Reef keeping in the 1980's

[vetteguy53081]

Oh memories !!
Ozonizer
Air stone driven Skimmer
Power filter with bio blocks
T8 fluorescent lights
dolomite instead of crush coral
Floating hydrometer which never stayed still
Clamp on heater
powerheads with air flow adjustments+
Overflow box with J-tube

 

[Teddyboy16]

First reef I set up in the early 80’s had under gravel filter, lava rock, air stone in tank and I used sun bulbs and daylight fluorescent tubes.. I had LPS, softy’s and inverts




This is my first modern reef from around 1985.. wet/dry filter, protein skimmers, ozone, real live rock and lighting was actinic o3’s imported from holland

I recognize that Ozonizer! It’s Sanders! I had one and a sanders Protien skimmer model AH500. It was a countercurrent skimmer that ran on Wooden air stones fed by an external pump. This was late 80’s early 90’s.

My first saltwater tank was around 79-80. I was just getting into high school. It was an all glass 45 Gallon aquarium. Atlas was the brand name. It had a Nektonics undergravel filter with these stupid plastic air stones that would break because they were difficult to get on the ridged plastic tubing that came with the UG filter. The tank was powered by a Little Giant air pump, a Supreme Auqua King outside power filter, and a 100watt heat master heater. I used a combination of dolomite and crushed coral as a substrate. I used instant ocean. I had three tanks one fish only, invertebrate tank, and a freshwater tank. I have a lot of fond memories from that period of time. I feel like I’m coming full circle as I am starting to set up a reef tank very soon. I’ll, try to post some pics of advertisements from back in the day from some old Marine Aquarist magazines that I have. Thanks for starting this thread! Following!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Thank you all for sharing

 

[AquaticLifeProducts]

I remember reading my father's books, they started me off in the hobby. In 84 started working in an aquarium shop. We used natural light from a big display window to keep the condy's alive.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I remember reading my father's books, they started me off in the hobby. In 84 started working in an aquarium shop. We used natural light from a big display window to keep the condy's alive.

Martin Moe’s Marine Aquarium Reference is a classic.. Brings back memories :)

 

[KrisReef]

Combo T12 Phillips Actinic light bulbs w/a Mogul base 5000K MH over every 4' fish tank-reef.
The Marine Fish and Invert Reef Aquarium : Advanced Techniques and Instrumentation / Albert J. Thiel (1988)
Venturi protein skimmers
8" French Angel Fish $25.00
50# sacks of Hawaiian Puka shell sand for $35.00
Arsenic collected fishes that never ate or lived longer than a month.
Never heard anything about frags or SPS back then. The only sps came in as bleached branches for tank decorations.

No such thing as the good old days. Things have only gotten better as we learnt. :)

 

[aquadog]

I got hooked one day in the summer of 1970, when my then-wife and I walked into a pet store in Tidewater VA, and before us was a 5ooo gallon SW tank that took up one whole wall of the store. That day we bought a 20g long (with a metal rim), fluorescent fixture with a Gro-lux bulb, an Aquaking box filter, an air pump and undergravel filter. We took it home, I hauled 20 gallons of Chesapeake Bay water and about 20 lbs of Chesapeake Bay beach sand the block and a half from the Bay to our house. We filled that sucker up, put in a bleached coral skeleton, and stocked it with Silversides, Ghost Shrimp, 2 baby Atlantic Spade Fish I netted in an estuary, and a baby Horseshoe Crab we caught at the beach. We knew nothing about ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/phosphate cycles, and I am still surprised the tank never crashed. We fed the fish freshwater fish flakes exclusively. Every week I would haul 5g's up from the bay and do a 25% water change. No dosers, no LED's or automated controllers, no RO/DI for top off (we used tap water, [shudder] which we may or may not have hit with de-chlorinator) but I was HOOKED! We had that tank for about a year until I shipped out for a Mediterranean cruise. All the critters went back into the estuary and in that time I think we only lost one or two Silversides and maybe the shrimp. We threw the tank away because the rim was so rusted. Unfortunately, all the photos went with my ex-wife, but I'll always have the memories of my first SW tank.

Awesome story!

 

[Forsaken77]

I was a 90's saltwater keeper. I bought my first full setup used off eBay for $600 (pick-up). A 72 bow tank & stand, Marineland wet/dry with media trays and large bio-wheel, all live sand and rock. I still think a wet/dry is a great form of filtration and wish it was improved upon. In the 90's, the Mag Drive pumps were the best. I had 10K CFL mixed with blue actinic.

What were those first submersible titanium heaters in the 90's? They came in different colored packages for wattage but worked really good. The red one was the highest output. I miss those.

The equipment seemed to last much longer back then. I never had to replace a single piece of gear for the 3 years the tank was up and running before springing a leak.

Back then, LFS's used to carry a plethora of fish that should never be kept in most tanks, like the Panther Grouper (and most grouper species). Even my cute little Longhorn Cowfish, that was like a little sugar cube, would've grown far too large. Unfortunately, most predator fish that are cool looking also get quite big. They never seemed to tell you that part and the myth that the fish will grow to the size of the tank was in full affect.

I think nowadays we have focused a bit too much on new tech over what works. Nothing specifically, but some of the old school ways are still very much sound ways of doing things.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

I had a 60 gallon glass tank with under gravel filter and two eheim canister PS I still have them. It was a FO tank, used tap water with a prime type stuff. Instant Ocean salt with the small bottle of additives. I had an aggressive tank and feed goldfish. When I moved in 89 I took down the tank. I still have the stand as well as a dual 6 sided tank with two tubes connecting them tucked away in the garage. That tank I never set up.

 

[OriginalUserName]

Would have been about 96, but my dad ran a small AQ maintenance business and put in a 265 gallon reef ready Oceanic aquarium. Trickle filter in the basement, skimmer was something stupid like 5 feet tall. Just crammed with live rock. I recall the whole system being so loud as they just ran straight pipes down the internal overflow at that point.

 

[tony'stank]

My first reef tank was in 1980. I got interested after reading George Smits articles in FAMA. I quickly found out that the European equipment he used wasn’t available in the Detroit area. I built a trickle filter out of an older breeder aquarium and upside down under gravel plates with gravel on them. I made a DIY metal halide light fixture out of outside security lamps. I used a Vortex diatom filter to polish my water. I could buy a few fish and some anemones but no corals were available. There was no live or reef rock available. For aquascape I used dead coral Skelton’s and lava rock. Not surprisingly I had an appalling high livestock mortality rate

 

[Teddyboy16]

Instant Ocean advertisement. This was from The Marine Aquarist Magazine vol 5 #4 1974


Another advertisement for a diatom filter from The Marine Aquqrist Magazine vol 6 #9 1975
I actually had one of these.

Here’s another one for a Nektonics undergravel filter. I bought one with my allowance for my first 45 Gallon saltwater aquarium. The Marine Aquarist vol 6 #4 1975


My outside filter for my 45 Gallon which I thought was state of the art.
From The Marine Aquarist vol 2 #2 1971




I didn’t actually get my first saltwater aquarium until the late 70’s probably 78-79 when I was a sophomore in high school I think. I had been keeping freshwater fish for a while and was good at it. I’ve been forever wanting a saltwater tank of my own. I started saving my allowance and buying equipment when I could afford it. My parents bought me the 45 Gallon tank and wood cabinet stand. Along with the undergravel filter above. I also had a Supreme Aquaking outside power filter. I thought it was state of the art back then. :)

Enjoy!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oh memories!

 

[Teddyboy16]

Oh memories!

Right! When I look back at my first tank and then fast forward to now with my pile of boxes for my 187 that I will start to build out in the next several months. It’s amazing the progress that’s been made. Apex controller that you can access from anywhere in the world, led dimmable T5 Lighing, red dragon dc pumps and a bubble king skimmer plus a ton of other stuff that will go into my build.

I think what I spent on my first saltwater tank was maybe 400-500 dollars? Today for this build I’m just past the 11k point.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Everyone, some of that stuff is before my time. I always had as a child FW fish. Remember going to Monkey ward, and Woolworth. Newberry. Anyone remember Boston stores, they were like Nordstrom.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Martin Moe’s Marine Aquarium Reference is a classic.. Brings back memories :)

I had one

 

[Oldsalt01]

Had all that stuff. The Aquaking and diatom filters were state of the art! I lit both my 30 g’s with stock fluorescent hoods and GroLux plant lights. Able to keep carpet ‘nems, Xmas tree worms, and coralline by the fist full. Simpler days. Most of my fish were hand netted from the waters off South Florida. My favorite was a Lawnmower Blenny cause on an artificial reef in Boca Raton. Went back there 3 weeks ago to do some snorkeling and discovered the “reef” was gone, victims of the hurricanes over the past 30 years.

 

[Flippers4pups]

@Flippers4pups what do you remember?

I remember the early nineties. Not much differences from the 80's to then.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Circa 1993.

Definitely "Berlin" method back then. Mixed tanks were the thing.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Circa 1993.

Definitely "Berlin" method back then. Mixed tanks were the thing.

Yea, Berlin method, forgot about it. Memories