My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 575

The two best choices for fish to put in the tank are naturally the red-lipped barracuda and the lenok.

We keep them at home all day to eat their meat, so it's time to let them live in a luxurious fish tank.

Of these two types of fish, the red-lipped barb is originally an ornamental fish.

Moreover, they are bottom-dwelling fish and bottom-feeding fish.

The plants and trees in the landscape within the glass fish tank are thriving thanks to the nourishing water.

If all the fish are carnivorous, the plants in the aquarium will grow wildly in a short period of time if left unattended.

Therefore, the red-lipped fish is indispensable.

Besides, this fish is beautiful.

When they are small, they have four or five black stripes.

As they grow, their color turns a deep crimson, and they look extremely beautiful swimming in the jar.

As for the Qinling fine-scaled salmon, although its name sounds strange, it actually looks quite beautiful when kept in a transparent glass tank.

After all, they are fish that were left on the mainland by the ocean.

Although the fine-scaled salmon is a stream fish and prefers flowing water, Chen Ling has access to Lingshui, so keeping it in a still tank is perfectly fine.

In addition, these fish don't grow very big; the largest one won't reach 30 centimeters. You can keep more of them in the tank, and they look very beautiful when they're in a group.

As for the lenok being a carnivorous fish, that's fine too.

Just put some fish fry or minnows in it every day, and you can easily catch a whole bunch in one net, enough for them to eat.

Once they've eaten their fill, they rarely fight.

The red-lipped barbs and fine-scaled salmon reproduced exceptionally quickly in the village, one generation after another. A single male and female pair could produce a large number of offspring, and the entire school of fish naturally grew into densely packed, large groups.

Chen Ling deliberately sold it two or three times in the first half of this year, making a lot of money. She often eats it, but there's still too much of it.

Chen Ling took the net and lifted the fine-mesh wire mesh covering the slender salmon channel. With a casual swipe, he found a dense swarm of fish, big and small, all lively and energetic despite the high density.

Half of them might jump out when you scoop them out of the net.

Chen Ling picked through the fish, specifically choosing some medium-sized ones from the fine-scaled salmon.

Put it in the bucket.

I caught another netful of red-lipped barbs, specifically choosing the small fish that had just grown from fry.

When putting fish in a fish tank, it's better to keep small fish so you can enjoy the fun of raising them from tiny to adulthood.

"However, I really should reduce the density of these two types of fish. I'll have Sun Yanhong take some more away another day. Once the weather gets cooler, the crayfish craze will subside."

These fish, cooked in a hot pot, are perfect for the cooler weather and can temporarily replace crayfish.

Chen Ling secretly made plans and put the selected red-lipped barbs and fine-scaled salmon into the fish tank.

Without taking a closer look, he hurriedly led the tiger and the weasel outside to look for fish.

The sky cleared up today, but not completely.

A gentle breeze carries the coolness unique to autumn.

The chirping of cicadas in the trees gradually faded away.

Only the birds in the forest are still relatively active.

They chirped and chattered incessantly, leaping among the branches and leaves, and hopping about in the grass to catch insects.

Chen Ling carried the fishing net, while Afu and A Shou each held a bucket in their mouths. They strolled along their family's irrigation ditch, from the ditch to the small river at the foot of the back mountain. Every now and then, Chen Ling would cast the net in to see if there were any unexpected catches.

If there are any suitable ones to put into the tank, put them into the bucket first.

If it's not suitable, and you catch it in the net, but it jumps out on its own, then it'll be eaten by tigers and weasels.

They all like to eat fish, but they don't eat it as a main meal; it's just a snack, and it's nice to change things up.

I wandered around the canals and streams, and among the larger fish, there were the most peach blossom fish, while among the smaller fish, there were mostly bitterlings.

Bitterlings are alright; they have beautiful, multicolored plumage, and it's fun to keep a group of them in a tank.

The peach blossom fish, also known as the horse mouth fish, is a rather ferocious fish.

Once it's in the tank, any fish smaller than it will not survive.

These are all wild fish that have come from rivers and streams. If they are not caught for a while, there will be more of them than the domestic fish that Chen Ling raises.

But Chen Ling never cared; once someone entered the vicinity of the manor, they became his fish.

Drink his water, eat his food, and sell it for the same price.

So he ignores all the fish that swim by, except for the fierce ones like the bigmouth bass.

I took a stroll along the canal and the stream.

After much picking and choosing, I realized that many fish are nocturnal, so I couldn't find any good ones during the day.

So we went back to the small fishpond near the water tower.

These are the three small ponds where Chen Ling keeps ornamental fish.

There are various kinds of goldfish, koi, and flower handkerchiefs, which are fighting fish caught from Fenglei Town.

These are the most common ornamental fish, so naturally they are beautiful.

Moreover, Chen Ling has also cultivated several batches of excellent goldfish and koi this year. They are available both outside and in the grotto, in all shapes and sizes, and in all kinds of strange shapes.

There are even mutated bioluminescent fish.

The reason I didn't put them in the tank right away was...

This is because goldfish and koi are mostly fish with straight intestines, so they eat a lot and excrete a lot.

You can raise them yourself in a water tank, a water trough, or even that celadon jar.

This is a natural, unpretentious tank; there aren't many rules or requirements.

Fish waste can also be part of promoting the natural ecological cycle of the fish tank.

He cherished the many beautiful and exquisite artificial landscapes in the glass fish tank.

Moreover, these goldfish and koi fish will also devour the vegetation.

But when I arrived at these three ponds, I saw some fish that were exceptionally beautiful among the fish. It would be a real shame not to put them in a tank.

Chen Ling gritted his teeth: "Let's pick some to put in and play with. Even if they're destructive, I can just rebuild the landscape. Anyway, there's plenty of spiritual water, so we're not afraid of anything."

He had his eye on a pure black koi carp.

This fish mingled with the school of fish, shaking its head and wagging its tail, looking very domineering. Chen Ling wanted to scoop it into the tank as soon as he saw it.

Unlike schools of bitterling and slender salmon, koi, which are relatively large fish, should not be introduced into the tank in large numbers.

One is enough.

The next step is to choose goldfish.

The pond is usually filled with green water.

After the rain, a large number of algae died, and the water became much clearer.

It was easy for Chen Ling to choose, and in the end he jumped to two mutated panda-colored black and white dragon-eye fish.

The most eye-catching fish in this batch is the panda-colored dragon eye fish.

Its bulging eyes are two small black balls, like a panda's ears.

Its body and tail are black and white, and its belly is covered with large white patches, making it look very much like a panda.

Fish with this color don't look good in livestock troughs or aquariums.

It still needs to be put in a glass tank.

Other red, yellow, and patterned koi and goldfish don't look good in a large tank; it's better to put a group of glow-in-the-dark fish instead.

As for those flowery handkerchief-patterned fighting fish...

Chen Ling thought about it and decided not to give up for the time being.

These fish are fierce fighters. Moreover, betta fish have a characteristic: they are very active in small aquariums, but become less active in large aquariums.

What's fun if you don't like swimming?

"Okay, that'll do for now. Then I'll put in two more cedarwood fish. There are caves in the mountain scenery I created, so they can go in... I'll also put in two river clams and a mountain snail to eat the fish droppings in the tank..."

Chen Ling pondered what else he could add: "Right, shrimp and crabs too. Add some river shrimp and crabs, you need to have some shrimp soldiers and crab generals too."

While I was fishing along the ditch, I caught some shrimp and crabs.

The crabs were alright, but the river shrimp were incredibly fast; they bounced away as soon as the net went in.

Therefore, relatively few were caught, and many were about to molt.

"When I send Ah Fu and Ah Shou back to the city, I'll go to the mountain cat's place and catch two more deep-sea turtles. Then I'll have the Turtle Prime Minister too. The scene will be amazing."

Chen Lingchang thought to himself.

Then we continued to catch bitterling, shrimp, and crabs. After that, we looked for mountain snails and small river clams by the stream.

Wait until you feel you have enough.

I'll slowly put it into the tank when I get home later.

At this moment, the red-lipped barbs and slender-scaled salmon were already swimming around and exploring in the large aquarium.

There weren't many redfin bream, only four or five small ones, the largest being just over half a span long.

It constantly touches and pecks at the 'green grass' at the bottom of the fish tank with its mouth.

Meanwhile, the fine-scaled salmon, numbering thirty to forty and about half a span in length, gathered in the middle of the aquarium's water column, swimming back and forth.

Chen Ling looked at the swarms of fine-scaled salmon and decided to put a group of bitterlings in first to see the effect.

Bitterlings are small fish by nature.

It is even smaller than small fish like the lenok and the red snapper that haven't fully grown.

They were only about three or four centimeters long. Chen Ling put over a hundred of them in at once, and they swam around in the tank, their scales shimmering.

Although they are all schools of fish, they don't look chaotic when they are in the tank with a group of fine-scaled salmon.

The main difference is in size.

If the slender-scaled salmon is like a swarm of mosquitoes, then the bitterling is like a swarm of small flying insects.

In addition, since they each prefer different water layers, they won't gather together to form a group.

You go your way, I'll go mine, we won't interfere with each other.

These little bitterlings are quite lively. Not long after they were put into the tank, they ran to the various small structures at the bottom of the tank and burrowed in and out.

Sometimes they gather in groups and swim over the 'mountains' to reach another corner of the world at the bottom of the tank.

Chen Ling then added the shrimp and crab.

After the water entered, the shrimp and crabs immediately sank to the bottom, crawling around and driving the bitterlings and small red-lipped barbs at the bottom all over the place.

The bottom of the tank suddenly became lively.

Chen Ling stood in front of the fish tank for a long time, and the two tigers and weasels were also very engrossed in watching.

I think it's fun.

As the sunlight outside grew stronger, it was nearly noon.

Chen Ling then put two panda goldfish and a large black koi into the tank.

These three fish are much larger than the others.

They were raised in still water in the pond, and Chen Ling didn't feed them much, but they never lacked food.

I won't even mention the tadpoles, small fish, and shrimp.

There are also various mosquito larvae and eggs, as well as grasshoppers and crickets that have wandered in.

In the koi pond, even if an insect lands on the grass or floats on the surface, the koi will leap out of the water to eat it.

Therefore, he was very robust in physique.

Especially this black koi; the moment it entered the fish tank, it looked like a black dragon king.

It can be several times larger than other fish.

With the midday sun shining into the room, the fish tank shimmered.

Against the backdrop of the black koi swimming around in the tank, traversing mountains and valleys, shaking its head and swaying its tail, it is both majestic and beautiful.

Chen Ling felt that if he had nothing else to do, he could stand in front of the fish tank and watch it all day long.

"Hmm... Next, let's put in a few more glow-in-the-dark fish with good coloration, it'll look nice at night too."

The bioluminescent fish, the bioluminescent fish, you can tell just by its name.

This thing is also nocturnal.

During the day, they like to hide under the aquatic plants and stay away from the water. At night, they become active and will float on the surface of the water for two or three hours after dinner, making the water surface shimmer with colorful light, which is beautiful and charming.

These glow-in-the-dark fish are actually a mutation of ordinary goldfish.

In fact, this type of fish is probably a defective product of some kind of mutation.

Because of the fluorescence, they stopped growing.

The largest is about the size of a bitterling, around five centimeters long.

Moreover, their habits have changed; they no longer like sunlight and have become nocturnal.

When it comes to raising fish, anyone can potentially raise a mutated species of fish.

Especially among the discarded defective, disabled, and diseased fish, there are often fish with special characteristics.

Another more common type is small tropical fish, such as guppies.

Anyone who brings it home may raise it to have a special color and appearance.

Raising mutated fish species is not Chen Ling's patent.

He merely accelerated the process of fish mutation after he discovered the cave.

"There aren't enough fish in the tank right now. We'll add more as we see nicer ones."

Chen Ling thought he could add two of his own red eels to the bottom of the tank. As for the eels eating fish and shrimp, that was no problem. He would just scoop out some small minnows later.

I was engrossed in watching the fish tank when my father-in-law came home from herding sheep.

I brought Zhao Yubao and Old Man Zhong to my house to eat watermelon.

A man walked over, munching on a slice of watermelon: "How's it going, Lingzi? Have you finished setting up the fish tank yet? You've been working on this for days."

As soon as they walked in, the three old men stared in disbelief.

"My goodness, you, you, you're such a magician! Just two days ago it was a jar full of stones, and today it suddenly looks like an underwater world."

Zhao Yubao yelled and screamed like an old monkey. He put down the watermelon and pressed his hands and face against the inside of the fish tank, peering intently inside.

Old Zhong was no less impressive.

He also put his hands behind his back, crouched down, and looked inside with his mouth open: "How strange, how did you create this scene? It's like a whole new continent."

"You didn't just bring this moss-covered rock from the mountain, did you?"

Before Chen Ling could answer, Zhao Yubao shook his head decisively and said, "No, definitely not. You weren't here a couple of days ago. A couple of days ago it was just bare rocks. If you don't believe me, ask Cunye."

The father-in-law nodded, smiling without saying a word.

He knew that Chen Ling was spraying water inside, probably scattering some grass seeds or something.

That thing grows fast.

Upon seeing this, Old Zhong asked in confusion, "How could a bare stone become like this? Fugui, did you scrape off a layer of soil? Did you cover the stone with moss and soil?"
But this... doesn't look like it; it looks like it grew from a rock.

Just like the real mountains outside, these small trees make it look no different from the surrounding forest.

"What's so strange about that? It's just aquatic plants. It's been raining for the past few days. Where am I supposed to find moss? Besides, you can't soak moss in water."

Chen Ling chuckled, his chin unconsciously rising.

I was quite proud to receive recognition for my first attempt at aquarium landscaping.

Feeling incredibly accomplished?!

"I don't believe it, how can seaweed grow so quickly?"

Zhao Yubao once again pressed himself against the tank wall, like a large gecko, looking up, down, left, and right against the tank wall.

Old Zhong, with his hands behind his back, tilted his head and looked at Chen Ling: "Yes, is that possible?"

Chen Ling was speechless upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "You two even have a bit of teasing in your conversation." "Sure, just cover the jar with a plastic sheet, poke some small holes, and spray some water into it every day with a watering can."

What you saw as bare rocks actually had seeds inside the cracks.

"On rainy days, when it's damp, and then you cover it with plastic wrap, it grows really fast inside."

"Oh, that's so simple? Let's try it when we get back."

Zhao Yubao was taken aback, then thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, why should I bother? Since you've made it look so nice, I'll just take this jar away."

I'll buy you a new fish tank as a gift, what do you think?

Old Zhong laughed heartily: "That's a good idea. Fugui, you have to take care of us old folks. Get me a vat like this in the future, and I'll give you an even bigger one."

Chen Ling rolled his eyes: "No way."

The father-in-law wasn't as surprised as Zhao Yubao and his brother; instead, he looked at the fish with great interest. "Brother Zhao, look at the fish! They're so beautiful."

"What's so interesting about fish? I still think the 'Wealthy and Noble' setting is better."

"I also think that the small models of ancient buildings here are a bit inappropriate. If the small pavilions and such inside were replaced with transparent or glass ones, and the light shone in, creating a shimmering effect, it would be like an underwater dragon palace."

As Chen Ling listened to the two old men praising him endlessly, he thought to himself: Since you praise me so much, then I will forgive you for coveting my fish tank.

(End of this chapter)