A little early hobby history

[Paul B]

When this hobby started it was so easy. No computers or cell phones so you did anything you wanted and if it worked, it worked,if it didn't, you bought another blue devil or domino which were about the only fish imported.

Of course I lived near the sea so I could always get baby flounder, eels, minnows, fiddler crabs, hermit crabs and everything else in the New York sea.



Those tanks were very interesting and when those creatures got big, I could bring them back to the sea and find something else.

















If one of your very expensive blue devils laid eggs like this male over his nest in that barnacle shell
, you yelled and screamed, but no one heard you because no one with in a hundred miles had a salt water tank and the stores would call you for advice. I did write a few articles in a Magazine (FAMMA) but it took a long time for your article to come out and by that time you got married, had kids and were planning retirement.



His eggs.


When these guys were imported it was like Wow as they, along with arrow crabs were the first crustaceans sold.



Then these two laid eggs and they hatched. There was no controlling me but again, no one to tell so I was a legend in my own mind. ;Meh

Then someone invented computers and it was all downhill from there. Thats when diseases started and all the different and sometimes ridiculous treatments.
Not as ridiculous as some of the stuff I used. ;Nailbiting
But there was nothing except Alka Seltzer and maybe Vaseline.



Eventually we got a little better at it and our tanks looked a little like the ocean.



Then we could open a beer and relax.

 

[F i s h y]

When this hobby started it was so easy. No computers or cell phones so you did anything you wanted and if it worked, it worked,if it didn't, you bought another blue devil or domino which were about the only fish imported.

Of course I lived near the sea so I could always get baby flounder, eels, minnows, fiddler crabs, hermit crabs and everything else in the New York sea.



Those tanks were very interesting and when those creatures got big, I could bring them back to the sea and find something else.

















If one of your very expensive blue devils laid eggs like this male over his nest in that barnacle shell
, you yelled and screamed, but no one heard you because no one with in a hundred miles had a salt water tank and the stores would call you for advice. I did write a few articles in a Magazine (FAMMA) but it took a long time for your article to come out and by that time you got married, had kids and were planning retirement.



His eggs.


When these guys were imported it was like Wow as they, along with arrow crabs were the first crustaceans sold.



Then these two laid eggs and they hatched. There was no controlling me but again, no one to tell so I was a legend in my own mind. ;Meh

Then someone invented computers and it was all downhill from there. Thats when diseases started and all the different and sometimes ridiculous treatments.
Not as ridiculous as some of the stuff I used. ;Nailbiting
But there was nothing except Alka Seltzer and maybe Vaseline.



Eventually we got a little better at it and our tanks looked a little like the ocean.



Then we could open a beer and relax.

Love this Paul. My first salt tank was in 97. I was working at a pet store then (I was 16). A little mom and pop place. Once they saw I was having "success" they asked me to build an entire salt section in the store and run it. I was hooked. I had access to anything and everything I wanted. Ended up putting in 600 gallons worth of salt stuff before I no longer worked there. My first fish was in fact a blue devil. Had black dolomite as my substrate. My how the hobby changes.

 

[KevPool]

fantastic morning read with my coffee. thanks for sharing, Happy Friday cheers.

 

[chaostactics]

It's 2220 27 Aug and this was the perfect bed time story. Cheers Paul.

 

[Paul B]

There was only one store in New York that carried salt water anything and it was in Manhattan a couple of blocks from the World Trade Center which wasn't even built yet.

Stores that had salt water usually meant they had a 10 gallon tank with a couple of anemic blue devils, dominoes or Sargent majors.

When a store would open up, they often times called me to help set up their salt water section as there were no salt water stores, only pet shops and I was the only one with a salt tank that anyone knew. I was paid in filters or fish.

Actually in the fifties there were hardly, if any fish or aquarium stores. Fish were sold in toy stores and called toy fish.
Fish food was dried flies until Tetramin came out with flakes.

I set up one store with 100% NSW that I collected on my boat that I trailored at the time and I drove it into the parking lot behind the store and pumped it into his tanks.

 

[piranhaman00]

So you are saying that the invention of internet caused diseases? Or the awareness of?
Very fun read

 

[992gnt]

This brings back some memories, my first tank (20 tall?) was in the late 80's and had a blue devil, a domino, a clown, coral banded shrimp, a feather duster, tube anemone, a lion fish and a snowflake eel. I don't recall how I obtained/made salt water, and under gravel filters with power heads handled flow and clean up. I think I had an HOB as well. Simple (but in my case it wasn't sustainable).

 

[NowGlazeIT]

When this hobby started it was so easy. No computers or cell phones so you did anything you wanted and if it worked, it worked,if it didn't, you bought another blue devil or domino which were about the only fish imported.

Of course I lived near the sea so I could always get baby flounder, eels, minnows, fiddler crabs, hermit crabs and everything else in the New York sea.



Those tanks were very interesting and when those creatures got big, I could bring them back to the sea and find something else.

















If one of your very expensive blue devils laid eggs like this male over his nest in that barnacle shell
, you yelled and screamed, but no one heard you because no one with in a hundred miles had a salt water tank and the stores would call you for advice. I did write a few articles in a Magazine (FAMMA) but it took a long time for your article to come out and by that time you got married, had kids and were planning retirement.



His eggs.


When these guys were imported it was like Wow as they, along with arrow crabs were the first crustaceans sold.



Then these two laid eggs and they hatched. There was no controlling me but again, no one to tell so I was a legend in my own mind. ;Meh

Then someone invented computers and it was all downhill from there. Thats when diseases started and all the different and sometimes ridiculous treatments.
Not as ridiculous as some of the stuff I used. ;Nailbiting
But there was nothing except Alka Seltzer and maybe Vaseline.



Eventually we got a little better at it and our tanks looked a little like the ocean.



Then we could open a beer and relax.

You have a way with words! thank you for posting.

 

[Tumey]

No computers or cell phones so you did anything you wanted and if it worked, it worked

^^ This could be applied with just about everything in how we used to live.

Then someone invented computers and it was all downhill from there.

^^ Again…. This is fitting for so many things these days. Technology is great but it’s created a slough of nightmares.

Your presence on the forum is priceless Paul. I really enjoy reading, laughing & learning from your posts.

Tumey

 

[Paul B]

So you are saying that the invention of internet caused diseases? Or the awareness of?
Very fun read

It seems so because before the internet all we had was ich. It wasn't called ich then depending on when we are speaking. Robert Straughn (the Father of Salt Water Fish Keeping) called it either "coral fish disease" or White Spot Disease"

Then it was known as "Oodinium". But it was only white spots and no one differentiated that from "velvet" which may not even have been a disease then as besides that, I never heard of "Uronoma, Brook" or the heartbreak of Psoriasis. ;Bucktooth

These are new afflictions that came about maybe by using Prizapro, Tree stump remover, bacteria in a bottle, Roaphas or any number of silly things many people throw in their tanks today. ;Jawdrop

I am guessing of course but I personally never heard of any of those things. I assume if a fish died and we didn't know the cause, we figured it was a heart attack or stroke brought about by "Doo Wop" music. (google it)

Before cell phones we also all worked as there was no free ride. You had a choice though. If you didn't want to work, you could starve. And if you were starving, your fish were also starving because you didn't want to eat those dried flies that we were feeding our fish or if we did, we had to spend an enormous amount of time pulling off those tiny wings. ;Drool

My first 7 blue devils lived 7 years and spawned all through that as did my banded coral shrimp.

I learned through trial and a lot of dead fish how to do this stuff.

Also if you wanted to know something you couldn't get 563 different opinions so whatever you did was totally your idea and you were often proud of what you accomplished. Even if everything croaked.

 

[dennis romano]

Ah, fond memories. My first marine tank (10 gallon) was around 1972. The top and bottom frame was made of real wood held together by nails. Plastic frame tanks were just coming out. The substrate was fine bird gravel which was the only thing available. Lighting was a stainless steel incandescent strip light sitting on a plastic cover. Filtration was a box filter with angel hair(fibreglass) and charcoal. The salt had to be weighed out of a 50 pound bulk pail. The first fish were a percula and blue damsel, fed live brine shrimp.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I always love what you share, Paul. Thanks for this write-up! You are a true pioneer to our hobby, and we owe you a huge debt for paving the way for the rest of us to enjoy it as we do! Cheers!

 

[Paul B]

I found some of my Log Book entries when the first computer was invented. I had an Apple 2C. There was no internet and the thing could only type but here are my first 'computer" entries from that time.

It looks like my fish had a bout of Cryptocaryn Irritans in April of 1990. I didn't remember this but it looks like it was a positive event after all.

 

[Oliver d]

My first tank was in 1992 ,65 gallon with a wet and dry trickle filter mounted on the back. A under gravel filter and powerheads for circulation. Crushed coral covered the bottom plate and a air operated protein skimmer. The tank had 2 Voilitan lion fish,a Radiati ,sergent major ,Domino damsels and a snow flake moray eel from day one I was fighting ich and the cyno bacteria witch covered every thing in the tank lights where 3 actanic tubes amd one deep blue tube. The lank ran for a year then I closed it down and emigrated to Abu Dahbi.

 

[tigre44]

My first salt tank was a 16 gal tall . I had domino damsels , lion fish, and others. Always fought cloudy water with fritzyme (sp) 7 or 5. I was hooked when I first saw a flame angelfish still hooked on dwarf angels today

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

I love reading ur stuff. Ur book is great! Sigh.....without the internet we wouldn't be on here learning and talking and reading about these great livings things...... alas.. I am at the "I hate cell phones stage " and I'm only 47. They provide convenience but at the cost of looking up and talking to someone. Fish on!

 

[Paul B]

I posted this somewhere else 10 years ago and this thread is fitting for it.

Reefkeeping Magazine - Paul Baldassano’s Reef - 40 Years in the Making

Reefkeeping ...an online magazine for the marine aquarist.

reefkeeping.com

 

[Paul B]

I remember once in probably the 80s I was sitting on the Long Island Railroad coming home from "work" (I don't use that word any more thank God) and I was reading a copy of "FAMMA" magazine

(Fresh water and Marine aquarium) I started reading about this tank and was thinking. This tank sounds a lot like mine. As I kept reading, I realized, it was my tank.

It was many months since I submitted the article and forgot about it.

I was so excited that I had to show somebody, but I didn't know anyone on the train and most people were sleeping.

Finally as I was squirming and bursting at the seems the conductor came by and I excitedly showed him.

He was underwhelmed and just said "Ticket please" ;Meh