56 



THE AQUARIUM BULLETIN 



Tail Congestion 



By Joseph Kroehlich 



The matter of Congestion has been 

 considered and my experience has 

 proved that this may come from im- 

 pure water, particularly in balanced 

 tanks, although it frequently is 

 brought about by sudden changes 

 in water. Congestion is nothing more 

 or less than the stagnation of 

 blood in the tail. It is sometimes 

 caused by a bruise and has been 

 known to occur from striking the tail 

 with the net in catching the tish. It 

 is also often brought about by over 

 feeding, — also if ftsli are not acclim- 

 ated, whereas running water is some- 

 times the cause, although no invari- 

 able rule can be made in this latter 

 direction as no two fanciers keep their 

 stock in identical tanks and our 

 experiments have not progressed far 

 enough to be able to give definite 

 advice on this point. 



It is a known fact that the shorter 

 tailed fish are not subject to this 

 difficulty except in a very limited 

 degree. 



An easy cure is to mix ten drops of 

 household ammonia to a gallon of 

 water, and allow the fish to swim 

 around for say five, ten or fifteen 

 minutes, watching them carefully. If 

 they show signs of exhaustion, im- 

 mediately remove them. Some will 

 stand much more than others. 



Sometimes a mild solution of salt 

 will readily remove the tail congestion 

 if it has not progressed too far. It 

 is not v.ell to kee]) fish in water that 

 is too freely saturated v.'ith salt. 

 This creates an unnatural condition, 

 rractically there is no fancier who 

 does not regularly place small 

 quantities of salt in his tanks. The 



iish realize this and will gather around 

 the s])ot for a few moments. It is 

 good to mix this with the food 

 occasionallv. 



Facts for the Fancier 



One pint of water weighs about 

 one pound. 

 One gallon of water weig!:ts 8^ lbs. 



231 cubic inches make one gallon. 



It takes 54 lb. of paint to cover one 

 square yard for the first coat and 

 1/G lb. for each additional coat. 



One gallon of tar and 1 lb. of [)itch 

 will cover about 1"3 square yards the 

 first coat and 1 7 yards each additional 

 coat. 



A cubic foot contains 6 gallons and 

 one quart of water, weighing ()2^ 

 lbs. 



One ton of gravel and one ton of 

 sand contain 19 and 21 cubic feet, 

 respectively. 



One cubic foot of sea water weighs 

 13414 lbs. 



Four pails of finely sifted sand and 

 ] 5^ ]iails of Portland cement are re- 

 c|uired to cover 3-") square feet of brick 

 wall to a thickness of about )4 inch. 



Fifteen ordinary sized bricks laid 

 in }i inch courses of mortar will make 

 221/2 square feet of wall, single 

 thickness. 



For a fish house 12xl2x!) ft, 

 high with less than ."iC^r of th.e ^vall 

 and roof area of glass, it v,ill take 

 about 4 tons of nut coal to heat it 

 during the cold season of the year. 



A wooden stick about •")/!(> in. dia. 

 with a V shaped notch cut into one 

 end is very handy for setting plants 

 into the gravel in the bottom of the 

 aquarivmi. 



