208 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



Q. Do you feed daphnia to the 

 youngest fish? 



A. Yes, but I strain it through a 

 brass wire cloth so that only the small- 

 est come through. This cloth can be had 

 in the larger wire goods houses and in 

 mesh is a little too fine for a small pin 

 to go through it. (Mr. Innes has this 

 wire cloth soldered into the bottom of 

 what was a small round tin pail. This pail 

 is shown in the illustration. — E. F. B.) 



Q. I suppose you give the larger 

 daphnia to the larger fish? 



A. Yes, that is the idea. As soon as 

 they are large enough to eat the full size 

 daphnia, I give them all they can pos- 

 sibly eat of this food until they are about 

 three months old. I also give a little to 

 all of the larger fish if I can spare it. 

 Some enthusiasts collect daphnia every 

 day and feed their large fish nothing else 

 all summer. However, this is quite a 

 contract and I find that my fish do very 

 well on my system of running things. 



Q. When do you bring the fish in 

 the house? 



A. The younger ones about the fif- 

 teenth of September. Of course this 

 applies to Philadelphia, allowance 

 must be made for other locations. Many 

 young fish receive a permanent setback 

 by being out doors in cool September 

 nights. " This is also true of the older 

 fish of the highly bred varieties. I do 

 not Ike to have the water go below 62 

 degrees for them. The larger fish may 

 stay out a little later but September is 

 the best time to plant and start the house 

 aquarium. 



Habits and Breeding of the Paradise 

 Fish. 



BY JOSEPH F. HEILMAX, VICE-PRESIDENT 

 PHILADELPHIA AQUARIUM SOCIETY. 



There are several varieties of the 

 macropode or Paradise fish which I 

 have kept in aquaria and successfully 

 bred. 



The common or dwarf Paradise is 

 not as gaudy as the larger domesti- 

 cated three and one-half to four 

 inches long M. viridi-auratus, and 

 is striped with red and brown, 

 not banded ; nor has it the very 

 long fin development of the latter 

 fish. Their habits and methods of 



procreation are similar however, and 

 the following description would apply 

 to either or both. 



I have fully come to the conclusion 

 that the male fish has the power of 

 changing his colors at will, as when 

 closely observed it will be noticed that 

 the beautiful colorings will vary in 

 intensity and hue over the body, es- 

 pecially if the fish is excited or in a 

 combative mood. The colors of the 



PARADISE FISH IN AN AQUARIUM. 

 Photographed by L. B. Spencer. 



female fish, which are brown with olive 

 spots at other times, change to a light 

 drab or steel-grey during the spawning 

 period, but at no time has she much 

 power of changing her hues, as does 

 the male fish. 



The Paradise fish is of a quiet na- 

 ture when undisturbed, contented to 

 float lazily in the water, seemingly 

 without moving a fin, but always alert 

 and watching for anything alive that 

 may come his way. When disturbed 

 or excited he will dart about with 

 great rapidity and pounce upon what- 

 ever will serve as food or suggest it- 

 self as an enemy. During the mating 

 and spawning season he is very vicious 

 and will even leap out of the water, 

 snapping his jaws at any object that 

 may be pointed at him and producing 

 a sound like the closing of the jaws of 

 a steel trap. 



