Evening star., 1934-10-09

gallons-with half q dozen nice fish
swimming around In 1t ID o far better
looking outfit than the same set-up
with 20 or more animals in 1t.
This is something, however, the be.
ginner can never see. He is lured
by the collectors ardor and the lack
Of adequate space. His tank is his
album, In which he must crowd Is
much as he has.
He forgets that he IL dealing with
life.
The herding of too many human
beings in a given space always has
It's drawbacks. The packed theater
can be tolerated for several hours, but
no sane person would advocate human
life on such a scale as a permanent
proposition.
Some of our amateur aquaria are
almost as bad. The beginner reads
that the tropical or exotic fishes will
stand more crowding than the humble
goldfish, 30 he goes the limit" in see
ing how many he can put in his tank.
The more he puts in, provided they
live, the more successful he thinks
he is.
The point Is that they do not live
as well.
In time he comes to see that the
welfare OF the animals must be his
first consideration, not the feat Of
keeping o superpacked tank In good
shape.
It is possible to overcrowd an
aquarium fearfu1ly and still have the
inmates In fairly good shape, but
this must not be taken as settling
the matter. 1t also Ia possible to give
them more room and keep them even
better.
Especially will one who has kept
the same fishes for two years or more
come to see that the uncrowdeo
aquarium is the beautiful aquarium.
He will wonder why he ever de-
manded two dozen animals where one
dozen seems quite enough.
He will wonder why there was
time when IL fishes did not seem
enough.
Now, as he looks at his 1o-gallon
tank, with its three pairs Of red
Platy and its three pairs OF black
Platy, he Ia quite satisfied.
The big fact is that the fishes are
better satisfied.
The point to be kept in mind is
that even a large aquarium, rs such
things 20, is small In comparison with
the places in which fishes are found In
nature.
Even the smallest mud hole, Of the
sort which harbors some OF the
"tropicals," Is q perfect sea as con-
trasted with q 10, 80 or 30 gallon
aquarium The last size Is about the
jority Of home tanks range from to
10. is or 20 gallons.
No doubt there are thousands OF
gallons Of water in any pool in nature
which contains fishes. The rice fields
from which the Medakasand Paradise
fish come are vast as contrasted with
any artificial containers.
It is not 30 much q lack Of oxygen,
although that, too, a. lack Of SWIM
ming space and better water condi-
tions. All the activities Of life must
20 on in the aquarium. The fewer
fishes there are, the better the water
condition, everything else being equal,
and the better satisfied the fishes, be-
cause the conditions are more natural
in every sense.
The one big rule, then, Of amateur
fish keeping is not to overcrowd them.
but to be satisfied with no more than
one fish to the gallon of water. The
one exception is the Guppy, which
may be kept two to the gallon, but
even these little fellows deserve more
water. And If one wishes to keep but
one fish to the two gallons. 30 much
the better. After q time the less
crowded aquarium seems just right,
the crowded one not pretty at all.