Читать книгу Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys - Joseph H. Adams - Страница 10

There is nothing difficult in the construction of a glass-and-wood aquarium like the one shown in Fig. 14, and the boy who is handy with tools and careful in joining wood-work accurately will be able to knock it together in short order. The best size will be twenty-four inches long, fifteen wide, and ten inches high. This will be generous enough in proportions to accommodate a dozen or so of small fish, some baby eels, crawfish, a turtle or two, and some water-lizards.

From a carpenter obtain a piece of white-wood twenty-seven inches long, seventeen inches wide, and one and a half inches in thickness. This must be of selected stock, hard and free from knots or sappy places. Cut four battens of hard-wood two inches wide, an inch thick, and fifteen inches long, and with brass screws attach them securely to the underside of the board to prevent its warping from the action of the water. Obtain a stick one inch and a half square and four feet long; cut this into lengths of eleven inches each and also prepare one eight feet long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick. With a groove-plane having a quarter-inch blade cut into the square stick on two sides as shown in Fig. 15 A. The edge of the stick between the two grooves may then be planed off so that an end view of the stick will appear as shown at Fig. 15 B. A groove should be cut at one side of the long stick three-eighths of an inch from one edge so that when turned groove side down an end will appear as shown at C in Fig. 15. This stick is to be cut in lengths fifteen and twenty-four inches respectively for top rails.

In the four corners of the white-wood board cut a hole with bit and chisel three-quarters of an inch square as shown at Fig. 16. Saw the bottom of each square stick so as to cut away about a quarter of an inch of wood on each side as shown at the lower part of A in Fig. 15. This is made so that the uprights will fit snugly into the holes and the shoulder formed by the saw-cuts will rest on the top of the base board.

With straight rule and pencil mark parallel lines connecting each hole as shown at D D in Fig. 16. These lines should correspond in position with the grooves cut in the posts; then remove the posts and with grooving-plane or chisel and mallet cut the grooves about three-eighths of an inch in depth. The glass sides fit into these grooves, and the top rails made from the long stick cap the upper edges of the glass sides. The ends should be lapped and screwed down to the top of the corner-posts to bind the glass and wood-work in one compact framework.

Before any of the wood-work is put together give it three successive thin coats of black asphaltum varnish, which can be purchased at a paint or hardware store. Each hole and the plug ends of the corner-posts are to be coated with thick asphaltum varnish, and when wet with the varnish the posts are to be driven into the holes. Screws passed in through the sides of the base board will hold them securely in place.

From a glazier or hardware store purchase two panes of double-thick glass ten by fourteen inches, and two measuring ten by twenty-two inches. Give the grooves a thick coat of the asphaltum varnish, slide the glass down into the grooves, and screw the top rails in place. When the glass is in place and before the top rails are put on, the glass should stand a quarter of an inch above the top of the corner-posts. When the rails are laid in place the top edge of the glass should be caught by the groove in the rails, otherwise the glass, having no support at the top, would bow out on account of the pressure of water, and either cause the glass to break or the joints to leak. Press the glass sides against the outer edges of the grooves and lightly insert some wooden wedges into the grooves to hold the glass in place temporarily for a day or two or until the varnish sets. Then fill the open spaces in the grooves with a putty made from whiting and asphaltum varnish. This you will have to make yourself with a putty-knife on a plate of glass, marble, or slate, for you cannot purchase it. Common putty is not hard enough and will not dry for months, while the special putty will set quickly and dry hard in a few days. When all the work is completed about the aquarium allow it to stand for at least a week, in which time the putty and varnish will harden.

At a paint store purchase some marine paint, also known as “copper paint,” and give the wood-work two or three thin successive coats, allowing it to dry for a few days between each coat. Scrape the paint from the glass where it may have been smeared, and the complete aquarium is ready for water and stock.

Another way in which to construct the framework is to take a curtain-pole one and a half inches in diameter, and at a planing-mill have a quarter section sawed out, as shown at Fig. 17, so that an end rim will appear as shown at B. The part of the wood-work the buzz-saw cuts away will correspond with the grooves cut in the square sticks.

Four holes one and a half inches in diameter, or the same size as the stick, are bored half-way-through the bottom-board of the aquarium and V-shaped channels are cut in the board connecting the holes (Fig. 18). The wood-work is treated in a manner similar to that already described, and the corner-posts are held in place by long brass screws driven up through the bottom and into the lower ends of the posts. The top rail is made the same as shown in Fig. 15 C, and the glass is set as described. At the corner-posts the lap is well smeared with asphaltum varnish and putty and the angle strips are screwed fast to the posts as indicated at A in Fig. 17. While this is somewhat easier to make it is not quite so substantial for large tanks as the square post and channels.

When catching the stock for the aquarium it is best to use a drop-net. This is made of two iron hoops fifteen or twenty inches in diameter and held one below the other with cord as shown at Fig. 19. Mosquito-netting is drawn across the lower hoop and sewed fast; then a band of it is sewed about both hoops to close in the sides, to form a cylinder open at the top only. Some bait is placed in the bottom of the net, and then it is lowered into the water so that the top hoop drops down and the whole net lies flat on the bottom of a pond. When a number of fish are around the bait a quick haul will raise the upper ring; then pull the net up with the fish captives within the cylinder. You can quickly select the ones you want, and these may be placed in a pail partly filled with water.

For turtles, crawfish, and lizards a scap-net will be necessary. This may be made from stout wire, a broom-handle, and some netting. The ring may be almost any size, from six to twelve inches in diameter, the ends being sharpened with a file and turned so that they may be driven into the end of the stick, which should first be bound with wire to prevent it from splitting. The bag of mosquito-netting is made on the hoop and sewed fast, as shown at Fig. 20. When changing the water in the aquarium it is not necessary to empty it all out. A siphon made of a small rubber tube will answer very well to drain off a portion. The part of the tube in the tank should be held close to the bottom so as to suck up any dirt or sediment that may be there. Good ventilation, light, healthy aquatic plants, clean sand, and a proper proportion of fish to the volume of water are absolutely necessary to the successful aquarium. A few tadpoles and snails are advantageous in an aquarium, as they consume decaying vegetable matter and help to prevent the formation of algæ on the glass.

For the aquarium large enough to contain them, some artificial rockeries may be made from cement, gravel, and stones, as shown in the illustrations of the concrete rockeries Figs. 21 and 22. They should be made with openings beneath for the fish to swim through, and pockets should be made at the top to hold sand and the roots of aquatic plants. The rockeries should have a good flat base so as to rest securely on the bottom of the aquarium. Always have plenty of pebbles and river-sand at the bottom of the aquarium to make the fishes feel at home.