Evening star., 1934-05-17

They remind the person with more
than q limited knowledge of the
aquarium hobby. now at its zenith in
America. that the old maxim Is true,
The larger the tank the better,
within reason"
In setting up Gull aquarium,
therefore, select q good -sized one. II
possible. and plant it WELL Under
planting Is one Of the banes of fish,
keeping In the home. The more plants
the better, within reason. That Is an
, axiom, too. Especially Is this true in
the beginning Of any individual aqua
rum. II there are plenty Of plants
what may seem too many plants to
the inexperienced beginner - the
chances are 10 to l that the tank will
60 of all right. the water remaining
clear and the fishes in good condition.
In good shape, that is, If the feeding
Is done intellisently. The amateur
most often errs on the side of over
feeding. Until one has fed the inter-
esting finny creatures for a consider
able length of time, one Is not likely
TO grasp just how comparatively little
they need, nor, indeed, the desirability
of finding such foods as will not fall
to the bottom too freely.
When one is dealing with the halt
and the blind, as one Is in q Gull tank,
he must take care to give the poor
fellows as good an opportunity for
life as possible.
This means that he will observe all
the accustomed rules Of correct man.
agement, and especially will try to
feed them properly. This will mean
some amount Of live food each week,
although not too much.
1t cannot be overemphasized that
there is no royal feeding road 10
health for small fishes which are dis
eased. The more one experiments
along this line. the more one will see
that 1t takes more than food to cure
q sick fish.
There can be no doubt. however.
that right feeding Is helpful. There
fore the manager OF q Gull aquarium
will select for his culls such foods as
seem to him the very best in his COL
lection, of which no doubt he will
have many Of the better varieties. Too
much variety, here. is not desirable.
The smallest sizes should be used, too,
no matter how large the fishes.
The Gull tank may be placed in
room by itself. for surely it is not n
collection which will win any regard
except from the confirmed "fish fam"
There Is hypocrisy In fish keeping as
elsewhere. Many an aquarist who de-
stroys his culls. or feeds them to his
angel fishes would say that he never
had any, If he were asked In the
presence of others, but no doubt he
would say he never had a case Of
icththyoptherius. either
No, every one who has guppies In
particular, in their various genera
tions. has some culls. as well as many
not every one can be perfect. Even
in a batch Of several hundred fry of
some ege-layer there will be certain
specimens which, within two weeks
after Matching will be several times
as large as their brothers and sisters.
The Gull tank. as suggested, is
sorry sight. Here is one f1sh almost
fiat. another with bumped back and
sunken abdomen. another with its
body bent sidewise. Yet each swims
and eats The fish culturist need
not worry about them having any urge
toward reproduction.
To take the best care one can of
them will be some satisfaction to the
person who refuses to dispose" of
them in more practical ways, perhaps.
1t will be. as Shakespeare suggested.
q good deed In q naughty world.