Evening star., 1935-01-24
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Some of them are willing to "stay
put" while others seem to have the
leaping complex.
Whether this is due to piscatorial
ambition, or faulty digestion, is o
question.
At any rate, there are times when
even the most sedate fishes become
lively.
Feeding and spawning, naturally,
are two of these times.
Therefore the aquarium owner Will
be particularly cautious at such times,
especially II he keeps his water level
high. He will see to 1t that at no
time is the lid left off longer than Is
necessary in order to do the job In
hand, whether feeding. placing plants
in position, or siphoning dirt of the
bottom.
He must keep In mind that practi-
cally all of the small fresh water
tropical specimens kept in home tanks
are jumpers by nature. A rush
through the air and landing again in
their native element must be a re-
freshing experience to them. Perhaps
it is somewhat akin, among us, to q
dip in the surf. In natural waters,
however, the fish is sure to light in
water again. In the small confines
of the aquarium he may land out on
the floor.
He does not at any time have to
be more than an inch or two over
the surface, and we have seen them
leap as high as half a foot out Of
the water.
A large angel fish, or scalare, with
wing" spread of six inc,'es, jumped
that high, at feeding time. When it
started to come down, it descended
outside the tank, and smacked down
on the hardwood floor, where it lay
much like a pancake, owing to its
fiat shape.
Dipping his hands first into the
tank, the owner slid one under the
fish, and the other over him, and
thus lifted him back into the water
where, save for some rather heavy
gasping, due to fright, he was in no
worse condition than before; in fact
commenced to eat shortly, and with
every evidence of enjoyment.
A specimen of albino Paradise fish
leaped out Of tank situated upon
rather high bookcase.
The water line in this aquarium was
about one-haH inch from the top OF
the tank rim.
The lid was removed to place some
food on the surface.
This particular specimen leaped
across the surface of the water from
one end Of the 20-inch tank to the
other.
The owner quickly placed his hands,
spread out, over the water, thinking to
intercept further leap. but the fish
was either too shrewd for him, or too
unlucky for his own welfare, for he
then leaped scuarely between two
fingers, scared a foot into the air,
then fell some feet to the floor, a
leap equivalent to a human jumping
of 12-story building.
This fish evidently Lit on one Of its
protruding red eyes, for when it was
placed back in the tank Q stream of
blood dripped down through the water,
but did not Immediately diffuse, re-
naming CONCEALED FOR a depth OF 2
inches for some minutes.
Removed to mild salt water, the
fish made good recovery In several
days the eye was apparently as good
as new, although the perfect round
Of the silver rim was broken in two
places.
Some tropical fishes, of course, are
worse jumpers than others. The
Coepina Guttata, for instance, is a
notorious leaper. But even guppies
will jump out the aquarium upon oc-
CaSion, if the lid is left of too long
at time. On one hand, for ordinary
purposes, there is no need to figure
on them jumping out; still, it is not
a bad thing to remember that they
are good at it,