Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/57

Rh A tank so stocked, will be well filled with life; and if the plants be sufficiently strong, and in a good light, all will go well.

Another, and to some perhaps, prettier selection, might be made thus:&mdash;Three gold carp, of various sizes; three Prussian carp; two perch; four large loach; a dozen minnows; half-a-dozen bleak; and two dozen planorbis.

If stocked with great care, with a bottom of pebbles only, this would do very well; and the sides would never want cleansing. For a smaller vessel, the same selection might be made, but with a proportionate reduction of the numbers.

Those who make their own selection, may choose from the following:&mdash;

Plants.&mdash;Vallisneria spiralis, Anacharis alsinastrum, Callitriche vernalis and autumnalis, Nuphar lutea, Potamogeton crispus, densus, and fluitans, Stratoides aloides, Ranunculus aquatalis (apt to foul the water in a north aspect), Myriophyllum spicatum, Myosotis palustris, [sic] (the real forget-me-not&mdash;it flowers above the surface), Butomus umbellatus (for the centre&mdash;it flowers above the surface), Lemna, Nitella, and Chara. For a list of suitable ferns and instructions on their culture I must refer the reader to my work entitled, where this department is amply treated.

Fishes.&mdash;Gold carp, British, Prussian, and Crucian carp, pike, perch, tench, minnows, chub, loach, gudgeon, bream, and in winter, roach, dace, and bleak.

Reptiles.&mdash;The smooth and warty newt, tadpoles, frogs.

Mollusks.&mdash;Univalves, Planorbis comeus, and