Rene Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 On 8/7/2020 at 5:04 PM, Daniel said: I am starting to make basic choices on the 1930s Historically Accurate Planted Aquarium. Light will mostly come from a window with supplemental light from a 1930s era standing lamp The aquarium will be supported on a board across a 1930s Singer sewing machine wrought iron base So the placement will look something like this: It's hard not to love everything about this picture. When I was first reading about your project, I was not envisioning such a big tank. What a great find. Pairing it with the old singer legs is a stroke of perfection. An old basket or a Martha Washington sewing table might be a good place to store supplies. This is a very dangerous thread for me. I love vintage. I"ve only had a tank for a couple of months but one of the first things I started doing was searching for a vintage tank...most have been out of my price range. Seeing all the vintage aquarium things has my mind turning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 The journey begins! I have committed to using Innes' 1936 'The Complete Aquarium Book' so I might as well start at the beginning. Hopefully, I will not repeat the mistakes of the lady with goldfish. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 Even by 1936 Innes was suggesting growing plants as one of the 4 conditions of a successful aquarium. I am starting the aquarium a few years before 1936. There is no local tropical fish store yet so I will have to collect my own plants. Luckily I live in North Carolina and many of the current plants found in our aquariums today occur in the wetter areas of the central and eastern part of my state. So road trip! I found a ditch just on the Kinston NC city limits located both the highway and Duke Power right of way, so I felt free to collect aquatic plants from the ditch. The ditch was not a pretty sight. But it had good stuff. Bacopa, Ludwigia, Parrot feather and more. The parrot feather was especially nice in places It looks like I will have some good plants without a visit to a pet store! So far, so good. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spewing_nonsense_ Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 On 7/31/2020 at 11:13 AM, Daniel said: In 1936 the average doctor made $3300 per year, the average lawyer $4200, a farm hand made on average $220 a year and a secretary just over $1000 a year. So that air pump, filter combination that cost just under $70 might have been affordable to the average doctor as it was merely a week's wages. But something tells me that that farmhand could never afford to keep an aquarium. I think the best comparison is a nice decked out 1936 freshwater aquarium is the equivalent to today's high-end reef tank. Most people then kept goldfish in an unheated, un-aerated box of water. And even a schoolteacher ($1200/yr) or a dressmaker ($780/yr) could afford to keep goldfish. On the other hand, in 1936 you could buy a set of four tires for your automobile for $6.35 🙂 Dang, yeah I told my dad about this bc hes been pretty supportive of my fish hobby and he was like yeah even back when I was your age it was expensive and it made him get pissed of when a fish died or jumped out, he said how the redtail shark he bought was $15 and back then he was making $1.50 an hour and I was just like wow, idk if when I first got into aquariums that I would spend a days wage on just one fish let alone getting like 10 or 15 like he did, like thatd be $50 today and it honestly got me thinking hmmmm maybe I could turn him into a fish nerd lol 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Another aquarium plant that I collected in that same ditch as the parrot feather and Ludwigia was Utricularia macrorhiza. It is a relative of the aquarium plant Utricularia graminifolia. Both are bladderworts. Bladderworts are very cool because they are a carnivorous aquatic plants. They have little bladders with trap doors and it is possible for them to ensnare aquatic insects like Daphnia. Some people think this strategy has evolved because the bladderworts live in such low nitrogen environments any additional nitrogen source is extremely valuable to the plant. They also have lovely flowers. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Ferdenzi Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Most people in those days did not cover their tanks. So, with proper lighting, you might be able to get the Parrot Feather to grow out up over the top. I hope you have much success with the plants because, as Innes writes, that is a key to a healthy aquarium when one has no filtration. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 I planted the plants in the aquarium yesterday. I love sunlight. Nothing fancy, just plants from the ditches and fish from the same ditch. @Joseph Ferdenzi predicted the parrot feather would emerge and it did. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Ferdenzi Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 I like it very much. Your experience reminds me very much of when I was boy living in farm country (circa 1965), no pet shops, and I won a goldfish at a local fair, but then got the gravel, plants, and live food from local ditches. I found a 2 gallon jar in the cellar, and the whole thing was powered by sunlight. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 And I have a couple of blue spotted sunfish females who are liking the new planting arrangement 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Ah, I love the look of the sunlight coming through! The plants and fish look gorgeous. Is the fern-like stuff the parrot feather (long spindly upwards growth with fern-like arms)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 18 hours ago, RovingGinger said: Ah, I love the look of the sunlight coming through! The plants and fish look gorgeous. Is the fern-like stuff the parrot feather (long spindly upwards growth with fern-like arms)? @Jessica. has set a high bar graphically So I will do my best to follow in her footsteps in labelling the plants 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Very nice. I like the plant labels. This forum has helped me learn more plant names, seeing them written out so many times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 This is the specific one I was wondering about. I'm thinking it's parrot feather, doesn't look like hornwort to me. But the structure when it's so vertical, at least in this shot, looks like an asparagus fern almost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Yes, that is parrot feather. The one you circled is the one growing out and above the surface of the water in the photo above. It closes up at night and then opens up again in the daytime. I didn't know it did that. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 Here is another clip from the 1934 movie "Dragon Murder Case." In this scene mouthbrooding African cichlids are mentioned. The genus is definitely Tilapia, but I cannot quite catch the species. @Wel-Don Tanks are these from Lake Malawi? I was hoping they would be from Victoria 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Ferdenzi Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 The author of The Dragon Murder Case and his wife had some 40 aquariums in their Manhattan apartment, and were members of the New York Aquarium Society that met at the American Museum of Natural History. The fish stuff in the book was double-checked by a professional ichthyologist. Love the clip! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wel-Don Tanks Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 19 hours ago, Daniel said: Here is another clip from the 1934 movie "Dragon Murder Case." In this scene mouthbrooding African cichlids are mentioned. The genus is definitely Tilapia, but I cannot quite catch the species. @Wel-Don Tanks are these from Lake Malawi? I was hoping they would be from Victoria 🙂 Thank you for sharing the clip! This history was fascinating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooManySnakes Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 (edited) Just wanted to say thank you for bringing that gorgeous magazine cover to my attention! Thanks to the magic of the internet I was able to order a very nice copy myself and planning on framing it for display. Edited October 24, 2020 by TooManySnakes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 7 hours ago, TooManySnakes said: Just wanted to say thank you for bringing that gorgeous magazine cover to my attention! Thanks to the magic of the internet I was able to order a very nice copy myself and planning on framing it for display. I had never heard of that artist until I started researching the golden age of fishkeeping. His name was Arthur Bade. His work spanned from fine art to science fiction. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Such a cool thread and a cool idea. I love everything vintage especially pre-war! The artwork on those vintage magazines are amazing! Please keep us posted on your progress @Daniel . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopsRage Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 (edited) Better Homes & Gardens August 1934 cover depicts pearling, uses same types of gravel, livestock, plants, and even snails! Love It! Many of you comment on mineral supplements and ferts. Better Homes & Gardens is based in Des Moines, Iowa. The greater area is limestone as base rock, resulting in very hard water. Most of the area has quite a bit of argile clay, which looks similar to SeaChem Flourite and was used for brick and tile production for decades. The top soil layers vary, depending on neighborhood. The areas that were forested have nice humousy loose course compost, the areas that were grass have beautiful top soil (same as the dirted-tank soil), and there are many old river and wetlands areas that have a lot of sand mixed in with the soil. If you wanted to emulate old-school fish keeping, you would use local-sourced products from wherever you live. No internet back then for shopping, just local or mail-order. Costs and time would have been considerably lower to find hardscape and plant material from foraging or buying at local nurseries. My dad uses driftwood, rocks, and plants from the lagoon by his house, and pea gravel from bulk supply at a nursery garden center. I enjoy this thread, so much knowledge and experience, and yet new and exciting adventures foraging and searching for materials! Edited November 3, 2020 by PopsRage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 20 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said: updates? Here is the above water portion of the aquarium I posted earlier today in Top-View Tuesday I should have an update on the lower part of the tank tomorrow or the next day. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dyer Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Beautiful growth from the top, excited to see the lower tank update! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 So any plant that grows in the water outside of an aquarium lakes rivers streams creeks should be aquarium safe too ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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