Evening star., 1933-02-07
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Next to plenty of air surface, plenty
of sunshine, and plenty of heathful
green algae, the most necessary re-
quirement for home aquarium fishes is
plenty of food.
There is a great deal of confusion
here.
In an effort TO prevent overfeeding
great stress has been laid on the amount
to be given daily. and, properly enough
this has been labeled "a PINCH and
'mouthful,' and so on, in an attempt
to write it small.
The plenty" of food which fishes
in the home tank need is not so much
in amount, as in times of feeding per
day. we are convinced.
The standard rule, as set by the ex-
perts, is once a day, preferably in the
morning, for the So-called tropicalsi
"as much as they will eat in 10 minu-
tes," is the most common prescription.
Twice day is better.
1t is popularity held that the small
tropical fishes will not overeat, as the
about that. They share taste for food
with all created things, evidently.
One thing we do know, however,
after some observation, is that they
enjoy nothing quite so much as a late
afternoon meal, provided their tank has
had plenty of sunshine, their water is
warm and charged with natural
oxygen.
How they do eat! They love their
afternoon tea.
The keeper of this home ZOO, however,
must know what he is doing when he
gives his pets two meals day, other
wise he had better stick to the old
standard one.
There can be little doubt that if he
puts ordinary observation and intelli-
gence TO work on this small problem
he will shortly come to believe that
there is a great deal of plain bunk"
in the generally accepted dictum of
once-a-day feeding. .
In Nature the creatures eat con-
stantly-at least they hunt for their
food "a hours around. Since there is
nothing that a fish likes to eat better
than fish, often enough they are hunted
for in their turn, according to size.
In eluding foes, and trying to find
enough to eat, the average fish in its
natural waters spends great deal of
time poking around without results.
The whole theory of aquarium feeding,
as practiced by the average amateur, is
that he will be able to give his pets in
a short time the nutritive equivalent
of an entire days search.
To attempt to give them their food
in one dose, as it were, is too far from
Nature.
Feedings should be better spaced
No doubt if the pet lover had Moth
ing else to do. he would do best to
give them as much food as they could
clean up in two minutes, at least five
times a day, widely separated.
Since he has living to make, how
ever, and social duties, as we'll as many
other interests, he does not find it con-
venient to attempt this closer approx
nation of Nature.
Let him accept the standard 40
minutes" as the gospel Of fish feeding.
1t is difficult to disprove it, and it has
the sanction of most of the older hands
Then space 1t out, at least to couple
of feelings each day.
This will mean, of course, that he
must watch how much he is putting
into the tank.
Practically all the prepared foods of
the types commonly used by the anna
teur float on the surface, but are easily
knocked down from that upper film by
the fishes themselves in the process of
eating
Many of the particles of food are
caught on the fly as they descend.
Some varieties of fishes like nothing
better than to get their food about half
way down as it is dropping.
Thus food is eaten on a three-layer