jCetter S^ox 



What is a good general food for gold- 

 fish? A. J. E. 



One of thf best foods for goldfish and 

 other fish which are not strictly carnivorous 

 is boiled oatmeal, cooked with a slight 

 amount of salt exactly the same as for table 

 purposes. If the fish are small it is desir- 

 able to strain the oatmeal through a coarse 

 cloth so as to take out the large kernels 

 which they could not swallow. This is an 

 excellent food on which to raise fish after 

 they have attained a size of about three- 

 eighths of an inch. Goldfish will for the first 

 several months eat their own bulk of this 

 food daily. There is no danger of oatmeal 

 fouling the water if only a small quantity is 

 used. Young fish in a large outdoor tank' 

 may be safely fed enough at one time to last 

 all day, but when the winter season comes 

 on or fish are past their first summer, they 

 should only have as much of any kind of 

 food as will be consumed in a few minutes. 



(joldfish like and ought to have variety 

 of food. It is a good idea to occasionally 

 mix into the oatmeal a good grade of pre- 

 pared fish food in the smaller sizes; or 

 shrimp, fish-roe or daphnia in the dried 

 form also do very well for mixing in. 

 Chopped small earthworms is an excellent 

 food. Scraped raw lieef may be used oc- 

 casionally and sparingly. A mnnber of very 

 excellent prepared foods are advertised in 

 this magazine, but in their use one should 

 see that very large grains are not fed to 

 medium sized nor small fish. Too large 

 grains often produce indigestion and some- 

 times strangulation. Some of our expert 

 friends in Germany recommend that all 

 granular foods first be steeped in boiling 

 water. 



/ am unable to keep snails alive in my aqua- 

 rium. Can you tell the reason? H. F. IV. 

 If you have the so-called African snails. 



your trouble is probably liecause they are 

 naturally short-lived. It may be that the 

 water in your aquarium is slightly acid, 

 which is fatal to all snails. A small lump of 

 hard plaster of Paris put in your aquarium 

 until dissolved would correct this condition, 

 as well as be of benefit to the plants and 

 fishes. A piece as large as a shellbark nut 

 should be sufficient for a 20-gallon aqua- 

 rium. 



What are "dried African files" ? H. B. 

 They are dried "water-boatmen." 



My golil/ish are pestered with a Jiat, trans- 

 parent insect about one-eighth of an inch 

 across. What is the best way to get rid of 

 them? C. P. C. 



Pick them off is the onl}' known method 

 that does not kill the fish. They are known 

 as "fish-lice" and are very troublesome 

 when they become established. Take all 

 fish out of the tank or aquarium, clean 

 them as well as you can and \nit a moderate 

 solution of permanganate of potash into the 

 aquarium from which the fish came. Allow 

 this to stand for a few days, change the 

 water and return the fish. Repeat if 

 necessary. 



Where do tropical fresh-water aquarium 

 fish come from ? W. P. 



They are principally sent to Germany 

 from different parts of the world and dis- 

 tributed from there. South America and 

 India are two of the principal sources of 

 supply. 



It is understood that members of the 

 societies receive their notification of meet- 

 ings through the Society Bulletins in The 

 Aquarium, thus making easier the secretaries' 

 work as well as saving the cost of printing 

 and mailing notices each month. 



Next month we shall start an article on 

 "Aquarium Management" — something of 

 great value to the beginner and well worth 

 while for the old hands. 



