Evening star., 1934-11-16

Here are q few home aquarium
wrinkles, wrought out of experience,
from which the best things come,
after all:
Consider the matter of placing a
sheet of glass over the entire top OF
the tank.
This is one of the most astounding
freaures Of the modern tropical fish
aquarium to the uninitiated. The
casual observer invariably knows, he
says, that the thing cannot be right.
What he asks. Won't the fish
smother?"
No, they will not. They viii be
great deal better off than If there were
no cover at all, because If there Is
none one or more of the tank inmates
may leap out any night; besides this
there will be a constant loss OF heat
from the water.
1t is this question Of water tempera-
ture which distinguishes the keeping
of small exotic fishes, from the tropi-
cal sections OF the globe, from the
time-honored indoor sport of harbor-
ing the humble but bright goldfish.
with temperature which distinguishes
the experienced fancier from the new
conner. The latter invariably thinks
it "the bunk" The man at the store
told him that room temperature"
would be sufficient. He forgets that
the store man has too much to do to
give complete advice. If he were TO
lecture each customer, at every sale,
he would have no time to sell fishes.
In time, however, the newcomer not
only comes to see that a fish from
the Amazon must be given the tenn
perature to which it has been &C
customed, but also that 1t is most
difficult to keep the desired tempera-
ture without a lid to help keep in
the warmth.
Now how about keeping the cover
down close? Even old hands at the
game often rebel at this. They may
know perfectly well that there Is
enough air between cover glass and
water surface to keep the fishes in
good trim, provided there are not too
many of them in the aquarium, still
they feel better in their own minds II
the lid is raised bit.
II raising the lid slightly helps the
keeper, the action will not harm the
fishes, provided the space all around
Is not sufficiently wide to permit the
more capersome animals from leaping
out through the crack. good way
to solve this is to place four pads OF
felt, not over a quarter of an inch
thick. one at each corner OF the top
frame OF the aquarium.
They will always be falling into the
water, when the lid is raised, but they
can be fished out again. of course, and
II one finds this sport too bothersome,
they may be glued on the underside
Of the cover glass. Pieces Of cork, so
glued. will do very well.
1t is not necessary to use four pads.
Two will do, but these should be at the
inner or room side of the front top
rim.
This is particularly necessary when
tanks are placed in front of windows
without radiation there. If the pads
are put on the outside edge, or window
side, some of the cold from the panes
will creep in, whereas If the lid is
raised slightly on the inner edge, the
sheet of glass will be down close on
the other side, from which the cold
air Is likely to come.
n II Il
Another thing to keep in mind is
to refrain from taking the can Of
prepared or dried food to the tank.
If this is held in the hand while
feeding, there is some chance that
1t may slip out and fall into the water,
precipitating hundred times as much
food in the water as the fishes could
eat. This would make real mess.
The thing to do, therefore. is to
measure out as much food as the owner