Evening star., 1936-04-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
The most abused creature?

The most abused creature?
We nominate the common goldfish.
1t is kept in bowls not fit for anything
except snails.
1t does not have enough "air," COM
monty, and Is carelessly and needleSsly
tossed from water of one temperature
to water of another temperature.
1t is seldom given enough room, even
at the best, in the tanks of persons who
know better.
1t is usually overfed.
1t must endure water made harshly
alkaline by sea shells, corals and the
like.
1t must swim over pebbles, between
which food particles fall, to contaminate
the water, since the animals cannot get
at them.
1t is deprived Of oxygen, and at the
same time surfeited by its own carbon
dioxide.
What should be done, then, to insure
the goldfish, if one keeps it at all, OF
happy life?
These things should be done:
/. Give each fish at least a gallon OF
water.
2. Purchase a small floating ther-
mometer before buying fishes.
3. Decide upon the size of tank one
can accommodate, and then buy the
fishes, not the other way around.
4. Realize that sand and plants Will
displace a certain amount OF water,
hence there will be less water than the
total capacity Of the container.
5. Take the temperature of the water
in which the fish are brought home.
6. Then see that the water in their
new home is of that same temperature,
before transferring the fish.
7. Use fine or coarse sand, never
pebbles. The latter present multitude
Of crevices, into which food particles may
fall, but from which the fishes cannot
get them. Milky water often is caused
by this. Plants grow equally well In
fine or coarse sand. despite much advice
TO the effect that they will not do well
in the fine. Medium coarse sand is a
good selection.
8. Use anacharis and eel grass for
planting at the rear. Make the sand at
least Ia inches deep at the rear. in order
to hold the plants securely. Nothing is
more disconcerting than to have the
plants come bobbing up. Press the ENDS
down deeply. They will not stay other
wise. Cabomba is good plant selection,
if good plants can be found. Otherwise
it is nuisance. The animals love to
nibble at 1t.
g. Allow each fish a gallon Of water.
This rule is the most important of all
1t is almost always broken, and is in
itself a mere compromise. For really
best results, and healtieSt fishes, each
inch of fish body should be accorded a
gallon Of water. A theoretically perfect
allowance is two gallons of water per
fish, but we have found that all except
very large specimens will do well II
given a gallon of water.
That is, a 5-gallon tank should hold
not more than five small fishes Of not
over 2 inches long, counting the tail
Four would be better. The larger the
tank, the more this rule may be broken.
The smaller the tank, the fewer fish 1t
will hold in proportion. Thus. Two
gallon tank scarce will hold well two
fish. A gallon tank may hold two very
small ones, but not one large fish we'll
AS, for the tiny pint and quart bowls,
often sold, they should not be used
at all.
10. Keep out of the tank anything
but sand water, fish and plants. All
else is detrimental, and cuts down on
the amount of water. Remember, the
animals seldom have enough water, even
at the best, and in the hands of those