Page 212 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

having a large, well-stocked store selling nothing but tropical fish and
supplies, I grow in my own tanks the fauna which I sell to my customers.

Raising Tropical Plants

“I may upset some common notions about tropical plants when I say that
almost all tropical fauna necessary to conditioning tropical fish are native
Florida plants. Even the so-called Madagascar Lily comes from Florida. This
plant is easy to raise, and is pretty hardy. Some plants, however, are difficult
to raise and until you hit upon the right method of growing them, you will
have little luck. For example, almost every aquarium man thinks it impossible
to raise the Sagittaria Guayanersis, a Florida plant. They have tried it in
many public aquariums with little success. It fooled me, until I accidentally
discovered that this particular plant requires a great deal of room for its roots
to spread out. When the roots are cramped a little, the leaves become
speckled, turn brown at the edges, and presently the plant dies. After learning
what it required, however, I have had no trouble with it at all. The
Cryptocoryne Griffithii, which thrives only in sand, is the only plant from the
South Seas I use. I have four varieties of it, and have heard there’s a fifth,
which I’m trying to locate. One can obtain the seed or the cuttings of plant
life at a very small cost, and in a year or two build up a surprisingly profitable
stock of marine fauna. The plants cost practically nothing to raise, but as they
require a great deal of light, I keep a lamp burning over each tank all the time.
I determine the price for plants and fish by the demand and the time I’ve had
them. The longer I have them, the more I get for them. The fifty-cent Angel is
my bread-and-butter fish. I raise this fish right in my shop at no expense and
it sells very fast.

“In selling tropical fish for home aquariums, there is one point that should be
stressed. The water should be conditioned by tropical flora for several days
before the fish are placed in it. Water should never be changed by emptying
the aquarium and putting in fresh water. Salt should not be placed in the
water. Water should be turned into the aquarium only when necessary to
replace evaporated water. Water just out of the spigot is such a shock to
tropical fish they will die overnight.”