As the
water evaporates, it should be filled up to its original level with fresh
spring-water,--the salts in it undergoing no diminution by evaporation.
If, suddenly, the water should grow thick, it should be taken from the
tank, a portion at a time, and filtered back into it slowly through
pounded charcoal, the process being repeated till the purity seems to be
returning, and at the same time the rocks and seaweed should be removed
and carefully washed in fresh water. If, however, the water should by any
ill chance grow tainted and emit a bad odor, nothing can be done to
restore it, and, unless it is at once changed, the creatures will die. To
meet such an emergency, which is of rare occurrence, it is well to have a
double quantity of the salts sent with the tank to secure a new supply of
water. But we have known aquariums that have kept in order for more than
a year with no change of the water, a supply of spring-water being put in
from time to time as we have directed; and at this moment, as we write,
there is an aquarium at our side which has been in active operation for
six months, and the water is as clear as it was the day it was put in. If,
spite of everything, the seawater fail, then try a fresh-water aquarium.
Use your tank for the pond instead of the ocean; and in the spotted newt,
the tortoise, the tadpole, the caddis-worm, and the thousand other
inhabitants of our inland ponds and brooks, with the weeds among which
they live, you will find as much entertainment as in watching the wonders
of the great sea.
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