Evening star., 1936-05-09

down. II the same amount Of food Is
carefully spread along the entire front
line Of the tank, each particle will float
free from its neighbor. and thus not be
jostled from the surface, except by the
fishes in their pursuit Of dinner.
It is interesting to watch the action Of
a small portion of a better grade Of
granular food, after 1t has been placed
Ia tank according to the above oirec-
tions.
One or two grains viii sink at once.
Usually these will be grabbed by some
Of the feeders. No doubt these falling
particles remind the fishes of daphnia,
one of their favorite live foods.
Fishy mouths, protruding into the
grains, jostle a few more grains down.
The swimming of the fishes causes
many Of the grains to fly across the
water to remote parts of the surface.
If not too many are put in at once,
this will result in plenty of clearance
around each particle, so that its chances
of falling to the bottom are minimized.
1t must be stated clearly that there
Is nothing wrong about food falling
down, except in too large quantities.
AASAA VIC AiOAAAdA d6Chb III LilC 1CCOlllkg
looking at the surface of the water, will
think the fishes need more food, when
the truth is that there is plenty on the
bottom.
Catf1Shes roll the water, by their root
ing tactics, but the three-spot Gourami
picks his morsels from the bottom in
the daintiest manner possible. After the
surface is entirely cleaned he loves to go
to the bottom to feed there.
The great feeding work of this par
ticular fish is done from the surface,
however. He simply opens his mouth
and by drawing water through his gills
rapidly sucks in all the food in his
neighborhood.
Thus fish fanciers who delight in feed
ing, and many find this the most inter-
esting phase of fish keeping, will dis
cover in the three-spot the answer to all
their desires, for this fish will eat more,
and enjoy it more, and get more good
out OF 1t. than almost any other creature
we know, in or out of water.
OF tropical fishes, in the main, 1t may
be said that one need seldom worry
about overfeeding them. OF the three
spot Gourami, never.
In tank of IL of these animals about
inches long, we have placed food 20
times day, enough each time to COM
pletely cover the surface of the water
This, no doubt, is the proper way to feed,
If one had the time for 1t, but one seldom
does, of course. Only the person who
makes fish culture livelihood would
have the time to feed his charges every
half hour. a small amount at each feed
ing. This method, however would more
nearly approximate the ceaseless seek
ing and finding of the fish in its natural
environment.
The next day the dozen Gourami were
as hungry as ever. The digestive proc
esseS and elimination of this fish are
positively uncanny. It's stomach will
bulge, but the next day is down to nor
NAL again.
Viewing feeding fishes from the top is
always interesting, but particularly so
when the Gourarni is the subject, because
OF its vacuum cleaning propensities. 1t
Will, however, snatch at falling grains,
and do wonderful job picking them off
the bottom. If there are a number in
the tank, a few will always be grabbing
at falling bits of food, while the others
are setting up currents of food flowing
into their mouths. When these tables
are exhausted, they 60 to the bottom,
where, better than any catfishes, they
pack away until all is gone there. too.
This is the 'eatin est" fish in the world,
and one to be recommended on every
score, true fish of no regrets. Its
cousin, the leeri, is excellent, but we
like the old three-Spot better, probably
because we knew il first,