Aquarium Helps to Keep Your Life Stress Free

While I was reading newspaper one Sunday morning my small daughter, who is just six years old, came to me with great excitement, her eyes which was full of joy and a big question. She snatched my newspaper and poured me with non stop questions on aquarium, why we don't have one and so on and so forth. I decided to answer her questions first, kept my news paper aside and made her to sit next to me.

Interest and a great Hobby
I told her that keeping aquarium is a great hobby and Chinese consider that keeping aquarium brings Good luck to them. It not only helps you busy in taking care of it but helps you to be happy seeing small fishes moving here and there, up and down in the water & the sight of small fishes moving relaxes a heart patient. It teaches you how to feed them and remove the excess feed after they have eaten. You will learn to keep aquarium water warm by putting heater in winter. Your knowledge on fishes and animals will increase and develop interest and love towards animals and our environment. You can also learn how to keep bullying fishes away in different place which indirectly help you to be friendly with fellow children and not to bully with them. This will inculcate self disciple in you. In short you can develop a nice hobby and create interest in biology and science.

How to select Aquarium and its accessories
On hearing my words my daughter's excitements knew no bound, she jumped on the floor and implored me to rush to the market to purchase an aquarium. In that evening whole family went to fancy market for purchasing aquarium. We went to a pet shop and with my past experience in fish keeping, selected an aquarium of 12 inches x 48 inches regular shaped glass aquarium well gummed with blue tin cover top, with a small opening for feeding. We selected a small glass feed with vacuum based rubber which can be fixed from inside with small holes in the bottom. Next we brought CFL lamp of 3 wattage which can be fixed from top to illuminate the aquarium at night. Then some gravels or pebbles, an under gravel pump to clean the water and aerating all the time, some dry fish feeds which can be easily fed to fishes. Some aquatic plants, a fish net to catch fishes while cleaning, 1 ½ meter long pipe for daily cleaning the front part of the aquarium. Some medicines for keeping fish healthy and avoid rotten fin diseases .

Selection of Fishes
My daughter started pulling my pants, I asked her why? She said where are the fishes? I said please don't worry baby, we have to select fishes for our aquarium. These were many types of fishes different sizes and colours . For an aquarium of 12 inches x 48 inches we can have three to four pairs of guppies, which are easy to keep and have colorful fins. A pair of gold fish (red cap goldfish, black telescope eyed gold fish, vertail gold fish, or simple gold fish as per your choice) can be selected. One to two pair of Angels, Four or five pair of Zebra fish, dinos, pair of tiger or tin barbs, Kissing gouramis, a pair of tiger shark fish or albino type shark fishes. One cat fish which helps in cleaning the aquarium. We selected our fishes and the owner of the pet shop packed our selected fishes in a plastic pack with half filled water from the original tank and our fishes in it. We paid him and brought them back to house.

Selection of water
My small daughter now on reaching home wanted to know what next? I told her that we have to fill the aquarium with chlorine free tap water or well water. She asked me why? Because I said chlorine is harmful to fishes, hence you have to have chorine free water. Generally tap water contains chlorine which can be made chlorine free by boiling and keeping it for one day. Well water is best suited for aquarium, because it does not contain any harmful chemicals. So before hand I have kept one bucket of chlorine free water. I then with my wife's help selected a hard table which can withstand the weight of aquarium when filled with water, and kept at that corner where in morning time some little sun will also fall. We kept the aquarium on the table put the gravels and pebbles in the aquarium. Gravels were placed in such a way that back side level or the height is more and the front side it is less. This helps the dirt to come and get accumulate in the front side, which can be easily suctioned by the 1 ½ meter plastic pipe. After placing the gravels, pouring the bucket of chlorine free water in the tank, which is firmly placed on a table.

Leaving fishes in the tank
By now my daughter lost her patience, as her fishes are not kept yet in the aquarium. She lost started shouting, then I told her not to loose cool, but have patience, she asked my why? I answered her question by placing the closed packet of fishes in side the tank and said you cannot leave it now as both the water temperature are not equal. Fishes cannot bear sudden temperature change, they will die. After half an hour or so , I took my daughter to the aquarium and open the packet which contained fishes and left so that the fishes could freely swim in to the aquarium.

Feeding
Once she saw the fishes in the aquarium her joy had no bounds. She jumped round and round and she wanted to feed her fishes. I told her not to feed the fishes that day. She asked me again why? I said by laughing that they have come home just now they have to get adjusted for a day, and we can feed them the next day. I gave her a task that every day she should feed the dry fish feed at a particular time and come and see if any feed is left after 2 hours. Remove the unused food by the fish net, so that the water is not polluted.

Stress free
Now it was the turn of my wife who asked me how it helps in reducing stress. I said simple if you watch those colourful fishes moving in the tank and enjoy it some time, you forget the tension or the work pressure which will automatically help you in reducing stress and a have happy and peaceful life.
Therefore, by keeping aquarium your children get fun, they will learn and acquire about aquatic life, by watching it and forgetting work pressure you lead a life of stress less life . Also you can help the environment by donating to fish aquariums if your fishes grew larger, indirectly saving the species.