Now that you have your Cottage Aquarium, you're ready to start experiencing the many hours and days of fun catching and learning about the animals as you watch them in their new home.

Why is the Cottage Aquarium so great for the animals you catch? The Cottage Aquarium was designed to use the lake water from your cottage water system through a standard hose connection. This way the animals live in the same water environment that they are used to. Because the water is constantly flowing through your aquarium it stays at the temperature and oxygen level that your creatures need. That makes them happy and, more importantly, keeps them alive and well while you enjoy watching them.

You don't need to keep the water flowing all the time, but we do recommend that you allow some flow to pass through your Cottage Aquarium for at least 30 minutes out of every hour during the day. If you want you can turn down the flow of water to a trickle or turn it off completely at night. Just remember to get the flow going early again the next morning.

Your Cottage Aquarium is designed so that when the water is flowing there are areas in the tank which create currents and other areas which are always still. You will see that some animals, particularly the fish, like to swim in the current. It's fun for them. You can experiment with the flow rates to see what the animals you have like best.

You'll discover that it doesn't take much flow to keep the Cottage Aquarium full of fresh running water – and happy animals. Besides too much flow may make the water level rise till it spills over the sides – and that is not the best way to operate your aquarium.

There are two hose connections on your tank: one for water in and one to let the water flow out. You don't have to connect a hose to the outflow but you may want to if you don't want the ground area near your aquarium to be all wet.

An outflow hose will take the water away from the aquarium.

You can use either hose connection at opposite ends of the Cottage Aquarium for the inflow connection. Changing the inflow connection and your flow rates from the hose (how fast you run the water) will change the water level and current strength in the aquarium. If you have more animals in the aquarium that breathe air and need to have their head or whole body above the water line (like salamanders) you would want to choose the higher hose connection for the inflow (and therefore the lower connection for the outflow). You may also reduce the flow rate of water to the aquarium.

However if you are keeping more fish, and especially larger fish, in the Cottage Aquarium, you will want to use the lower hose connection for the intake of water and the higher connection for the water outflow. This will give you a deeper tank – especially if you increase the water flow rate as well.

You should use the hose connections provided with your Cottage Aquarium as they are fitted with small screens that prevent minnows and other small creatures from trying to swim or escape through the hose.

It all adds up to piles of fun, not to mention how much you'll learn about the animals you catch. You can keep fish, turtles, tadpoles, crayfish, salamanders, clams, minnows – all the creatures round you at your cottage – even frogs and toads (but be prepared, they might jump out). You can have fun catching them and putting them in your Cottage Aquarium, knowing they will be happy and healthy and able to return to their natural home when you decide it's time.

You should be careful catching your animals and always treat them with care, handling them as little as possible. Remember to place the lid on your Cottage Aquarium every night – if you don't, you can bet that nocturnal (night) animals will come hunting for them. And have a look through the rest of this booklet for more information on the different types of animals you catch and place in your Cottage Aquarium to find out how to make them happy and keep them alive until you let them back into their natural world.

Enjoy the Cottage Aquarium.