Aquarium Wonderland (1955)

[Music] deep down in the ocean's are some very unusual things unusual and often colorful unfortunately very little of this ocean life can be seen a great deal can be learned about water life however by studying the Wonders within a small aquarium an aquarium no larger than this one the plant and animal life found here have much in common with the plant and animal life found in great oceans lakes and rivers for example we can learn about the wonderful way that animals breathe underwater notice that this goldfish appears to be drinking he's really breathing breathing underwater water usually contains invisible bubbles of oxygen called free oxygen fish breathe free oxygen with a pair of organs called gills which are located inside the body the gills look like several rows of bright red Combs but are really hundreds of small blood vessels covered with thin layers of skin in human beings the blood comes to the lungs for oxygen in fish the blood comes to the gills for the same purpose this is the way it happens the fish opens his mouth and takes in water the water contains invisible bubbles of free oxygen when the fish closes his mouth he is able to force the water through his gills while the water passes through the gills the blood absorbs the free oxygen directly out of the water then the water is forced out the Gill opening the oxygen it once contained is now in the fish's bloodstream it's difficult to believe that fish have any blood just by looking at them with a naked eye but the next picture offers proof that fish do have blood this is a small section of a goldfish's tail greatly magnified here the fish's tiny heart is pumping blood throughout its body just as in a human body the oxygen this Blood contains is feeding all parts of the fish's body oxygen is of life-giving importance to fish just as it is to humans some oxygen enters the water directly from the open air some of it is manufactured by plants and released in the water in this aquarium a special air pump helps add free oxygen to the water fish are remarkable in more ways than one whether they are found in an ocean or a small aquarium instead of having arms and legs like land animals they have fins goldfish have seven fins in all each fin can be opened or closed by small rib likee bones by moving the various fins in certain ways fish can travel in any and all directions they can go up or down they can go sideways they can move their fins so gently that they stand still still fish can even swim backwards most fish have a nose these two little dots are the nostrils a fish can often locate food by smell besides an ear located inside its body a fish has an unusual nerve organ called a lateral line which is located just beneath the scales the lateral line can feel very high sounds it combines the senses of both hearing and touch the ocean contains a variety of water life but only a small number of animals can be kept in an aquarium one interesting water animal that lives quite well in any small aquarium is a snail a snail breathes the same as a fish except it has only one yill if it were not able to fold up into its shell a snail would soon be eaten by Hungry Fish seen through the glass aquarium wall the snail makes an interesting sight as it eats the tiny plants called algae that grow there when setting up a new aquarium a few very important things must be remembered first of all the aquarium tank is placed on a Firm support then the bottom of the tank is prepared to do this some coarse sand is washed in running water sand from ocean beaches cannot be used it is too salty after a while all the dirt washes away leaving only clean sand then the bottom of the aquarium is covered with the sand 10 lbs of it is just enough for this 5 gallon aquarium some plants are placed in the sand they not only make the aquarium look nice but more important they help add oxygen to the water water is then added the saucer helps keep the sand and plants from washing away ordinary drinking water often contains too much of the chemical chlorine fish become sick in this kind of water so the aquarium is allowed to stand just like this for a week this ages the water and causes the chlorine to disappear before putting in fish the temperature of the water the fish are in and the temperature of the aquarium water are checked they should be nearly the same for fish cannot stand too sudden a change in temperature this is the correct way to accustom fish to a new temperature the temporary goldfish home will float this way for half an hour while the two temperatures slowly become equal then the Goldfish can be released for every gallon of water one snail can also be added snails help keep the aquarium clean unless an air pump is used to help add oxygen to the water there must not be too many fish in the aquarium if there are too many fish there will not be enough free oxygen for all of them there should be at least one gallon of water for every inch of fish this 5 gallon aquarium has room to spare for these three 1-in goldfish only one person should do the feeding each day as it is dangerous to overfeed fish a small amount of food is enough for three or four average size goldfish about once a week a dip tube is used to clean out the bottom of the aquarium the dirty water is discarded and fresh water that has been aged for a week is added to refill the tank these goldfish are happy for three reasons one their aquarium is not overcrowded two they get just enough food each day never too much and three they are happy because they never have a sudden change in temperature even under these ideal conditions goldfish seldom lay eggs in an aquarium although it is possible if this were to occur the eggs would have to be removed to a separate bowl for many fish cannot resist eating them when greatly magnified the eggs at first show no signs of life but within a day or two they begin to take the shape of tiny fish curled into tight little balls on the fourth or fifth day the fish are born one by one they break out of their soft shells to become living breathing members of the wonderful world of water [Music] animals the little fish instinctively hide among the leaves of water plants in a few weeks they are big enough to be placed in the main aquarium when they grow older however they must be removed otherwise the aquarium will soon be overcrowded there are other wonders to be found in an aquarium wonders among both plants and animals for an aquarium no larger than this one is truly one of Nature's wonderlands by seeing some of the things that live here we are better able to understand more about the many strange things that live in the Great bodies of water which are all around us