# Old time aquarium plants?



## aquarium kid (Nov 26, 2012)

Hey yall

I know that people used to keep plants before we all had fancy lights and co2 but no one ever really talks about what they were. It would be ashamed if we forgot about our hobbies past. So my question is what were some of thoose plants and where can I get them


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I'd get a hold of one of the old Innes books.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Good suggestion from Cavan. The full title is _Exotic Aquarium Fish_ by William T. Innes. There were many editions, with the last one published in the 60s. It is a somewhat rare and collectable book, but you do see copies for sale occasionally.

Innes let the copyright expire in the late 60s, and TFH published a cheesy rip-off in the 70s. Avoid that one if you can.

As a kid I read a library copy cover to cover many times. It is where I first saw photos of a planted aquarium. The edition I read did have a section on plants, and I remember vallisneria, Amazon sword, egeria (then called anacharis) and one or two species of cryptocoryne.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Some Cryptocoryne nowadays rare in the hobby were apparently widespread, e.g. C. x purpurea, here a photo of a plant with submerged inflorescences from the 1950s: http://crypts.home.xs4all.nl/Cryptocoryne/Gallery/pur/pur.html


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

https://archive.org/stream/completeaquarium00inne#page/24/mode/2up


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Bruce, thanks for that link! It is amazing to think that Innes kept revising and republishing that book for almost 50 years.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Great, thx!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Vallisneria spiralis was one of the very first plants introduced to the hobby—there are records of it in aquaria as far back as the 1800s.

Beyond that, I've frequently picked over my father's brain on the matter—he grew up in the 60s and was very much into the hobby in his youth. He said they mostly had things like corkscrew vals, Amazon swordplants, anacharis, and "bunch plants" that never lasted very long—these were likely higher-light species that just didn't fare well under the incandescent lighting of the time (see below).

As far as I've been able to verify with elder hobbyists, that's a fair representation of what was most commonly available in pet stores in the 60's and 70's.

According to my 19th edition Innes book (mid-late 1960s), Vallisneria, Sagittaria spp., Cabomba, Myriophyllum aquaticum, Bacopa caroliniana, hornwort, Eleocharis, Aponogeton, Najas guadalupensis, Limnophila indica, Ludwigia repens (listed as not being a true aquatic, but rather "a bog plant which does fairly well underwater"), and Ceratopteris (water sprite) were all established in the hobby, along with several Cryptocoryne species.

Hygrophila difformis (under the name Synnema triflorum) was a recent introduction to U.S. hobbyists, along with Hygrophila polysperma and Didiplis diandra, which was apparently a specialty plant traded between hobbyists at the time. Cardamine lyrata, Lysimachia nummularia, and some form of baby tears labeled "helxine" (which may be the terrestrial Soleirolia soleirolii, the plant that currently is attributed to that name, but the drawing seems to better resemble Micranthemum umbrosum) are listed as terrestrial plants that last for some time underwater before turning spindly and weak—as we now know, these plants are truly aquatic, but require lighting conditions not easily provided at that time.

If you cross-reference the above with Bruce's 1936 edition link, you'll see that the introduction of aquatic plants during that stretch of time was rather limited.

Interestingly, my book also mentions how hobbyists sometimes go out into local streams and ponds to try and find a new plant suitable to the aquarium, only to find the field had already been picked over by the experts and those plants found growing underwater in the wild almost never do well when brought into the home aquarium, etc. Funny how that attitude has changed in the past fifty years, with new species/forms being introduced here nearly as often by clubs through collecting trips as by commercial growers.


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## aquarium kid (Nov 26, 2012)

Thanks for the link it looks like interesting!

Asukawawashere- Do many aquarist collect plants from the wild and grow them in there tanks now a days?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

aquarium kid said:


> Asukawawashere- Do many aquarist collect plants from the wild and grow them in there tanks now a days?


It's a fairly popular activity for various local/regional plant clubs. A lot of new native species have been brought into the hobby via collecting trips in the past few years-several Ludwigia species and hybrids (i.e. suffruticosa, sphaerocarpa, glandulosa x palustris, etc.); a few Eriocaulon species; and Sagittaria graminea, true S. subulata, and S. calycina ssp. montevidensis are all examples of plants that recently made their way into the hobby via hobbyists and clubs.

Plenty more of us just go poking through puddles for free specimens of stuff already prevalent in the hobby-why pay for something like Bacopa monnieri when it can be found in just about every muddy ditch in the southeast U.S.?


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## aquarium kid (Nov 26, 2012)

Out of curiosity do you know of any suitable plants that are found in the Midwest area of the U.S.?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Sure—Ludwigia palustris can be found in nearly every state in the contiguous U.S., as can hornwort. You should be able to turn up some hairgrass if you check shallow, still waters, and Lindernia dubia can be found all over the place, but its prevalence varies from year to year. I'm sure there are some suitable Potamogeton species in your area wherever you may be. I'd need a specific state to offer a more comprehensive list, but those should at least get you started in the spring if you want to go collecting.


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

aquarium kid said:


> Thanks for the link it looks like interesting!
> Asukawawashere- Do many aquarist collect plants from the wild and grow them in there tanks now a days?


I do so from time to time but most European plants are from colder waters and do reasonably well only for some time at higher temperatures. Hornworth is absolutely great when collected in late winter/early spring. It grows like crazy for about half a year and then becomes thin and doesn't do so well. In nature it would transform to wintering turions, but this doesn't happen in the aquarium. I give it up at that time.

I have a later version of the Innes book in which the plant-drawings are replaced by photographs. Actually, I find the drawings not only better looking but also more clear for identification! The _Cryptocoryne_ which is mentioned in the online version is i.m.o. the old strain _Cryptocoryne affinis_ (which is a plant I keep talking about ... ).

The "bunch plants" mentioned before included _Cabomba carolinea_, which is not difficult to keep alive now and _Egeria densa_ ("Anacharis").

It is interesting to see that _Ceratopteris_ was at first the exclusively floating _C. pteridoides _which is now rare in the hobby and which I have not seen for sale. Then for a long time course-leaved _C. cornuta _was the dominating species while I now see mainly fine-leaved _C. thalictroides _in trade.


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## aquarium kid (Nov 26, 2012)

Up here in minnesota I think I've seen some egeria of some sort and maybe some vals, I've also seen this small pointy carpeting thing that's quite interesting. I might have some pictures, I'll look later.

The crypt affins sounds very interesting and I would be interested in trying to keep it. Any idea where one could find some? Also is it able to grow emersed like other crypts?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Elodea canadensis and Vallisneria americana can both be found in most of the northern U.S. "Small pointy carpeting thing" describes a lot of plants LOL. You might ask Paul Skawinski (username Lakeplants) about upper midwest plants, he lives in Wisconsin and knows the region's flora very well. Also check this thread of his for some glimpses at some more unusual plants from the area.

As for the Crypt affinis, someone on the sale/trade board here should be able to cough some up, but the C. affinis in the hobby now differs from the older variant shown in the Innes book-AFAIK nobody's seen the old version in some years. Nowadays there's also a red variant with something of a metallic sheen (look up C. affinis 'Metallic Red'). I have small specimens of both that and the green version, myself-it grows very well emersed.


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

eh ...










This is the true old one, still growing strong ... Photo taken when the plants were receiving relatively strong light (for _C. affinis_), currently they are under a "canopy" of _C. aponogetiifolia _and are about 25 cm tall. By now I grow 7 different clones of _C. affinis_ (possibly 8, with one I have difficulties deciding if it is different). I have no idea if one of them is what is circulating as "metallic red" in the US. The main problem growing them is limited space and avoiding that runners of one clone end up in another - which would make quite a mess and lead to losing some in the end. For C. affinis, the old clone grows moderately fast. The darker clones tend to be slower growers for me.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Here is another book I found from 1904 or so. 
Fresh-Water Aquaria. By the Rev. G. C. Bateman
Second edition 1904
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ui...er Aquaria. By the Rev. G. C. Bateman&f=false


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Here an even older tome in German, E. A. Roßmäßler (Rossmaessler, regarded as founder of the freshwater aquarium hobby in Germany), "Das Süßwasser-Aquarium", 1857:
http://www.deutschestextarchiv.de/book/view/rossmaessler_suesswasseraquarium_1857?p=11
Only plants occurring in (central) Europe.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I think the wardian cases were from the 1830s or so. I wonder when the NBAT was joined together? It would be interesting to coordinate a history of all that. Seems the Balanced Aquarium was an early concept , I suppose because they had no other means of making things work.


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## aquarium kid (Nov 26, 2012)

Thanks for the link!

Unfortunately I just started learning german so I wasn't able to read any of it. Is there some website that would translate it?


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

I think that most older aquarium societies were founded in the 1930's. At that time many "animal keeping" societies started to flourish. There wasn't as much international trade and each new species was cherished. If they managed to breed them, they were given on and sold between members. Even (the few) shops were mainly stocked with locally bred fish. In many ways I think that this was much more romantic than the "individualistic" way we tend to keep aquariums nowadays. Especially the specialized societies (both plant growers and fish breeders) keep this tradition alive. There still fish and plants are mainly exchanged between members.


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## old 97 (Jul 25, 2011)

Old school fish !!

Goodieds - Ameca? Zoo.Tequila ?


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

Ameca. Lost due to (presumably) too hard water. OK for Cryptocoryne affinis, but Ameca turns out to be a softwater fish! They did OK for about 5 generations, then started dying of some illness affecting the nervous system and essentially paralysing the fish starting at the tail. I think that the very hard water (GH above 20) made the fish vulnerable, and when a disease came in they did not have enough resistance. Will try again one day. 

I still have Xenotoca "San Marcos", which are doing great with C. affinis.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Riccia was one of the oldest from what I remember. Goes back over a few hundred years or something along those lines.

Interesting books you all mention. It would be interesting to read them one day.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

You're welcome to take a look at my copy of Innes next time you visit.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I'll take you up on that. Might be going home again next week for skiing (if the weather ever decides to stick with winter).


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

If you do, there's an auction in Danbury on Sunday that you might want to stop by for on the way home...


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

Well going back to my first tanks I can recall those days. No lights no but I was running incandescent lighting. Roughly about two 25 watt bulbs on 10 and 15 gallon tanks. Besides that we also had the tanks located where they received some sum light.

The plants that I used to have at the time were anacrias however it was much different strain than I see on the market today. The stems were much more flexable and did not break off very easily. Cork screw valesenaria was a hearty grass then that was commonly used for the back ground on those tank. On my guppy breeding tanks I used a lot of Myrophilia but again it seemed much hardier than what I'm finding on the market today. 

Then when the first florescent bulbs became more common on fish tanks the other two plants that took off and became popular were the crypts and Amazon Sword plants. 

yes as asukawashere listed there were loads of bog and terrestrial plants sold on the market as well. But there is where you reputable dealers that would warn you that this or that plant would not last long submerged while others would sell anything to make a buck. 

Going back to the 60's and 70's I think this was peak of the aquarium business. I know in high school I used to spend my weekend riding my bike between at least a half dozen aquarium shops all within about 3 miles of my house. Interestingly if you were looking for a specific fish or plant and you asked for it the owners would tell you right away that they did bring it in this week because Bill down the road brought it in last week and he still had some left.


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