A Blast from the Past

bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I found this picture in a pile of old photos. It's a pic of what my reef looked like in 1979. Complete with Crushed Coral, UG filter and a big Aiptasia on the wall. That poor PB Tang spent 8 years in that 55 gal :( If I only knew then what I know now.
 
aaronw78

aaronw78

Member
It's interesting to see how much this hobby has advanced. What kind of lighting did you use back then, just NO fluorescents? I have some old out-of-date books that have pictures similar to that. Does anyone else have an old school sw tank pic?
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
1979...
I see you got some Macro algae in your tank...That bob must be on to something...;)
:cool:
 
ryebread

ryebread

Active Member
That is so cool Guy! Thanks for sharing the photo.
It really makes you think about a couple of things:
a. What you can do with the limited items available in a certain era.
b. What you can do with the knowledge and avancements that are showing up each day.
I would have to agree that you keeping a Powder Blue in a 55 for eight years is one heck of an achievement! It's too bad the fish couldn't just let you know that he was feeling a little claustrophobic. :eek:
 
T

thomas712

Guest

Originally posted by RyeBread
What you can do with the limited items available in a certain era.
:eek:
Era!...Era!... sure make it sound like we were from another century..oh yeah well I guess we were, but geeze don't make it sound like we knew the flintstones and the rubbles or where we could just walk over to Thomas Edisons house and thank him personally for the lighting.
Whiper snaper :rolleyes:
Ah yes Bang I remember it well, had a very similer setup but no tang. Thanks for sharing the pic :)
Thomas
 
ryebread

ryebread

Active Member
Just because you were around when dirt was a concept doesn't mean you have the right to call me a whiper snapper!
Make sure that you drink a couple gallons of milk before venturing out to the mailbox again........I wouldn't want you to slip and break your hip or anything. :)
:D
 
m.rogers

m.rogers

Active Member
bang what is that on the left side of the pic just about half way up. makes me think of my unlces tank that got me started in this hobby.
mike
 
jarvis

jarvis

Member
Shows how far the hobby has evolved. If they only had the internet and mesage boards back then there might have been headers like this.
:) My apatisia is spreading and thriving:)
 
lopeyc

lopeyc

Member
That is an absolutely beautiful tank.
question: are you guys saying that tang was unhappy ... but lived eight years? Wow. This is a tough crowd!
I can just see where this thinking goes:
"You know, I had that ole' bi-color blennie for 17 years, but he told me late in life that the holes in the live rock were a little rough on his butt," I say to the old-timers in 2034. "I always regretted not getting him a little sleeping bag."
"Yep, it can be hard on those fellers," replies another. "Had a blue damsel for a few decades back at the dawn of the century; fellow had a hell of a time, because the other fish all held their noses up at him, like he was nothing, you know? Just a cheap tester fish. I sent him to the fish shrink, but he fought depression til the day he passed."
"Boy, it's amazing you guys could keep fish back then, before genetic engineering," says a whipper-snapper. "My nano-tank is only five gallons, but the full-size quarter-inch tangs whip up and down that baby like it was the Taj Mahal!"
:rolleyes: ;)
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by lopeyc
question: are you guys saying that tang was unhappy ... but lived eight years? Wow. This is a tough crowd!
I have absolutely no doubt that if I had properly housed that Tang (8' tank, lots of rock, algae available at all times) it would still be with me today. In my opinion Jellybelly (the PB Tang) should have lived 30 - 40 years, not 8.
I fully expect Sunshine (my 5 year old Yellow Tang) to outlive me.
 
attml

attml

Active Member
The heck with the Tang! I am amazed that you kept the corals alive under Disco Ball lighting only!!!:D
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by AaronW78
What kind of lighting did you use back then, just NO fluorescents?
4 X 40 watt NO. Two Phillips Actinic 03 and two Wide spectrum.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
To my younger brother Ryebread and his whiper snapper friends:
I can't wait till I'm 80 years old and I hear you whiper snappers say " Yeah I remember when a Damsal fish was only 5 or 6 dollars" as you shell out a 20 spot for them, or " Remember when those old folks used something called a protien skimmer." You kids will be looking at picture books of fish that we actually had in our tanks, only the word "extinct" will be under most of them, or you will be buying ones that say "Cloned" or " Lab created" instead of tank raised.
Bah humbug :rolleyes: :p :p
:D Thomas
 
lopeyc

lopeyc

Member

Originally posted by Bang Guy
I have absolutely no doubt that if I had properly housed that Tang (8' tank, lots of rock, algae available at all times) it would still be with me today. In my opinion Jellybelly (the PB Tang) should have lived 30 - 40 years, not 8.
I fully expect Sunshine (my 5 year old Yellow Tang) to outlive me.
Thanks that does put it in context. That's one thing I don't see in my fish books -- natural life expectancy. Wonder if their's a FAQ or sticky on that? And, of course, you know I was just funnin'. ;)
On the size of the tank, though: You know, I have a magenta dottyback and I keep reading what a nightmare they are, but mine is so sweet and shy. But why should that suprise me? People are not all the same, dogs are not all the same -- why should fish? My father grew up in a tenement and can't stand to live in a house with high ceilings or huge rooms -- he doesn't feel safe.
Maybe your Jellybelly always thought your tank was too big, not cozy like the little reef trench he was born in! :p
 
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