Evening star., 1921-05-13
FISH BEAT HUMANS
FOR FUSSY MENUS
Tactful Head Waiter Requir"
ed to Feed Inhabitants
of Aquarium.

Your suave and tactful head waiter
has just one rival. 1t would seem. from
a bulletin from the Washington
headquarters of the National Geo.
graphic Society.
| That rival is the expert intrusted
with feeding the fish at an aquarium.
The principal article of the fish diet
| is-lobsterl And. if anything. the
fish are fusster about their food than
the human diner. For lobster is
something of luxury for mankind;
but is a necessity for many fishes.
Moreover the head waiter" at the
aquarium must be also dietitian and
a warden For the steely-eyed cap
tives who prowl about their plate
glass homes lack exercise as much as
they do privacy. If they like what
they are fed they are apt to overeat-
If they don't they may go on
hunger strike. and forcible feeding
must be resorted to now and then.
Commenting on the proper feed
ing of aquarium fishes. Louis L. Now
bray. director of the Miami aquarium.
a foremost authority on warm, salt
water sea life says:
I'VE feed the fishes three times a
week regularly. This is sufficient. as
fish in an aquarium do not get the
fishes in the open sea do in order TO
obtain food for their existence. Con-
siderable caution has to be taken TO
prevent the fish from overfeedlng, for
as a rule they are gulttons Fish VIII
pack their StomachS so tightly while
being fed that digestion is impossible
and they will have to disgorge them
selves, which is dangerous in aqua
rum tanks. as the water fouls very
rapidly. This soon causes death to the
CT @yn1 n q
tank Of fish may be lost in this way
in very short time
One Hunger Striker.
Some of the predaceous fish-for
example, the barracuda, popularity call
ed the tiger Of the sea- and the moray,
the great eel-like skulker of the coral
refs. with the powerful fangs of the
rattleSnake-at times refuse food for
long intervals when dead food is Of
fered to them. The moray has been
known to go six months without food
and it is often fed forcbly. When
fish are once accustomed to take dead
food it is not advisa BILE to give them
live food again unless it can be OBJ
tanned regularly for future feeding,
as they will often go on a hunger
strike for the much-preferred live
food after it has once been provided
for them.
are many details to be attended to in
order properly to keep these fishes.
but proper feeding is the greatest
problem of all things with which the
aQuarlst must contend.
The Fishes Menu.
AT present $50 pounds of crawfish or
spiney lobstG, sixty pounds of fresh
fish and considerable quantity of
Seaweeds is our total weekly market
niverous fishes will eat. as a rule.
most kinds of fish flesh, but they
sometimes become stalled and must
be fed with articles containing hard
parts. such as whole crabs. This
hard food is necessary for the proper
functioning of the glands which Sc
crete the gastric juices. The contin-
uous feeding of soft foods tends to
increase these juices. which are not
wholly assimilated, and the feeding
of hard foods acts as a relief by reg
ulating the flow. Another reason for
the feeding of hard foods is that the
constant feeding of soft foods causes
shrinkage of the stomach, from which
many deaths occur.
''Herbiverous fishes. such as the par
rotfish family, will eat nearly every
variety of the reef seaweeds from
which they obtain a change of diet,
as there are many forms of worms.
crustaceans and hydroits attached to
the weeds. making for the fish what
would correspond to a dainty yet
wholesome salad, with the seaweed as
the base. Many vegetable feeders
will eat flesh. but only when it is Sc
cured by unnatural means as they
are not built for the seizing of live
food
Grabs and crawfish are omnivorous.
They eat great quantities of seaweeds.
flesh and frequently their own kind
A great many forms are scavengers,
therefore ii is not difficult matter
to feed them in an aquarium.
Must Protect Smaller Fish.
I'm feeding tank full of fish care
must be taken that the big fish and
those that are more active do not get
all the food, just as the big dog in the
pack. because of size and bluff. snaps
up the lions share and the smaller and
more timid go hungry as A result
The aquarium official waiter keeps
watch of this important matter from
above, seeing. through the crystal
clear water Of the tank, that, while
the big fellows gobble up the food
thrown in on one side, A supply of cut
food is dropped in on the other flo the
youngsters who cannot compete with
their stronger brethren
80 it will be seen chow time is not
simply dumping in the meal and per
mitting the boarder with the longest
arm to gormandize. but a schedule OF
meals carefully thought out and pre-