PARADISE:MACROPODUS OPERCULARIS(South China)

average size

Color: Body dark with vertical bars of deep red against bluish green background. Fins similar in color, caudal deep red. Female—shorter fins, color very pale during mating.

Breeding Habits: Bubble nest builder. When pair have mated (frequently after the death of several undesirable females) the male builds a floating nest of bubbles. Male coaxes female under nest, winds himself about her, a gentle pressure expelling eggs. He then gathers eggs in his mouth and blows them into nest. Falling eggs and young fry are carefully blown back into nest by male. Remove female when spawning is over. Fry appear within 36 hours. Remove male in about 4 days.

Temperature: 50° to 90° F.

Maturity: About 12 months.

Temperament: Vicious, keep pair separated except when spawning. (see Bettas.)

Labyrinth Fish (Gourami, Paradise, Bettas) are air breathers, coming to the surface every few minutes for a bubble of air. For this reason they can stand crowding, providing water is kept clear. Fry do not develop this characteristic for several weeks so must be provided with a large shallow container with ample oxygen.

average size

Color: This attractive group (all hybrids of BETTA SPLENDENS) have many color variations, all exceptionally attractive. BETTA CAMBODIA: gold colored body—bright red fins. Those with most red in body known as BETTA RUBRA. BETTA CYANA—body and fins iridescent cornflower blue. Others often have various shades of blue, green, red and purple predominating. Females—subdued in color and lack long flowing fins.

Breeding Habits: Bubble nest builders—Male builds floating nest of bubbles 3 to 6 inches in diameter. Female is coaxed and forced under nest, male embraces her expelling eggs. Male catches eggs and blows them into bubble nest. Remove female. Fry hatch in 48 hours. Remove male in 10 days. Do not crowd fry.

Temperature: 65° to 90° F. 80° F. best for spawning.

Maturity: 8 to 10 months.

Temperament: Savage—two males will fight to a finish. Siamese wager on outcome of these battles. Not advisable to keep mated pairs together except when spawning. Separate pairs with glass placed diagonally across aquarium. When spawning, if male attacks female too viciously, replace glass.

(One of these fish may be kept in Community Tank—they seem to attack only their own species.)

average size

Color: Male, rich deep greenish olive, sides covered with rows of gleaming red and green spots, anal bright orange and red. Dorsal and caudal are of similar colors. Female—dull with light orange fins.

Breeding Habits: Egg layers, spawn readily in small tank, riccia being a favorite plant for this purpose.

Temperature: 72° to 80° F.

Temperament: peaceful.

Color: Silvery copper with large blue-black triangle from dorsal to caudal base. Dorsal and caudal red. Scales above black triangle wider on male.

Breeding Habits: Egg layers—Difficult to breed. Female swims upside down against leaf of Cryptocoryne, expelling eggs, most of which drop to bottom. Remove parents after spawning. Fry hatch in about 2 days and resemble zebra fry. Swim freely in about 5 days. Use 3 males and 2 females. Do not have aquarium in direct rays of sun.

Temperature: 72° to 85° F.

Maturity: Breed at 10 months.

Temperament: Peaceful.

1 to 2 inches

Color: Shining olive green, towards the anal: yellowish to white. Body covered with dark spots changing according to the surroundings. Average size: 1 to 2 inches.

Breeding Habits: Egg layer. Distinguishing sex marks: male smaller than female, and has pointed ventral fins, which are in the female, rounded. Best breeding results are obtained in a large aquarium. Two to three males for one female. Temperature 75 to 80 degrees. 60 to 500 eggs are carried by female in her ventral fins to a clean spot which can be the glass of the aquarium, a plant or stone. Babies hatch after 6 to 9 days. The opinion of breeders is divided as to whether parents should be removed. Good results were obtained either way.

Temperament: Paleatus Catfish are the most peaceful fish and very essential for the maintenance of every balanced aquarium. They are regarded as the officers of the “Dept. of Sanitation” among successful aquarists. Paleatus is a ground fish, tirelessly picking up food remnants and left-overs which other fish do not eat. Through this activity, Paleatus helps to keep the food particles from contaminating the water. Catfish dart up to the surface to breathe atmospheric air.

Color: Form and color similar to Pearl Danio but with gold and blue line from eye to caudal fin, dorsal and caudal fins deep red, male has white tip above red caudal fins.

Breeding Habits: Average temperature 80 degrees. Eggs not adhesive. One female to two males, eggs hatch after two to three days. Remove parents after spawning. Tiny fry must be supplied with infusoria or better still, Brine Shrimp (seep. 27).

Temperament: Peaceful and hearty, “called poorman’s Neon Tetra” since the bright colored babies closely resemble Neon Tetras.

Color: Generally white and the red bars show faintly. Like most albinos their eyes are pink.

Breeding Habits: Just like their original form, the Red Paradise. The albino color breeds true. (Seepage 23.)

Color: Same size like Tetra from Rio but black in color.

Breeding Habits and Temperamentalso like Tetra from Rio. (seepage 16.)

Color: Sphenops are found in various color schemes varying from jet black to pure light blue, very often blue body with scattered black spots. The caudal of male adorned with bright orange border.

Breeding Habits: Heartier and more easily bred than ordinary Black Mollies.

Color: Body color of male and female light blue, but males dorsal shows “red, white and blue”.

Breeding Habits: (seepage 11.)

Veiltail

History: The Gold Fish, the oldest and most popular of our numerous Aquarium Fish, was developed by the Chinese during the Sung Dynasty (960-1278) from the wild Carassius Auratus to the various varieties now familiar to us.

In the year 1750 Madame de Pompadour imported the first Goldfish into France as showpieces for the ornamental waterpools in her vast gardens. In 1856, P. T. Barnum was sent by The American Museum to search for oddities in Europe and to study the then popular fad of keeping live fish in aquariums. Thus our now familiar Goldfish made its debut in America. With its golden beauty and its sturdiness, the Goldfish quickly became the Parlor Pet of our parents and grandparents. Today the sales of American-bred Goldfish run into the millions.

It would be beyond the limits of this booklet to explain and fully describe all the various forms and color variations of our goldfish, as there are Comets, Fantails, Shubunkins, Black Moors, etc. Most Goldfish do not reach their full life span of 4 to 6 years and often more, because they are fed too much and are given too little “Living Space.” Feed your fish only once a day during the morning and make sure that all food is consumed within 10 to 15 minutes. Any surplus food will fall to the bottom and will contaminate the water. The surest sign of overfeeding is cloudy and milky looking water. This bad water is poor in oxygen and the fish will hang on the surface and frantically gasp for atmospheric air. Any nationally known brand of Goldfish food will be suitable for your fish, but once more: DO NOT OVERFEED. The proper size of the aquarium should be comparable to the amount of fish or vice versa. The happy medium is about 1 small fish per gallon of water. An aquarium of five gallons capacity can, therefore, hold no more than 4 to 5 small Goldfish, but fish of larger size must have much larger space. The most suitable temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees, Fahrenheit.

Breeding Hints: During the breeding season which falls during the first seven months of the year, the male will show small warts of pin point size on his gill plates. The female is shorter than the male but fuller in body, more so, when carrying spawn. A mature fish is about 3-10 inches long, depending on type and a pair must therefore have a breeding aquarium of at least 10 gallons. The fish will spawn on myriophyllum, long rooted water hyacinths, or other soft bunchy plants and the eggs will hatch in about 4-7 days. Since the parent fish like to eat their own spawn, it is therefore advisable to remove either the parents or the plants with their adhering eggs. The newly hatched babies are fed with infusoria and later on with fish food of a fine grain.

Diseases: Fin Congestion and Fungus are the most frequent Goldfish diseases. Their best cure is the salt treatment which is described onpage 33.

{Turtle aquarium}

Baby turtles are very easily kept as pets and require little care. While in captivity, Turtles will forget their time schedule and will not hibernate. Any round or oval bowl, an aquarium or a flat pan with a rim sufficiently high to prevent the turtle from crawling out, is an adequate home. In this container, place white or colored pebbles, and in the center a flat stone. Fill the container with clean water of room temperature (60 to 80 degrees, fahrenheit) but see to it that the stone is not covered by the water for it will serve as an “Island” and thus give the turtle a chance to leave the wet element when desired. The best place for the bowl is in a light place, but special care should be taken to see that the bowl is not exposed too long to the direct sun. Ant Eggs, commonly packed as “Turtle Food” will mainly be their diet but lean raw beef, which is finely scraped, will be an appreciated change. The same applies for green lettuce, rainworms, etc. A variation in food and sunshine will prevent blindness, but should a turtle get a white film over its eyes, a few drops of Cod liver Oil forced by a medicine dropper in its mouth, might help. Boric acid swabbed over the eyes will also be beneficial. Turtles will not feed “on land” therefore all food should be placed in the water. Water should be changed two to three times weekly.

It is much easier to keep fish healthy than to cure them.

Disturb your fish as little as possible.

Fish in good health are active and keep dorsal fin erect. (Folded fins for a short period do not mean a sick fish.)

Most fish ills develop from chills. Keep fish above lowest safe temperature. Young fry especially should be kept warm.

Avoid extremes of temperature. Avoid sudden changes of temperature. Provide some type of aquarium heater for cold months.

Do not crowd fish—be sure plants are thriving and there is ample oxygen in water.

Fish constantly at top indicate foul water and lack of oxygen. Remove part of water and replace with fresh of same temperature.

Dying plants cause much trouble—be sure plants are healthy and growing.

It is much easier to keep fish healthy in a large tank (above 5 gallons). A large tank maintains a more uniform temperature, allows more air surface, plants thrive better, and water is not fouled so easily by excess food.

An aquarium can be maintained in healthy condition, both plants and fish thriving, under artificial lighting furnished by an ordinary light bulb.

Vary the diet for the fish. Feed only as much as they will eat in ten minutes. Feed sparingly and several times a day if necessary. Use glass feeding ring. (Fig. 4). All uneaten food drops to one spot where it can be easily removed with a dip tube.

Health and growth of fry depend upon oxygen supply. Use tank with large air surface. BE SURE AND DO NOT CROWD YOUNG FRY. Crowding stunts growth and frequently causes disease, and loss of whole brood. Fry demand approximately same amount of water as adults—seepage 31.

FIG·4

Tropicals in poor condition, (usually indicated by folded fins).Fish constantly at top indicate foul water and lack of oxygen.

SEVERAL HOURS DIRECT SUNLIGHT DAILYAlways keep glass cover on aquarium.Always keep a thermometer in aquarium.

Never give fish more food than they can clean up in ten minutes.

Do Not Overfeed—Never give fish more food than they can clean up in ten minutes.

Vary the Diet—Have several kinds of food on hand at all times. Dried Shrimp, Dried Daphnae, scrapings from raw beef, bits of canned salmon, bits of boiled spinach, finely crumbed graham cracker, bits of yolk of boiled egg, and most of the prepared foods are excellent but should be supplemented with some form of live food. Once a week they should be fed chopped earth worms or Enchytrae (White worms). Feed live bearer’s fry small quantity of fine foods several times a day. Feed egg layer’s fry Brine Shrimp twice a day the first couple weeks and then feed same as live bearer’s fry.

Several Feedings a Day—Feeding a very small quantity of food several times a day (what the fish will clean up in several minutes) is probably more desirable than one feeding providing great care is taken not to feed too much at one time.

Tropicals Will Not Overeat—Unlike goldfish, tropicals will eat only as much as they need but great care must be exercised in order to allow no uneaten food in the aquarium to foul the water and cause disease.

Tubifex wormsare found in fresh water streams and rivers, close to shore in soft loamy bottom. They are an excellent live food provided they are fed to the fish with care. Keep in cool place in container having large air surface with just enough water to cover them. Since they bury themselves in the gravel, it is best to feed them to the fish with a worm feeder. The best type of feeder has a quantity of small holes through which the worms wriggle into the mouths of the fish eagerly waiting below. For baby fish it is best to cut the worms into small pieces.

Enchytrae(White Worms) multiply rapidly in a wooden box (about 10″ square) filled with about 5″ of rich loamy soil. Portion of worms is placed in soil and whole mass kept fairly moist. Feed slice of bread soaked in sweet or sour milk every 3 or 4 days. Be sure all food is covered with at least 1″ of soil. Before feeding be sure all old food is consumed. They may be fed cooked oatmeal or mashed potatoes WITHOUT SALT. Stir soil once a week to aerate it and prevent souring. Cover soil with piece of glass to keep moisture in. Keep in cool dark place.

BRINE SHRIMP—To raise Egglaying Fish, the use of Brine Shrimp (fig. 5) replaces the old fashioned Infusoria method more and more. Brine Shrimp Eggs are available in any good pet shop and are easily hatched. Directions for hatching Brine Shrimp Eggs are found on package.

Tropical Fish are naturally healthy. If kept in a healthy aquarium, fed properly and kept warm little or no trouble will be experienced. In short—IT IS EASIER TO KEEP FISH HEALTHY THAN TO CURE THEM.

Practically all diseases are due to one of the following: UNHEALTHY TANK—water too acid or alkaline—lack of oxygen—decomposition of food—plants not thriving. IMPROPER FEEDING—Overfeeding, lack of live food, lack of variation in diet. CHILL—the cause of most fish ills. Fish is weakened and subject to diseases, many incurable.

Ichthyopthirius (Ich): A parasite that attacks the fish. Recognized by tiny white spot on fins. Fish have fins folded and scratch themselves on sand. Contagious. Treat whole tank (plants and snails need not be removed). Raise temperature to 80° F. Add about two drops 2% Mercurochrome to each gallon of water. If fish are not cured in 3 or 4 days repeat treatment.

Shimmy: A wagging movement without changing position is usually the result of a chill affecting digestive organs. Not contagious—give salt treatment.

Dropsy: Body swells, scales stand out at an angle. Fish act normal until a few days before death. Salt treatment sometimes brings relief. Cure doubtful.

Wounds or Ulcers: Wrap piece of cotton on toothpick; hold fish in damp cloth and paint wound for 2 minutes with Mercurochrome twice a day. Do not allow Mercurochrome to touch gills.

Constipation: 1 tablespoon Epsom Salts to 5 gallons of water.

Air Bladder Trouble: Caused by sudden temperature change. Fish swim either at top or stay near bottom. Cure unknown.

Blood Shot Fins—Tailrot: Condition caused by sudden temperature change or injury. Use salt treatment.

Fungus—White scum forms over fish. Use salt treatment.

Fluke: Flat and sunken belly. No known cure.

Salt Treatment: Use glass or enamel container, raise temperature to 80° F., 1 teaspoonful rock or sea salt per gallon of water. (May be doubled in extreme cases.) Salt (Rock or Epsom) will kill snails and plants.

Tropicalsin poor condition, usually indicated by folded fins, should be isolated at once. Gradually raise temperature to 80° F. Feed live food. Give salt treatment. Frequently a cure is affected by placing ailing fish in tank of “green water.” (seepage 31.)

Sick fish more easily cured in shallow water.

Sudden changes of temperature may be fatal to weakened fish.

Potassium permanganate solution is an excellent disinfectant and deodorant. Also destroys algae in aquarium and pool. Tint water faint pink, repeat when color disappears. Avoid excess.

Fish enemies are usually transferred to the aquarium by the introduction of new aquatic plants that are obtained from outside pools. To avoid fish enemies—AVOID USING PLANTS AND SAND THAT ARE OBTAINED FROM OUTSIDE POOLS OR PONDS. If you are suspicious of source rinse for a minute or two through a strong solution of salt water. This should kill all insects and not injure plants. Examine plants carefully for eggs.Fig. 6shows larvae of Giant Beetle (Water Tiger).Fig. 7, larvae of Dragon Fly. Both attack fairly large fish and devour small ones in quantities.

FIG·5

FIG·6

FIG·7

HYDRA—a polyp, fastens itself to plants or glass. It has a variety of shapes and is hard to distinguish particularly on plants. It attacks and quickly drugs fish by injecting a poison. Hydra can be killed by removing all fish and scavengers and raising temperature of tank to 115° F.

Replacing consumed oxygen by blowing a stream of very fine air bubbles through the aquarium water is frequently necessary in aquariums, where plants receive insufficient light or are not thriving, where the air surface is small (depth greater than width), where crowding is necessary, etc. Even in healthy aquariums, where plants are thriving, conditions will be improved by an hour or two of aeration daily. Many types of aerators are available.

Due to the fact that in some localities the natural water supply is alkaline, in others neutral, and in others acid much has been written about controlling aquarium water.

Many aquarists believe that a slightly acid condition in the aquarium is desirable.

There are a number of reliable water testing sets available at very nominal prices.

Most of the fish described in this book seem to thrive and breed better in slightly acid water (about pH6.8).

Get your experience from the more common varieties first.

Half grown fish are best to buy—you are sure of obtaining young fish, and it is interesting to watch them mature.

Fish ready to spawn: Females become heavier. Also on live bearers the dark spot near vent becomes larger and darker. Males chase females continually at spawning time. Labyrinth male builds bubble nest.

Live bearers are easiest to breed. Eggs are hatched within the female’s body and the young are born alive.

Female live bearers seek secluded places to give birth to their young. If one corner of the community tank (toward light) is heavily planted, and ample floating plants provided, quite a few young will survive. These can be removed until old enough to return to community tank—in about 4 or 5 weeks, dependent on growth.

Female live bearers will eat their young. If placed in separate tank remove female as soon as brood is produced.

Female live bearers will produce several broods after being separated from male.

Live bearer’s fry are sometimes born with an “egg sac,” usually the result of premature birth.

Tools

AVOID1·SUDDEN TEMPERATURE CHANGE.2·CROWDING LACK OF OXYGEN.3·EXCESS FOOD.

To save young live bearers, females are frequently placed in a trap. Be sure female has ample room to swim freely. Many varieties of traps are available.

To breed egg layers, male and female should be separated for several days before being placed in spawning tank.

All fish are more prolific during warm weather.

Practically all fish will eat young fry.

Algae—a fine green plant growth—is caused by an excess of light. Remove as much of the growth as possible and reduce amount of light.

Floating algae—green water—is caused by the same condition. Cut down light and condition usually clears itself. (Seepage 4.) Coloring water in tank a faint pink with a solution of potassium permanganate will usually clear this condition. Green water is actual healthy water for fish.

Algae may be cleaned off glass by scraping with safety razor blade. (Fig. 8.)

Cloudy water usually caused by improperly balanced tank. Remedy: more plants or less fish, better light, more scavengers, less food.

FIG·8

Cloud at bottom of tank is usually caused by decaying of excess food.

Plants thrive better in deep sand; roots spread and absorb decaying matter.

Always use sea salt. Table salt is questionable since it is chemically treated to prevent caking.

Tropicals thrive under more crowded conditions than goldfish. 2 or 3 pairs per gallon in healthy aquarium, about 6″ fish body per gallon.

Always sterilize net with boiling water after handling sick fish.

Slow leaks in aquariums will usually be sealed by painting all inside and outside seams with liquid aquarium cement.

To obtain number of gallons of water in tank—divide cubic contents in inches by 231.

* Subjects marked * are illustrated

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Back to Index Next