Damn kids, go to bed, us grown ups have to talk. If your under 80, go to bed now.
Welcome to Jurassic park
I’d love to know what the common fish were in the 70s because a lot of fish commonly sold now didn’t really reach the hobby till then
Was it more cold water dominated ?
Goldfish were nicer back then. They had normal shaped bodies with good fins and colour. Most were gold/ orange but shubunkins appeared and they were a hit due to having more colour. Fantail goldfish were the only fancy goldfish and they were slightly shorter than a common or comet goldfish but had the double tail. Black moors were also around but not really in large numbers.
White cloud mountain minnows were available but that was about it for cold water.
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TROPICAL FISHES.
Dwarf gouramis were much nicer back then and didn't have any health issues. The normal blue & red striped dwarf gourami was common and the tanks had males and females. Then flame red dwarf gouramis appeared followed by the cobalt blue dwarf gourami. Most other species of small/ dwarf gourami were unheard of.
Bigger gouramis included pink and green kissing gourami, pearl, and blue/ gold/ 3 spot.
Male Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) were available in red or blue and just had nice fins. They were tough too, unlike today's inbred rubbish.
There were no other species of Betta available.
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Tetras were mainly neons, cardinals, glowlight, lemon, Beunos Aires, hockeystick, black neon and rummynose. Rosy tetras, bleeding heart, diamond and black phantoms appeared in the mid to late 80s. The black phantoms were a hit but the others were hideously expensive and only turned up in small numbers.
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Barbs included ruby, tiger (just normal, not green, red or any other colour), gold barbs, checkered, cherry, filament, spanner, tinfoils and a few others.
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Rainbowfish, gudgeons and grunters/ perch were unheard of.
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Catfish were mostly common Corydoras (bronze & peppered). Banjo and Raphael catfish were available. Very few eels or loaches. Electric eels, black ghost knife fish and clown loaches were available in small numbers.
More unusual Corydoras appeared in the late 80s and early 90s.
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Angelfish were nicely shaped but only came in silver initially. Then came black and they were a hit. Shortly after that was black veiltail angels and then gold. Then black/ gold marble angels.
Brown Discus were around and were stunning but nobody in the pet shops would tell you how to keep them, or any other fish for that matter. If you didn't know, tough.
Festivum cichlids, keyhole, blue acara and blue rams were about the only cichlids I recall from back then. In the mid 80s African Rift lake cichlids started turning up and were sold as general community fish. I remember getting a pr of lombardi (kenyii). They were about 1 inch long and I was told they were fine with all fish. They were fine for a couple of months and then matured and went nuts. They were given back to the shop.
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Saltwater consisted of mainly damselfish, (humbugs, 3 spot, neon devils, and a couple of others that shouldn't be kept because they are so aggressive. Polkadot groupers, lionfish and batfish turned up regularly but batfish never did well and need to be kept in groups in huge tanks. A few blennies appeared and a few wrasses (moon, coris). Triggerfish were big sellers for some reason, they were horrible fish and would kill everything. On rare occasions someone would bring in 1 or 2 butterfly fish, usually copperband and racoon butterflies and maybe an emperor angelfish. The butterflies & angelfish were adults and never ate well because they are specialised feeders.
There were no corals and the only shrimp were banded coral shrimp that were bought individually or in prs.
Marine tanks consisted of white sand or shells on the bottom, usually over an undergravel filter. Decorations were bleached white coral skeletons and some plastic plants.
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Aquarium plants were mainly marsh/ garden plants and died a week or two after being put in an aquarium. Things like purple waffle, lizard tongue and a bunch of other garden plants would come into the shop on Friday and either sell over the weekend or die during the following week.
About the only aquatic plants we had were Vallis, Ambulia, 3 or 4 different Hygrophila sp but only 2 did well, Ludwigia, Bacopa and common Amazon sword plants. Even the Ludwigia and Bacopa didn't do well underwater. It just rotted and fell apart after a couple of weeks.
Nobody told you they needed lots of light or fertiliser. You had the tank near a window and got a friend or relative to wire up a couple of shop fluorescent light units to go above the tank. Then hoped for the best.
