Evening star., 1936-05-09
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES &. TRACEWELL.

A fish that eats on all three levels
surface, midwater, and bottoms the
three-spot Gourami.
hardy creature is the special fish for all
those particularly interested in feeding
the inmates of the aquarium.
Other animals may be finicky in their
eating habits, but not the three-spot,
whose digestive processes are on a par
with its appetite. and its elimination
with both.
Thus we have a fish with but one
fault, that 1t grows rather big. A pair
Of them, however, is never too much for
even the smallest aquarium, since, among
their good points, is a special breathing
apparatus which enables them to use at
mospheric air at will.
When these good points are men,
toned, the list is not exhausted, by any
means. The three-spot is bubble-nest
builder to boot, one of the surest to
breed in the small tank, If fed on live
food for time.
It also is one Of the best "scavengers"
in the business. Those interested in
aquarium life have a very loose way OF
using the word "scavenger." Usually
they mean catfishes, snails, tadpoles,
weather fish and a few others which
seem to specialize in cleaning up the
sand. AS matter of fact, as the editor
Of the Aquarium Magazine says, they
are merely living their lives, going about
their destinies as appointed by Nature,
and are not, in any real sense, scaven-
gers, especially when they simply eat a
~ ~ al fopde 0r ~ ri
Of the latter refused by other and larger
fishes.
The three-spot Gourami is a true
cleaner-up, perhaps better term than
scavenger, because it will and does eat
on all three levels, from the surface Of
the water. the entire body of the water
through which food particles fall from
time to time, and from the sand. on
which the particles fall, If not garnered
as they drift down.
This is a most important feature Of
this Gourami. The tank which contains
a pair of these will never have any ex-
cess food to go to waste and spoil the
water. II the feeding is done at all within
reason.
Manufacturers of dried foods have
tried ceaselessly to put float" into
their foods, with varying degrees of sue
cess. Since this type of food must be
the mainstay of the aquarium keeper, in
the long run, no matter how much he
insists on live foods from time to time.
it is realized that the keeper must be
considered as well as his fishes.
Foods which literally shower down
from the surface are impossible to keep
track Of; in other words. the feeder does
not know just how much is in the tank,
since he cannot see 1t once it hits bot
tom.
Putting floating qualities in dry fish
foods is not the easy problem it might
seem. 1t is a question Of physics, in
volving surface tensions. and the like.
The most popular foods, both with fishes
and their keepers, are granular. The
smaller the grains, in most cases, the
better they float. The larger, the more
inclined they are to leave the surface and
fall to the bottom. Often an otherwise
good food will be rejected by the careful
aquarlst because too large a percentage
Of any amount put on the surface will
fall Immediately to the bottom.
Most fishes love to catch such falling
bits, but when the shower is too large,
many Of them get away, and land on the
bottom. The best foods float very well,
unless too large a portion is placed in
one place at one time. Thus the feeding
ring (so-called, although it usually is
rectangular in shape) is not to be rec
commended, because it restricts the
amount of surface available to the given
portion of food. When grain lostles
grain many Of them are sure to fall