Fish, Dogs and Other Pets

Both friends and acquaintances tell me every day how great it is to own pets, to have little fluffy creatures running around your apartment, or almost static ones in an aquarium, or something similar. From cats and dogs to tarantulas and even pigs, any animal can be a pet nowadays. I’m just waiting for the day when we’ll have dinosaurs in our backyards, or is that only possible in Jurassic Park?

Nevertheless, we can own almost every type of animal on the planet, either in our homes, or in zoos. It makes no difference, they are all pets to us. Yet sure, having one in your home certainly beats visiting one every once in a while in a public place, far from your house. But, no matter where an animal was, or how cute it was, my grandmother never allowed them in our home. And we obeyed her wishes, not really because we respected her, but more because she owned the house in which we lived in and it wouldn't have surprised me really if she had had us thrown out if we hadn't obeyed.

Not having a pet in my childhood is probably the reason why I didn't really understand what is so special about having them anyway. But I was bound to change my views after hearing about them every single day. The things that occurred afterwards were bound to happen.

Now, I am a proud owner of one cute little puppy and an aquarium full of colorful fish, and besides these, I am thinking about getting another pet - haven’t really decided what kind I will get, but I’m in no rush.

It is obvious from the paragraph above that I changed my mind about having pets, and I want to tell all of you that you should, too, if you are one of those who still don’t have a pet, and who have an opinion about the subject that is negative in any way. “One of those” – it’s like I’m implying that you are bad people, but don’t sweat it, I’m not. I’m implying that you are something far worse! Just kidding – I just want to point out that you seriously need to consider stop being “pet-less”.

If you are considering it, great, it will be easy and it will make you happy. Plus, it will get you more in touch with nature and in this ugly-looking 21st century where technology is sacred, industry is the means to achieve it and nature is just a resource, ready to be consumed for the betterment of what is sacred to us. We really need to pay more attention to our surroundings. If not that much, at least you’ll be one of many who show respect for the greatest victims of modern society.

Maybe this sounds to “green” for your taste so you should just think about many other things you can gain from having a pet. Furthermore, think about how easy it will be, just like I previously mentioned. It will be easy because you have them everywhere and you have so many different kinds that it’s almost impossible not to find the one that will suit you best. Like I said before, we can own almost all species and the only ones we don’t are probably the endangered ones and the ones that are extinct – again, a little joke.

If you are like me by any chance, then fish will definitely be good for you. I haven’t found anything that is as soothing as just standing in front of my aquarium and looking at them. Add some interesting things to the landscape of the aquarium – little fish forts, algae and similar, and it’s complete. Nothing more to add... well, except for the fish of course... and a filter, a pump, and all the other gadgets that are used in a fish tank. You know all that already, I presume. Feed them regularly and there’s nothing more to do but to look at them and relax. Attach some light to the rest of the accessories and it will be even more beautiful. Just looking may sound silly to some, but you still need to try it before you can judge.

On the other hand, maybe you simply are not a fish person, maybe you want a pet that you can actually touch and play with, without it dying in your hands. I am partly like that and that’s the reason why I got a puppy, too. Dogs are a man’s best friends, aren't they? Yet, cats are still more popular. I never understood that. Yes, they are cute, and fluffy, and they can purr, and... Oh well, it seems I do understand why they are so admired. And there it goes! I know what my next pet will be. You see how easy it is?

I mentioned tarantulas before – they too can be a good choice. That is, if you are not afraid of spiders. But then again, there really is no reason to be afraid of them. They truly can do nothing harmful to people. They eat flies and other small insects. And when you think about people training lions and playing with them, an oversized spider doesn't seem scary anymore... Hey… lions? That sounds like a good idea, but is that even legal?

I’m digressing; let’s get back to fish again. I remembered. You don’t really have to keep them in aquariums. If you want something more dynamic, you can get a pond for your yard. That’s even more close to nature than aquariums, which are more downtown-small-apartment oriented. Ponds are great for all kinds of houses. And, you can also get some bigger fish, since they tend to be more active and thus more interesting. The cleaning part of this can be a bit more tiresome, but then again, you can’t get away from some sort of work, if you want to own a pet. As much as they are great companions, fun, etc., they are still a big responsibility. Always have that in mind when you are thinking about getting a pet. Now I sound like a parent… Sorry about that.

Read More

How exotic are fish? - A Rhetorical Question

Hello all, I'd like to talk to you about fish and aquariums and how much you should have them. Oh nice, I sound like a salesman - there’s a probably prosperous profession for me in the future. How annoying will I become to a great number of people? But that’s not the point. I wanted to talk about these pretty little animals because I adore them; I’m not really trying to sell anything. Sure you’re not - a sarcastic voice is heard from a few readers. Oh well...

Nonetheless, I still want to talk about them. First of all, aren't they exotic? Well, those from the sea at least. I keep watching them on National Geographic or some other channel and my amazement never eases. I can’t really find a good word that could describe this, but I’m positive you get how amazed I am. And you’re thinking to yourself – why would I care? Well, you don’t need to my friend, but just think for a second. The oceans cover most of our planet, the greatest number of species is beneath these oceans, from the smallest plankton to the greatest creatures known to man – the big blue whale – the biggest animal ever to exist, and the whales eat the plankton – an interesting circle of life, isn't it? And that’s not all – some fish live so deep that a human head will definitely explode from the pressure! Plus, the oceans are, by far, the least explored parts of the world. Who knows what else lies under that blue color  If you still don’t care, then I honestly don’t know if there’s anything that can astonish you in this world. That’s a bit sad...

After this fun fact session, let’s move on. Do you have a cat? If you do, please don’t keep any fish, or get rid of the cat... too extreme? Well, then just don’t keep the fish. You certainly know that these two are not a good combination. I made that mistake once and will not do it again, that’s for sure. If you still want to keep both of these, please consider getting a big aquarium, or at least put the small one somewhere higher. But then again, that can simply look ridiculous and still prove to be of no good. Once again, my own experience, I lost my parrot when I was a kid even though its cage was standing on the outside of the window which even my father could barely reach, but a small cat still could. The cage fell, and... you know the rest. From that day a great hatred for cats was born in me which disappeared many, many years later – with much trouble. So, the point is, keeping these two together is too much of a risk, and if it can be avoided, then avoided it should be. You have probably watched enough of Sylvester and Tweety to get the picture.

Since I mentioned aquariums, we need to talk about that too. I’m boring already? Don’t be silly. So, aquariums... Consider getting bigger ones, not only for the reasons mentioned above but because it’s just much better that way. With a bigger aquarium, you can get as many fish as you want! Okay, not literally, but you will certainly be able to have plenty. And that’s important because it’s best to start with a smaller number and move upwards.

With a bigger aquarium you will lose less room to the essentials like pumps and filters and all that stuff that keeps the water healthy and clean and great for the fish’s rich and joyous life! No, they actually just float around and do nothing, but there’s such calmness in that and grace too, when you see all of them together in harmonious movement, you cannot but feel wonderful. You can’t play with them though. Only looking, no touching unfortunately.

Please be careful with fish and be considerate. Get them everything they need – they don’t need much but they are very fragile creatures and should be taken care of. Get good fish food and feed them regularly and thus the only death among them that will eventually occur, is the natural one. If you manage that, then you can say that you've been taking good care of them. The more fish you have by the way, logically, more of them will die and you need to be prepared for that. They are small creatures and they don’t live long obviously. If that’s a problem, well, you can’t avoid it, most animals don’t live really long. Everyone loses their pet in the end - that’s simply inevitable… sad, but inevitable. Rare are the occasions when a pet outlives its owner.

On the other hand, you can get a fish pond for the outdoor, thus you’ll be able to get the bigger ones that probably live longer than the aquarium types. Regrettably, that means more work when it comes to maintenance and cleaning. But we need to clean almost everything we own, so that isn’t really going to be a problem.

Anyway, maybe I should get back to the fish once more. I told you how exotic they are, maybe I should also tell you how colorful they are? I mean, you know that, but have you thought how, because of the variety of colors  they can embellish the design of your room? If you already have many colourful pictures, statues and similar, think how the unusually colored fish will fit in with that and enrich the interior? Yes, you haven’t thought about that, pets can be used in that way to. Well, the fish at least. I hope this doesn’t sound wrong some levels...

I hope this was enough to make you want them, or if you already have them, to take better care of them. Or, if you already have them, and you do indeed take good care them, then you have wasted your time on this text. Now let me tell you something about... Nothing, that was it actually.

Read More

Order, above all – Home Design Order!

Order is the thing that keeps the world going. Everything has its order, everything operates in some order and everything can exist because it functions through order. When you disrupt the order, everything can fall into chaos. And even though we liked Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, and him saying that we should introduce a little anarchy into the established order; that simply is not the way it should be. He says it himself, finishing the previous by saying that everything becomes chaos; chaos is no good to anyone.

We humans are creatures of habit, and we need that order. That’s why it is not strange at all that we do everything in our lives in accordance with something, some order that we, or someone else established. That’s why none of us likes it when something is not in order.

The best examples are our houses. You wake up one morning and you realize your whole house is a mess. Not in the sense that it’s dirty and it smells like a hundred cats call that place a home, but in the sense that it’s simply messy. Nothing is in order and it looks like a tornado struck it. That’s when you realize that the thing you really have to do is organize all of that, find a place for everything, or to go with the same figure of speech, you put everything the way it was, before the tornado struck.

Organizing everything you have in your home can sometimes be a pain in the rear. No, scratch that, it always is a pain in the neck. Yes, I changed the idiom in this second sentence. But that is beside the point. What I was saying was how annoying organizing things in the house is. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not the person who should tell you that that’s annoying. I actually love organization, because I’m a bit of a control freak. So you see my point there? No? I thought not. I wanted to say that even though I like organization, I still hate organizing when it comes to my home, and all the things in it.

Bringing everything back in order will make us feel better. The house will look better and it might even feel better itself. An inanimate object feeling something, I’m going all science fiction over here. Anyway, bringing some material things in life back to some order makes you feel good because we are creatures of order. We are creatures of habit, like I said previously, but we are creatures of order too. Who knows what kind of creatures we are as well, besides these two.

As much as we live in order, animals do too. The only big difference is that rarely something disrupts that order, because nature is a perfect mechanism. It is us who destroy that order that nature imposes on all living things. Maybe we don’t like that something else wants to impose anything on us, because we value our freedom above all, maybe we just don’t like nature being the leader... who knows, it’s not really important. The important thing is that nature doesn't do it, we do. I sense some hypocrisy there – we like order, but we don’t like the one that nature has.

It really is amazing how everything has its place in nature. That whole circle of life thing, the food chain, etc. Everyone has its place, no one goes hungry, and everything is great! If it were that way with us humans, the word utopia wouldn't signify a perfect yet an impossible world, but would denote only the former. Nothing would be impossible. Then the word impossible wouldn't even exist and we wouldn't be able to say what I just said. Hmm, interesting...

Anyway, the most astounding part of the world of nature is the life under water. Of all of nature’s creations, the ones that live in all the waters of the planet are the ones with the largest amount of order, if we can say it like that. The sheer size of that world, the number of species, everything about it surpasses almost all the rest combined. Nature is at its best down there. In the depths of the world’s oceans is the magnificence of everything that is not human. Those are the few places where no man has ever set foot. It is the kingdom of the fish, with its own order. The most amazing thing about it is how every single part of it has its place; the word order has a new definition down there, as it is pure perfection.

Maybe those are the reasons why are we so amazed with that world. Maybe it’s the order that caught our attention, who knows. I think it is the order, because like I said before, it is order that keeps us in existence and that is what makes us grow and prosper. And it stands to reason that we, who are not as perfect as nature is down there, will be full of respect for that world.

We love animals of the seas and rivers, and that is why we have them everywhere: in zoo’s, in water parks, in ponds and aquariums of our homes. We want them in our homes, as we are amazed with their perfection. Yes, we do need to feed them, keep their aquariums clean with all the pumps and filters that we buy to achieve that, but it still pays out in the end. When you embellish your aquarium with some pretty lights, put in some castles and all sorts of accessories, it makes you happy. And it really doesn't make them any less special if we have to take of them, they may be fragile and weaker than us, and they may not posses the brains like we do, but their perfection lies in something else, and I hope that I have made it very clear throughout this text and that now all of you can see that perfection.

Read More

Nature in Your Home Makes You More Human than You Have Ever Been Before

Many people who are about to design their homes in different ways are breaking the rules of traditional design and opt for something new. Of course, it is always better to think of your own way to design and decorate your home, but there are several more general „patterns” that will help you during the process. You can, for example choose this well-known pattern of a traditional house. In that kind of house you will have a lot of wooden furniture, a fireplace, old rugs and vintage wallpapers. Of course, a rocking chair is an inevitable addition to that sight. You can also choose a pattern of a more „modernistic” house. Many young couples pick this one. It includes predominantly white walls and and a lot of stylish, unusual furniture. In this article I would like to write about one approach to home design and that is a „naturalistic” approach. As you may guess, it includes a lot of elements that resemble nature. But they need not only resemble it, they can be nature itself in your home. You, probably, have already thought of one or two of those elements. But there are several, and even those you have thought of have many different classes and versions. So, let's start with nature.

Do not sleep with the fish – let the fish sleep with you

The first thing I want to talk about are aquariums. Many people love fish and their aquariums are not really there for decoration, but they are indeed a very important part of it. When a guest enters your living room, the first thing he will notice is your aquarium and the fish moving in it. The only way to make it more noticeable is to take good care of it. However, cleaning it, changing its water and feeding the fish is not enough to make your aquarium look beautiful. There are certain ways to decorate it and make it more unique, and I am going to write about a few of them. First of all, the shape of the tank itself should be taken under consideration. If your room is full of cubical elements with sharp edges, then your tank should be like that. It would be the best if you can fit it somewhere so that it covers the empty space between your bed and your wardrobe, for example. But, if your room is filled with pillows and different not-so-square-shaped objects, there are tanks that will fit that kind of environment as well. You have probably seen those oval ones in cartoons, where usually only one fish is being kept. But these kinds of tanks can be a lot bigger.

Furthermore, they need not be oval necessarily. There are ones which are square shaped with blunt edges that will also fit perfectly to that kind of environment. The next thing that will make your aquarium more beautiful is lighting. You can choose a variety of colors and add them to the bottom of your aquarium thus making it a beautiful colorful paradise. It is also very interesting to have neon lights in there while all other lights in your house are turned off. If you want to support this „natural” approach, there are also light-bulbs that are environment-friendly and which will not cause any harm to nature. Of course, some tools are there to help you with cleaning your aquarium. Aquarium filters, for example, can help you a lot. It will reduce the amount of time you spend brushing and changing the water, and it will save you a lot of energy.

Spongebob Squarepants and Squidward are living at the bottom of the sea... in your aquarium

You have maybe heard of a certain type of aquarium called „marine” aquariums. As the name itself suggests, marine aquariums keep animals from the ocean and from the seas. Since the environment on the bottom of the ocean is different, this kind of aquariums require more energy and, of course, more money. There are a lot more things to look after than there are in regular fish tanks.

For example, water in marine aquariums should be salty. There are, of course, containers with salt, which can be bought at any aquarium equipment store. The salt is added to water, thus keeping the salt level always at the right amount. The second important thing is that water at the bottom of the ocean is very freezing. But technology has advanced enough to help us solve that problem as well. Devices called „Aquarium Chillers“ are also available at most shops which do that kind of trade. Those devices will keep the water in your aquarium cool enough so that plants and animals will be able to survive. Finally, organic waste may be hazardous in these kinds of aquariums, therefore, there are devices called “Protein Skimmers”, which remove that kind of waste in order to save the disaster that could happen in there. Once again, I do admit that these aquariums are really hard to maintain, but the beauty of them is unexcelled. They can fit in almost any environment, even in those that have nothing to do with nature, because things that live at the bottom of the ocean are colourful and above everything else, magnificent and beautiful.

There are also several things that can be very useful when it comes to decorating your home with nature. For example, certain fountains and sculptures can effectively give an impression of a „natural” house, but they are a topic for some other discussion. Once again, it is important to use your imagination before everything, because after all, you still want your house to be place for humans and not for some tropical lizards. Everything can be overstated, even in this kind of activity which seems to be easy and fun at first. I do not deny the fun part of it. Come to think of it, buying and owning an aquarium must be the most interesting thing I have ever done, because it fulfills my life and it makes me feel like I am human more than I ever was.

Read More

Which Pet should You Get?

Getting a pet and owning one are sometimes two equally difficult things. You have to find one that’s suitable for you and which can also feel that you are suitable for it. You have to keep it safe, clean, well fed, happy, etc. All of that together can be very complicated and not without its problems. But there is always a way to get through all these things, as there is always some way to get through anything in life. Well, except death, that one is inevitable, but I don’t want to be gloomy and morbid.

I’m actually here to talk about pets, and all that they bring and take from you for that matter. When I talk about them like that it sounds like they are your babies, and that’s not far from the truth, because babies may be cute and wonderful and we live our lives for them (if they are ours obviously) but they are still little and are developing and thus, not really smart. That may sound harsh, but that’s the way it is, because no one is born with knowledge, you earn that through life. But that matters not, as they give us unconditional love, and that’s all we need really.

For starters, getting a pet can really be problematic. Thankfully, most people don’t have a problem with having a place to get one, or enough money for it, the real problem is choice. There’s too much of it! Choosing is really a problem. Not always, when you have set your mind on a specific pet before even deciding to get one, then you are fine. But when you haven’t, that will be a problem. It’s best to always start with the regulars, like dogs and cats, maybe parrots, and if they don’t suit you, then you move on to something else. But I guess that in general, people buy these the most, and fish of course. People with snakes, pigs and something like that are actually rare. And, if you want to get a lama, or something even weirder, it’s ok! I guess everyone is entitled to their own wishes, no matter how strange they may be. But who am I to judge...

Now you have bought a pet and it’s done. Well it’s not. You cannot go with the “it’s so fluffy I’m going to die” thing. Yes, you can actually, but it’s not all just fun. There’s a lot of work to be done, and a lot of work to be continuously done as long you have that pet! I mean, it never stops. You have to be prepared for that. If you are not ready to devote a few hours a day to it, then just revert to step one: picking the pet, and just don’t even pick it! Leave the poor animal alone and go find something else to amuse you, because this is not only for fun. Do I have to state that further? I think I was clear enough.

If you got a dog, you have to train it, if you got a cat, well you can’t train it as that will be tough to do. If that’s not something you can do, get a trainer – you can’t leave your animal by itself. It is a pet. It depends on a human in all aspects. If you let it run wild, it will be wild, and you’ll have a wolf or a wild cat on your hands. That won’t be pretty, so please avoid that by preventing it before it even happens.

If you got fish, they won’t give you problems. I prefer them the most as their needs are simple and easily taken care of. They are not “fluffy” but they are other things of course. They are for looking and contemplating. By this I mean that, just like long showers can get you to think about a lot of things, fish too can do that too. Or, it can even go the other way round, they can get you to stop thinking and just relax and enjoy that time. A special kind of animals, these fish are. It is truly amazing. Of all the pets, they are the only ones that can indirectly do this for you. Maybe they are not the only ones, but they are the only ones known to me.

By telling you that, I think that I can also tell you that fish will be the best choice for you if you don’t want to spend much of your precious time on your pet. All these little bundles of joy need is an aquarium, filled with clean water. You have pumps, filters and similar things which will help you keep that water clean. So that won’t be a problem at all. Get them some good food a few times a day and that’s all that you need to give them. I even love to watch them feed, they are not messy like other bigger animals can be, fish are neat actually. This is yet another wonderful thing about them.

Further on, you can also embellish the aquarium. By this I mean getting different sea plants, some cliché castles and towers, and some sand at the bottom, and you are set. The aesthetic part is finished and you have yourself a wonderful decorative addition to your home. You see, fish can also be good for that. So many practical applications for them, it is truly amazing.

I don’t want to go on any further as I have told you what I wanted to tell you. I tried going for different animals, but I really can’t, I will always go back to fish, it’s unavoidable. I tried to suggest different kinds, but as you can see, I can’t even stick with that, I got back to fish anyway. But it’s alright I guess, if you don’t want them, don’t listen to me, go and get yourself whatever it is that you are looking for!

Read More

A Certain Approach to Nature!

Our story begins in the period of time when matriarchy was dominant. Namely, once upon a time, the central figure in society was a woman, believe it or not. Our ancestors believed that the great goddess was a woman, and that the woman was actually the representative of mother earth. People lived in belief that we were all children of nature, and nature was idealized. Of course, their religion was based on bringing sacrifice to goddess and other stuff that does not exist in today's world (at least, I don’t think so). However, there came the time when man realized that he also has a role in reproduction, and that nature and women are not the only creators of life. Through the course of history, the central figure changed from a woman to a man. For example, man became the head of a family as the main deity became male. But that is the period of time when this synchronization that existed between men and nature was disordered. Namely, men realized that they have the power to control. First of all, they started controlling one another, and, not being satisfied with that power, they decided to gain control over nature. Now lets move several thousand years forward. Nowadays, we live in a society that is mostly dominated by men. However, certain things have changed, and we have developed as human beings. Most of us became aware of this inequality, and we decided to give women a chance. But aye, there's the rub. We think that we control every aspect of nature nowadays, and we are not even aware of how quickly she is dying out. Both men and women must join their forces in order to save what’s left and live in harmony once again.

In this article, I want to talk about the decoration of your house. If you are one of those people who would like to help nature, and who enjoys just being out there, having the sun shining all over their faces, you would maybe like to decorate your house so that you bring all that nature into your home. There are several ways you can do that. For example, you can have many exotic plants in one special room, or you can have different exotic animals caged in your bedroom. But the most natural way to express your attitude towards nature are aquariums. Owning an aquarium has its pros and cons, but the feeling of having a part of „where life came from” in your living room is one of the best enjoyments you can have in a lifetime.

Pros and cons of owning an aquarium

First of all, you can make your life a bit more interesting with a new hobby. Many people enjoy fishing and spending time on their boats and yachts, but the truth is, it is much more of an enjoyment to have the fish in your home. It is scientifically proven that looking at fish calms nerves, and makes you a stronger person. I do not say that you should spend all day watching your pets swimming left and right, but an occasional look now and then would really have an outstanding effect on your temperament and on you as a human being. Secondly, this is the best decoration that you can get. Now, seriously, you can have all the sculptures and paintings that you can, but nothing will ever make you satisfied as well as an aquarium can. When a guest arrives, he will have much more fun playing with your fish than staring at a painting of an author whose name he has never heard of before. And finally, it is a lot of fun. You will spend many hours cleaning and maintaining your aquarium, but believe me, with the right tools, all that seems to be a very relaxing process. Namely, there are certain tools that can help you with maintenance. For example, as we all know, the water temperature needs to be different from the temperature where we live in. Fish that live in deep seas can only survive if the temperature is much cooler. Therefore, aquarium heaters are tools that will constantly change the temperature and keep it adequate, in order to keep your fish and other sea and river creatures alive. You can also include aquarium filters if you are going to shop, because they will save you a lot of time and energy when it comes to cleaning the water and cleaning the aquarium itself.

On the other hand, that constant and repeating action of cleaning can become a bit boring. If you are not the kind of person who can overcome these kinds of problems, you will have to cope up with cleaning very often, and I advise you to find joy in this as soon as possible. Secondly, your fish can sometimes be very needy and you will have to feed them regularly and even the slightest error in the feeding pattern can kill them. Therefore, if you are not a responsible person, you better let somebody else who lives with you do it. Finally, aquariums can take up a lot of space. If you are living in a, for example, one flat of standard size, you will have trouble adapting your living space to the aquarium. They are best kept in big rooms with a lot of free space in between.

I am no expert when it comes to home decoration and design, but I do know this: it is the new era that will bring certain changes into the minds of people, and all we can do is follow that change by changing ourselves and our environment. You need not necessarily own an aquarium in order to support that change, but anything that will make your approach to nature more direct will come in handy. Therefore, you need to use your imagination and decorate your home however your heart desires. I, myself, have opted for aquariums because they calm my soul and my eyes, and because I believe that water is much more important in our lives than we think.

Read More

A Love Story about Mankind and Nature that You Know Very Well

There is some kind of order on this planet that makes it turn around. Some people say it is love but some claim that money makes it go around. As far as I am concerned, we will never know. However, one thing that kept everything under control and kept the world in balance was the relationship between nature and men. Since the dawn of days, man was a servant to nature, and nature rewarded him for that service with its fruits. However, men started being obsessed with power. It was not enough for them to control only one another, but they also wanted to control nature as well. And so it began – we started making this planet sicker and sicker with each new day. Many oil companies were built, the atmosphere was polluted and nature started dying slowly. Oceans, seas and rivers suffered the most. Many species that we were not even aware of disappeared from the face of the earth just like dust in the wind. It is something that happened in a blink of an eye, and we were not aware of it at all. However, lately the awareness has raised, and many people started to think a bit differently. There are more and more campaigns that indicate how endangered the planet is, and that we are going to destroy ourselves if we do not do something immediately. You now ask yourself how can you help? Well, there are many things you can do. I am going to write about nature in your home in this article because bringing nature to your home is the first step towards a better future for our planet.

Can you put a river in your home? I think you can

The first thing that comes to my mind when it comes to „bringing“ nature to your home are indoor aquariums. People who have aquariums are said to be more relaxed and to enjoy life more than others. Just looking at the fish moving makes your brain and muscles relax and makes you feel better. There are also more benefits that fish ponds can bring you. For example, I enjoy cleaning and keeping my aquarium „in shape“. It fulfills me and makes me forget about other things in my life which make me stressed and depressed. There is a big number of different fish tanks to choose from in order to match them with the theme of your home. For example, there are those old cubical ones, that can fit almost everywhere, but if you are a person of style and taste, there are other shapes which will emphasize the importance of owning an aquarium and having nature in your home. On the other hand, aquariums can be a bit tricky to maintain, since you are dealing with something where life should be preserved. Fish are very sensitive creatures and even the slightest error in maintenance can lead to their death. Therefore, it is extremely important that you educate yourself before getting an aquarium. There is plenty of useful information on the internet, but the best thing you can do is to ask for advice from somebody who has had an aquarium for a very long time. It is even better to let them show you how things work and how you should „approach“ the whole situation. I can provide you with information about some basic equipment that aquariums require here. First of all, let me start with unnecessary ones – lights. The look of your aquarium is also important, because those which are clean but not decorated can be repelling to an eye as much as the dirty ones. Therefore, one of the best way to let your aquarium catch an eye of a visitor is to make it more visible, and that is achieved by lighting. You can place lights at the bottom of the aquarium and make light go upwards, which makes the atmosphere in the room relaxed. Or you can put lights on the sides and emphasize the fish themselves in the first place. There are different kinds of lights. The thing that will make your aquarium even more interesting are neon lights and not just neon but colorful ones. That will make a pretty small circus or concert inside your aquarium with your fish as clowns and rock stars. I even went further on and made the lights move. Do not do that without anyone who is good with electricity because there is a big possibility that it will come in touch with water. If that happens you can say goodbye to your fish, or you would not have to because you will be dead as well.

Eventually you are going to get tired of cleaning your aquarium. Although it is worth the work, sometimes cleaning can be very exhausting and time-consuming. But you can solve that problem by buying Aquarium Filters. These devices can save you a lot of time because they do all the filtering of water and make sure your fish do not die in filth. You can look for one on the internet, or you can check you local aquarium store for it. I am not sure about how much of these thing are there for sale. The last thing I want to tell you is something about Aquarium Heaters. As the name suggests, they will change the water temperature to a certain degree. This is extremely necessary if you take into account that fish that live in deeper water can survive only in cool water, whilst the ones that live near the surface prefer warmer water.

To sum up, I have just shown you one of the aspects of decorating your home. Of course, you need not be some kind of ecologist or environment lover in order to have an aquarium in your house, but it is always better to know that by owning one you are contributing to the movement that fights for saving nature and the planet earth from the destructive force of this new age.

Read More

Silly Little Creatures, or Not?

I'm writing this with one idea in my mind, one idea only. Are fish stupid and unnecessary creatures? Many think they are. And why? Probably because they had them home in their pretty little aquariums or they saw them in someone else’s aquarium or they saw them in some sea world, I don’t know. After all of that, after seeing and watching them for some time, you can’t but start thinking how ridiculous they are.

All that they do is go around in circles in their little tanks opening their mouths at same intervals without even blinking. When you look into their eyes they have to remind you of some retarded look made by someone. The only thing that lacks is that they start drooling like retards. All fish remind me of Patrick star from Sponge Bob. Or even better, all those fish bystanders with their heads looking at the sky and all of them look so silly that I always laugh just by seeing them. You know what I mean? I thought that everyone has seen or at least heard of Sponge Bob. If not, I’m sure that you can see that retarded look on their faces once you've looked close enough and paid attention to it.

It’s so silly that you shouldn't even consider calling it a face. Who knows what it is. Who even cares!? It’s just an animal which can’t even hurt us or do anything bad to us, or do anything to us for that matter. The only good thing that can come out of it is making it our food, and even that isn't really satisfactory. Alright, it has at least one good substance, iodine, which is good for our brains, specifically our memory. They always say to students that they should eat fish before exams because they’ll be able to remember more, and it is true. So I guess this is one good thing about them. But it barely has anything else and you can’t even get full from eating just that – you always have to eat more besides the fish. Another funny thing that I have always wondered about is why it is like this – in Christianity, when they are fasting and are not allowed to eat anything that comes from an animal – they are allowed to eat fish! What’s up with that? It’s like the biggest religion in the world is telling us that we shouldn't even think of fish as animals. That’s one way to look at it, right?

Anyway, they seem to be not good enough for eating, but that’s not what the Japanese seem to think. They eat fish in huge quantities. Just like we all now the Chinese for the rice consumption, we know the Japanese for their sushi or other fish related products. And, besides that, they are leading manufacturers of fish. They have thousands of boats going out every day to catch fish. They catch it in such large quantities every day and yet the fish are still there, they are not extinct, or something like that. When the Americans started moving west and started hunting buffaloes, it didn't take long before the buffalo was almost completely gone, and these were the animals that used to rule the large plains in the center of the USA. So one can conclude through this that the fish are like vermin, you can’t even destroy them, not that we want, but if we did want, we probably would never be able to do it.

They reduced the number of whales you say, because of the hunting all over the planet? Well my friend, whales are not fish, they are mammals, so you can throw that theory through the window.

Besides this, everyone loves dolphins and consider them very intelligent and human-friendly. But they too are not fish, but mammals as well. I seem to be onto something maybe?

Or, maybe not. How many of us keep fish at home? Too many probably. They are one of the favorite animals to keep as pets, after cats and dogs obviously. No one can replace those furry, cute little animals and man’s best friends. So, how can they be stupid, unnecessary and all of that, when so many people keep them? There must be something amazing about them, since we actually do love them, even though they look retarded.

I think that not much is needed to be said to make it obvious why we love them. They make us relaxed with their grace in their movement. They may be going around in circles, but they do it with such grace, that it is amazing. Besides that, they may look retarded, but they are the sole rulers of the seas, and the seas cover most of our planet, and like I said, even if we wanted to exterminate them, we wouldn’t be able to do it. That does not make them vermin, but very strong creatures actually, since they can withstand the human tyranny.

Those mammals from the sea, which we consider so amazing, wouldn't even be there if it weren't for the fish. They depend on them, the same way each nature’s creature depends on some other. All of them are a part of one greater circle, a chain if you will, and a chain would break if you were to take only one ring out of it.

Besides that, it is so easy to keep them, since they are one of the animals that don’t ask for much, if at all. When you get an aquarium, you only need to get some filters and whatnot, just in order to keep the water clean and fresh, and you need some food, which you don’t need to give them too often. You can get a lot of decorative items for the aquarium, lights, heating, some scenery like castles, sand, etc, yet all of these things are optional, the fish don’t need them – it is more for our pleasure. Because we love how pretty, graceful and peaceful they look in their little tanks, we like to embellish their surroundings. They really do deserve our love.

Read More

Technological Advancement or Total Disaster? Aquariums Hold the Answer

Can you imagine what would life be like if we were to return to nature, living without electricity and without all the necessary equipment that we are used to? Can you imagine life without the internet or without television, where everyone would be able to be themselves. I do not say that this rather new technology is harmful. On the contrary, it has helped us a great deal so far, and without the internet, for example, we would not be able to see what is happening on the other side of the world. But the bad side is that all these tech advancements have caused some changes not only among people, but in nature. New technology requires more power, and power is achieved by controlling and exploiting nature and its fruits. Once upon a time, we were reasonable when it comes to using nature's gifts, but men have become greedy, and the more we had the more we needed. Oceans and rivers seem to be the most endangered. Many fish and other species that live in still unexplored areas of the ocean die on a daily basis due to oil leaks. But there are ways to fight back. I have been a man of nature and a fighter for the „green” world for a long time, and I have been searching for certain methods of fighting back and bringing everlasting peace in this struggle between man and nature. I am talking about bringing nature back into peoples’ homes. This can be achieved solely by owning a garden with different plants, or owning a small zoo with a few animals that you will love and feed every day. But the thing I want to talk about the most are aquariums.

All the fish in all the oceans, rivers, lakes and seas in the world – unite

First of all, owning an aquarium is a direct approach to fighting against endangered species in the oceans. As I have mentioned, many fish die every day, and just by having some in your home means a lot to the world of pisces. If you are about to buy an aquarium and support this movement, I suggest you seek a few pieces of advice from someone who already knows a lot about this kind of hobby. I am no expert in this area, but I will try to explain several things when it comes to owning and maintaining an aquarium. You should, firstly, decide whether you are going to have fish from the rivers or from the oceans and seas. As you know, oceans and seas have salty water and, logically, the sole existence of fish from rivers would not be possible in such an environment. Therefore, there are normal aquariums, also known as fish tanks and ponds and there are kinds of aquariums that are built specially for fish and other creatures that live their lives at sea. Now, the size does matter, no matter what they say. Of course, I mean the size of the aquarium you are about to buy. If you are planning to devote a lot of your time to the fish and aquariums, you can buy those big ones that will cover one whole wall. But, if you are new to this hobby, I suggest you take a smaller one, and have no more than five fish. Then again, if the fish are not that big or needy, you can have more than five, even with no experience at all. At the end, it all comes down to the fact that you are about to start something new which will eventually become an important part of your life, believe it or not. It is the same story as with other pets. For fifteen years I had been trying to persuade my parents to buy me a dog. At the age of twenty five, my father bought me one for my birthday and from that moment on it was him who could not take his eyes off the pet. They literally became best friends, and it took him fifteen and more years to realize how much pets can actually mean to people. The same story goes with the fish. These little creatures can become part of your family in no time, and you will be very happy to have them in your life.

But now comes the time where I must warn you about some other consequences of buying an aquarium. As you may know, they will require a lot of maintenance, which you will have to do on a daily basis. You can do it by yourself, or you can hire someone who has experience in that area to do it for you. However, a lot of time spent on the internet, made me think about certain devices that can help me with cleaning and generally maintaining the aquarium. I found about these things called Aquarium Filters, which made the whole cleaning process much easier. What it did was keep the water clean as much as possible by adding certain substances into in. Therefore, the time you spent just changing the water in the aquarium can be reduced twice or even thrice, and you will save a lot of energy also, since that procedure is very exhausting. Other devices such as Aquarium heaters can help you with keeping the temperature of the water constant, because some fish will require constant water temperature.

To sum up, although technology is very helpful nowadays, we should spent more time in nature and use high tech devices a little bit less in order to save planet from the extinction that has been threatening it for the past two or three decades. You can help nature even by doing some other things such as decorating your home in more “natural” way. Among all the other things that you can put in your home I recommend you buy an aquarium since that can be a way of helping endangered species that die every single day due to pollution.

Read More