9. STONE-WARE POTTERY/SCULPTURES

This is a hobby which can be a little time consuming and costly if you want to own your own kiln. However, kiln space can be hired from pottery suppliers or art schools and colleges. That issue taken care of, it can be one of the most rewarding and satisfying of hobbies. Remember how you wanted to muck around in the dirt but were never allowed as a child, well, you can do it now. Mamta Rabha, whose creations are demonstrated here, was one such kid, always being pulled up for playing in the mud. She not only made sculpting her hobby, but has received great accolades for her work.

 There are three different classifications generally (viz., Earthernware, Stoneware and Porcelain) for this type of sculptures/pottery which requires hardening of clay by a heating process.

a)   Earthenware, after firing at high temperatures is hard but porous.

b)   Stone-ware is fired at temperatures which are higher than Earthernware, which results in making the end product extremely hard and non-porous.

c)   Porcelain, on the other hand is made of finer clays and crystalline minerals called feldspar and is fired at still higher temperatures than the other two groups and is normally hard, non-porous, fine-textured and translucent.

 (Most clays are easily shaped into various objects both as decorative pieces, as well as objects for daily use. Left in the Sun to bake, they will become somewhat hard, but most lose their shapes once water is poured in/on them. That is why, to make pottery water-resistant and tough, it is imperative to bake moulded clays in ovens or kilns).

 The sculptor has experimented with various classes of Pottery/sculptures and some of her works in stone-ware are given here. She has shared that all the under-noted images represent Stone-ware sculptures which were the end results, after firing the clay moulds at temperatures of over 1200 degree Centigrade in a closed oven/kiln which takes about two days to cool down. Even after the firing process, the Sculptor is “nervous” about whether the end-product/moulds have retained their shape during the firing process, as she had originally designed them.

Basic Pottery Tools

Potters Knife: useful for cutting and forming clay objects. A kitchen knife is a good enough alternative.

Jewel Cutter: like a pastry cutter, this is used is used for cutting out shapes in plastic or leather hard clay.

Calico: stiff cloth used for rolling out slabs of clay.

Rolling Pin: Every Indian household has one. Ideally you should invest in a separate one for the clay!

Fettling knife: a short, thin blade knife used for trimming casts in molds.

Wire cutter: used for cutting clay and removing wheel thrown pots. You can see your local potter use it.

Calipers/metal ruler: used for measuring.

Water spray: very useful for keeping clay workable.

The above sculpture has been titled “Mukhotoan ka Parivartan” (“The Changing Faces” representing the “two-timing/faced tendencies of Human Nature”). The Artist has depicted through this piece that people say one thing to your face and then say another thing behind your back/backstab. The real face/intention of the speaker remains hidden and it is difficult to scrutinize the real intentions of humans/colleagues/enemies etc. She has shown that the plaited hair falling on the face hides the real intention or meaning of what is said to one’s face.

 This sculpture is a continuation of the above depiction and is also titled “Mukhotoan ka Parivartan” The changing/two timing face has become so contorted and wrapped in its disguise of plaited hair that his/her real intentions/words have become so obscure that it has started showing on the person’s face. The Artist wonders, whether this person has got so wrapped up in his/her two timing /web of deceit, that it is not possible to let the others know the person’s true character, and everybody will shun such a person or be wary of him/her in one’s daily dealings leading to loss of credibility for such a person. Then, why this two timing attitude?

“Laya” (or Rhythm). This sculpture shows that two individuals of varying shape and sizes are, nevertheless working in tandem and perfect understanding of their objectives/goals as a perfect team. The moral here is that if one works together as part of the team, one can even realize seemingly impossible dreams/visions. The “mushrooms” growing on the sides of both the Stone-ware figures represents the culmination of their dreams, where mushrooms have been grown seemingly out of nowhere and even without the proper resources, by simply working in harmony.

“Potli” (or Bundle) is a sculpture representing human fate or destiny(ies). This is like the “Magician” card in a Tarot Card Deck (Major Arcana) in which the Magician lets the Protagonist “The Fool”(or the initiate) choose his own path or destiny and encourages him to experience life’s vagaries as per his own choosing and suffer the consequences or enjoy the fruits of his own selection. Here the Sculptor has presented several “Potlis or Bundles” (destinies) with their attendant merits or demerits (Karma). Some “Potlis” appear to be more attractive than the others, but whether it is the best path (destiny) for the individual, is left to the individual to choose and experience.

  

Here the sculptor has shown that as a Potter turns clay into various destinies for eg. an earthen cup, pitcher, sculpture etc., similarly, Fate or destiny shapes the fortunes of every individual. In this image, a woman or female form is depicted tied to the side of an earthen pitcher (or destiny) which Life has chosen for her and ruminates upon her fate with worry and anxiety. Even if she has everything, she is constantly worrying about her family, her children, the future, her security etc. Also, after her social responsibilities, she ponders on whether she will ever break free from life’s given destiny and follow her own aspirations and dreams?  The sculptor has, in her own imaginative way depicted the fate of numerous women across the World who are unable to follow their dreams because of their pre-decided fates largely due to social customs/practices.

Here again is another depiction of the above theme in different colours and shape. Another woman ruminates her pre-decided fate while wistfully pondering over her distant dreams and visions and whether she will ever achieve them after taking care of her social responsibilities.

The "Chakor" (Chukar Bird) waits patiently for the first drop of rain in the monsoons and is constantly looking upwards for the first sign of clouds/rain. The sculptor has depicted has depicted three Chakors waiting patiently for the event to happen. Also she has depicted life’s struggles through this depiction, where sometimes the person has to wait very long to achieve his life’s/personal ambitions /objectives, which come only after a hard struggle and prolonged wait.

A “Mangal Kalash” (Pot standing for prosperity and well-being) is depicted here with Lord Ganesha blessing everyone. Two elephants with raised trunks are showering petals (left to imagination) on Lord Ganesha. The sculptor here is praying for everyone’s well-being and prosperity through her depiction.

The above is a stone-ware sculpture moulded/baked on 24 tile-shaped depictions forming the whole portrait titled “Maa” in Bengali and depicts the goddess Durga who showers her blessings and prosperity and health on her devotees.

This is a depiction of a Bengali Art form in which representations of leaves of “Taarh” (Palm leaves) are used. The Palm leaves are generally used as fans and here the Sculptor has symbolically shown that everyone needs fresh air to breathe and to survive in a healthy way. She has used a profusion of Stoneware fans on pieces of wood indicating her symbolism that we need several fans everywhere to keep our environment fresh and healthy and also to symbolize wind –energy generated through wind-mills.

The above depiction is that of a woman who has tolerated injustices/social burdens to an extent that now she has reached the end of her patience. The work has been aptly titles “Jwala” (Flame) depicting the simmering discontent in the universally exploited woman which has reached an explosive point. The rays of the sun on this image depict/symbolize an enraged woman.

This depiction is an extension of the symbolism given above and shows an enraged woman who is now fighting against/speaking out boldly against the injustices meted out to her.

Here the sculptor has symbolized that a woman as a universal archetype is second to none. The horse represents the chauvinistic male’s thought processes and the figure of a woman on the horse’s back represents the woman’s victory/achievements by surmounting the male bias against a woman’s right to equal participation in every sphere of life. The work is titled “Raftaar” (Speed – meaning that the woman has now galvanized into fighting for her equal rights everywhere and achieving them in a hitherto male dominated World).

Through this four artifact depictions, the sculptor has portrayed, that to achieve one’s goals, one has to work very hard and with single-minded focus towards the targeted objectives/goals. The works here are titled “Manzil” (Goal or Destination).

In the first artifact, a bird has climbed up a very high rungs ladder and has reached the door of its target which is shut before it. Notice that the building or objective where the bird is climbing/entering/conquering with its single minded focus has a straw roof.

In the next artifact, the little bird has managed to prise open one portion of the door and is pushing it inside to make room for its own entry.

The third artifact shows that the bird has through its herculean efforts managed to open the other side of the door too and also managed to convert the straw-covered roof of the building into a nicely- tiled roof and,

In the fourth and last artifact the bird is comfortably inside the room, depicting that the hard work has been finally rewarded and the Bird (symbolizing a human being) has achieved its goals and is now reaping the benefits of its hard work/labour.

Here the sculptor has depicted a caravan of assorted animal pulled carts symbolizing life’s journey with each one of us carrying on within our various destinies, but moving towards the same ultimate destination – the passage into the history of time!

The sculptor through this depiction of ferry boats across the Ganges at Hubli in Kolkata has made a symbolism of life’s journey towards its ultimate goal. If the waters are calm, the journey will be without incident, therefore one must tackle all of life’s challenges with equanimity and fortitude.

 The sculptures/ stoneware art depicted here are the works of Mamta Rabha who is an MFA (Ceramics) from the College of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow University, and Lucknow. She has several exhibitions and murals to her credit. Some of her works have won State level Awards.

This Article has been compiled and written by Rajeev Prasad. 

7. Glass Painting : the fun paints

Glass Painting is bright, simple, quick and loads of fun. I may sound a word of caution here. The solvent based paints are highly toxic ( my head is still feeling a little heavy from yesterday’s session). If you are particularly sensitive you can use a mask.

Yesterday I painted this glass plate retrieved from my old discarded micro oven. Just put a motif underneath, drew the outline with a transparent outliner tube and poured the glass paints to blend. Took at best an hour.

The aquarium took much longer and some planning. Drew the fishes and other animals on pieces of paper and arranged and stuck them on a glass sized white sheet of paper, put the glass on top and got started, not forgetting the cups of hot black tea we had take to clear our throats and brains of the toxic fumes –kidding of course!

The next beautiful composition by Parmita in  geometric form has taken much more effort and planning. She made a number of geometrical spaces by outlining the glass surface with the outliner and then one by one painted different objects in each section to give this multicoloured effect.

The next painting by Parmita is glass paint on canvas and is giving the effect of an oil painting. The method is the same.

Article by Sumita and paintings by Parmita and Sumita              Acrylic paintings

6. ART : Medium Acrylic

The Sun has been a favourite subject for artists.

There is no artist worth her salt who has not painted some aspect of the sun or the other, at some point of her life, as an artist. Well I am no exception! But I found painting the sun in the same old way – oh! so boring, so I decided to make an abstract of it ie. not looking like  the real thing. Artists mostly paint the rising or the setting sun because those are the times you can actually look at it and appreciate its beauty. I thought of painting the rising sun and demarcated the lower edge of the canvas as the horizon. The suns rays are of course linear but I decided to digress and instead made them circular in keeping with the preference of the universe for all things circular. To break the monotony of the circles I put some brown verticle motifs which also provided a break from the sun colors. This corner (lower right) denotes earth and its flora.

While the rising sun is orangish I made it a bright gold and instead used all its beautiful colors in the background ranging from alizarin crimson and cadmium red  to peach to pink ie from a dark to a light shade. The golden rays of the sun have also been softly merged with the background at the tips.

The second is a painting of a blue colored bird which my sister tells me is a Nilgiri fly catcher. There was a time when I was painting everything blue specially a lot of blue sea and blue sky. Suddenly I saw the picture of this cute blue colored bird on one of my sisters bird books. My “blue” mood took a fancy to it and I decided to make a quick  bright painting of it, so selected acrylic as the medium of choice. Since the acrylic paints dry very fast merging effects were not to my satisfaction, so I have used small hatching strokes, which overlap.

The third is a mural of Ganesha on thin plywood. It was made with ceramic powder kneaded with fevicol to a dough like consistency. The colors are acrylic with pearl shine.

*Acrylic paints are derived from petroleum. Acrylics contain three basic ingredients – pigment, water and synthetic resin which acts as the binder. To improve the paint’s performance other ingredients such as plasticisers are also added.

*There are many kinds of speciality acrylics including the following: irridescent colors simulate the look of metals such as gold, silver and bronze. Interference or refractive colors change when viewed at different angles. Airbrush colors are watery thin.

*Acrylics are suited to hard edged paintings because of its rapid drying time. On the other hand unlike oil paintings your work is dry and ready as soon you have made it.

Article, photograph and painting by Parmita

5. ART : Soft Pastel Sketch

On one of our bird watching trips to Lonavala I found some kids playing around, who on seeing my camera wanted a picture of theirs clicked.  I always wonder about, and am also  touched by the innocence of kids and sometimes grownups asking you to take their pictures, with your camera, which you have no way of sharing with them. It must have something to do with every humans secret aspiration for immortality!

Coming back to the picture – the kids managed to look so cute even in their 2 sizes too big hand-me-down clothes, I thought of sketching them. Don’t miss the little boy in the middle getting all tied up in knots, trying to hide behind his sisters,  because I asked him to come forward. Even though I am unlikely to see these kids again and they possibly don’t even remember posing for my picture, I have spent hours studying every little bit of light and shadow on them while making their sketch and feel as if I know them as individuals.

Soft pastels as  a medium are not the easiest things to work with, even though you may think otherwise, because they are so much like the crayons you have used as a child. Pastels are a combination of chalk, pigment and a binder, usually gum tragacanth, a substance derived from various plants. The ingredients are mixed and formed into round or rectangular sticks or blocks and dried. Pastel is available in three basic forms: hard pastel, soft pastel and pastel pencils.  Pastels with the highest proportions of binder are hard and brittle; others are soft and more crumbly.    Pastel pencils are thin rods of hard pastel encased in wood. Often one needs to mix hard and soft to get the desired effect but its better to work from hard pastel to soft as overlaying soft pastel is easy enough but the reverse does not work. Similarly one needs to work from light to dark as unlike paints like oil, acrylic etc trying to lighten colors using white later, gives a dull effect. Mixing colours to form new shades is also a difficult proposition so one needs to have a wide range of ready colours.

Pastel depends on the texture of the support to hold it in place – the rougher the texture , the more pastel can be applied. I have found hand made paper is best suited. However one can use any paper also fabric or sanded paper.

Pastel poses a definite health risk because the fine dust may easily be inhaled and can settle in the lungs. Take precautions like wearing some type of a mask and don’t blow the lose dust instead take your work outdoor and tap it lightly from the rear.

Article, photograph and sketch by Sumita  for Sumita's sketches

4. ART : Sumita’s Initiation into art.

Painting is my post retirement hobby. The funny part is I took it up after a lot of resistance. Why?? Well here goes- Before me my sister had taken up art as a post retirement past-time and she went berserk; it was like some gigantic artistic beast waking up and getting into a frenzy inside her. She was not only painting canvases, pots, plates and wood planks, but also talking about it 24 by 7. Well to cut a long story short I was so put off with the clutter and the chatter I thought this is something I don’t want to do. But because I had taken early retirement expressly "to follow my hobbies" I had to do something, so I studied homeopathy, dabbled in Tarot card reading astrology and numerology, my hobbies since my schooldays and did a course in bird-watching along with my husband and fell in love with the little marvels of creation for all times to come. But then I am my sister's sister (sic!) so she was able to convince me that I should also give art a try, so one day paint box and canvas in hand I went and joined a group of ladies who are guided by an artist while they dabble with colors. And bam! it happened! The beast came alive! I was out of control! I could’nt stop. My teacher all but threw me out of class because I couldn't wait till the next class and would be dabbing paint to my hearts content and messing up a perfectly good work. I would wake up at 3am and sketch anything that caught my fancy. Thankfully this continued for a few months only and then the beast was at peace and let me work at my own pace.

So I am putting up the stuff I made to share my experience of starting a creative hobby which I had no inkling I had a knack or talent for. And also to show that one should not assess the work with "how good it is" but with "how much pleasure I got making it". Here are some of my first sketches –

Article and sketches by Sumita     Glass painting

3. COOKERY : Vegetarian dishes without onion or garlic

The other day I invited my sister-in-law’s mother for dinner. The challenge was that she is a vegetarian and doesn’t eat onion and garlic. So after a lot of long distance telecons with my sister, these are the items I prepared for her.

Corn cutlets with mint and corriander chutney (starters)

Ingredients:  for chutney

Coriander leaves and mint leaves  in equal proportions, green chilly 1 or 2. Grind with salt to taste. Add lemon juice (optional).

Ingredients:  for cutlets

Sweet corn roughly ground 1 cup. 2 large potatoes boiled and mashed well. Ginger ( julien) 1tsp. green chilly chopped 2. Chopped mint and coriander leaves 2tsps. Chaat masala 2 tsps.

Method:

Put 2 tsps oil  in a pan on the fire and stir in the roughly ground corn to take the rawness out of it. Add it to the mashed potatoes. Add all other ingredients and salt. Mix well and form small balls and flatten.  Fry on a non stick tava on low heat with very little oil. Serve with the chutney. You can sprinkle the cutlets with some chaat masala.

Coriander lemon soup

Ingredients:

Thinly sliced baby corn 4-5, corn flour 2tbsp, coriander leaves finely chopped 2 tbsp, lemon juice, ground black pepper.

Method:

Boil the baby corn in 2 bowls of water for 5 mins. Add another three bowls of water and when it comes to a boil pour in the corn flour properly mixed in a bowl of water. Keep stirring till the soup thickens. Add the chopped coriander leaves and boil for a minute. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Will serve 6-7 people.  

Baby potatoes, paneer and peas in tomato curry.

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes 10 or so (same  size), paneer 200gms, green peas 200gms, tomatoes 4 medium, coriander powder, turmeric powder, small slice of ginger, Kashmiri mirch (whole) 2, cardamoms 2, cloves 4, bayleaves 2.

Method:

Peel and fry the potatoes till golden and keep separate.Fry the paneer sliced into small squares and keep with the potatoes. Grind all the spices to a paste, (soaking the kashmiri mirch for a couple of hours brings out the color). Put the bay leaves In the remaining oil and add the ground masala paste soon after and fry till the fried smell emanates. Add the tomatoes cut into small pieces. Fry till it leaves the sides of the pan. Add the potatoes, paneer and the peas and stir till coated with the masala. Add salt to taste. Add 2 cups of water. Simmer till potatoes are cooked.

"Phool-Kopir Dalna" (Cauliflower curry Bengali style)

Ingredients:

1medium sized cauliflower separated into flowerettes, 2large size potatoes, 2 medium tomatoes, a piece of ginger, ½ spoon cumin  seeds, coriander powder 1spoon, black pepper1/3 spoon, red chilly powder 1/3 spoon, 2 Bay leaves, 4cloves, 2 cardamoms, turmeric powder 1 spoon, asoeftida a tiny ball. 2tbsp curd (optional), a bit of jaggery.

Method:

 Soak the  cauliflower flowerettes in boiling hot water for an hour or so. Make sure you have slit the stems so that they cook well. Peel and slice  potatoes to match the size of the flowerettes, so that both cook the same amount. Grind the cumin seeds, ginger, black and red pepper, coriander power  and turmeric powder together.  (If the turmeric colouring your hands or the grinder bothers you, just stir in the powder in the masala paste later.)

Put oil on fire. First fry the sliced potatoes till golden then add the flowerettes and fry for till the flowerettes have a fried smell and have marginally changed colour. Take out of pan and keep separately. In the samepan add a little more oil (the cauliflower soaks all the oil you put in so if you are calorie conscious save 1 tbsp oil for the masala from the amount you plan to use) Add the bay leaves, then the cloves, cardamoms and asoeftida. Stir in the masala paste and fry for a few minutes till a nice fried smell emanates from it. Add the tomatoes cut into very small pieces. Add a little salt and keep frying till the masala leaves the sides of the pan. Add the potatoes and cauliflower and stir till coated with masala. Add the whipped curd stir some more, add salt to taste and a cup of water. Throw in a bit of jaggery to balance the taste. Simmer till cooked.  The cooked vegetable should not be totally dry.  Garnish with coriander leaves and green chillies.

Rajma

Ingredients:

1 cup of Rajma soaked and boiled with salt. Desi ghee 2tsps, fresh ground pepper, fresh ground cumin seeds, basil leaves (optional).

Method:

Put the ghee in a pan and when hot add the rough ground cumin seeds and then the ground pepper, add the boiled rajma and cook for a while with a cover, add the basil leaves before taking off the fire. If the gravy is too liquid just mash some of the Rajma till it thickens.

Spinach walnut Raita:

Ingredients:

1 cup whipped curd, a handful of spinach thinly sliced, 4-5 walnuts roughly  broken. Ground pepper.

Method:

Boil the spinach for 2 mins and strain. Add into the curd. Add salt and pepper as per taste. Garnish with the walnuts.   

Gajar ka halwa

Ingredients: 4-5 red carrots grated, sugar, dry fruits chopped, almonds soaked and sliced, raisins, malai or a cupful of  milk reduced to khowa. Desi ghee (optional)

Method:

In a thick bottomed covered pan put the grated carrots with sufficient sugar on low heat. Stir from time to time so it doesn’t burn. Add the chopped dry fruits and raisins at the beginning itself. Garnish with the khowa and sliced almonds. If you don’t mind making it a little heavy, put a tbsp of desi ghee in a pan put some cardomums and fry the halwa for a few minutes, to give added flavour, before garnishing it.

Shahi tukda

Ingredients:

Square pieces of brown bread, thick sugar syrup,  malai or thickened milk, desi ghee, sliced almonds and pistachios, few strands of saffron. Rose and kewra essence.

Method:

On tawa  or non stick flat pan toast the bread squares on low heat. They should be evenly toasted without getting burnt. Add drops of desi ghee to the sides of each piece to give the flavour without the fat. Arrange  them on a serving dish. With a spoon pour the syrup on each slice while they are still warm. Put enough syrup for the pices to be soaked but not mushy. Garnish each piece with malai, scatter the sliced almonds and pistachios on the malai, topping it with 2-3 strands of saffron. Lastly put 2 drops of rose and 2 drops of kewra essence in a cup with 3-4 spoons of water. Sprinkle this water on the pieces, alternately you can add the essence to the syrup.

Now since there were other folks I didn’t want to upset, I made a few things with onion and garlic too.

Dum aloo with kasuri methi

Ingredients:

5 medium size boiled potatoes, 2 onions cut into cubes, fresh ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder.

Method:

Fry cubed onions in 2 tbsp oil, add ginger-garlic paste fry for a few minutes then add a spoonful each of turmeric and coriander powder and fry till brown. Add the boiled potatoes whole and fry with the masala on slow heat. The potatoes will get golden fried on the outside. Use the ladle to slice them into pieces. Fry some more till all sides are covered with masala. Just beore taking off the fire add 2 tbsp of dried Kasuri methi and stir well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and chopped green chillies.

Lauki/Dudhi ka kofta

Ingredients:

One small lauki/dudhi (bottle gourd), 2onions, fresh garlic ground with whole Kashmiri lal mirch soaked in water, garam masala powder, coriander powder, 2tbsp besan (chickpea flour), 2 large tomatoes pureed, few raisins (kishmish), tamarind pieces.

Method:

Koftas : Grate the lauki and stand for 10 minitues. Squeeze out the water which  you can throw or add to the gravy. Add salt, garam masala powder, coriander powder, besan and chilly powder(optional). Make small balls, stuff each ball with 2 raisins, a slice of tamarind and a few pieces of very finely chopped green chillies. Deep fry or fry on a non-stick pan on slow heat so that they are properly cooked.

Gravy : Brown the sliced onions. Add garlic and mirchi paste and fry till it leaves the sides of the pan. Add tomato puree. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt. Fry till the masala leaves the sides of the pan. Add water and boil. Just before taking off the fire add the koftas. Garnish with coriander leaves when serving.

Recipes experimented and written by Sumita

2. REARING PETS; STARTING AN AQUARIUM

 I must have been around 7-8 years of age when I first saw a “Fish Tank” and promptly fell in love with it. I don’t know what fascinated me – the moving fish, their pretty colours or the rising aerator bubbles – but I loved it. I used to pester my parents for a “Fish Tank” – later I came to know that it was called an “Aquarium”. My repeated requests were answered by – when you grow up and can take care of yourself and your fish, you can get an Aquarium.

I grew up with a dream of owning an Aquarium and at the age of 20 years the first thing that I gifted myself was an Aquarium – and believe me for the last 30 years or so I have always enjoyed watching the fishes  and taking care of them and experimenting with the combinations/varieties in my Aquarium. I used to bring in small fishes and rear them.

I was so eager to have an Aquarium that I bought an Aquarium, accessories and fishes all at once on the same day and conveniently disregarded the commonly followed norm to let the collected water in the Aquarium “ripen” for a week before introducing the fish in the tank, I set up the Aquarium – with water, fish accessories, going in all at one go on the first day itself. I think I was lucky not to lose any fish.

Later in my zeal to keep my Aquarium clean, I did lose a few fishes when I changed the water in the Aquarium, unfortunately, I put in drinking water to which chlorine had been added to make it potable (for human consumption). Fish are very sensitive to chlorinated water and cannot tolerate it. It is better to let the water stand overnight in buckets – (if you are introducing running water from the tap with chlorine), this results in the chlorine content evaporating and, then, you can introduce the water in the Aquarium. I remember that I was very upset and ever since, I have strictly followed every rule to keep my Aquarium Fish as comfortable as possible.

How I set up my aquarium

For the base, gravel/marbles/marble chips can be used. I prefer marble chips as they lend a good contrast to showing off the colours of the fishes. These marble chips should be soaked in the water for at least 24 hours before putting them in the Aquarium and repeatedly washed so as to remove all the dirt/impurities.

Plants artificial or natural can be put in. I prefer the natural ones – this lets the Aquarium have a very natural look – easy to multiply and grow. Only one very important precaution is required – they need light during the day for photosynthesis.  As such, the first thing that I do every morning is to switch on the Aquarium light and at night, I switch it off.

Pic098

The advantage of lighting up the Aquarium is that in winters it helps to keep the water warm, the lighted up Aquarium looks attractive and natural plants are facilitate in their photosynthesis functions during the day for food etc. Some recommended water plants are: Valeseneria and hubumba .

The water tends to heat up in warmer climates/summers, so the lights have to be switched off at peak times.

An aerator is also placed and used according to the size of the Aquarium and the number of fishes in the Aquarium.

Avoid overcrowding.

The Aquarium is arbitrarily divided into 3 zones – Upper, middle and lower zones – and fishes are selected for all three zones.

For example, Guppies are nicely coloured fishes that tend to stay in the upper layers of the Aquarium, as do Tangerines, Platy and Mollies.

In the middle segment - Angels, sharks and Gold Fish can be kept.

(With Goldfish, maintaining natural plants in the Aquarium is a problem as they tend to eat/uproot them.  To prevent this, spinach can be cut up in very fine pieces, boiled and put in the Aquarium – fishes love it and will leave natural plants alone but the water tends to get dirty faster).

Lastly, there are Aquarium cleaners/ cleaning fish  like Sucker Mouths – which keep the glass clean from algae/fungus growth, loch etc. They act like constant “vacuum cleaners”.

Aquarium Fish should be fed only once a day and given a small amount only, otherwise they tend to overeat and die.

Fish generally last 5-6 years. It is better to add them to your Aquarium while they are small and watch them grow into adults.

Before buying fish, check whether there are any white spots on their fins – white spots indicate diseased fish that will transmit the disease to other fishes and eventually die.

A NIGHTMARISH EXPERIENCE:

Once I got a small Tiger Shark – it was so small that it may get eaten up by other fishes, so I put it separately in a jar. While cleaning the jar, the fish accidentally slipped onto the wash-basin and down the drain. I had to act quickly. I turned on the tap and opened the drain line and put a net at the bottom of the open drain-line, through which water was freely flowing. Sure enough, after a breath-stopping anxious wait of about two minutes (which seemed like an eternity to me) I got my fish back alive and uninjured. Then, gradually, I nurtured it back to health and, over a period of time, it grew up to a size of about 2 feet long. I got a new Tank made for it, where every morning while feeding it I would put my finger on its snout, and it would conveniently, let me put the fish feed directly in its mouth. It was one of my most favourite fishes.

A FEW TIPS FOR NEWBIE AQUARIUM OWNERS:

1)      There are two types of Aquaria –

a)      The cold-water type for fish from temperate countries.

b)      The heated/hot water type for tropical varieties of fish.

2)      A suitable heating mechanism/arrangement is usually maintained for tropical Aquaria resulting in an additional expense for setting up the heated Aquarium – although, later on, the running/maintenance costs are not very high as it is relatively easier to maintain tropical fishes than cold-water varieties.

3)      It is always advisable to go in for a proper Aquarium and not a “Gold Fish” bowl unless the size of the “Gold Fish” bowl is really huge in relation to the size/number of fish to be kept. This is primarily because a large number of fish kept in constricted spaces suffer from “over-crowding” or from lack of sufficient water surface. The ideal size-space ratio , as a thumb-rule should  be  :

For cold water Fish:  Every 1 inch of body of the fish requires 1 sq.ft. of water surface in order to obtain sufficient oxygen for respiration. Say, for example, if the body of an Aquarium fish is 4 inches (excluding the tail fins) it will require at least 4 sq. ft. of water surface, i.e. an area of 2 ft.x2 ft. The more number of fish you add to the Aquarium of this size, the water surface area would have to be increased proportionately. For example, Goldfishes can live upto 25 years and grow to about 12-14 inches. It is difficult to maintain Goldfish in smaller-sized Aquaria.  Some recommended varieties are fantails, veiltails, orandas which grow more slowly and are better adapted to cold water Aquaria.

For Tropical Fish:  These are much smaller in size and have an average body length of only about 1 ¼ inches. So one can maintain a much larger number of Fish in even a small Aquarium of 11/2 ft. by 1 ft., say between around 15 or 16 fishes.

4)      Sand which is placed at the bottom should be thoroughly washed.

5)      Ornamental rocks, suitable plants should be carefully selected so as not to harm the fishes in any way.

6)      Water is normally added gently and suitable plants added. In cold water aquaria, the preliminary set-up is now allowed to stay as it is for say, a period of one week, which allows micro-organisms to grow which later act as food for the fishes. However, in case of heated Aquaria you must check out the working of the thermostat which on heating should remain within the permissible band, for the fishes to feel comfortable with.

7)      Once everything is found to be conducive, fishes are introduced to the tank in recommended numbers.

8)      Care needs to be taken that the fishes are not over-fed or overcrowding. The type of fish food including “live” ones as well as the frequency of feeding, should be carefully studied/assessed before feeding the fishes.

9)      The Aquarium should be cleaned regularly, preferably once a month at least, so as to ensure that the sediment which accumulates in the tank is not proving detrimental to the fishes health in any way.

10)   In addition to the scavengers mentioned above, certain species of snails too act as scavengers. Only the right type of snails should be introduced.

11)   An aeration plant/aerator increases the oxygen levels in the tank for the fishes and can be used in the Aquarium.  A back-up set is also recommended in case the aeration unit malfunctions.

12)   The main factors which result in fish mortality are – overcrowding, overfeeding, underfeeding, unwanted sediment/dirt accumulation, strong light, unusually high temperatures, predominance of noxious gases formation/absorption into the tank from the atmosphere. Disinfectants are also detrimental to the fishes well being. Care should be taken to avoid these factors at all cost. In case the tank does have an ailing fish, it should be removed from the tank and nursed back to help in a separate water tank/ container.

These are just some of the precautions that one should take. As one gets more experienced in maintaining Aquarium fishes, these precautions become second nature to the Aquaria owners and you can understand the fishes requirement the moment you set eyes on the tank. The fishes too come to understand feeding times and get highly animated once you approach the tank for feeding them. Keeping an Aquarium is a very interesting, satisfying and a fun hobby.

Should you like to share some of your own experiences at maintaining an Aquarium, please let us know on the email address given on this blog for vetting and posting.

Article written and researched by Raka