Fish The Paradise Fish 
almost to kiss her, for he often touches her with his 
mouth. Once he is sure he has awakened an interest 
in her, he begins to build a nest of air-bubbles. He 
makes these exactly as does a blubbering child, but 
the saliva with which he clothes the bubbles as they 
leave his lips is strong, and holds the bubbles firm 
and fastens them together. 
He likes to nestle his bubble raft down among the 
pond weeds of the aquarium, but it naturally floats 
and often appears on the surface of the water. In 
this nest the female lays her eggs; often she seems 
careless and allows some of the eggs to fall to the 
bottom of the aquarium, at which her watchful 
mate promptly gathers them up in his mouth and 
replaces them in the nest. 
As soon as the eggs are laid the female should be 
removed to another aquarium since this frivolous 
mother is likely to eat her own eggs and young. 
The father is the responsible parent. 
FOOD 
Paradise fish should be fed once a day on animal 
food, for they naturally live upon the small creatures 
in the water. They take ants’ eggs, mosquito 
larvae, water fleas, ground fish and crissel. Scraps 
of raw beef may be given occasionally, or an earth 
worm cut in small sections. Do not overfeed. 
CARE 
The water in the aquarium should never fall 
below 50° F. and may reach the temperature of 90° 
without doing damage to the fish. 
These fish are so delicate they should never be 
lifted in the hands, or with a dip net. If necessary 
to catch one, place a dipper beneath it and lift it 
out water and all. 
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