Old school tank video

[tecsavi]

It's amazing how things have advanced in reefkeeping. Here's a video of my old SPS tank.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzJpZE3EGmw

Edited October 29, 2010 by tecsavi

[Coral Hind]

A tank like that ten years ago was amazing and not often seen by the average reefer. Even by today's standards it was a very nice looking tank.

[tecsavi]

Thanks Coral Hind. Reefkeeping was in it's infancy back then. Yeah there were very few people into SPS and you could only get mostly wild colonies. I was growing out frags and it was catching on with local hobbyists but most stores wouldn't buy captive raised corals. The knowledge gained since then by reefers is absolutely amazing.

 

 

[bluce]

LOL - your "old" tank looks better than most peoples current tanks!

I'm sure you do many things different today, but your video doesn't really demonstrate your point about how things have advanced since your old tank looked so nice.

[paul b]

Very nice looking tank.

 

. Reefkeeping was in it's infancy back then

 

Here is my "reef" in 1971

 

[Chad]

Pretty nice looking tank, I am sure your next one will be at least as nice or nicer!

 

Paul, I didnt know they had digital cameras in 1971! are you sure that picture is real?

[tecsavi]

Bluce

 

Back then there wern't a lot of people into keeping hard corals so there was a lot of experimentation. Now with there being so many people on internet fourms you can quickly learn for other's successes and their mistakes. My best source of information was fellow area reefkeepers who were experimenting like me. I remember being so pumped when I went to WAMAS's second meeting and there were 20 or so area reefers to talk and trade with.

 

The equipment is now more refined and the variety of captive raised corals boggles my mind. We didn't know enough about coral husbandry to obtain the high success rates of today. SPS and raising clams was cutting edge. Even then you had to have a huge tank to get the stability to do that. Now they have 1 gallon pico's that look spectacular. I think that the person getting into reefkeeping now has a much better chance of being successful just for the plain fact that there is so much information out there.

 

I am hoping my new tank will be better than my old tank, just smaller..lol Hopefully I can learn some of the new techniques off of the people on this board to make it possible.

 

Paul b,

 

Thats a great photo!! So did you know anyone at the time keeping saltwater fish?

[Coral Hind]

I remember being so pumped when I went to WAMAS's second meeting and there were 20 or so area reefers to talk and trade with.

 

I am wondering when did WAMAS have the first meeting? I know the first meeting I went to was in 2000 and Dr. Mac brought a few boxes up. That is when I bought my first Acro colony. My actual first SPS was an orange digi frag from MichaelG.

[paul b]

Paul, I didnt know they had digital cameras in 1971! are you sure that picture is real?

 

I actually had my daughter take it when she was a digital camera.

 

 

Thats a great photo!! So did you know anyone at the time keeping saltwater fish?

 

 

That was in 1971, there was no one else with salt water fish. Those blue devils were the first salt fish imported and as soon as they were available I bought them in a large store in Manhattan a few blocks from the Trade Center. They were $7.00 each, a lot of money then.

That is actually when the hobby started.

[tecsavi]

Coral Hind,

 

I'm not sure exactly when they had their first meeting. If I can remember correctly it was in Vienna about a block off of 123 near Magruders? I think is was a library I think. I always remember the trades though. I traded a hospital IV doser the size of a compact car for a bunch of acro frags..lol I probably have met you ages ago and don't even know it. Hopefully I will see you at the next WAMAS meeting.

 

I always remembered Dr. Mac as having boatloads of clams but not many frags, great to see is business doing so well. He was still a poultry vet on the Maryland shore and was growing clams in vats behind his house. At MACNA in Baltimore he had two huge shallow tanks full of clams that looked so cool. I should have taken a picture of that, there was probably 300 clams in there.

 

Paulb,

 

That picture of your daughter as a camera is classic! I remember the insane prices everone paid for the basic fish of today. Bangai cardinals were through the roof and you could rarely get them. The mortality rate for them shipped over two ours was terrible. The Baltimore aguarium had a pair that were breeding like rabbits. They were giving them away to local hobbiests who then sold the babies to local stores. Then all of a sudden you saw them available everywhere for cheap. Just goes to show how much of an impact local hobbiests have on the industry.

 

 

[paul b]

The blue devils in that old picture I posted cost me $7.00 each in 1971. That was a lot of money then considering I was making about $1.25 an hour as an electrician.

[rioreef]

There are many out there that would say reefkeeping was not it's infancy in 2000 - hobbyists, pros, and vendors. Marine Scene has been around for 15 years or so, GARF has been around a while promoting frag husbandry, and Tropicorium coral farm since 70s. As for local clubs, CMAS has been around longer that WAMAS.

[tecsavi]

rioreef,

 

You are right, there were a few vendors but there was nothing near what there is today. People were having some success with softies, LPS and a few SPS corals. For the hobbiest they were mostly wild colonies available. Now you have thousands of captive raised coral stores and hobbists as a whole are having much higher success rates with much more diffcult corals. In my opinion we are still maybe teenagers when it comes to our understanding of coral husbandry and the care for corals. There have been so many advancements in the past 10 years and in another 10 years our knowledge will grow exponentially.