# Rememeber when... Tanks 40+ years ago!



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Once I wrote my bio for the APC staff forum I asked my mom to find some pxs of her tank. I have two from when I was 4 yrs old. The date on the back of these pxs is March 51. While it's kind of hard to really see inside very well you will recognize the stainless steel sides, funky air toys and colored foil paper on the back of the tanks. Notice the air gang valve wood hanging on the wall! There is another px that shows the entire wall of tanks. She is still looking for that one. 

















I remember one day a little neighbor girl came in and was looking at the tanks. The next morning when we woke up Mom found that she had turned every heater up and all the fish were dead! That was so sad. Mom remembers that she raised angel fish, danios, many live bearers, silver dolllars. She remembers having "real plants that didn't do very good."

Do you have px that go back a ways? Please add to the thread.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Imagine what our setups will look like in 2050. We'll have perfectly clear, amazingly thin, scratch-proof, seamless polymer aquariums that we'll simply hook up to a bio-preservation module. That one little box will supply light, food, CO2, nutrients, and will carefully maintain optimal parameters on a continuous basis. LOL!!!

Or not.  Actually I'm continuously impressed at the innovation and ability of "old-timers" to accomplish amazing feats of fish husbandry with the barest essentials. Our ability to keep plants is really in its infancy. It'll be fun to see where it goes!


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## gravy9 (Aug 28, 2008)

Hopefully everything will be in tank and a single piece of equipment that performs the lighting, filtration, heating and even automatic feeding/fertilization!

Wouldn't that be nice!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

I had a 10 gallon tank that looked just like that when I was a teenager. Yeah, I guess I'm dating myself.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Wow, awesome antiques! Actually, I shouldn't say that because at the very moment my fiance has the almost-exact same tank with silver trims running smoothly in Europe

But honestly, if I have to choose....I'd go with silver any time of the year over black.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Funny thing just yesterday I was thinking about this same kind of tanks. In Bulgaria they appeared in the late 70's early 80's haha. You could see the spot welding in every corner. They also had a shiny light hood. Price was about 1/3 of the average monthly salary. Nice! haha...

There were also another kind of tanks that had a metal frame. The seal between the glass and the L-shaped frame was done very interesting. It used physics - even spread of the pressure created by the water partly displaced the black goo-like substance that was between the glass and the metal. This black goo had the consistency of chewing gum. It was very soft - when you touched it you'd think the water would squeeze it all out. But it never did. If there was a leak you simply pushed back with your finger and in most cases the goo somehow realigned itself or something and the leak was gone. A bigger problem was the paint. The frames of these things always rusted and had layers and layers of thick paint in different colors, haha.

--Nikolay


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## taekwondodo (Dec 14, 2005)

Bert H said:


> I had a 10 gallon tank that looked just like that when I was a teenager. Yeah, I guess I'm dating myself.


Ditto. My first tank was in 1970 (or '71?). A 20L... Steel/Chrome Rim, black "caulking" (what on earth was that stuff?)... guppies, and tetras - floored with Clown Puke. I was amazed at how that female guppy kept pushing out babies - and the only plant I had/could find was anacharis.

- Jeff


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## Dielectric (Oct 7, 2008)

i had some old metal frames passed down to me when i was a kid. they had slate bottoms or something. they leaked. my dad tried to re seal them a few times but never succeeded.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Wish you guys would post your pxs! It would be neat to see the "days gone by..."


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Tex Gal said:


> Wish you guys would post your pxs! It would be neat to see the "days gone by..."


To my knowledge, none exist in my case. I don't think my folks ever cared much one way or the other, about the tank. As long as it wasn't an eyesore, it was ok.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I'm told that my uncle Charles both heated and illuminated an aquarium with an incandescent light bulb trapped inside an airlocked, submerged jar! Apparently, that was common practice at one time.


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

I can remember buying a Moor for a nickel and taking it home in a white, metal bail for a handle paper container.

I remember when all glass tanks first came out and I did not trust them.

Up until a few years ago the Cory breeders would snap up the asphalt sealed metal frame tanks at the Auctions; they claimed that the solid floor gave the Cories a sense of security 'cause the breeders used bare tanks to spawn and raise Fry. Now when the metal frames come up they are looked upon as anachronisms, at best.

I cannot remember the DIY heater. In fact the Metal Frame tanks probably predated the term DIY, if not the concept.

I have been around about 60 years and have seen a lot of changes. A lot of people who should have known better always touted what they read about so things have not changed too much.


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## critter333294 (Apr 15, 2007)

That's awesome that your mom still has pics of her old tanks! My dad gave me this old aquarium heater he found(looks like its an 80's/90's model) lying around our house. I'll have to put a pic up. It's amazing to see how much our technology changes over the years.


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## AquaX (Aug 14, 2006)

Dielectric said:


> i had some old metal frames passed down to me when i was a kid. they had slate bottoms or something. they leaked. my dad tried to re seal them a few times but never succeeded.


Those may have very well been from the Victorian era.

The slate was heated from below with oil lamps.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

So incredible. I can't imagine an electric bulb in a jar. That sounds scary! Of course I guess that's kinda the same thing but I trust the manufacturers I guess. Keep the stories coming. 

...slate heated from below with oil lamps..... amazing!


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## Coralite (Nov 29, 2008)

I just found and purchased a 3 gallon metaframe aquarium last week. I was thinking about setting it up as an antique aquarium and using only equipment, fish and plants which were available and common 30 or more years ago. Any ideas/suggestions of how I should set this tank up?


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## ombcat (Sep 23, 2004)

I have the metal hood, stand, old heater, thermometer 
and metal slate bottom 10 gallon tank and old air pump.I am keeping this to set up in The Cause, new building in the near future. 
wilma


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

ombcat said:


> I have the metal hood, stand, old heater, thermometer
> and metal slate bottom 10 gallon tank and old air pump.I am keeping this to set up in The Cause, new building in the near future.
> wilma


You need a corner plastic filter to fill with carbon and filter floss. You need colored gravel and plastic plants - not the silk ones but the old thick plastic ones. You need foil colored paper like they used on flower pots in the florist shop for the back. The other thing I remember is my mom painting the back of the tanks with some kind of glass paint that would dry with a color and crystalized. She would use that and the paper. She always had some sort of air toy in there too. Sometimes they were a wheel, or a plant with air behind it.

When you get it up you will have to take a px.


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## ombcat (Sep 23, 2004)

I will take a pic when we get it set up in our new facility. It will be a nice addition, especially to show the school children when they arrive to see the facility and all the aquatic creatures. 
wilma


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

Here's an old pic of my metal framed Pemco you folks may like. (Its dry now.) It originally had a fixture for two incandescent bulbs, but upgraded that to the 2x13w AH Supply kit, then drilled it for a sump (that was fun!). Found it at a thrift store for like $10 and it got me into the hobby.










Here's another one of a sweet frame from another thrift store (it was my sump!). Its all wood and was made for a 10g -- I do not have any idea what year it was made, but it was sweet. Sadly this was lifted when I was fitting it for my first paludarium.


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## MDChurch (Dec 13, 2008)

Wow! Does that bring back memories !! One of the first tanks I had was just like those with the plastic box filter in the corner and the glass tube heater that clamped to the rim of the tank.


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## Sunstar (Sep 17, 2008)

My mum has pics of her aquariums and fish... I should ask her to scan them for me. 

I remember having a fish bowl with a goldfish in it and crunched tin foil behind the glass with shells and marbles in it for an neat background. In my eyes, and I was really younge, this was awesome.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

These pxs are so cool. Please keep them coming!


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## glibby (Nov 18, 2008)

Brings back memories. I boiled my first fish when a thermostat failed. In those days you had one thermostat in one smaller tank that controlled seperate heaters in slightly larger tanks. When the one thermostat failed I had three tanks overheat.
I don't go back that far but the NY Aquarium supplied Battery Jar aquariums to the public schools in the early 1900's. Some "balanced" aquariums were fresh water but some were salt water. I would love to know how those school teachers kept those nano aquariums back then. George


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## PLANT^NUT (May 1, 2007)

My dad still has a 55 gal he got out of an old school back in the 70's. it has the stainless frame and slate bottom. Its been around as long as I remember. ( I'm circa 1970). I have an ornate metal stand in storage that belonged to my grandmother when she was a child. Talk about heavy. It's only for a 10gal but I think it ways more than the tank with water.


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## mgamer20o0 (Jul 15, 2006)

heck my main tank is stainless steel framed.


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## goldfishes (Nov 26, 2008)

Can I ask a stupid question? Was the side stainless steel for decorative purposes or actually holding the tank together?


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## Revernance (Aug 20, 2007)

sewingalot said:


> Can I ask a stupid question? Was the side stainless steel for decorative purposes or actually holding the tank together?


That's _not _a stupid question. I'm curious to know the answer too


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

The stainless steel actually held the glass together. On the bottom was black slate. They were very heavy.


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

'case interested, I believe only Metaframes had the slate bottom. 

Several years ago Pemco tanks (which I believe was a Metaframe knockoff and is the manufacturer of my 8g pictured earlier) popped up all throughout Los Angeles at different thriftstores -- there must have been some sort of estate auction or something. All I saw (10?) had glass bottoms, even the 4(?)ft one. 

Both Pemco and Metaframes used this crazy black tar that attached (sealed?) the glass from the metal frame. This stuff is a ginormous pain but you can work around it with a leak with black silicone. This looks better than seeing clear silicone above black tar (leave tar between the glass and frame, silicone inside at points of the leak -- way easier), imo.

mgamer: sweet! What are the dims of that tank? Did you get that at the foo foo thriftshop around 2nd and LaBrea? I had my eye on a similar (same?) tank around 2004/5 but it was gone in a hurry


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

Well, this goes back about 55 years. My first tank was a used 15 gallon with a cast iron frame and slate bottom. The frame rusted a little and the slate bottom was broken when I got it. Dad replaced the bottom with a piece of glass we got a small box filter, air pump and some gravel and was ready. My Mom knew a lady with a small tank of plants and guppies and she gave me some plants and fish. We put the tank in front of a kitchen window and the plants and fish were happy with the green water.
Never found anymore fish or plants in the town we lived in, but remember reading in a magazine about the "hot" plant of the year. It was a Madagascar Lace Plant and remember how expensive they were. Had to just settle for the vals and hornwort I had given me. 
Quite a few years later I got married and ventured out with several tanks and remember using undergravel filters, Piston Air Pumps that chugged away when they weren't down for maintence,
and a few more plants. Ended up breeding Angels, Jack Dempseys and few others. Then lost all the fish when our house flooded and sold off all my tanks.
It is great to be back after about 40 years and finding all the newer gadgets and plants available.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

OldMan- I remember those old piston air pumps. Talk about noisy!! Now we complain about a little trickle or air every now and then. We had a huge one with a belt to 2 pistons. It powered our 55g and 45g. It was heavy as lead! The only good thing about the noise was that you could always tell if it was working.


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