Evening star., 1933-02-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL,

Next to plentiful air surface In tn,
home aquarium, sunshine is the mos
essential need, despite the fact that tn.
newcomer often is misdirected In thi,
regard.
Such pow-wow is put up over thu
appearance Of algae In the amateur.
tank that he comes in time to feel that
he must keep his fish out Of the sun.
The very opposite is true.
He should put them In 1t and keer
them in it.
Sunlight is as necessary for them a.
for human beings, although not fol
precisely the same reasons.
What the sun does for fish Is to give
them oxygen. and plenty Of 1t.
Nothing but this supreme orb (o1
possibly its equivalent) will cause aqua
rum plants to grow, and unless they
grow properly they do not send forth
oxygen in appreciable quantities. And
a tank is not tank until it Is planted.
1t Is possible, Of course, to supply
oxygen by artificial means. just as 1t L
plausible to use electricity to light the
tank In lieu Of sunshine perhaps.
without the province of the average
home aquarium fan" who must de-
pend upon more natural means.
The use Of electricity, either in the
form Of ordinary light bulbs, burned
for many hours day, or of the So
called sunshine lamps, to induce q
good plant growth, is a subject which
Is outside the scope of this writing
since actual experience only Is used
herein.
In a north room tanks got brown
algae and the fish did not thrive. Above
all, the plants did not thrive.
The same tanks, placed in full sun
light, southern exposure, began to har-
Dor beautiful green algae, growing
plants and healthy fish.
Now, there is nothing like actual
experience in this or any other matter.
When the amateur looks at his
healthy tanks In the sunshine as much
as five hours day Of 1t and contrasts
them with the same In less lighted
location, no amount Of palaver about
the placement" Of aquaria will move
him one whit.
What so many of the experts" seem
to be so curiously afraid Of is the tiny
plant Jumped of under the term
"algae."
Despite the fact that these collect
mostly on the inside Of the glass sides
of the tank Qending natural colora-
ton to the whole), cause the other
plants in the aquarium to grow Justify
and therefore to give of plenty Of oxy-
gen, themselves give of appreciable
quantities of the same wholesome gas
and furnish food for certain types OF
tropical fishes, notably the popular
"platys." we are instructed to believe
that somehow they are q menace to the
home fish community, and that the only
way to get away from them is to place
the aquarium out Of the sunshine.
Put it right in!
You will get some sort Of algae any,
where If you have body Of still water
just as mothers preserves get mold
There are always various spores float
ing in the air and in the very finest
living rooms, as heatedly as many a
good housewife would deny the allega-
ton.
Even II tank containing tropicals is
covered tightly with a glass cover, as
1t should be. the algae will form on
the inner walls, no matter where the
tank is placed.
The only difference will be that q
rather unsightly brown form will occur
II the fishes are kept in north ex-
posure without direct sunlight, whereas
fine. healthy growth of green algae
will be produced In direct east, south
or western sunshine.
Not until one has personally tried
the two locations will he believe per-
haps just how great a difference there