Evening star., 1933-02-07

table, in truth-the water surface, the
body of the water and from the bottom.
In order that no excess food be left
it is essential that the fishes clean up
what drops to the bottom. This they
will do if they are given slightly less
than they think they ought to have.
Just what this amount is every owner
must determine for himself, from his
own observations, based on the size
of his animals. their health, the condi-
tion of his tank. and his feel as to
when they have had enough.
A coed way is to put in a pinch,
taken between the first finger and the
thumb, and by no means all that could
be so grasped, in two separate amounts.
half at one end of the tank, front wall,
and half at the ether end.
Then leave the aquarium and take
seat ct some distance, SO that the
fish will not be distracted by the
presence Of the food bringer, who al
ways tends to excite them.
Standing on their tails they poke
their heads at the food, which rapidly
vanishes. Shortly, in about a minute
and half, they begin to swim through
the body of the water, trying to find
more.
1t is then time for the keeper to
present himself with another offering.
Two or three appearances is enough.
The whole process will require from
to minutes.
This will leave from 5 to 3 minutes
for the happiest fish time of ALL what
We have called their afternoon tea"
Feed 'em for minutes in. the morn
ing, preferably after daylight; that
leaves minutes for feeding in the
afternoon, preferably about 4 o'clock.
Feed 'em but minutes in the morn
ing; that leaves another minutes for
tea time.
There are no hard and fast rules
here, all that is necessary is to get
the feel" of the feeding, and stick to
it.
There must be some sort Of balance.
whatever che decides upon.
Just throwing food into the tank
won't do at all.
We heard recently of man who got
himself some goldfishes and grew tired
of feeding them once a day.
So he put in a great handful of pre-
pared food, hoping that it would last
them week.
When he came down to breakfast the
next morning, so the story goes, he
found all his fishes dead, two of them
actually having burst Whether this
w,
it well might be of goldfish.
The thing to do, then, is to keep well
in mind the ancient aquarium princi-
pie, that one must not overfeed. but at
the same time use a little discretion,
believe ones own eyes, when the fishes
do well and seem to thrive on two
feelings day.
Any one who has closely observed a
happy aquarium for some time will be
willing to admit that fishes have per-
sonalitieS as well as other pets.
Especially the tropical fishes are dis
tlnctlve. That is what makes them SO
much more interesting than goldfishes.
One comes in time to distinguish one
fish from another, even though the two
OF them may be as alike as two peas To
the casual observer.
They have their likes, the same as
human beings do.
And one of them, believe us, is for
that afternoon meal when the sun is
snlnlng, and the plants are sending I'D
oxygen, and the water is tropical. and
the fish themselves are in fine fettle.
ThlS is pretty kettle of fish, indeed
a picture of animation and happiness
unsurpassed in petdom.
The man or woman who especiallv
enjoys feeding anlnals-and there are
many such-need not give up the pleas
ure, put may extend it most properly
py adopting the two-me alS-a-d pro-
gram. Use your eyes, and believe what
you see, Tor this is one place where you
can.