Evening star., 1933-03-01
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL,

| ing little fishes in the home, this hobby
Is not q new one.
1t Is only new to some of US.
The home aquarium, as we know it
today, Is at least go years old.
Even tropical fishes, as much Of a
novelty as they are to many, were
known to the leaders in this branch Of
science as long as 80 years ago.
The favorite home aquarium fishes
OF the warm water type were known
and kept in Europe many years before
the war, and for years most of those
purchased in this country were i'm
portations from Germany
As the result of all this work. par
ttcipated in by scientists of many ma
tions, including our own, there Is q
fund OF knowledge about these tiny
creatures which disport themselves in
our aquaria II conditions are right for
them.
Naturally enough, the mixing and
making Of foods for them was one of
the first endeavors in their behalf. Nor
was it to be expected that mankind
would come to an agreement here more
than in regard to his own feeding.
So there exist today many different
types Of fish food, Of all imaginable
compositions. appearances, and odors.
Every maker has theory of his own.
There is much talk Of Utamins, and the
like, but, after all, it is pretty hard TO
get into f1sh's mind and find out
what 1t likes or does not like.
About the only way the average
"fish fan" can handle this situation,
suddenly thrust upon him by the
acquisition of few tropicaS, is to be
impartial
This means that, as far as possible,
he will throw the onus Of judging upon
the fishes themselves.
After all. they do the eating.
The main point is not to iced them
too much. We have given instructions
in this column as to the amount of
food, the time, and the number of
feelings per day. The amount is as
much as the fish in any given aquarium
will eat In 10 minutes. Our belief Is
that there should be at least two feed
ings, of approximately minutes each,
one in the morning and one in the late
afternoon. both by natural light.
1t Is understood generally that fishes
need such a comparatively small
in overfeeding them. It is therefore
best to let but one person attend to
this, and he should be some one who
genuinely likes to feed pets. Not every
one does.
A certain number of persons, how
ever, really get an enormous kick"
out of watching animals eat.
When they feed aquarium fishes they
soon sense just how much to feed the
inmates, and how to split the daily
ration to give the fishes the most fun
out of their food
II new sort is fed every day. or
even two new ones every day, the boxes
never seem to have any less in them,
since only pinch or two is taken out
of any one on any day.
Thus the owner seems to have run
across those fabulous boxes of child
hoods fairy tales, which, when any
thing was taken out OF them, imme-
diately filled themselves up again.
Some one may inquire why it would
not do to mix all the foods which one
has in one container and feed the fishes
from this each day.
This would deprive the pets, the
careful owner will feel, of the happi
ness Of receiving an entirely new food,
with all the zest which that brings to
a dinner In addition, If there hap
pened to be anything bad in given
food, 1t would be always present. The
entire benfit Of staggered foods would
be missing
Fish food is one type of food one may
hoard without compunction. Enough
to give these pets the advantages of a
different diet every day for several days
will last for many months. even years.
and yet will do nobody any harm, only
good, especially the fishes.