Goldfish in an aquarium glass

Advantages and disadvantages

Aquariums with legs are popular among office workers. Such a decorative living pond can be placed directly on your desktop. And at home, children will especially enjoy watching a beautiful fish in a small vessel.

Such an aquarium has the following advantages:

The container is practical, as it is usually made from environmentally friendly plastic.
Small amounts of water are easier to change.
The shape and light weight do not interfere with moving from one place to another.
You can find a place even in a small apartment.
The child will be able to take care of the small dimensions independently.
The design of such an aquarium will harmoniously fit into any interior.

Arranging and caring for a spherical vessel with aquatic inhabitants has its own difficulties, which can be avoided in an aquarium of a regular shape.

Disadvantages of a glass-shaped aquarium:

The movement of fish is limited, since the height of the product is greater than the width.
The number of species of aquatic inhabitants that can survive in “glass” conditions is very small.
The spherical shape distorts the image, which affects the well-being of the fish.
Not all plant varieties are suitable for such conditions.
The filter gets dirty faster than if installed in a large space.

It is necessary to think about how to maintain the temperature. The lamp overheats the water greatly and cools quickly in a cold room.

The history of goldfish

The aquarium goldfish is a direct descendant of the crucian carp. It appeared more than 1,500 years ago as a result of random genetic connections. Initially, fish were the privilege of only wealthy Chinese. Fish appeared in Russia in the 18th century.

Over the 2000s, thousands of years of history, breeders have developed many varieties of aquarium goldfish.

Arrangement of the aquarium

Arranging an aquarium in the form of a glass must be approached responsibly, since we are talking about a small and not entirely comfortable space for fish. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the harm of a spherical shape.

Decor

Aquariums are decorated in a minimalist style. You can put some soil on the bottom and add a small amount of algae. You can get by with artificial plants rather than live ones to avoid the growth of bacteria. LED lighting looks great. At night, this underwater world looks amazing. You should not clutter the space with a lot of decorations that will limit the movement of the fish. In a glass, the main decorative role belongs to its inhabitants.

Equipment

Equipment that can be placed in such a container without compromising aesthetics and fish is more difficult to select. More often they make do with a minimum of equipment.

The following devices are required:

The power is selected depending on the type of inhabitants and the volume of the aquarium. When purchasing, it is necessary to focus the seller’s attention on the fact that the equipment is being purchased for a very small reservoir. It is better to do without devices at all than to connect ones that do not match the power.

Containers in the form of wine glasses are complemented with a lid to prevent fish from jumping out and to protect from debris and various objects. The cover is used as a platform for fixing equipment and will protect against attacks by other pets.

Plants

Even in aquariums of 5-15 liters you can place green spaces that will grow without additional carbon dioxide and even without soil. It should be remembered that plants need light in all conditions. It is necessary to ensure that they do not rot or grow. For plants that need soil, a layer of 3 cm is arranged. This is enough for the root system. The soil is pressed down with pebbles, preferably black ones.

Algae that can be planted in a miniature pond:

Anubias are beautiful, not tall. There is no need to plant it in the ground, just tie it to a pebble at the bottom. The roots will sprout on their own where they need to. The growing season of algae is slow, so it will not be difficult to ensure that they do not fill the bowl.
Hornwort absorbs the organic matter necessary for life directly from the water. An unpretentious underwater plant that survives in extreme conditions. It is recommended to press down the lower part with a stone or sprinkle it with soil. The only inconvenience is that the extra branches need to be plucked off from time to time.

Plants that live on the surface of the water should not be planted in a container that tapers towards the top. The area of contact with the air is already limited.

Aquarium fish

The glass aquarium is suitable for bright fish that can live in a limited spherical space:

You can introduce a small catfish, which will happily clean the green coating from the walls.
Neons will feel comfortable and will decorate an unusual glass. The only problem is that you can’t admire it from afar.
Guppies will not feel cramped, but they have the peculiarity of reproducing quickly. You will have to provide a container for placing the fry.
The betta fish is an ideal option for an aquarium in the form of a glass. For comfort, he needs warmth and bright light. If there is not enough oxygen, it captures it by swimming to the surface.

Aquarium care

A spherical aquarium requires constant maintenance. It is necessary to have a fish net, paper napkins, and a magnetic scraper on hand. Using a biological filter will make caring for a spectacular pond easier.

The water must be changed frequently, once every 7-10 days. 20% of the water must be replaced. Tap water is pre-settled.
During cleaning, the fish are moved to another container, otherwise they can easily be harmed.
You cannot catch fish with your hand or a glass, only with a net.
Clean glass walls using magnetic scrapers.
Decorative elements are disinfected using boiling or baking soda. Detergents cannot be used.
Organic matter is removed from the soil using a siphon.

If you take good care of your glass in a timely manner, such a pond will bring joy to adults and children and will decorate the interior of your home or office. If you liked the article, leave comments and share a link to it on social networks.

Often, when looking for a suitable gift for a loved one, they stop at the thought: it would be nice to help create comfort, decorate the home with living creatures, for example, fish. A suitable option is the cockerel - an extravagant and bright individual, with its own character and morals, quite exotic in appearance and vulnerable inside. There are many color options, but they all have the same character – fighting and cheerful!

She needs a home, and it must be worthy of the beauty of its inhabitant. An aquarium in the form of a glass is often chosen as a home. It takes up little space and can be installed in places where the owners often stay, for example, near the desktop, on a shelf between books, and even on a bedside table. In the warm season, such a water dwelling can be taken out into the fresh air, but protected from direct sunlight: this will cause the walls to become overgrown with a green coating.

What are they?

Fish in a glass is original and modern. Professional aquarists do not regard this option as biologically feasible. It is impossible to create conditions for self-purification of water, plant living plants and select natural soil. Devices that maintain the required water quality (aerator, pump, filter, heater, thermometer, etc.) will also remain unclaimed.

That is why the choice of a resident in such a house is small. The fish should not need ideal conditions; it is better if it adapts to limited space and oxygen deficiency. This option is the cockerel - a biological species capable of swallowing oxygen from the air, floating to the surface to do this. Her character is labyrinthine, she loves warmth, light and thickets. With a betta fish there will be no big problems regarding the purity of the water and the lack of oxygen in it.

The rounded shape of such an aquarium entails:

narrowed bottom and, accordingly, insufficient amount of soil for plant rooting;
a vertical column of water exceeding its width in height;
distortion of the parts placed inside due to the spherical shape of the walls.

Aquarium decoration

For comfortable keeping of fish in a glass, the following devices are placed in the tank:

filter;
compressor;
lighting lamps;
heater.

Due to its compactness, it is difficult to place the equipment in a reservoir, so it is attached to the lid of the vessel. All appliances must be designed for a wine glass-shaped container only.

Decorating an aquarium with vegetation requires care and precision. Planting a large amount of greenery will not work, so experienced aquarists advise planting a couple of living plants that do not require rooting in the ground. The rest of the tank space is filled with artificial algae and decorations. The basic principle of choosing decorations is minimalism, otherwise the aquarium inhabitants will not be visible.

How to “get out of the situation”?

In such cramped conditions, it is hardly possible to grow a variety of flora, except maybe one or two pots with bush varieties. Layer-by-layer planting of plants in the soil is unrealistic due to its insignificant quantity and problems with sanitation. If you take the risk of placing natural stones or sand, you can quickly face the problem of their silting, turbidity and colonization by bacteria. This also happens due to a lack of oxygen and the low self-purifying ability of a small volume of water.

It is rational to decorate an aquarium for a betta with artificial algae, choosing bushy and spreading options. One of their advantages is that they are equipped with a weight that makes the presence of soil optional.

Even if soil becomes optional for such “plants,” they should complete the underwater ensemble for beauty and originality. Transparent glass pebbles shimmering in different colors are the best option. They “play” beautifully in the light and even visually increase the available volume; they are easy to clean and disinfect.

Some tips

One of the vagaries of cockerels is their love for warm water. Therefore, it is advisable to place his water house near heating devices, radiators, etc.

The fish does not like drafts and excessive turmoil. She is her own boss and commander. The beauty of its fins often captivates the cockerel, making them not notice problems with digestion. At the same time, it is precisely such troubles that you should be prepared for.

Organizing the nutrition of a betta is an important issue that requires a special approach: do not overfeed, give food at a certain time, enrich the diet with useful substances. At the same time, an aquarium glass is a place where food debris will quickly rot and pollute the water. They should be collected while they are floating on the surface, immediately after 10 minutes of giving food.

Despite the cockerel’s unpretentiousness to its living conditions, its small house should be washed regularly and thoroughly. It is advisable to change the water at least once every two weeks, washing the pebbles and plants, clearing the walls of growth, mucus and yellow plaque. It is useful to carry out preventive treatment once a month with antiseptic agents intended for aquarium use. This removes the odor and prevents the growth of bacteria for some time.

It is better when the betta fish is introduced into the aquarium at a young and even “childish” age. Then she develops appropriate habits, reflexes are strengthened and she does not feel lonely.

An aquarium with a cockerel fish is a beautiful and stylish design element that gives the home softness and comfort, and the office a comfortable microclimate. It’s worth a try: the cheerful disposition of its inhabitant will bring a lot of positive emotions and fill you with optimism.

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An aquarium glass will be an excellent gift for beginner aquarists, as well as for adherents of minimalism. You can decorate a glass using several types of algae and populate it with cockerels or small catfish. Caring for such a large vase requires a minimum of time, and the original appearance of the aquarium in the form of a glass will be an excellent addition to the interior.

Breeding goldfish

As soon as the first goldfish appears in the house, the temptation arises to buy several more. If we are talking exclusively about golden pets, then it is clear that there should be only one breed in the aquarium. They are all related to each other, so there is a risk of getting “mongrels”. With such careless species and type maintenance, after a while ordinary crucian carp will swim in the aquarium.

The optimal age suitable for breeding is 2 – 3 years.

To breed goldfish, you need a separate spawning aquarium, in which a male and two females are placed. After spawning, adults are returned to the main aquarium.

The fry will appear in a week. At first, babies feed on the reserves of the yolk sac, and then switch to independent feeding.

Advantages and disadvantages

Aquariums in the form of wine glasses have different volumes. Most often, such tanks have a capacity of 5 to 16 liters. Glass aquariums are not suitable for housing schooling fish. An aquarium volume of up to 16 liters is suitable for only one individual. If the capacity of the tank exceeds 16 liters, then such an aquarium is suitable for populating a couple of smaller individuals.

The advantage of a glass aquarium lies primarily in its practicality. The containers are made from acrylic glass or environmental plastic, which makes the product quite durable. There are other advantages too.

Thanks to its shape and light weight, the glass aquarium can be easily moved from one place to another.
In the summer, such a container can be placed in fresh air.
One of the advantages is the ease of maintenance. The pond is easy to wash and clean.

The disadvantage of such a tank is its configuration. Most often, mini-aquariums come with a filter, pump, lid, and lighting. For good water purification, a powerful filter is required, which cannot be said about a filter for glass aquariums. Lighting in a small pond causes the water to heat up, which negatively affects the well-being of some types of fish. After turning off the backlight, the water cools down quickly. This leads to temperature changes, which also does not contribute to providing good and stable living conditions for the inhabitants of the tank.

In addition, it takes a significant amount of time for beneficial bacteria to inhabit the filter . This takes up to 6 weeks. Therefore, you should always have settled water on hand. At first, you need to replace 25% of the fluid at least 2 times a week.

How to choose an aquarium for goldfish?

To choose the right aquarium, you need to take into account only 2 parameters: shape and volume.

Aquarium volume

The volume of the aquarium must correspond to the number of residents. For the comfort of residents, aquarium cubic meters must correspond to the following dimensions: 80 liters per individual. For two pets you need 100 liters. It is necessary to take into account the fact that design additions, in the form of plants, houses, as well as various filters, steal useful volume. Soviet textbooks on aquarium keeping allowed for much smaller sizes, but the fish were also of Soviet origin. They were genetically adapted to such a living area. Nowadays goldfish are brought from China, Japan, and Malaysia, the care and maintenance of which are completely different. Many novice aquarists, not knowing these subtleties, are faced with the death of their pets, blaming the sellers. In fact, the owner is to blame for not adapting the new resident to other volumes. You should not point your head at exhibition aquariums in which the fish live crowded together, like in a multi-story building. There are powerful filters and aerators, the water is changed 24/7, and there is always an ichthyopathologist nearby who monitors their health. It is almost impossible to provide such care at home.

Aquarium shape

There is only one rule here: the aquarium must be rectangular, the length is 2 times the width. Square, too tall and narrow aquariums are not suitable. Very slight curvature is allowed and only for the viewing glass. The side and rear windows must be strictly straight. Round, cylindrical and glasses are not suitable for keeping goldfish. The fact is that the fish's mental health begins to suffer. No matter how absurd this may seem, it is a fact.

Settling the aquarium and its design

When populating an aquarium in the form of a vase, you should take into account the features of the spherical shape. In such a tank, the presence of oxygen in the water is insufficient for some species of fish. In addition, the curved lines of the glass distort and refract light, which is very stressful for the fish and can affect their well-being.

Small specimens are suitable for a small tank. For example, you can put a small catfish in such an aquarium. It’s good that the catfish themselves clean off the green coating from the walls of the container.

In a small pond, cockerels, neons, lalius and guppies feel great. In most cases, it is the cockerels that live in the glasses. The fish is very bright and noticeable. The cockerel can regularly swim to the surface and swallow oxygen. The fish prefers warm water temperatures and bright lighting. If a betta lives in a glass aquarium, you should take care of purchasing a heater to constantly maintain a comfortable temperature of the water in it.

It should also be remembered that over time, small individuals begin to reproduce. The number of copies must be controlled. Overcrowding such a small aquarium can be dangerous.

Some people believe that goldfish are the ideal choice for a glass aquarium. This is a misconception. When there is a limited amount of oxygen in the tank, goldfish may get sick and develop poorly. Goldfish are more suitable for large bodies of water with dense vegetation.

The following equipment for a glass aquarium is required:

The power of the devices should be selected depending on the type of aquarium inhabitants. When choosing, you should purchase compact equipment designed specifically for small bodies of water.

The main principle of designing a small aquarium is minimalism. You can place a small amount of soil at the bottom and supplement it all with algae. Experienced aquarium hobbyists advise purchasing a couple of live plants that do not require rooting in the soil. You should not decorate the vessel with plants in layers. Such planting of vegetation can lead to sanitation problems and bacterial growth.

You can complement the decor with various decorative elements, but they should be in moderation. Fish should always be in sight.

Wine glass containers are always complemented with a lid. This option is also suitable for those who have a betta living in their aquarium.

Several advantages of glasses with lids should be noted:

prevents fish from jumping out;
protects against the ingress of various objects;
You can attach lighting in the form of a backlight to the lid.

Types of goldfish

A variety of shapes and colors allows you to choose a pet to suit your taste. Goldfish are divided into two types: short-bodied and long-bodied. But type is one thing, but breed is another. Below is a description of popular breeds of aquarium goldfish.

Heavenly eye or astrologer

A beautiful, large animal with a round shape. Body length is up to 15 cm. A special feature of this breed is its telescopic eyes. The color of the stargazer is orange with a golden touch.

Water eyes

The size of this beauty reaches 20 cm. The most common fish are silver, orange and brown.

Veiltail or Fantail

Nature has awarded the veiltail with rich colors: from gold to red and black. Its tail is impressively beautiful. It spreads out in soft waves, falling like a beautiful veil.

Pearl

The pearl was bred in China. It has scales that resemble pearls.

Comet

This beauty has an elongated body. The tail is forked, and the longer it is, the more highly valued the specimen is. The comet is similar to the veiltail, and therefore they are often confused by inexperienced aquarists.

Oranda

A distinctive feature of the Oranda from other breeds is the cap on its head. In all other respects it is similar to the veiltail.

Ranchu

Ranchu appeared thanks to Japanese breeders.

Shubunkin

Another cute Japanese guy. In its homeland it is called calico or sibunkin, but in Russia the name “calico” has stuck. The calico goldfish got its name due to its unusual color. This is a large breed that is kept in bodies of water, such as greenhouse ponds. Not suitable for home keeping due to its size. But, if you want, you will have to purchase a spacious aquarium.

Telescope

Very similar to a stargazer with large, bulging eyes. Grows no more than 12 cm.

Lionhead

The lion head got its name for a reason. At the age of 3 months, growths appear on the head that frame it like a mane.