Old Salty's... Reefing before the internet

[Doompastew]

Imagine having to learn your hobby by going to the library or trying to find a reef keeping book at your local bookstoreor the famous Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine? Before the internet, learning how to keep coral was mainly done by word-of-mouth that had been passed on from other Salt'ys through trial and error. Your local fish store was your internet.
Advances in the hobby have allowed us to keep and propagate species that were never thought possible back then. I read through forums like these and notice that quite a few new hobbyists seemed overwhelmed with the choices or cures for basic cycling. It's easy to get caught up with all of the gadgets and thousands of bottles of treatments/supplements. At times I want to chime in and say, be patient, take it slow, you don't need a reactor for this and that.
Anyway, I would like to hear from the Old Salty's with some bio ball and water spinner stories

 

[topjimmy]

Subscriptions to FAMA.

 

[heliodorh]

Following to hear some old salty tales.

 

[Doompastew]

Subscriptions to FAMA.

FAMA was cutting edge. The ads were where you learned about new tech

 

[fishface NJ]

@Paul B

 

[Hot2na]

Before the internet, learning how to keep coral was mainly done by word-of-mouth that had been passed on from other Salt'ys through trial and error. Your local fish store was your internet.

Yup ..and for me working at my LFS cause the owner was a friend of the family , Really helped. Had access to wholesalers and went to trade shows often .. Learned from the "inside" ... This was NY circa 1976 -80 ... think UGF's and Powerfilters..

 

[fish farmer]

FAMA was cutting edge. The ads were where you learned about new tech

Mid 80's ads..."Stacked to the ceiling reef filter sale". I figured how to make a trickle filter from the pictures.

DLS vs. bio balls

Drip plate vs. spray bar

 

[danreef55]

Under gravel filters came before wet/dry

 

[SunnyX]

Yep, those were some adventurous times! As you stated, your LFS was your lifeline and you had to rely on published material for information concerning the hobby. I still have a number of publications and books from back when I started in the 90's.

Most of us were experimenting and figuring it out along the way. We knew about proper filtration, even with the under gravel filters; and to an extent, lighting. Flow however wasn't a priority or major requirement as it is now. I at least did not understand its importance.

There was lots of fun experimenting with different lighting tech, chemicals and processes. Plenty of fun to be had when we started dosing vodka into our systems or watched as our corals changed in coloration from one Metal Halide bulb to another.

The tech may have changed but the basic principles have remained the same. Water changes were important back then, and still a major part of my maintenance. It was understood that live rock was a requirement, and harbored the necessary "stuff" to create a thriving reef. Live rock was EVERYTHING back then, and still a very important component for a successful system, and one that I would never forego.

I guess, in some ways, we've gone backwards recently. Live rock and water changes are no longer in vouge, and we've reached a fever pitch with the obsessive testing of parameters.

At its core, the hobby is still one where we as hobbyist are simply providing the ideal ingredients and environment for nature to do her thing.

-Sonny

 

[Paul B]

Anyway, I would like to hear from the Old Salty's with some bio ball and water spinner stories

I started my reef way before the internet, computers, credit cards and cell phones. In 1971.

I used water from the East River next to Manhattan because they didn't sell ASW. I used blue stone driveway gravel because there was no salt water gravel and there was no rock, dead or live so I bought dead coral skeletons from a furniture store.

There were no LFSs only toy stores that sold fish as toy fish. There was no salt water anything until about 1974.
The lights were metal as were powerheads and they were not submersible.

The only fish for sale were blue devils, Sargent Majors and Dominoes so stores would have a huge sign in the window that read" We Have Sale Water Fish" and it was a 5 gallon tank with blue devils.

I wrote an article about it on this forum:

How I Got Started in the Hobby in 1971

How and when this hobby started (for me at least) in 1971. I think it was on a Tuesday about two or two fifteen in the afternoon. I know because I was there. Here in New York where I live there used to be a very large aquarium store in Manhattan...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Paul B]

Under gravel filters came before wet/dry

I still use one.

 

[dank.reefer]

Following

 

[danreef55]

How about cutting edge top off. A plastic one gal milk jug with a tap valve and a piece of tubing with a knot in it to regulate the drip into a wet/dry

 

[MIKE NY]

My first SW tank started in 1989 was an O’Dell 90 gallon with all tempered glass which still holds water and houses my turtle today. It had under gravel filter with a Skilter filter and coral skeletons. I remember being excited when I got a Seaclone skimmer and power.compact lighting. It was basically learning by trial and error and spending money. The few books weren’t that informative. My first fish were blue devils and I remember seeing this beautiful little white and black polka dot fish( panther grouper) that in a year or two was a big black ugly eating machine..who knew.. My first coral was aiptasia that came on my first LR.

 

[fish farmer]

I started my reef way before the internet, computers, credit cards and cell phones. In 1971.

I used water from the East River next to Manhattan because they didn't sell ASW. I used blue stone driveway gravel because there was no salt water gravel and there was no rock, dead or live so I bought dead coral skeletons from a furniture store.

There were no LFSs only toy stores that sold fish as toy fish. There was no salt water anything until about 1974.
The lights were metal as were powerheads and they were not submersible.

The only fish for sale were blue devils, Sargent Majors and Dominoes so stores would have a huge sign in the window that read" We Have Sale Water Fish" and it was a 5 gallon tank with blue devils.

I wrote an article about it on this forum:

How I Got Started in the Hobby in 1971

How and when this hobby started (for me at least) in 1971. I think it was on a Tuesday about two or two fifteen in the afternoon. I know because I was there. Here in New York where I live there used to be a very large aquarium store in Manhattan...

www.reef2reef.com

When did corals start showing up in the hobby?

I remember in the early 80s seeing practically every saltwater fish you could put in a box, nurse sharks to pinecone fish. Condy anemones, tube worms, arrow crabs, horseshoe crabs, but never saw actual corals for sale until the late 80s in the Boston area.

 

[danreef55]

I kept SPS corals in the early 80s. There was limited availability but there definitely were corals around.

 

[JGT]

They worth anything? I got several years worth in my basement.

 

[X-37B]

Old salt from the late 80's.
I built skimmers, trickle filters with bio balls, and sumps.
I used industrial dosing pumps to top off the system.
I used WC's to maintain said systems.
Pendant style halides with actinics.
Lots of live rock was the key and still is, imo.
Check the recommended alk levels in pic 2, what!

 

[Paul B]

When did corals start showing up in the hobby?

I'm not sure. I would have to check my very long log book which I stopped writing in in the 80s.

I know this picture of my tank was in FAMMA magazine probably in the late 70s or early 80s. The barnicles and urchins I collected myself.



This picture was 1978 or 79 and I just moved into my "new" house. The tank wasn't completed yet but I can see some of the dead coral skeletons I removed to bleach which is what we used to do. All salt tanks then had dead coral in them that we used to bleach almost weekly because we thought a pure white coral was nice looking as there was no live coral, or very little.



This is my tank in 1971. It's still running but in larger glass. You can see the bleached corals.

(I still look exactly the same. )

 

[mlivvy]

90s reefer. I had a plenum and a cheap halide system I bought from a magazine ad. It was probably around 5k kelvin and the ballast had a super loud hum.