Types of aquariums.
Aquariums come in two main kinds and several types. The first kind is the Freshwater aquarium, designed for keeping and breeding fishes inhabiting freshwater bodies of various countries around the world, as well as aquatic and underwater plants and other forms of accompanying life. The second kind is the Marine aquarium, designed for keeping marine inhabitants: fish, plants, corals, and others.
Marine aquariums for fish are difficult to maintain precisely because it is hard to maintain the aquatic habitat for fish (and this is not limited to salinity levels). Marine fish are usually more sensitive to changes in their environment because in open water these parameters usually do not undergo large fluctuations.
Under the term freshwater aquarium, two main varieties are distinguished. The first is the community aquarium. As the name implies, it consists of several species of fish that coexist quite harmoniously together. The community aquarium is very popular, especially among beginners. Most often, communities of non-related species are kept if water requirements are not too strict and behavior does not threaten the community as a whole. Other communities include species originating from a single location, such as African lakes.
The second category is the single-species aquarium. Such aquariums are kept if the habits of the inhabitants do not allow any companionship, but this does not mean that a single fish species is kept only because they do not get along with other species. Some experienced aquarists specially keep a single species and breed it.
Decorative general aquarium. This aquarium is intended primarily for interior decoration, as well as for observing the development and behavior of fish and plants. In it, many species of fish from different taxonomic groups and geographical zones peacefully coexist. It is recommended to choose the aquarium size based on the possibility of ensuring good gas exchange, i.e., the ratio of the water surface area — meaning length and width — to the square of the water column height should be approximately 2.5 or more. In such an aquarium, fish and plants are selected regardless of their places of origin and habitat, and the main parameter here is purely aesthetic perception.
Geographical aquarium. In such an aquarium, fish and plants originating from the same region are placed.
Biotope aquarium. Such an aquarium reproduces a section of an underwater landscape (stream, river bank, rocky lake shore, etc.) of a certain locality, and fish and plants from that same locality are selected.
Species aquarium. This aquarium is characterized by the presence of fish of a single species, a single genus, or several closely related fish species, and serves to observe their relationship with each other, behavioral patterns, and reproduction. For successful breeding, it is sometimes required to have stimulating fish of another genus in this aquarium, which force the parents to show their qualities: to protect eggs and offspring.
Dutch aquarium. The basis of its arrangement is aquatic plants, while live inhabitants (fish, mollusks) play a secondary role and serve mainly to enliven the composition. Various shapes, sizes, and colors of these plant species allow creating interesting and diverse compositions that give the interior originality and uniqueness. Most often, individual bushes are gathered into dense groups so that when viewed from above, only their tops are visible. Plants are planted in such a way that those located in the foreground do not block those growing behind. The chosen species should not form floating or emergent leaves. A structural feature of the Dutch aquarium is the difference in its geometric dimensions from those of a conventional fish aquarium.
The peculiarity is that the width of the planted aquarium far exceeds its height, which makes it possible to create something like a mini-pool or a home pond with transparent walls. The length of the Dutch aquarium is usually significant (at least 1–2 meters), and the volume exceeds 200 liters. For the normal growth and life of plants, the Dutch aquarium must be equipped with a light source that must provide the proper light regime. Lamps should be placed every 10–15 cm along the entire length of the aquarium. An additional effect is created by directional light sources in the form of incandescent lamps, which are used to highlight a single plant or a small group from the general mass.
Open decorative aquarium. This is an aquarium that lacks a cover glass and a top lid; lighting fixtures are suspended at a sufficient distance from the water surface, which makes it possible for plants to grow above the water surface, and for some of them to bloom above the water.
Pseudo-marine aquarium. For beginners, mastering the intricacies of marine aquaristics is associated with certain difficulties and very tangible material costs. It is a completely different matter if the entire design style is maintained in a marine spirit, but the water in it is fresh, and the inhabitants, accordingly, are freshwater. Many go the simplest route — decorating a typical freshwater aquarium with corals or shells of exotic shapes and colors brought from a warm coast. But this option is not the best, because mixing diametrically opposed styles does not give a positive effect.
Natural marble chips and synthetic colored substrates are used for bottom substrate. There are no restrictions on the substrate grain size since there will be no live plants in our aquarium. Despite the fact that the aquarium is bright and contrasty, it is not recommended to use artificial substrates of unnatural colors — blue, green, red. Natural materials are used for decoration, including dead corals and porous limestone rocks. Water in an aquarium with such materials will inevitably be hard, and inhabitants must be selected based on this feature.
The choice of lamps in a pseudo-marine aquarium is determined not by the needs of plants, but solely by decorative purposes. Cold-tone fluorescent lamps are more suitable here. An interesting effect is produced by using halogen lamps: because their powerful directional light forms distinct shadows of fish and decorations on the bottom of the aquarium, the body of water acquires greater visible relief and dynamism as a result.
The “kings” of the pseudo-marine aquarium — cichlids from African lakes Malawi, Tanganyika, and Victoria — are hardly inferior in the brightness of their attire to the inhabitants of the coral reef. Preference should be given to species that love hard water: Pseudotropheus, Lamprologus, Haplochromis, and other Malawians, Tanganyikans, Victorians, as well as swordtails, mollies, and other representatives of Poeciliidae. Their bright coloration contrasts perfectly with gray corals and a light background.
If the fish coloration is not enough to form a bright picture, the lack of colors is compensated for by using more motile decorations. Melanotaeniidae (rainbowfish, Glossolepis) can be kept in a pseudo-marine aquarium. When using only synthetic decorations, some large cichlids, such as hybrid parrots or the blue Dempsey (Cichlasoma sajica/octofasciatum), can also be kept in a pseudo-marine setup as they are quite bright and undemanding.
Brackish water aquarium. Brackish aquariums are considered to be those in which the specific gravity of water ranges from 1.005 to 1.015 (salinity by specific gravity). Simply put, the lower limit is close to fresh water, and the upper limit to marine water. There are some species of animals and plants that inhabit a special environment (water salinity does not exceed 1–2%) that is not often found in nature. These are species such as Chara fragilis, Cryptocoryne ciliata, and brackish-marine diatoms. Stingrays (Dasyatidae), many livebearing fish species (e.g., guppies, some mollies) are found not only in fresh but also in brackish waters. Species selection must be carefully thought out. Although the number of species suitable for keeping in brackish water is significantly smaller than the number associated with freshwater and marine systems, there are still enough of them to assemble an interesting collection.
Terrarium represents a continental slice of life. It is an artificial volume placed in living conditions or in a special interior. A mandatory condition for an aquarium is glass walls; for a terrarium, the requirements are somewhat more flexible: some of the surfaces enclosing the volume can be made of another material, such as asbestos cement lined with stones, and for many animals, a mesh can replace glass. A wide variety of vertebrates and invertebrates can be kept in a terrarium, such as spiders, ants, termites, scorpions, insects, etc. The terrarium must guarantee the impossibility of leaving its space.
It is not recommended to keep rapidly reproducing pets at home, especially insects. These are usually the American cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis), the oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis), or other colorful representatives of cockroaches. The small larvae are so mobile and all-penetrating that it is difficult to keep everyone inside the terrarium. Among the most spectacular exotic invertebrates, many keep scorpions or large spiders that live in captivity for many years. Most often, however, small vertebrates are kept in terrariums. They contain various rodents (rats, mice, small gerbil representatives), toads, snakes, lizards. Their representatives need a dry, warm volume reproducing living conditions in deserts, semi-deserts, savannas, and steppes, or a humid terrarium of a tropical forest and swamps.
The setup of a terrarium largely depends on the pets, their habits and needs, and their feeding. In addition to feeding, various shelters must be provided. Many of them require heating with infrared sources. Sometimes it is possible to plant various unpretentious plants, preferably hard-leaved ones. These are representatives of bromeliads, lianas, ferns, and other plants that can get along with your pets.
Paludarium. In a terrarium and aqua-terrarium, the amateur’s main attention is focused on the kept animals, while in an aquarium it is on plants and animals. A paludarium is intended primarily for growing plants. It is a combination of underwater and surface vegetation, a kind of aquatic greenhouse. A paludarium represents a community of littoral and swamp plants. It contains amphibian representatives of the plant kingdom that grow and swim in water in nature, yet take root in the substrate and can painlessly endure fluctuations in the water surface level, up to complete emergence onto land or draining of the reservoir. A paludarium is a unique invention of plant world enthusiasts. In a paludarium, a small pond is created with small floating plants forming a fresh green carpet. Where space permits, we can keep larger plants from Araceae, ferns, Anubias, etc.
High humidity in a paludarium is ideal for growing swamp or tropical plants, as well as many aquarium plants. For decoration, driftwood can be used, preferably those with moss overgrowths, and gnarled acacia branches on which many epiphytes and other plants grow particularly well. A paludarium is a very exotic element of interior design, and a paludarium paneled in wood or another material matching the surrounding interior allows keeping indoor flowers such as orchids around it, for which one would otherwise have to arrange a special winter garden.
Aqua-terrarium is a combination of an aquarium and a terrarium, serving for the simultaneous keeping and display of compatible aquarium and terrarium inhabitants that require both water and land simultaneously for their life, and primarily amphibians. For keeping many amphibians and reptiles leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle, an aqua-terrarium is most suitable, which is made on the basis of a water-tight aquarium where land is represented by numerous islets. The water surface is small and shallow, 3–10 cm deep. This is quite enough for keeping fire-bellied toads, true toads, tree frogs, and ornate frogs. Substrate, lighting, and biotope-appropriate vegetation are of great importance for creating comfortable conditions for aqua-terrarium inhabitants.
As a rule, all amphibians reproduce underwater; spawning, larval rearing, and their subsequent life take place in water for a certain period. Therefore, their breeding requires an appropriate combination of an aquarium and a terrarium with sufficient depth and dense vegetation throughout the space. It is advisable to have a fairly large terrarium in which a small aquarium built into the substrate is placed. Many keep amphibians with predominantly underwater living (some tropical frogs), which also includes the axolotl. Upon ensuring optimal keeping conditions, matured individuals leave the aquarium and turn into an amphibian with keratinized skin. Staying underwater for a long time is already unnatural for them, but they return to the water for mating and spawning. A similar behavior is observed in our salamanders and newts, as well as in tropical amphibian representatives coming to us.
Spawning aquarium. Spawning tanks are usually smaller in size than the general aquarium. For some small fish, vessels with bottom dimensions of 20×20 cm can even be used for this purpose, but everything depends on the fish species and spawning characteristics. Different fish species require spawning aquariums with different proportions. This can be a long aquarium divided into sections by partitions. It is easiest to make partitions from plexiglass 1–3 cm below the rim of the aquarium itself to prevent accidental water overflow over the edge. The number of holes in the partitions must be sufficient for free water flow, and their size must prevent fish and fry from penetrating into neighboring compartments.
A sectional aquarium is convenient because it eliminates the need to use multiple filters and heaters required when maintaining separate containers. It is intended for fish spawning and is needed in 2 cases: — when it is important to create the necessary conditions for fish spawning, i.e., certain parameters of dH, KH, pH, temperature, lighting, as well as the necessary protection of eggs from fish, etc.; — if it is necessary to obtain the largest number of eggs. As a rule, these aquariums are made of ordinary or organic glass due to the fact that when water contacts metal and putty, various substances are released into the water that negatively affect spawning fish and their eggs.
Incubators. Auxiliary glass or organic glass containers necessary for life support of developing eggs and larvae of aquarium inhabitants. The water must necessarily have the same parameters as the water in the spawning aquarium. The internal setup meets the requirements of the bred fish species. Their capacity ranges from 0.5 to 25 liters. The minimum volume is required for egg-scattering killifish that lay eggs in peat; the maximum is for incubating discus eggs left by parents. The main conditions for maintaining an incubator aquarium: cleanliness, optimal temperature, hydrochemical composition, and oxygen regime. Very often, an empty spawning aquarium is used as an incubator.
Rearing aquariums. Trough-like vessels in which fry are raised in the first months of their life must be spacious and convenient for maintenance. Necessary for growing fry transferred from the incubator to the rearing tank at the age of about 2–3 weeks. This aquarium is also made of glass or organic glass, up to 20 cm high and with a volume of 80 liters and above. Here, aeration and filtration are already necessary. Initially, water parameters are maintained as in the incubator, and then these parameters are gradually changed to optimal for keeping the given fish species. This aquarium can also in many cases replace the spawning aquarium and incubator.
Quarantine and treatment aquarium. This aquarium is necessary for quarantining newly acquired fish and treating sick specimens suspected of some disease. Even if your fish is already sick, treating it in a small aquarium will be much cheaper in terms of medications than pouring half a bottle at a time into your 200–400 liters, harming all other inhabitants. Snails and shrimp may not survive such “treatment” at all, and there is a chance to lose the entire population, which again leads not only to moral but also to financial losses.
Manufactured again, as a rule, from ordinary or organic glass, used without substrate and without plants, equipped with a heater, aeration, and filtration. Depending on the fish species, this body of water should provide the maximum possible swimming space. A lamp or any other fixture should be placed above such an aquarium so that one can observe the patient’s well-being at will. One should also not forget about the cover glass, since most fish can successfully jump out.
Stages of buying and setting up an aquarium. Your first purchases.
Mini-aquarium. Care, Fish, Feeding. 
