17G 



THE AQUAKIUM, APRIL, 1895. 



You should feed your fish regularly every 

 day, being careful that all uncousumed 

 food is at once removed after meal time. 

 Newts (the name lizard is a misnomer) are 

 good companions for goldfish ; eels, how- 

 ever, are not, 



O. L. — Your letter is not quite plain. If 

 the caudal fin is broken lengthwise, you 

 may leave it as it is; nature will soon mend 

 it again; but if the fin is broken crosswise, 

 it will be best to cut it oflf with a sharp 

 knife. The fish should be kept by himself 

 after the operation in order to prevent his 

 companions from nibbling at the wounded 

 part. After the wound has healed, which 

 will be in about a week, it may be returned 

 to the collection. 



J. H. H. — Artificial sea- water is preferred 

 l>y many to natural sea-water for a marine 

 aquarium. We have used it for years with 

 success, too. 



C. A. S. — The brown tips on your Sagit- 

 taria must not worry you. What you call 

 brown is very likely what we know as 

 purplish red. This is a peculiarity of the 

 variety New Era Sometimes entire blades 

 of this plant turn purplish carmine, thus 

 making a very beautiful effect. Your aqua- 

 rium is evidently in a very strong light. 

 We w^oiild not give it a stronger light, at 

 any rate. 



Mr. L. K. — An examination of the golden 

 tench you sent us disclosed the fact that it 

 Avas choked to death by a piece of meat 

 Avhich was located in its throat. In feeding 

 fish with scraped raw meat one should be 

 very careful not to give too large portions. 

 Bigger pieces that are intended for the 

 larger fish will sometimes be gobbled up l)y 

 the smaller fish, and in such case they may 

 prove fatal, as in the case of your tench. 

 It is safest to give equallj^ small-sized bits 

 of food to all fish, inasmuch as the quantity 

 may be increased by increasing the num- 

 bers of pieces fed to each individual. 



B. R., N. Y.— Paradise fish Avill not do 

 well in running water. They prefer stand- 

 ing water; the okhu- the water the better 

 it is for them. Changing the water of an 

 atimirium to which I'aradise fish were ac- 

 customed quite frequently causes their 

 death. All the varieties of goldfish will li ve 



in running water, but they thrive best in 

 standing water, of which the temperature 

 should not be lower than 55 degrees F., nor 

 higher than 110 degrees F. All other fancy 

 fish, if tropical, prefer standing water, this 

 preference being the main reason wh}- thej' 

 are so well adapted for parlor aquariums. 



Mr. F., Bowling Green. — The cause of 

 your fish coming to the surface of the water 

 to breathe is lack of oxygen in the water. 

 Your tank may be unfavorably located, and 

 therefore the aquatic plants are not able to 

 keep the right balance. Or your aquarium 

 may be overstocked, or you overfeed your 

 fish and pay too little attention to the food 

 remnants. Give your tank a strong light, 

 but no sun, to encourage the growth of the 

 plants ; feed your fish only once a day, and 

 not more than they will actuallj^ eat at 

 once, allowing no remnants to remain on 

 the bottom, and your collection will keep in. 

 good health. Please report what success 

 you have and oblige the Editor. 



Db W. — We are informed that up to date 

 $350,000 have been spent to turn Castle 

 Garden into an Aquarium. With the site 

 and the building already on hand, a quarter 

 of a million dollars is a great deal of money 

 even for America to spend on an institution 

 of this kind, but we are afraid it will take 

 a good deal more money and time before 

 the New York Aquarium is in fair running 

 order, leaving aside the grand idea of show- 

 ing the world a model public aquarium, the 

 realization of which seems now lost— at the 

 best, it is postponed for j'ears. 



F. M., N. O. — Snow or snow-w^ater is very 

 injurious to fish. In ponds that are fed by 

 springs it does not matter much, but in 

 skyponds snow often causes what is called 

 an '"uprising" (riot) of the fish. (Because 

 they come to the surface and act very rest- 

 less and curious, caused l)y unfit conditions 

 of the water.) 



The remedy in such a case is, to remove 

 the fish at once from the pond and place 

 them in running water. You may feed 

 your sick fish on chopped salted Dutch 

 herring roe and start a steady current of 

 water through your pDud. This ma^' re- 

 store them to health, although the disease 

 appears to be very much advanced. 



