Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-09-27
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

The advantage of not being in 9
hurry in anything you do in the hobby
OF tropical fish keeping is seen strik-
ingly in the everyday job of catching
some specimen in q net for transfer
from one aquarium to another.
The nervous or excitable man never
| Is half as skillful at this as some even
tempered person who abides his tims
and waits for the desired fish to swim
into the net.
Slashing around in the water mere.
ly frightens the animal into renewed
effort to escape. Vigorous manipula.
ton of the net stirs up the water anc
usually uproots plants.
Hurry in setting up tank is on,
Of the chief mistakes OF the beginner
He does not realize that at least II
to IA days are necessary for any tanl
to get going" This is because bac.
terial action In the water must come
to an end before the balanced condi.
! ticn sought has a chance TO establish
| itself.
Hurry in putting fishes into the
aquarium is one Of the main stun.
bling blocks of the newcomer. 1t /,
one, too, known to the old hand, fol-
the temptation to crowd as many
| fishes as possible into a tank beset.
the expert as well as the amateur.
A few fishes in the aquarium at first
are enough. The old-time injunction
to let the water and plants stand fol
week or two need not be followed
here, where the water supply Is pure
A day-or at most two-is enough; ir
| fact few fishes are necessary for the
plants, and help them establish them.
selves.
One Of the greatest mistakes made
through impotence comes in failure
to put newly purchased fishes into
quarantine before placing them in the
aquarium which is to be their home.
No matter how fortunate one has
been in purchasing specimens in
| health and free from disease, there
will come q time when the lobbyist
will get fish not in such good shape
Then he runs the risk OF injecting
an entire tank Of creatures If he in
sists on placing this one fish in with
them without giving 1t a preliminary
term of care and inspection by itself
No fish. as a matter of fact, should
be kept by itself. If not placed In
with another Of its own kind, 1t should
be put with other varieties. The aver
age aquarium fish does not take kindly
to isolation.
All varieties. with few exceptions
should be acquired in pairs, or at least
in what the dealer says is a pair.
This pair should be placed In q
tank to themselves and watched fol
10 days to weeks before being
placed in the larger aquarium.
The intermediate aquarium. then
need not be large one, since the
specimens probably come from a re-
ceptacle in which crowding was the
rule.
1t is unnecessary to say that this
intermediate tank ought to be in good
shape, with clean sand and fresh,
growing plants in it.
Above all, the water should be of q
suitable temperature and kept that
way. Especially in the handling OF
small, exotic fishes care must be taken
to ascertain the temperature of the
water in which they are brought home
and to see that the temperature of the
intermediate tank is exactly the same
Two degrees higher is all right. but
the water in the quarantine aquarium
should not be lower than in the re-
ceptacle at the actual time of transfer
This is point commonly over
looked even by persons who pride