how do you keep fish in the old days, anything changed?

[bio_lover]

Sometimes back in the 80's, I kept discus. In those days, brown and blue were the norm of the days. Brown weas easier than blue and obviously, it didn't command a better price than the blue. Brown had 5 colors while blue was considered 7.

Well, my 2 feet breeding tanks were just bare as most of discus breeders do it today. One thing I did was that almost everyday, it was a 90% WC. No filter whatsoever but with just an air tubing. I was without any test kits to test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as most LFS at my place didn't sell test kits.

No internet during those days so all info was from hear say and of course Jack Wattley's discus book was so popular at that time.

And I survived with some frys and managed to sell them to LFSs :dance::dance::dance:

O.K., I am passing the baton to others....

Ooops, almost forgotten, the old school salt bath was the best medicine.

 

[briar14]

in the 6o's i maintained two 10 gal tanks equipped with air powered corner filration using carbon and poly materials. cycling?? what was that? We would fill the tanks with tap water,wait a day or two and add whatever fish your heart desired. compatability was determined when watching the fish attempt to rip each other apart. all in all things seemed to work out ok. i have recently renewed my interest in freshwater tropical fish and was amazed at the advances and technical info available on the forum scene and internet sites. i am completing the fishless cycle of my recently purchased 36 gal bowfront and greatly appreciate the advice offered on this forum

 

[MsDyllon]

[FONT=&quot]Well, in the olden days of the late 70s and 80s, I had a tall 30 gallon tank. I used a two filter system, an underground filter and a Whisper Power Filter, which hung on the back of the tank. This was during the time when you could adjust the air flow on the pumps. I also use an aeration stone along with 2-3 inches of gravels for live plants. A good adjustable heater was a must, as well as an aquatic-florescent lighting for the plants.

My old system worked well, and my water changes were reduced to partial changes every four to six weeks with regular siphering of the gravel. I kept and breed Mollies and Platys. Because Mollies like their water a little harder, I used non-ionized salt. Plain old Morton non-ionized salt did the trick. I also had to treat the water for chlorine and other heavy metals.

All in all this system worked well for me for several years. That is to say, until 1990 when my then 5- year old son thought it would be great to add baby snails from a community reservoir. You can imagine the disaster. I gave up the hobby after that.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]More recently, I began keeping a 10 gallon tank with fantail goldfish and Black Moors. Although the underground filter has been judged obsolete in this modern era, I still think it is one of the best filtration systems to use when combined with an over-hanging power filter. What the hanging filter miss filtering on the surface of the gravel the underground filter gets. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In addition, I do a partial water change every two weeks and since [/FONT][FONT=&quot]goldfish are cold-water fish, I don't use a heater. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am going to maintain this tank for a year, before moving up to a larger one. My future plan is to keep a community of veiltail goldfish.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I hope this was helpful from one who remembers the golden years.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[FastFly67]

[FONT=&quot]Well, in the olden days of the late 70s and 80s, I had a tall 30 gallon tank. I used a two filter system, an underground filter and a Whisper Power Filter, which hung on the back of the tank. This was during the time when you could adjust the air flow on the pumps. I also use an aeration stone along with 2-3 inches of gravels for live plants. A good adjustable heater was a must, as well as an aquatic-florescent lighting for the plants.

My old system worked well, and my water changes were reduced to partial changes every four to six weeks with regular siphering of the gravel. I kept and breed Mollies and Platys. Because Mollies like their water a little harder, I used non-ionized salt. Plain old Morton non-ionized salt did the trick. I also had to treat the water for chlorine and other heavy metals.

All in all this system worked well for me for several years. That is to say, until 1990 when my then 5- year old son thought it would be great to add baby snails from a community reservoir. You can imagine the disaster. I gave up the hobby after that.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]More recently, I began keeping a 10 gallon tank with fantail goldfish and Black Moors. Although the underground filter has been judged obsolete in this modern era, I still think it is one of the best filtration systems to use when combined with an over-hanging power filter. What the hanging filter miss filtering on the surface of the gravel the underground filter gets. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In addition, I do a partial water change every two weeks and since [/FONT][FONT=&quot]goldfish are cold-water fish, I don't use a heater. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am going to maintain this tank for a year, before moving up to a larger one. My future plan is to keep a community of veiltail goldfish.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I hope this was helpful from one who remembers the golden years.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Nice blast from the past but I think you're going to learn that the 10g won't hold those goldfish for a year before an upgrade. Please visit out coldwater section and read up proper tank size in the stickies up top.

 

[Jspigs]

I think this is an interesting thread so I decided to BUMP it.

 

[colleen0309]

How about one of the first HOB filters. It was run on air and you had to start a siphon in the filter box to return the water.

 

[archer772]

I had one like that but the air stone ran the siphon tube and it just overflowed back into the tank, needless to say it didnt work worth a darn

 

[tanker]

hey deb:irked:

I was born in the late 50's..1957

And a double :raspberry: to you too, I too was born in the 1950s

 

[cobfreak]

This is a cool thread. If I would've had a fishtank as a kid it would've been in the 70s or 80s, but alas I didn't start until last year or so. I love the pictures of the tanks somebody posted, and wish more people had pictures from when they started.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

I got started back in the mid 80's ('85 to be exact)...so I'm just on the cusp of the 'old timers' era.
1st tank was a 10g with an air powered internal corner filter, clamp-on heater and standard fluorescent lighting. I had light blue gravel, a few plastic plants, a coral decoration and a fancy rock.
If I remember correctly, it was originally stocked with a pair of Bleeding Heart Tetras, a trio of Red Tux Swordtails, a Cory, and a small common Pleco.

Cycling (to me) was leaving the tank barren for a few weeks but I really don't remember how long I waited before adding fish. Surprisingly, they did very well. The LFS did all my water testing for me, so if they gave me the thumbs up, I'd get some fish.

I'm pretty sure I used TetraMin flake food for the most part along with Hartz Tubifex worms.
The tank was cleaned about once a week by siphoning the gravel with airline tubing and replacing about 30-50% of the water. The filter wool and carbon in the corner filter were replaced at this time, as well. I eventually upgraded to a HOB filter when I got a 20G tank to replace the 10g. (I think it was an Aquaclear).

Things really progressed in the early/mid 90's when I got a job at my favorite LFS and ran their aquarium maintenance service. I learned alot by working there, but nothing compares to the knowledge I've gained here at AC the last several years.