STONES

Various stones, driftwood, ceramic products not only decorate the aquarium, but also are a substrate for spawning, shelter for a number of fish species, especially for laying eggs in a cave, serve to attach some species of plants, hide the aquarium instruments from the viewer, strengthen the walls of terraces and Are part of the decorative walls.
Not only the mixture for the soil, but almost all the decorative materials should be sterilized before placing in the aquarium. Stones should be cleaned with a brush under the stream of water, and then scalded with boiling water. Particularly natural appear in the aquarium pieces of ground sedimentary or volcanic rock, the size of a fist: granite, porphyry, gneiss, quartz, basalt and flint.


Quartzite is one of the most Common materials For aquarium design. The breed was formed in such a way that It is easy to divide into pieces.	Specialized trade Offers so-called stones for Grottoes. They really are very suitable For the construction of different structures, because Do not completely slip.

Such piles of stones can be found near any Quarry. There anyone who is only interested, Can get them at a fair price!	A spongy breed is found in many parts of Europe. The weight of such blocks is very large, and they can not be placed on the bottom of an aquarium of thin glass.

Caution: Sedimentary and layered rocks - limestone, dolomite, marble, sandstone, stalactite and some tuffs - should not be placed in aquariums containing fish that require soft water. Such stones will increase stiffness.
The shape of the stone depends on the aquarium landscape being created. So, for the coastal landscape fit fit in the length of a little angular stones. In no case should you use stones with sharp angles, which may injure the fish.
Well look in most aquariums, flat stones and stone grottoes. It is recommended that, by arranging a reservoir for cichlids, build stone caves in a dry aquarium. If you populate large, strong fish in it, it makes sense, as experience has shown, to bind the stones among themselves, because Rummaging in the ground, your pets can overwhelm or destroy an unstable structure.
Large slabs forming clefts are usually placed vertically, and if they are not stable, they are glued to the bottom with glue on a silicone rubber base or reinforced on a cement plinth, the first is preferable, then withstanding at least two weeks in running water or frequently replaced with water for Removal from the cement, if used in the second way, harmful substances. The stone slabs that form the caves establish each other, ensuring their stability. In general, all the large stone structures and large individual stones are laid on the bottom of the aquarium. Small stones are laid directly on the ground, but this should be avoided in the aquarium, in which live fish, who love to create shelter under the stones. They undermine the ground and can be crushed by a stone.
Grottoes can be made outside the tank, gluing them dry in the form of silicone rubber on the inside. In this way, artifacts made of stones can be joined at several points with a back or side glass wall, so that the whole structure will hold tight.
Attention: If you put a stone near the wall of the aquarium, then it must be laid either close to it, or at such a distance that fish and fish are not stuck between the wall and the stone during fright.
If it seems to you that fragments of flower pots or halves of coconuts, which are often used in practice by aquarists, are not good enough for you, then you can fold the grotto yourself from special stones that are sold in pet stores, they are called "stones for grottoes ". This material looks like "ceramic slag", there is no such material in nature. Its forms are so bizarre that the construction of a fish built from it can be destroyed with great difficulty.
From different types of shale - anthracite, gray or light brown - you can add not only the ledges of terraces, but also various buildings with shelters and caves in front of the back wall of the aquarium. They are especially fond of different species of cichlids from Lake Tanganyika.
Currently, there are often blocks of porous rock of different origin on sale. Of these, you can also build quaint buildings. But since they, as a rule, differ in huge weight, they should not be placed on the bottom of the aquarium only with a point support, without damping gasket. If the total weight of the load is too high, the bottom can simply split. And yet - these stones from a densely compressed and lime-containing material also increase the rigidity of aquarium water. Therefore, they are not suitable for the design of the aquarium, which will contain mainly from very soft waters.

SOLUTIONS
Koryagi give the underwater landscape a distinctive appearance and serve as a shelter for fish, in places attaching certain plant species, supporting terraces. The tree used must be dead and not contain vital juices. Best suited are the roots of trees that have lain for many years in running water. The roots and branches of the following tree species are suitable: alder, willow, beech, ash, maple. You can not use wood with rot and mold, as well as from muddy places and from reservoirs polluted with industrial and agricultural waste, and also breeds of coniferous tree species.
In previous years, the stilt was the only type of tree that was used in aquariums. Today, it imports relatively new, and therefore less well-known tree species. Among them, it is necessary to name, first of all, marsh oak, from whose wood are obtained very entertaining crafts. In addition, a wide variety of products of unknown origin, including mahogany. Many types of this wood are so heavy that they do not need to be impregnated with water at all. They immediately go to the bottom and even at the very beginning do not float to the surface. Nevertheless, they also need to be properly cleaned, and, if possible, soaked, as well. They emit a lot, a lot of humic substances, which in great concentration excessively burdens the aquarium water.
In general, the whole tree, installed in the aquarium, must be cleaned of dirt and bark and processed to destroy the settled bacteria and expel from the pores air, which gives the bulk of the tree buoyancy.
Processing: As a rule, the treatment of wood is carried out first in salt water, and then in ordinary water. In enameled dishes, naturally suitable for the size of the snag selected by you, pour water and pour the salt until, while stirring, part of it in undissolved form does not settle on the bottom, i.e. A saturated saline solution will be obtained. After that, the driftwood is prevented from sticking into the dishes, for example, with a stone, so that it does not float up and boil for about 10-12 hours. Then pour the usual water, again put the snag and boil for another 6 hours, already in ordinary, not salted water. And the last stage - to put a snag in the flowing or often replaced water, you can in a fish-free aquarium and keep it there for another week. After that your driftwood is ready for use. Just do not forget to clean the snag before processing, as described above.
Notorious mangrove snags are most often obtained from the lignified roots of these plants, in their native land growing very close to the sea, if not directly in seawater.

Mangrove forests grow on the sea coasts in the deltas of rivers flowing into the sea.
The wood is high in salt and tannic acid, so it should be soaked for a long time.
In the photo: a view of the mangrove swamp.

Such roots or products from them need to be soaked for a long time in water. Of these, first there must be salt and a lot of tannic acids.
A canter is the cheapest way to decorate an aquarium, and at the same time, the distribution of space for fish. It can be found in marshy areas, where peat is considered as a waste of peat only as waste, collected by mountains, and then burned.


Anyone who has the opportunity to visit the peat extraction sites will see whole piles of buckwheat there; It is dried and burned.	The korjazhnik (most often - the root wood) is a deposit of a thousand years ago; For peat extraction is nothing more than waste.

In order to lose its lightness, and thus its buoyancy, it must be soaked for a long time, because It is filled with water with great difficulty. Roots can not be laid on top of the ground at the bottom! Do not create special compartments for accumulation of dirt.
Bucket branches, in addition to their decorative function, have one more biological task: they help maintain a certain level of acidity in aquarium water. And fish with pleasure use such branches as peculiar shelters. Any fish tries (especially before retiring) to become as noticeable as possible from the surface of the water, and therefore seeks for itself some kind of niche or crevice. The roots lying on the bottom are not at all suitable for this. Their decorative role should be in another, they can as if grow out of the back or side wall of the aquarium, just as it happens in nature near the river's banks, where trees grow at some distance from the water.
The imagination and artistry of the decorator here is truly no limit. Between the thin branches-branches of these roots can be placed Javanese moss or other types of moss, and in the upper layers of water to attach to them floating plants.
If you wanted to use tubes of bamboo, cane or reed to decorate your aquarium, then they must be transfused with hydrogen peroxide or potassium permanganate, and then, after washing and drying, lower at least their open ends into molten polyethylene to give them strength. Pipes should be distributed in water in irregular groups, as is usually the case in nature.

OTHER DECORATIONS

Strictly speaking, the scenery is used to create an aesthetic effect. We will dwell in more detail on those subjects that are offered today to aquarists, and we will try to give them due. In your aquarium you can place a treasure chest, a skull, a skeleton, a galleon and many other things that are sold in a huge assortment at pet stores today. These little things can impress the imagination with their unusualness and mysterious origin. Personally, we, as supporters of the purity of the aquarium world, are critical of such products. In our view, these are empty and cheap tricks, just littering aquariums. Although in fact it is a personal matter for everyone, how to design your aquarium. And here it is inappropriate to give advice. In principle, such crafts made of ceramics, plastics and other materials, being in the aquarium in the form of products, often pleases the eye of many fans of aquarium. In general, the main thing is that all these products are made of non-toxic and safe materials, the fish themselves do not even pay special attention to these products.
The discovery several years ago of harmless plastics led to a real boom in the production of scenery. At the very beginning, fake logs, stones and corals were not very convincing, but the latest samples, especially the more expensive ones, look quite realistic. Many of the artificial corals are genuine, and this has led to the fact that aquarists have become much less likely to use traditional decolorized coral skeletons.

The back wall, glued from painted pieces of styropor (fragments of a plate), it is possible - despite the high buoyancy of this synthetic material - to be attached to the glass with the help of silicone rubber.

When using synthetic materials, it is necessary to make sure that one or the other of them can not release toxic substances when it is dipped in water. A two-part glue is not an all-healing remedy, and precisely because it consists of two basic materials. Silicone rubber contains only one component, and it can be used without any doubts in the same form as it comes out of a tube or bottle.
On the experience of using solvent-based adhesives (so-called "universal") in the home, everyone has long been convinced that under the influence of heat, they cling fairly tightly. But the thermal effect is not necessary for the hardening of all synthetic materials. For example, we know acrylic glue, with whose help glue organic glass: it hardens only under the influence of light. Repeatedly mentioned silicone rubber also does not require heat, it is vulcanized under the influence of air humidity.
Vapors of solvents, if inhaled in large quantities, are harmful to health. Using ready synthetic paint, it is necessary to make sure that the room where the work is being done is well ventilated. Anyone who paints an asbestos-cement aquarium from inside and depresses his head too deep will soon feel that he is sick. Many craftsmen could reduce their labors and troubles if they read instructions on using the purchased goods on time.

So, try, dare - the choice is yours!

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