Bleak in the aquarium. Who lives in the pond. What will we build from?
Bleak is one of the most common and well-known fish in Russia, as it is found almost everywhere. Its body is elongated, thin, covered with large steel scales, sparkling in the sun at every slightest turn of the fish. The back is gray-blue with a greenish tint, the sides and belly are silvery with a strong metallic sheen, the upper and lower fins are dirty yellowish. The scales are distinguished by their tenderness and sit so weakly on the body that they fall off at the slightest touch. This scale goes in France to prepare the so-called oriental essence ( Essence d "Orient), which is used to tint fake pearls. The method of preparing this essence was invented in the last century, but since then it has been improved more and more and is currently being produced as follows way.
Rice. 8.17: Bleak.
The scales scraped off with a knife are placed in water and stirred until there is no silver pigment left on it at all, which separates in the form of crystalline particles and falls to the bottom. Then all the scales are removed and a silvery precipitate remains at the bottom of the vessel, a silvery liquid, which makes up the famous Essence d "Orient. This precipitate is cleaned of impurities with ammonia and added to bind the fish glue. Then they take small blown glass balls and carefully put them into the holes, drop by drop, an essence that, adhering to their inner surface, gives them the appearance of pearls. The more irregular the shape of these balls, the more they look like real pearls. There are pearls so well faked that they can only be distinguished from real ones by weight A pound of this essence requires 4 pounds of scales, which require no more, no less than 15,000 bleaks.Bleak lives in almost all large and small rivers, and sometimes even just in streams. In addition, it is also found everywhere in flowing ponds and lakes, but only with clear clear water and a sandy bottom. At depth, this fish is kept very rarely - only in winter, in the rest of the year, especially in good sunny weather, it swims in flocks near the surface of the water, shining in the sun with silvery scales and its bluish backs. Its favorite habitat is quiet, deep waters, and only occasionally does it come across on shallow rifts, especially on the rapids of the river. Extremely lively, agile, she is constantly in motion and busily scurrying back and forth, eagerly rushing after the slightest floating grain, the slightest midge or worm. But the bleaks are especially excited on warm summer evenings, immediately after sunset, when clouds of mosquitoes and midges hustle just above the water. Swimming in flocks, they then rush after these swarms of pushers and, jumping up one after another, try to knock down the closest of the midges with splashes of water, which, once in the water, of course, immediately become their easy prey.
Bleak breeds very quickly and spawns in the second year. Its spawning usually begins around the end of May and lasts almost until the end of June.
The bleak lays its eggs at the very shores of a river or lake - on grass, in brushwood or stones. This caviar is very small and numerous. So far, nothing is known about how soon the juveniles hatch from it, and even, as far as I am aware, no observations have been made by anyone. So it would be extremely interesting if any of the amateurs managed to breed this fish in their aquarium, for which the main conditions should be: running water and sandy soil.
The bleak is extremely cautious, wild and, one might say, the only one of all the fish in my aquarium that not only never took food from my hands, but was even afraid to approach the surface of the water as soon as I put my hand to it. Many times, in order to try if hunger would at least make her overcome her cowardice and savagery, I did not even let her eat for several days. But even here, no matter how I held the hand with the delicious bloodworm above the very surface of the water, no matter how I teased it with it, the bleak still did not dare to take it.
But this wildness is especially unpleasant when cleaning the aquarium, since in order to catch a bleak, especially a large one, you then have to pour out almost all the water or already suffer for hours in catching this savage and break at least half of the plants. In addition, you have to catch it without ceremony directly with your hands, and there is nothing to think about catching it with a net in an aquarium where many aquatic plants are planted. A few years ago I had a bleak, which, having lived for 4 years, reached a size of about 3 inches and therefore became too large for my aquarium, especially in comparison with the rest of the small fry that inhabited it 1. Therefore, I thought about taking it out of the aquarium, but I suffered for almost the whole winter, broke the abyss of wallisneria, elodea and was able to catch it only when, before leaving for the dacha, I had already done a radical cleaning of the aquarium, i.e. when he took out all the plants from it and poured out all the water to the bottom.
Near Moscow, bleak is found in many places: in the Moscow River, in the Yauza near the village of Medvedkov, where the water of this river, which has not yet met dye factories, is clear as crystal, as well as in the village of Cherkizovo and in ponds near the Izmailovsky almshouse, from where it comes even for sale in Moscow.
In addition to ordinary bleak near Moscow (in the Moscow River), there is occasionally another species of it, the so-called bystrianka, which differs from Alb. lucidus with two black-purple stripes running along the middle of the body, as well as black triangular spots scattered here and there above the lateral line. But it is especially difficult to mix it during spawning, because then the black stripes take on a lovely blue or purple tint, and the lower fins become orange or even red at the base.
By way of life, the Bystrianka is very suitable for bleak, but adheres to faster water and is almost never found in ponds. Spawns spawns on the rocks, on the rapids; its caviar is small and numerous.
1 I don’t know about others, but I find that small fish in an aquarium look much more beautiful than large ones, and therefore I inhabit it as tiny as possible. In addition, since small ones absorb much less oxygen from water, you can have more of them in an aquarium than large ones.
Bleak - Alburnus lucidus Heck
Bleak is one of the most common and well-known fish in the CIS, found almost everywhere. The body of the bleak is elongated, thin, covered with large steel-colored scales sparkling in the sun. The back is darker, gray-blue with a greenish tint, the sides and belly are silvery with a strong metallic sheen. The upper and lower fins of the bleak are dirty yellowish in color. The scales are very delicate and sit very loosely on the body, so at the slightest touch it disappears.
Bleak lives in almost all large and small rivers, it also inhabits flowing ponds and lakes with clean clear water and a sandy bottom. The bleak is extremely careful. For most of the year, the bleak swims in flocks near the surface of the water, and at depth it stays only in winter. Their favorite habitat is quiet, deep waters, and only occasionally it comes across on shallow rifts. Extremely lively and very agile, she is constantly on the move and scurries back and forth near the surface, looking for prey. She greedily rushes after a small midge or worm floating by. On warm summer evenings, immediately after sunset, when clouds of mosquitoes and midges hustle just above the water, the bleaks are in great agitation. Keeping in flocks, they then rush after swarms of pusher mosquitoes and, jumping out of the water one after another, try to knock down the closest of the insects with sprays of water in order to refresh themselves. And the mosquito, once in the water, immediately becomes their easy prey.
The bleak matures quickly and begins to multiply already in the second year of life. Bleak spawning usually begins in mid-May and continues until almost the end of June. The bleak spawns its eggs in shallow water on grass, tree branches or stones located on the very shores of a river or lake. The eggs are very small and numerous, and juveniles soon appear from it.
In France, bleak scales are used to prepare the so-called oriental essence (Essence d'Orient), which is used to tint imitation pearls. The recipe for the preparation of this essence was invented in the century before last, and since then it has been more and more improved.
Currently, the preparation of oriental essence is as follows. Scraped bleak scales are placed in water and stirred until there is no silver pigment left on it at all, which separates in the form of crystalline particles and settles to the bottom. Then all the scales are removed from the container, and a silvery precipitate remains at the bottom of the vessel. This silvery liquid after cleaning from impurities is the famous Essence d'Orient.
To prepare pearls, they take small glass blown balls and carefully, through the holes, drop by drop, make an essence, which, adhering to their inner surface, gives them the appearance of pearls. The more irregular the shape of these balls, the more they look like real pearls, and they can be distinguished from real ones only by weight. To get a pound of this essence, you need 4 pounds of scales, which require no more, no less than 15,000 bleaks.
Compared to most aquarium fish, an adult bleak is still a giant, it is 7-15 cm in one fish, and at least 5 individuals are needed, because bleak is a schooling fish in nature.
By the way, in terms of habits, it is somewhat similar to Danio (lat. Danio), a small fish of the carp family, native to Southeast Asia.
Aquarium
Long, low, spacious and closed at the top, with a capacity of at least 100 liters. The bottom is covered with fine, washed river sand or pebbles; if desired, it can be zonally alternated.
Natural shelters are definitely needed, but without clutter - snags, all kinds of clay stucco, which is now a lot in pet stores for any choice.
Many plants are not planted in the main territory of the aquarium, a maximum of 1-2 pieces, including in the spawning area. Bleak does not like shadows, preferring open and lighted places.
Aeration
Special attention to aeration and water filtration. You need a powerful aerator - if you can create a current - in general, this is what is needed for the well-being of the bleak.
Once a week, it is obligatory to replace 1/3-1/5 of the volume of water with fresh water.
temperature and light
The water temperature must be maintained in the range of 14-23 degrees. During spawning - not lower than 15 degrees, the best option is 15-17. An aquarium water heater is used to regulate the temperature regime.
The bleak should always have light in the daytime, it is very susceptible to light. For lighting, lamps, LED or fluorescent, are used. You can turn them off at night.
Feeding
What to feed the bleak in the aquarium?
Both live food and dry food are suitable for feeding bleak. In nature, bleak eats insects that fall into the water - these are mosquitoes, flies, mayflies, etc. Therefore, you can feed it with insects by simply throwing it into the water. Right from the surface, she will grab them and eat them.
Any dry food is suitable, but dry whole and ground larvae and insects are preferable - daphnia, cyclops, etc.
The main rule in feeding is not to overfeed!
Then the fish will get sick and the water will not “roam”. It is better to keep starving, the bleak will get the missing calories with aquarium plankton.
Possible problems
The main problem is its popular at the time, which simply crumbles at the slightest friction or touch. It is strictly forbidden to take the fish in hand, transplant only with a net as quickly as possible and, if possible, without taking it out of the water.
The fact is that a fungus can develop in place of the fallen scales. For prevention, regular cleaning of the aquarium is required and, as described above, good water filtration.
Breeding bleak
If the bleak is kept year-round and there is a desire to get fry, in the spring about 1/5 of the bottom is raised to a depth of 10-20 cm and flat stones with sand are laid, thus arranging a spawning ground. In the spawning zone, no more than 1-3 plants are planted, preferably holly.
If the fish spawn successfully, this area is fenced off, as adult parents can eat their own caviar and fry.
Bleak eggs are yellowish and sticky in appearance, usually from April to May. The larvae are up to 5 mm in diameter. Feeds on plankton and algae.
During spawning, the temperature is maintained at least 15 degrees, the optimal range is 15-17. Recommended water hardness 3-15, acidity 6-7.5.
Keeping fish from local waters
Can I use well or spring water? Usually, a significant amount of mineral salts and other substances are dissolved in the water of these sources. Therefore, before using this water, check its properties. How do they do it? In a glass jar (or some other glassware), water settles for three to four days. Then it is thoroughly blown. A control fish is placed in a vessel with the test water and observed for several days. If she feels normal, then the water is suitable for keeping fish. The water temperature in an aquarium with fish in local reservoirs should be plus 15-18 ° C, that is, much lower than for exotic ones. Water hardness and pH values are allowed to be the same as for aquariums with exotic fish. Water treatment methods are also the same. What native fish can be populated in the aquarium? Crucian carp, carp or various breeds of carp bred from it, mustard, silver top, loach, tench, rudd, fry of a number of other local fish - as you can see, there is a considerable choice.
When settling in an aquarium, it should be taken into account that the most viable under its conditions are fish from stagnant lakes, ponds or reservoirs with a weak current. In addition, it must be borne in mind that fish caught in the autumn are more enduring than fish caught in spring or summer: the latter are less able to tolerate sharp fluctuations in temperature. Most of our native fish are more durable than exotic ones. So, for example, a carp lives about 40 years, other cyprinids - 10-15 years. Keeping fish from local reservoirs is also interesting because they are attractive for their appearance, habits and other features. When populating an aquarium, one must remember that it is impossible to place predatory and “peaceful” fish together. Predatory fish are considered to be those that feed on live fish. Peaceful fish feed on invertebrate animals or plants.
Predatory include: pike, perch, pike perch, catfish, burbot. To peaceful - bream, roach, rudd, ide, verkhovka, mustard, loach, crucian carp, carp and others. The most common inhabitant of stagnant waters of local reservoirs is crucian carp. Let's start our story with him. Carp. There are two types of crucian carp: common (golden) with golden scales and silver, in which the scales cast silver. Crucian is a bottom fish and feeds on bloodworms, algae, small mollusks; very unpretentious, which is explained by the difficult conditions of his life in natural reservoirs. Muddy reservoirs, the bottom of which is covered with silt, coastal thickets of swampy reservoirs are favorite places for crucian carp. Here he grows, multiplies, feels great.
In some reservoirs, the weight of crucian carp reaches 500-600 g. But more often its weight is 150-200 g. In an aquarium, one should not get carried away with the size of the fish. On the contrary, we must try to make it smaller. However, there is no reason to fear that crucian carp will grow significantly in a medium-sized aquarium. In aquarium conditions, their weight will not exceed 100 g. Gorchak. Found mainly in slow flowing waters. An interesting fish, silver-green in color with large scales, oval, zigzag body, high back and slightly compressed sides. It has long been noticed that where bivalve molluscs of barley and toothless are found, one can also find mustard. This is due to mutual interest. The relationship of these animal species was discovered more than a hundred years ago by the professor of Kharkov University A.F. Maslovsky.
We recommend to settle in the aquarium at the same time the mustard and the toothless, which takes root better than barley in aquarium conditions. A female bitterling with a fuller abdomen tries with her long ovipositor to get into the slightly ajar doors of the toothless. The male, helping her, taps his nose on the shell of a mollusk, as if asking: “Open, please!” And a miracle happens: a stubborn, shy mollusk hospitably opens its doors so that the female bitterling can put caviar into the folds of his mangia, which the male immediately fertilizes. Inside the toothless, as if in a shelter, the eggs are preserved and develop until the offspring of the mustard hatch out of it. But the most amazing thing is that without the participation of the toothless, the reproduction of the mustard is impossible.When you look at the mirror surface of the river in summer, it is easy to notice small and frisky silvery fish. These are tops. They are called so because they swim near the surface of the water. It is not difficult to keep ve, rovok in an aquarium, as they are unpretentious. Greenish-yellow, as if covered with a fine mesh, the scales of the apex shine and sparkle with every swift movement of the fish. It is necessary to populate the tops in the aquarium in flocks, since these fish do not tolerate loneliness. It should be remembered that the aquarium in which the tops live is usually only half filled with water and carefully covered with glass. The fact is that on warm moonlit nights, the tops start a fun game on the river: they quickly jump out of the water and, flashing with silver scales, dive into the water again. The fish do not give up these habits in the aquarium either. No matter how high it is, they jump out of it and, falling to the floor, die. Therefore, it is recommended to fill the aquarium with water only halfway and cover it with glass.
Aquarium water should be clean, clear and well aerated. Tench. The tench has a different character. In contrast to the top, he prefers solitude. He got his name from the amazing property to change its color. Taken out of the water, it becomes covered with dark spots. The greenish-yellow color of the tench with a golden tint is the lighter, the clearer the water in the aquarium. Lazy and slow in movements, tench is a homebody. Once he has chosen a corner for himself, he does not seek to leave it. It is very interesting to observe his habits. With the onset of cold weather, the tench begins to look for company, and the fish gather in flocks. Roach, Silvery white with a pinkish sheen, roach is distinguished by a difference in the color of the fins: the dorsal and caudal fins are greenish pink, and the pectoral fins are light yellow or orange. The roach loves long journeys across the expanses of water. Being deprived of this opportunity in an aquarium, she still feels good in it.
Keep it until it grows up. Sticklebacks. These fish are so named because their front dorsal fin is transformed into sharp spines: three in a three-spined stickleback and 7-12 in a nine-spined one. The stickleback is remarkable not only for its appearance, but also for its habits and way of life. These fish are found in the basins of the Black, Azov and northern seas, in rivers and lakes of the Leningrad region and in other water bodies. Sticklebacks love calm currents and are found in both fresh and brackish water. During spawning in males, the sides and abdomen become thick, black, and the abdominal spines are snow-white. The stickleback is especially interesting during the spawning period.
In spring - in April or early May - stickleback males take on a brighter, mating color: the abdomen becomes bright red, and the back is green. They move away from their plump girlfriends, who swim in flocks. Each male chooses a place to build a nest. He usually finds it at the bottom or among plants. Most often, he digs a hole in the mud and strengthens it. The sticklebacks are particularly fond of the thickets of water lilies. Tearing off pieces from them, the male skillfully lines the side walls, and then the vault of the nest, gluing the “building material” with the mucus secreted by his body. The most interesting thing is that, having built a nest, the male carefully smoothes, levels, preens it, throwing out the excess and expanding the inlet.
The posterior opening remains narrow, and sometimes completely absent. The finished nest of the three-spined stickleback is a ball, which is not easy to notice in the water. Built from plants and attached to them, the nest blends into the general green background. When the nest is ready, the male returns to the flock to choose a mate ready for laying eggs. Playing with her, he drives the female into the nest. The female swims into the inlet, lays a few eggs and swims out through the rear hole. At this time, the male is in an extremely excited state. As soon as the female finishes spawning, he, in turn, swims into the nest and pours milk over the eggs. But the male does not calm down on this. Soon he brings another girlfriend to the nest, then a third. This is repeated until the nest is filled with eggs. However, the troubles of a caring male do not end there. He vigilantly guards his nest, jealously protecting it from enemies. This continues for 10-15 days. At this time, the male selflessly works: swinging his fins, he creates a movement of water in front of the inlet of the nest, thereby ensuring ventilation and water circulation. A few days later, stickleback fry begin to swim out of the nest.
In the first days, the father nb allows the babies to move away from the nest and vigilantly watches them. Only after making sure that the fry have become independent, he stops guardianship and leaves his “post”. It should be borne in mind that sticklebacks need a spacious aquarium with a thick layer of sand on the bottom and plants: water lilies, egg capsules and others. Puberty in sticklebacks occurs by the second year. Sticklebacks are exceptionally voracious. As soon as they are given food, they rush to it in a race, often injuring each other in the struggle for a tidbit. Putting sticklebacks in a common aquarium with other fish is not recommended. So that sticklebacks do not get sick with fungal diseases, it is necessary to add table salt to the water (a tablespoon of salt per 8 buckets of water). And, of course, you need to make sure that the aquarium is always clean.
Gudgeon.
Who does not know this modest-looking fish with large scales, short antennae on a thick head? Leaning on the bottom with its elastic fins, the minnow lies motionless at night and on hot summer days. For hours he can lie quietly, not moving, in a secluded place in the river. The minnow usually lives in reservoirs with sandy soil. The body of the fish is elongated, greenish-brown, and sometimes yellow. The mustache is the organ of touch for the gudgeon. He is unpretentious and willingly feeds on the remains of the dinner of other fish. In the aquarium, the minnow is a diligent orderly.
It is necessary to feed the minnow with live food: daphnia, cyclops, tubifex. In the aquarium, this fish eats little. This is apparently due to the fact that it is difficult for the gudgeon to immediately acclimatize in a new environment. The second reason is the fearfulness of the fish. Therefore, when feeding and caring for a gudgeon, silence should be observed. You can catch a minnow like this: put a piece of bread in an empty liter milk bottle and lower it to the bottom of the stream downstream. In search of food, the gudgeon goes against the current. Smelling the smell of bread, he swims into the bottle. And then it remains only to pull out the bottle by the rope.
If you look at the bottom of a fast small river, you can see schools of small nondescript gray fish. Try to catch a few pieces and look at them already in a glass jar. They are transformed: the scales shine in different colors, shine. The fish are getting better. In spring, when nature puts on her rich attire, the minnow is also very beautiful. Along the black stripe that runs through his entire body, scattered like buttons, iridescent mother-of-pearl spots and dots. The minnow's mouth, gill covers and abdomen are crimson red. Round balls and dots are cast on the sides of his head with silver. Such is the minnow's spring attire.
Several plants from local reservoirs should be planted in pre-settled water, after which the fish can be placed in an aquarium. Minnow is undemanding, easily gets used to life in an aquarium. The minnow should be fed with bloodworms, flies and earthworms. He has a good appetite. Therefore, you need to be careful when feeding, so as not to overfeed the fish. The minnow is easy to catch, as is the minnow. A liter empty milk bottle on a rope must be lowered to the bottom. At the smell of bread or a piece of a fly placed in a bottle, a minnow will swim up and sooner or later fall into the bottle. All that is needed is patience. For the aquarium, you should choose only healthy fish with intact scales.When keeping minnows in an aquarium, it must be borne in mind that at first, while they get used to the new living conditions, it is recommended to clean and change the water daily. First, a quarter of the water changes, after a couple of days - an eighth. Later, when the minnows are acclimatized, you can change the water less often. Rudd. This fish got its name due to its crimson-red fins. An inhabitant of flowing reservoirs, densely overgrown with aquatic plants, the rudd is unpretentious and takes root well in the aquarium. This beautiful, mobile and cheerful fish loves the backwaters of rivers, where it can hide for hours in dense underwater thickets. In the aquarium, the rudd diversifies the fish society with its bright outfit. The male is especially beautiful during spawning. Grainy spots appear on his head - warts, painted colorfully and brightly. Rudd should be fed live food.
To breed them, you need an aquarium densely planted with myriophyllum, which is necessary for spawning. After its completion, the producers must be removed from the spawning ground. After 7-8 days, larvae appear, which hang upright, glued to plants or aquarium ledges. It takes only one or two days for the fry to learn to swim on their own. In a cheerful flock, they briskly swim around the aquarium, catching ciliates and other small live food. We have already talked about how important it is to properly position the aquarium. This is of particular importance when it comes to keeping fish in local waters. It should be remembered that they, in contrast to exotic fish, cannot stand high temperatures. Therefore, we must try to create conditions for them in the aquarium, possibly close to natural.
In order to prevent them from hibernating in winter (as happens naturally), it is necessary that the aquarium has summer conditions throughout the year. And, of course, we must not forget about the plants. The underwater flora of our local reservoirs is so rich and diverse that there is no need to look for plants on the side.
Water lily.
Who does not know her, a beauty, with silver-white fragrant flowers floating on the surface of ponds or river backwaters? The leaves immersed in water cast a golden crimson. In the aquarium, the water lily feels good all winter. However, before planting in the ground, it must be thoroughly washed, rotted leaves removed and the roots cut shorter. When favorable conditions are created in the aquarium, the water lily grows rapidly and finally blooms with magnificent flowers. As observations have shown, a water lily grown from seeds in an aquarium takes root better.
The cup is small.
It is a relative of the water lily. It is distinguished by large leaves, which differ from each other in shape and location. Leaves grow from the creeping rhizome of the capsule. Some of them are heart-like, others are round, almost transparent, light green, and live in the water column. When the aquarium is sufficiently lit, the egg-pod grows well and even blooms with yellow flowers that look like a large ranunculus. Seeds of egg capsule, as well as water lilies, must be collected in the fall. Duckweed. This plant is usually introduced into the aquarium with live food or with other plants. Green rounded plates of duckweed gradually fill the entire surface of the water in the aquarium.
In our reservoirs there are: small duckweed, three-lobed and multi-rooted. One or more thin roots extend from the underside of its plates. Duckweed is an unpretentious plant. It reproduces very intensively in upper light. In small quantities, duckweed is not harmful to the aquarium.
In winter, many plants of local water bodies die off. The duckweed does not die. However, in winter it develops only under the condition of additional artificial lighting. Topnyak. This plant got its name from the swampy swamps in which it is found. It is of great interest for observing the movement of juice. Like glass, thin cranked stalks of the topnyak are completely devoid of leaves. Only in the places where the knees are joined, bundles of twigs grow, covering, like a ring, the stems of the plant.
In an aquarium, the topnyak is very effective and useful in that it actively participates in the biological processing of water, creating a favorable environment for its inhabitants. In the cold of winter, when many plants die off, the marsh still retains its bright green color. Topnyak reproduces very quickly. One has only to throw his twig into the water, as it begins to grow and develop. No special conditions are required for this topnyak. The only thing he can't stand is transplants. Therefore, once you have placed a topnyak in the aquarium, you should not disturb it anymore.
Hornwort.
The leaves of this aquatic plant, due to their large dissection, have the ability to purify water. Turbidity settles on the leaves. It is worth putting a few branches of hornwort into muddy water, and in a few hours it will become transparent and clean. But before introducing the hornwort into the aquarium, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the plant with running water. It is best to plant it in the summer. This plant got its name from its horn-like leaves. Collected in dense bunches (whorls), they sit on the stem at equal distances from each other. Hard, with short serrations, forked, bright green leaves of the hornwort are submerged in the water column, and only their upper bunch in the form of a crown slightly peeks out above the water.
If you look closely at the hornwort, you will notice that its leaves are inflated with a tube. They have air. In order for the hornwort to develop well and grow in the aquarium, as soon as it grows to the surface of the water, it is necessary to cut it from below and deepen it into the ground so that the top of the hornwort does not touch the upper layer of water. In addition, it is recommended to change the water less often and keep the hornwort away from the light source. The choice of local aquatic plants in the summer is quite large and varied. Unfortunately, many of them die off with the onset of winter, leaving behind seeds or buds. That is why such plants as marshmallow, jellyfish, often hornwort, as well as other plants that continue to live and develop normally in an aquarium in winter, are especially valuable. Hornwort is an extremely useful plant not only for aquariums with inhabitants from local reservoirs. It also serves to spawn many exotic fish.