Evening star., 1935-10-01
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

in it is reduced to some Of its primary
principles and that the whole is small
enough in one sense sor the MIND of
man to grasp it in its partial entirety.
Surely there can be a partial entirety;
it is what may be observed and worked
out and carried into effect in any
aquarium. whether it be two quarts of
water with pair Of guppies in it or
$50 gallons of water, weighing about
half ton, with a population of many
score creatures.
Proper feeding is the first step in
Natures laws.
1t is essential not only for the health
and growth, the very life of the animals
therein contained, but also it is the big
gest part of the battle in keeping the
water the way the keeper wants it.
If there were ever a hobby within
hobby it is that of fish feeding in fish
keeping.
To purchase a few fishes and then
throw a handful of food into a tank,
the same old food every day, is to know
it not.
When one sees such procedure and
the resulting mess in the water which
is created by such thoughtlessness and
careleSsneSS one does not wonder that
so many sick and dying fishes are en-
countered, so many tanks with water so
thick one cannot see the swimmers, so
many disappointments and mental be-
fuddlementS.
No one has to keep fishes. but if one
does almost every one wants to do it
correctly and have the pleasure which
a beautiful picture of aquatic life gives.
There are many other reasons for the
sufficient for the present. There is no
beauty in pea-green water in which one
cannot see the colors of the fishes.
There is only disappointment.
+ Xxx
True interest in the subject of fish
feeding, then, is one of the elementary
prerequisites.
This leads into many ramifcations,
including that of live foods, the more
natural substances which fish get in
Nature.
There is no gainsaying that fishes in
their natural environs do not get neat
granules of food from a Autographed
tin box.
Yet those granules are the best man
Cdll uO " udlS UOWdlu IIltIll
easily available substitutes for such sub
stances as they ordinarily would get.
Many of them do a surprisingly good
job of it, too. but the danger comes in
their handling.
The best way to feed is to be interested
in the subject of feeding and to expert
ment constantly. This means that
enough time must be given the job every
day SO that careful watching and some
thinking go hand i'll hand.
This in turn means that the food must
not have too much dust or finely divided
particles in it; that each particle must
be able to float at least for time. and
that the fish like to eat it. If you get
hold of food the fish do not like it is
better to put it into the garbage can
than into the fishes. A good rule of
thumb is as much as the fishes will eat
in 10 to Is minutes per day, but this
does not mean that it all must be put
in at once. The best method is to put
in just little, let them eat that, with
plenty of time between handouts" and
then put in bit more. the total process
taking perhaps as much as half an hour
or more. In other words, as much as
they could possibly gobble in 10 to Is
minutes is put on the surface of the
water over considerably longer period.
The fishes like this way the best and
it is easier on the water. 1t makes them
get it all, and that is the secret of good
feeding procedure. Whether one gives
them real food depends upon the manu-
facturer and ones own judgment and,
in the last analysis. Nature. You can't
get away from Nature, even in tin can.