PH VALUES The pH measures the acidity or alkalinity of water, with the value 7 representing neutrality. Below this level the water is acid, and above it the water is alkaline (or basic). Categorizing water as acid does not mean that it contains dangerous acids. In forest streams and rivers the water accumulates with acid […]
Since air contains around 20% oxygen, even the most oxygenated water rarely contains more than 1% dissolved oxygen. Fish have special organs - branchiae - which allow them to extract most of this (see Anatomy and Biology, page 42). Oxygen contributes, in addition, to the respiration not only of plants but also of organisms which […]
FRESH WATER This type of water is also known as Continental water, a more accurate term from the scientific point of view. Continental water accounts for only 2.6% of the Earth’s water, the rest being made up of seas and oceans. Of this volume, 98% consists of sterile water, in the form of glaciers and […]
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 reconstruct Nature in microcosm, which requires the maintenance of a constant equilibrium. Nature, if not disturbed by some cataclysmic imbalance, obeys a finite set […]
Keeping fish contributes to the development of scientific research into aquatic environments, 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 pollutants or suspected pollutants. Aquaculture or fish farming - the production of living creatures with the principal aim […]
There was a time when the keeping and study of exotic fish was the preserve of serious researchers closeted in their laboratories; today, it is an established and popular hobby. Dealerships and specialized sales areas in large stores are springing up everywhere, paralleling an explosion in the number of public aquariums and books or magazines […]
FISH, PLANTS AND ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR AQUARIUM.