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Plants And Animals:
An interesting experiment is to try to set up what is called a "balanced" aquarium. All green plants manufacture carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, using energy supplied by sunlight, and giving off oxygen as a by-product (a process known as photosynthesis). Animals either eat plants directly or eat other animals which feed on plants.The animal life in turn supplies the plants with carbon dioxide and the necessary nitrogen compounds. This cycle goes on indefinitely when all conditions are correct; it is then that the aquarium becomes a "balanced" habitat. Thus, perfect aquarium conditions have been obtained: (i) pure, well-aerated water; (2) constant temperature; (3) correct number of plants in relation to animals; and (4) right amount and kind of food. The aquarium cannot remain balanced if there are too many plants, or too many fish, or both. And if the light is insufficient, both plants and animals suffer for want of the proper amount of oxygen. The same is true if the temperature is not properly regulated. Restraint must be used in the number both of plants and of animals placed in the tank.
Animals require a constant supply of oxygen which they can obtain from the excess oxygen produced by plants. (Plants also require some oxygen, but not nearly as much as they produce.) Animals excrete nitrogenous wastes which plants require as fertilizer. In an aquarium that is "balanced" the plants supply the animal life with plant food and oxygen.
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