Evening star., 1935-03-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

are q great nuisance, and can be
avoided by feeding the right way.
&* x&
What Is this right way, then?
1t consists of close adherence to the
following rules:
/. Small pinches at time.
2. Do the fishes like the food?
8. Does 1t float?
The first Of these is perhaps the
most important.
II you tell an inexperienced aqua
rum fish enthusiast to use small
pinch" he will take up as much as he
can hold between thumb an6 fore
finger, which in most cases will be
about four times too much.
The right way is to take just bit,
50 little that 1t strikes the feeder as
shame against fish life.
This amount, in all likelihood, will
still prove too much.
The thing to do is to dump this
pinch into the palm Of the left hand,
in order to see II it is small enough.
What Is small enough" is this:
Just enough to sprinkle thinly along
the front edge Of the aquarium.
Only enough should be put In to
keep the fishes busy for about a min
ute. or perhaps minutes, at the most.
This means that such particles as
fall down through the water will not
be too many for some of the fishes to
catch as they float downward.
If there Is a shower of them, on the
other hand, even crowded tank can
not handle them, and too many of
them hit the sand.
| II only a comparatively small num-
ber fall, these undoubtedly will be
found after the main feeding Is over.
4 \ 4 +
The way the fishes go after this
preliminary, what may be called sam
pie feeding, should guide the food
giver. If they clean it up, similar
amount may be given again, and so on
until the 10 or IS minutes Of standard
| feeding time is over, but If they show
any reluctance about cleaning up the
first portion, an even smaller amount
should be given next. If the day is
cloudy, of the sort which depresses
humans, the fishes will be depressed,
too, and usually of their feed, as they
used to say of barn animals. Hence
every meal must be its own standard.
1t means little to fish to miss meal.
What is more important to it is that
it likes what it must eat.
y y
This brings us to the second point:
Do the fishes like the food? It is true
| Hof YHtopn IN toy1ly
mails from all parts Of the world, but
this does not make them prefer the
same food.
When we come to think about it, 1t
is a wonder that they will eat the
same thing, even when pressed by
hunger. Every one who has expert
mented with different brands of food
knows that one species of fish will
greedily consume one food, while
others, maybe in the same tank, will
eat it reluctantly.
The thing to do is to study the feed
ing reactions and attempt. within
reason, to satisfy the consumers, who,
after all, are being fed.
The question of float is an impor-
tant one in feeding the prepared foods,
upon which, by the way, If properly
selected, fishes may be kept for long
time in good health. The food that
floats is easier to handle in every way;
it enables the keeper to gauge how
much to put in by keeping track Of it
after it is in.
The important thing, however, Is
to feed in small pinches, much smaller
at time than most persons believe
The main thing is to make sure that
the fishes actually consume all that
is put in. If they do this, the ques-
tion Of feeding more or less takes care
| of itself.