Fishkeeping

Ludwig Venter

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Fish keeping - 40 years ago.


The fundamental difference between the Aquarist of today and the fish keeper of 40 years ago is just that! Fish Keepers are now being called aquarists on grounds of the increased scientific approach allowed for by advanced technology. But is it really?

Tanks:
Insofar as the equipment available at the time, probably the greatest breakthrough in the aquarium hobby history was the development of the “all glass” aquarium as opposed to the standard angle ironed framed tank.

There was no question about it, that every time you do a water change, your tank will leak water for (at least) the next hour or more.

Standard inclusions in your tank maintenance equipment had to be a bucket to put under the leaking tank and a packet of fresh standard window putty, or for the more stubborn cases, there was a pitch black tar-like substance called Leykold, which you melted and poured along the seams of your tank to provide an effective (temporary) seal. (Risking a cracked glass if you heated the Leykold a bit too much)

It is hard to believe that with this one inherent inconvenience, there were so many people keeping fish. Tanks lasted for about 3 years on average before the frames rusted to the extent that no further sealing would be of benefit.

Heaters:

Initially, we regulated tank temperatures by carefully selecting the right wattage incandescent bulbs for our tank hoods and leaving the lights on the right amount of time each day to recover the temperatures that we wanted. (Light hoods were made of metal and had incandescent light bulbs that burned out frequently (or popped when a drop of water touched it) and the metal hoods rusted away faster than the tanks failed).

At the introduction of heaters, the heaters and thermostats were purchased as separate units and more often than not leaked water through the plastic/rubber cork, which caused the water to steam inside of the heater glass, thus creating a pressure vessel and ultimately shoot off the cork.

These are the heaters... note the lack of thermostats.
Photographingtank010.jpg


These tested your electrical skills to the utmost, where up to 6 heaters were connected up (in series or parallel – your choice) to a single (separate) thermostat. It was essential to ensure that the water levels and tank sizes all conformed to the “mother” tank size and level where the thermostat was housed to ensure that you do not boil the water in one tank and chill the fish in another tank.

Of course, the electrical insulation we had available in those days resembled a piece of canvas cloth (frankly, I think it was) dipped into a tar solution (much like leykold) and had to be turned around the electrical joint about 32 to 37 times (looking like a golf ball) to ensure the current remain inside of it. It is during these years that I became immune to electrical shock getting my daily dosage of it.

The development of the combined heater/thermostat was welcomed with a little scepticism, but was justified after trial modifications.

Filters:
Filtering options were restricted to exclusively sponge filters, box filters or under gravel filters, and what more did we need? Sponge filters for tiny fry; Box filters for medium fry and breeding tanks and then under gravel filters for the “grow-out tanks”.

It is also here where I got huge respect for the under gravel filter and despite advancement, or what anyone might say, I will maintain that they are effective and ranks up there with the best of them.

The first mechanical (electrical) outside filters only appeared (here in SA) in the late 70’s and in the early 80’s, we had submersible filters.

Air pumps (courtesy of Oldman)

Air pumps were not quiet little things that worked by a vibrating membrane, they were mostly noisy piston pumps that delivered a reliable air supply but could not be kept in the same room that people routinely occupied because of the noise they made. The few quieter piston type air pumps were out of the price range of a typical hobbyist. When vibrating air pumps, such as we use today, were first manufactured, a truly reliable one was one that only needed a new diaphragm every 6 months or so and would last 3 or 4 years before it could no longer be repaired.



Water Basics:
It is only relatively recent that “cycling” became the buzzword of the day. Not because it was never recognized in the past, but because portable water testing kits were not available to determine your water qualities.

It used to be referred to as having a “balanced aquarium” and was defined as that delay period of time between your tanks showing the “murky” water of “new tank syndrome” to when the water becomes crystal clear.

The recommended way of achieving such balanced (cycled) tank was to engineer a 3 way balance in your tank between the numbers of fish you keep, to the number of plants, to the amount of direct natural lighting the tank receives, which also rings true and applies even today. (Of course, until you achieve that balance, you may expect to lose a couple of fish – it was just accepted that way.)

Fish:
As much as the aquarist has developed to be better at fish keeping, the fish have also evolved to be better at being kept. (Not even mentioning the evolution in colour and shape of so many fish)

I recall my first spawning of the Port Acara (as it was then known) and the excitement surrounding the event because it was then listed in all the available literature of the day (amongst other modern easy to breed fish) as “not yet bred in captivity”. I immediately wrote to the TFH magazine giving them a full account of the procedure. (With visions of a fish species being named after me) The article was however, never even published.

Present day however, it is a common achievement to breed Blue Acaras. Have the fish suddenly become easier to breed by adapting to aquarium conditions or was the “fish keepers” of the time just ignorant? The equivalent today would probably be to wake up one morning and find a tank full of Striped Raphaeli fry.

Available literature:
There was only one very prominent author in those days and despite what he might’ve said or what his views were, all aquarists were aligned with and adopted his views and we all spoke the same language. (We were not subjected to (or confused by) the multitude of opinions currently available on the internet).

In my opinion, no-one has done as much for the development of keeping exotic tropical fishes, as Dr. Herbert Axlerod. Hence, when you confront an old aquarist, just make sure that your views are also aligned with Dr. Axlerods’ or you may start an argument.
 
And oh yes!!... I forgot to add.... The first foods for newly hatched fry was boiled egg yolk, squeezed through a Handkerchief or cloth.... no alternatives.
 
Wow, it's wonder anyone kept on going with it! Very interesting writeup, thanks. I was speaking to my dad about it earlier. He had fish in the days of metal framed tanks and enjoyed reminiscing. He was telling me about the electrical box for his marine tank with about 20 fuses in it!
Another hobby of his which I have taken up is photography. I don't think I'd be doing either without modern technology!
 
You are bringing back memories of my early fish keeping years Ludwig. The first time I bred bettas, I was controlling temperature in a partly filled tank by switching lights on and off because I had a bit more wattage than it needed for a nice steady temperature of about 80F. On for about 10 hours, off for 2 and repeat was working fairly well. My dad was raising white worms in the basement, using some bread and milk mix that I never did understand as nourishment for the worms, that we used for conditioning food for carnivorous fish like bettas. The basement was cool so it didn't smell too terrible with them down there. I never owned one of those nasty heaters because I could never afford one. I used lights until the hang on the back all in one heaters came along. Those were good for maybe a year before they would fail but they were cheap enough to replace almost like a light bulb. I thought I had gone off the deep end when I finally bought a submersible heater and my dad looked at the whole concept of submerging a heater with a great deal of skepticism. By the time I was a young adult buying my own tanks, they had started making decent quality stainless steel framed tanks that did not leak every time we did a water change but we still did very few of them. Old tank syndrome was an ever present issue and we lost a lot of fish that were added to an old established tank. The new fish were deemed to be weak because they would die while the fish that had lived in the water for years were still doing fine. We did not have test kits or dechlorinator to use so we let water stand for adding to a tank and seldom did anything but add water. No water changes to speak of because we always lost fish when we did one.
As I was first out on my own as a young adult, my dad got his first ever test kit. It was some paper strips that nobody could read with any confidence. I think they included a pH strip and maybe an ammonia strip.
I actually had a moment of nostalgia and bought a nice 29 gallon Metaframe tank with a slate bottom at a club auction last summer. The hood was long gone and the tank had been sealed using aquarium sealant. It is in service as the main tank for my Skiffia lermae. I have added a modern T-5HO light fixture and covered the tank surface with duckweed to control evaporation, another old timer trick for uncovered tanks. It also keeps the Skiffia from noticing that the tank has an open top. Because a Skiffia needs a cool tank, I have not been providing any artificial heat to it.
My betta experience leads me to agree with Ludwig about fry foods. The choices were egg yolk, which I sometimes still use, or possibly an infusoria colony in a rather mature tank where you have let the mulm on the bottom build to the point of supporting infusoria.
 
Fish keeping - 40 years ago.

Fish:
As much as the aquarist has developed to be better at fish keeping, the fish have also evolved to be better at being kept. (Not even mentioning the evolution in colour and shape of so many fish)

I recall my first spawning of the Port Acara (as it was then known) and the excitement surrounding the event because it was then listed in all the available literature of the day (amongst other modern easy to breed fish) as “not yet bred in captivity”. I immediately wrote to the TFH magazine giving them a full account of the procedure. (With visions of a fish species being named after me) The article was however, never even published.

Present day however, it is a common achievement to breed Blue Acaras. Have the fish suddenly become easier to breed by adapting to aquarium conditions or was the “fish keepers” of the time just ignorant? The equivalent today would probably be to wake up one morning and find a tank full of Striped Raphaeli fry.

i loled very hard when i read that, i wonder why they are so hard to breed? then again they were probablyasking the same with the acara back then. good read, never even knew there were other types of tansk before all glass/acrylic
 
Thank you Ludwig for a really interesting insight into fishkeeping. I loved the heater parts! lol
 
Some of the old equipment is still in use. I recently picked up 10 of these 2 1/2 gallon tanks from a neighboring aquarium society for $2 each. They had been used as show tanks. So far, five out of the six I tested still hold water without leaking. I'm already using two of them as fry tanks.

Slatebottomedtanks.jpg


Here's a copy of an old book that I spent hour after hour reading as a kid. Anyone remember this one? :unsure:

InnesBook.jpg
 
I saw some of the tanks with metal frames at a local auction a couple months back. I am still using a heater back from the time period of which you are speaking. It's works fine, never had a problem with it. Also, my oldest tank is now over 30 years old, it's an all glass one, and the silicon is still in good shape, and it works fine.
 
Here's a copy of an old book that I spent hour after hour reading as a kid. Anyone remember this one? :unsure:

If you read this book as a kid Inch... then you're much younger than I thought :lol: ... this one was published in February 1966....


Snap!!! Inchworm... Snap!!... Mine is slightly more "weathered" than yours, but is still being used on a regular basis. (there was a time when I could quote chapters from this book without refering to it)

Book026.jpg
 
Hi Ludwig Venter :)

No, this isn't my original copy, it's a used copy I picked up some years ago. My first one is long gone, but it was probably printed in the late '50s. When I tried to find out more about this book, I found this article about the author William T. Innis.

It was disturbing to find out that the rights to this book were snatched from him by none other than http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Axelrod when he failed to renew them. Axelrod, it turns out, had something of a shady history in other matters as well. The good news is that he got his comeuppance regarding the book when he inflated the value of the company owning it, sold the company, and was later sued by the buyers, Central Garden & Pet Company.

Used copies of this book are available on Amazon for just .01 and shipping. It's a great value for anyone interested in reading this bit of aquatic history.
 
Hi Ludwig Venter :)

No, this isn't my original copy, it's a used copy I picked up some years ago. My first one is long gone, but it was probably printed in the late '50s.

Oh!!!... so in fact.... you are as old as I thought you were.... :lol:


It was disturbing to find out that the rights to this book were snatched from him by none other than Herbert_Axelrod when he failed to renew them. Axelrod, it turns out, had something of a shady history in other matters as well.

Ouch!!!... so my hero has feet of clay...

The good news is that he got his comeuppance regarding the book when he inflated the value of the company owning it, sold the company, and was later sued by the buyers, Central Garden & Pet Company.

Verrrrry interrrrresting....

Used copies of this book are available on Amazon for just .01 and shipping. It's a great value for anyone interested in reading this bit of aquatic history.

Wow!!! certainly a bargain and value for money!!... To anyone interrested.... I can vouch for that.

However... He remains my hero, as all of the articles he has published in TFH magazine (with pictorial proof) of his expeditions.... He is a real pioneer in establishing the hobby into our homes.....
 
Fab info and very interesting,i love hearing about how things use to be,all part of our history :good:
 

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