FEEDING THE GOLDFISH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 10 (Supplement)

FEEDING THE GOLDFISH

JN outdoor pools live food is generally ■ present in sufficient quantity for goldfish, unless the pool is overstocked. In that case ,it ifc as uvell* to-supple-ment their rations. Mosquito larvae are to be found in every place that will hold a little stagnant water and the fish will appreciate a supply of those. Blood worms are the larvae of midges, and receive that name from their bright red colour. These wrigglers will also bo found in stagnant water. Earthworms chopped into small pieces and washed by stirring round in a tumbler two or three times before feeding to the lish, are excellent. They pre eagerly devoured, are very nourishing and have .a mildly laxative effect. Fed in spring, this food will stimulate spanning, and for this purpose is the finest food known. The Enchytrae, small white v'brms, are much relished. These thrive best in a temperature of 4/5 to GO.degrees F. and provide an excellent winter. food. One way of breeding them is, to fill a wooden box. about >l2 inches square, and six inches ctyep, a'boutj three quarters full of rich' garden soil mixed with leafmould. The worms are scattern! over the soil and in a short time will have burrowed into it. A pieoo of glass, is laid flat on the box to nonservo the moisture (the soil should never he allowed to become dry). Food is added once or twiceAf week. The worms thrive on. a varioty'of foods, in-r-ludinir sour; thick milk. ;;hrond soaked in milk, boiled cereals, rice or mashed potatoes. The food ift Supplied .by;digging a few boles aborjt«one inch deep, laying the food in the hole?, then covering with soil. Tho .worms congregate round the food and can'bo picked out with forceps as required, One does not need to seek very far for slaters. In many gardens they aro a pest. The fish will appreciate tli'em. For large fish the slaters may be fed whole, but for smaller fish it is better to break them up. Other foods which may be fed are shredded raw beef or liver', the hardboiled yolk ol' egg, preferably boiled for thirty minutes, to render it more easily

Supplies of Tkeir Natural Food

digestible. For vegetable foods, as a change, boiled''carrots, spinach or cabbage cut into very small pieces will be eaten readily. Boiled oatmeal makes, a desirable change^""as will raw lettuce leaves cut very small. Most vegetable foods have a laxative effect and are desirable if the Jisli have been fed on any concentrated foods, which must be soaked in water before being fed to the fish. Daphnids are a good natural food for fish where they can be obtained. Owing, however, to the uncertainty of their occurence in pools and streams., many aquarists cultivate them in tuljs, barrels or concrete, tanks in order to maintain a-'constant supply for the particularly for the young Jrv after they are about two or three week'S"* old.; Tho, methods of breeding these will bo dealt" with in the next article. " .