Evening star., 1936-07-13

Do not buy fish which shows white
spots any place on fms or body. We do
not mean white (really silver color, but
the strange added whiteness which Is
either fungus or the so-called "ich" (pro-
nounced "ick," not "itchD 50 prevalent
on tropical fishes.
Emaciation may or may not be q sign
Of i'll health. Often it is simply a sign
of lack of food. We will never forget
the poor fish we saw in a tank with
thousand others one cold Winter day. It
was hollow-bellied, and hump-backed,
both signs Of old age, or lack of food.
This fish swan close to the glass and
eyed us repeatedly. 1t was the only one
which did SO. Dropping back that way
later, we watched the same fish detach
itself from the mob, and swim along the
front glass, eying us again. 1t was
terrible looking animal, but its actions
won 1t new home, where, within two
weeks, 1t became an entirely different
creature. Its stomach filled out, its back
leveled of. and its colors became mag
niflcent. It simply had been starved al
most to death. Today it is the peppiest
goldfish we have ever seen, one which
tolerates no other fish in its tank.
IOOo care IN tne nome aquarium
means three things:
l. Not too much crowding.
2. Not too much. but enough, food.
3. Care as to water temperature.
Two gallons per average small goldfish
is an ideal. which may be violated after
one has had experience in handling
these animals.
The beginner had best stick to it. If
he violates it, let him be sure that each
inch Of fish. excluding the tail, has at
least gallon of water.
The question of feeding is one which
destroys more millions of goldfishes an
nually than any other, except the viola
ton of No. l above.
The little tin box Of prepared food
which the salesman hands you may seem
sufficient, but often the fishes do not
find its contents so. Every goldfish
owner should have three or more differ
ent brands, and feed them alternately.
II this diet is supplemented once or twice
a week by chopped anglewormS fresh
from the garden, or whole specimens not
more than an inch in length, the fishes
will respond amazingly in growth, color
and activity.
1t is not impossible to breed goldfishes
in a small aquarium. 1t was done re-
Gently in Washington in a 4-gallon
aquarium, and the young fishes now are
growing up into splendid fellows. This
is the "thousandth case" Of which We
spoke earlier, when the ancestry Of the
fishes is known.
Care as to water temperature. with
goldfishes. means this:
Never flop a goldfish from water at
60 degrees, let us say. into water at 10
degrees. Have a small floating ther-
mometer. priced 10 or IS cents, and use
it always. When a fish is brought home,
take the temperature Of the water 1t Is
in, and do not transfer it without seeing
that the water into which it goes is the
same, or almost the same within de-
grees. 1t is some trouble, of course, but
it helps save the fishes. Fishes often die
weeks later from obscure maladies due to
these sudden changes, which are never
found in nature. When giving the fish
fresh water, from time to time, be sure
it is the same temperature as that which
they are in.
These little attentions are really not
little, but big, in the care Of all aquarium
fish, goldfish as well as their more ex-
pensive tropical cousins. People who
say, "Oh, do not see what you can see
in fish," have never been able to keep
them long enough to find out that every
fish has a personality of its own, and q
character worth studying and knowing.