALE

CUSTOMER SERVICE
MANAGER