PHOTOGRAPHING FISH 99 



one gives up the idea of using them. What, you 

 may ask, is the remedy for these difficulties? The 

 only thing I have found to answer at all is to thor- 

 oughly clean every leaf by washing it with a soft 

 cloth. It is a task requiring great patience ; but once 

 the plant is really clean it will remain so for several 

 days, requiring only to be well rinsed in clear water 

 each time it is used. Betweenwhiles it is, of course, 

 kept in clean water, which should be as near as pos- 

 sible the temperature to which the plant is accus- 

 tomed. Over-warm water will cause the plant to 

 lose its colour and become covered with scum. 

 Never put any plant or stone, or in fact any acces- 

 sory, into the aquarium until you have ascertained 

 that it is free from scum and other foreign matter. 

 Stones, especially those that are rough and honey- 

 combed, require to be scrubbed with a hard brush 

 and sand until they are perfectly clean. Sand, if it 

 is necessary to use it, may be cleaned by throwing a 

 little at a time into a bucketful of water. The part 

 that does not immediately sink should be emptied 

 out. This must be repeated until only the clean, 

 heavy sand remains. But even this should not be 

 used unless you have a very quiet fish to photograph. 

 A restless fish will disturb the sand, which in sinking 

 will fall on the fish ; so that if he remains still enough 

 to be photographed, he will be covered with a fine 

 deposit of sand, and, needless to say, this will entirely 



