Evening star., 1934-09-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| q little at a time, not all at once. 1t
keeps up their interest, just as 1t
does that of a human being to have
his meal served by courses, not all
piled upon his plate at once.
Lest any one feel that this is taking
things piscatorial too seriously, we
reply that a fish has q temperament,
and that often it is a very interesting
and individualized one, far more in
| teresting than many a human being
would realize who has not studied
| fishes except on the end Of a hook
| You may catch a fish on a hook, but
you will never catch his temperament
Multiple feeding is based upon the
division Of the total quantity the fishe.
in any aquarium should have in one
day into a number Of meals, prefer
ably from to S.
/ This method approximates the nat
ural life Of the fish more closely. In
Nature 1t searches constantly for food
and never manages to get quite
enough, except occasionally, when, M
doubt, 1t gorges itself.
The fish that eats to repletion In
its native haunts has plenty of oxygen
to help it digest what it has consumed
1t has plenty Of room in which to
swim and probably the incentive to
take exercise in order to get away
from enemies.
In the aquarium, no matter how
spacious, oxygen Is likely to be lack
ing, as is the incentive to take plenty
OF exercise. The conditions are arti-
flcial. no matter how good we try To
| make them.
The one factor Of natural life which
the aquarist can retain without harm
with beneft, indeed-is that of little
food here, little there, not all al
once, but from time to time.
y y y
A constant worry of the amateur
flshkeeper is whether his charges are
getting enough to eat.
Owing to the concentration of the
popular dried foods the fishes actually
consume less in bulk than they would
in Nature.
What happens, however, is that the
foods eaten are swelled by moisture in
the stomach of the animal,
BY giving little at a time. sav
iour times day, perhaps as much as
the fishes will clean up in two or
three minutes each time, the pisca-
torial commissary makes sure that
there will be no question of bloat
involved.
Also he really feeds more. since
1t Is evident that the animals can
holo a larger total in four meals
separated by several hours, than thev
can II they gobble as fast as possible
Tor length Of 10 to Is minutes.
* X \
Should one give up work, then. lust
IN order to feed the fishes?
BY no means! If there is no one
IN the household who can be Trustees
with part Of the job the feeding can
De cut to two meals very satisfactorily
one IN the morning and one in the late
afternoon or early evening.
Multiple feeding is based solidIv m
the principle OF the pinch. This
pinch is not as much as one can hold
between thumb. and forefinger by any
means, or even half that, or even a
fourth Of that.
what is meant by a pinch depends
upon the particular tank of fishes
Each feeding should be divided into
three or four "helpings." Never shouId
II all be put in at once, except in an
emergency. GA
Multiple feelings means multiple
servings, too. 1t means that the
appetite is stimulated by the cannv
oeiiet OF each fish that there isn't
very much, he must hurry and get
his share.
This is such a natural and universal
leellng that man and fish can meet
In Its common denominator.