aquatic ILitt 



135 



Food Rings 



In a thickly planted aquarium food 

 spreads over the surface of the water, 

 sinks between the plants, and may es- 

 cape immediate consumption. To over- 

 come this difficulty aquarists use a food 

 ring, several styles of which may be had 

 from dealers. Two forms made of bent 

 glass tubing are usually to be had, and 

 occasionally a deep round type of blown 



Glass Food Rings. Courtesy Aquarium Stock Company 



glass, the most desirable of all. With 

 a ring the food can be confined to the 

 front of the tank, falls in one spot on 

 the bottom, and is not apt to escape the 

 fishes. The surplus can be removed 

 with an Aquarium Vacuum Cleaner' 

 when it seems advisable. 



Light by Reflection 



For several years I had considerable 

 trouble with my aquaria due to insuf- 

 ficient light. I decided to remove the 

 tanks to my front basement, where I 

 could conduct experiments without fam- 

 ily criticism. Here the light was admitr 

 ted by a single window forty inches 

 square. I had one fifty-gallon aquarium 

 and six smaller ones, ranging from six 

 to thirty gallons capacity. The first year 

 only the large tank thrived and it was 

 directly under the window. The next 

 season I moved it back five feet, put a 

 thirty-gallon concrete tank under the 

 window, and arranged the other five be- 

 hind the large aquarium — seven feet 

 from the light. I then covered the joists 

 of the ceiling for a distance of ten feet 

 from the window and across the entire 

 basement with bleached muslin sheeting, 

 hanging curtains of the same material 

 where the ceiling covering stopped. I 



later gave these curtains a coat of 

 "Muresco," with a very little pink tint. 

 The result was remarkable. The five 

 small aquaria wer; entirely out of the 

 line of direct light, yet with the intense 

 reflection brought about by the curtains 

 the plants thrived and retained the rich 

 natural color usual under ideal condi- 

 tions. The Sagittaria was rich velvety 

 green, which is seldom evident when 

 strong light prevail:-.. This scheme may 

 appeal to aquarium lovers who may have 

 tanks so situated that abundant light is 

 not possible. — J. Henri Wagner. 



The Shopper — "Are these genuine 

 goldfish ?" 



The Sales Person — "No'm, not at that 

 price. These are only rolled plate." 



The Essex County Aquarium Society, 

 of Newark, New Jersey, held its second 

 annual exhibition, lecture and auction, 

 on April 25th. The attendance was re- 

 markably large and gave every evidence 

 of appreciation of the addresses by Prof. 

 Lothair Smith, of Newark, and Mr. 

 Harvery A. Van Cott, of Brooklyn. 



Beautiful specimens of exotic fishes 

 were shown by Messrs. Breeder, Ball, 

 Storsberg, Kniep, Thomas, Ludolff and 

 Hoernig ; Lionhead goldfish by William 

 Feldman ; splendid Black and Calico 

 Broadtail Telescooes bv Dr. Bachmann, 



