193 



THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895. 



for an aquarium, causing a great deal of 

 annoj'ance. 



It is not necessary to remove the parent 

 Paradise fish from their young, until the 

 second brood is about a week old. If the 

 tank is well supplied with plants, and gets 

 a good light, it is not necessary to feed the 

 young until they have attained the size of a 

 grain of wheat. Then they should receive 

 several meals a day of powdered I. X. L. 

 fish-food. 



Dk. B. — The reason why your Sagittaria 

 New Era has not yet bloomed may be that 

 it hasn't a good light. You know, we sup- 

 pose, that if you want to have a pot-plant 

 in bloom, it is necessary to give it a posi- 

 tion where it gets plenty of light. It is the 

 same with aquarium plants. However, it 

 is not necessary that an aquarium plant 

 should bloom in order to be of special l)en- 

 efit to the aquarium. This benefit can only 

 be of an ornamental character. On the con- 

 trary, when the plant is in bloom, it uses 

 most, if not all, its strength to perfect the 

 flower and to ripen the seeds at the ex- 

 pense of the foliage and side branches, 

 which are really the most important parts 

 of the plant when used as an oxygenator. 

 If one has plenty of vegetation in his aquar- 

 ium, he should encourage some of his 

 plants to bloom ; otherwise, not, for reasons 

 given above. 



The male Pal-adise fish kills the female 

 by biting. They torment them sometimes 

 terribly, tearing off whole pieces of skin, 

 with scales attached, or by picking out their 

 eyes; In such cases they are best separa- 

 ted for good, as something seems to be 

 about the female which he abhors. It is 

 safest when mating a new set, to provide 

 plenty of shelter for the female. In all our 

 experience we have lost but one female, 

 and this was many years ago, ere we had 

 learned to protect them. 



P. W. A. — There is nothing serioiis the 

 matter with your goldfish. That ' ' stringy 

 scum, white in appearance " that leaves the 

 fish, is caused by the character of the food 

 you use. Feed some I. X. L. fish food to 

 them, or occasionally treat them with small 

 pieces of yoimg earth-worms. The ^hite 

 spots on the fins of the fish may lie a white 

 worm, or colonies of tiny worm-like crea- 



tures. Examine these spots with a magni- 

 fying glass, and if you find the former to- 

 lie the case, these can easily be removed 

 with the aid of a microscopic forceps, or, 

 if the latter be the cause, bj^ touching 

 the spots with a camel-hair brxish dipped 

 in strong salt water. 



To perform an operation of this kind, the 

 fish is best removed from the aquarium and 

 placed in a shallow dish of water, for in- 

 stance, in a white soup-plate. Everything 

 necessary for the operation should be in 

 readiness before removing the fish from the 

 tank, in order to inconvenience the fish as- 

 little as possible. The operation performed, 

 the fish should be gently returned to the 

 aqiiarium. 



J. G. E. — The reason why your goldfish, 

 have not yet spawned may be the long 

 winter we have had this year, which has so 

 weakened some of the fish, that some 

 time is required to bring them in condition 

 to spawn. If you could feed them on liv- 

 ing food, such as flea-crabs, mosquito lar- 

 vae, crushed young snails, etc., this would 

 help them along. 



The destruction to the sod and shrub- 

 bery in Central Park, New York, since 

 the lawns were thrown open to the 

 public has been so great that the Park 

 Commissioners have been compelled to 

 replace the signs, " Keep off the grass." 



This number completes Vol. III. of 

 The Aquarium. We are pleased to 

 state that the favor with which our 

 little publication is received by the read- 

 ing public is a flattering one, every 

 mail adding new subscribers to our list. 



The first number of Vol. IV. will 

 have as a supplement the title page and 

 index for Vol. III. Please renew your 

 subscription promptly and secure this. 



With many thanks to our patrons, 

 Ave remain, 



Respectfully, 



Your Editor. 



