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Never had one. Even in a goldfish tank with a high bioload ?

Sure. The only reason why undergravel filters can be an issue is due to poor housekeeping.
Using a gravel vac so remove muck and every couple months siphoning water from under the plate will keep it clean and working indefinitely.

but if memory serves we also had a canister filter on the 40 gallon who kept fancy goldfish in simply because they poop so much.
 
Many of my early fish keeping memories mimic Andy's, probably because we are both old farts....LOL

Yeah, I guess I've been farting for a long time now. :D :lol::ROFLMAO:

As for P&P, I've seen that look before. It's sad when you know the owner or you have a history with the store. You want to do whatever you can to keep it going but it's not really yours to do. It's an attitude thing and owners don't always want to adjust theirs. It's sad but maybe, if someone with a good attitude and knowledge offers the right price, the store will come under new management and thrive again. I've seen that happen too. (y)

As for Bichir Bro, 15? I have shoes older than you!! :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: But seriously, that's about the age when I started to really get involved in the pet "business". I had been breeding fish for just the one store before then but at that age, I was doing so much that we were wholesaling to other stores and to other suppliers. Once I moved to FL at 16, I was on tract to becoming a veterinarian but I was lured into the pet trade by the excitement and opportunities. You could wind up in the same situation if you keep at it. As I see it, the pet business needs young dedicated minds to keep things from getting too ridiculous. You may just be the leader. (y)(y)
 
in all fairness to P&P, if you live in the area and are into South American and African cichlids or fancy goldfish, he is one definitely one of the places locally to check out.
He has nice cichlids and actually competitive pricing on the African cichlids.
He also seems to be able to get his hands on some nice rare freshwater specimens from time to time.
 
I know what you mean about the shoes. :)
There are many young people here.
Young people have memories to share & time to make more.
They will carry on the legacy.
I love having them here.
This is where they can learn & maybe give us a nudge into the 21st century. :)
 
Jealous

in all fairness to P&P, if you live in the area and are into South American and African cichlids or fancy goldfish, he is one definitely one of the places locally to check out.
He has nice cichlids and actually competitive pricing on the African cichlids.
He also seems to be able to get his hands on some nice rare freshwater specimens from time to time.

Now STOP IT GUYS !!! :banghead:
You are making me jealous. :)
Nothing like that around here.:(:nono:
 
I know what you mean about the shoes. :)
There are many young people here.
Young people have memories to share & time to make more.
They will carry on the legacy.
I love having them here.
This is where they can learn & maybe give us a nudge into the 21st century. :)

This has got to be a better thing to do than watching or playing video games all day. No?
The only way I know how to learn this hobby is by getting your hands wet. Literally wet! You have to join the "Wet Arm" society! :D:lol: Just make sure there is no soap residue on you. (y)
 
I know what you mean about the shoes. :)
There are many young people here.
Young people have memories to share & time to make more.
They will carry on the legacy.
I love having them here.
This is where they can learn & maybe give us a nudge into the 21st century. :)

I've read this whole thread. I'm young enough to remember the mom n pop shops still local in the early 90's(I'm 24). Perhaps my best friends parents' owning one of these shops through 2004(since 1979) taints my memory with wonderful feelings of separate tanks not on a central feed and welcoming faces. Ive had the luxury of one such store remaining near me but in the same time I've watched 3 others go under in the same timeframe. Its unfortunate, though some of their demise was brought on by similar conditions as PB mentioned. The store that stayed open evolved somewhat with the times, despite the downsides that came with it. Much of their stock mirrors Petco, this is by design unfortunately.
 
Good for You

This has got to be a better thing to do than watching or playing video games all day. No?
The only way I know how to learn this hobby is by getting your hands wet. Literally wet! You have to join the "Wet Arm" society! :D:lol: Just make sure there is no soap residue on you. (y)

Great attitude. Better than some adults I know. :)
 
Not sure if it has come up but sea monkeys - did anyone get them? I can dimly remember sending in an order off a comic book back page but we never managed to get it going right.

Unfortunately too young for slate bottom tanks - that sounds cool.

Otherwise all I needed to know was how many miles of air tubing was needed to run ornaments and filters (ugf, corner filter of carbon and wool and a high tech hob that I was very proud of the way air pumps could shift water around).

Although the tank water still tastes the same if you accidentally get a mouthful...
 
Sea monkeys are just brine shrimp. I've referred people to Toys 'R Us to pick them up for feeding fry in recent days lol

Jesse
 
The grand old days of marketing :)

I wonder if a startup product would get away with that now - especially the pics!
 
Just read all the posts. Great thread . I am 69 so I remember all those things . got my first fish tank at age 9. A 10 gal with guppies... Here's to the good old days. Alison
 
We had a great store in town back maybe 40 years ago. I always had fish growing up and remember that place like it was yesterday. Old creaky wooden floors ( not sure how they didn't end up in the basement ) , metal frames on the tanks , old belt driven external filters with what looked like a large mason jar for the filter media and was run by a little white haired old lady named Mary.
Glad I saw this thread , really brings back some fun memories.
 
We had a great store in town back maybe 40 years ago. I always had fish growing up and remember that place like it was yesterday. Old creaky wooden floors ( not sure how they didn't end up in the basement ) , metal frames on the tanks , old belt driven external filters with what looked like a large mason jar for the filter media and was run by a little white haired old lady named Mary.
Glad I saw this thread , really brings back some fun memories.

We had a great store in town back maybe 40 years ago. I always had fish growing up and remember that place like it was yesterday. Old creaky wooden floors ( not sure how they didn't end up in the basement ) , metal frames on the tanks , old belt driven external filters with what looked like a large mason jar for the filter media and was run by a little white haired old lady named Mary.
Glad I saw this thread , really brings back some fun memories.

Glad I started this thread. So many marvelous memories.
It is good to look back & appreciate how far we have come. Some advances are great, others, not so much.
I remember fish stores much like you describe.
The water in the tanks might not have been clear & pristine, but it smelled good & the fish were healthy.
It was magical.
Don't get that in the big box stores. Unfortunately, that is all that is left here.

Thanks for sharing. :)
 
Not sure if it has come up but sea monkeys - did anyone get them? I can dimly remember sending in an order off a comic book back page but we never managed to get it going right.

Unfortunately too young for slate bottom tanks - that sounds cool.

Otherwise all I needed to know was how many miles of air tubing was needed to run ornaments and filters (ugf, corner filter of carbon and wool and a high tech hob that I was very proud of the way air pumps could shift water around).

Although the tank water still tastes the same if you accidentally get a mouthful...

Never had the Sea Monkeys, but I sure wanted some. I also remember slate bottom aquariums. We had them in more than one of my grade school classrooms.

What I had is a dime store goldfish in a dime store 1/2 gallon glass fish bowl. I was a kid and I really didn't know any better at the time. I did as my mother told me on goldfish care. We used mother of pearl "gravel" in the bottom. Cleaning the fishbowl involved dish detergent, rinsing well, and refilling with non dechlorinated city water straight from the tap. Poor Bobby lived for 8 years. Looking back, I don't know how. Not everything about the good old days was good.
 
Never had the Sea Monkeys, but I sure wanted some. I also remember slate bottom aquariums. We had them in more than one of my grade school classrooms.

What I had is a dime store goldfish in a dime store 1/2 gallon glass fish bowl. I was a kid and I really didn't know any better at the time. I did as my mother told me on goldfish care. We used mother of pearl "gravel" in the bottom. Cleaning the fishbowl involved dish detergent, rinsing well, and refilling with non dechlorinated city water straight from the tap. Poor Bobby lived for 8 years. Looking back, I don't know how. Not everything about the good old days was good.

I would fill my aquarium & heat the water. The next day I picked up my fish, floated the bag for 15 minutes & put them in. If memory serves me, I don't remember losing many ( if any ) fish. Mine were lost mainly to fighting among the inhabitants.

You say, looking back, you don't know how he survived, but..................... he did.:fish2:

Those were the days when cycling meant going for a bike ride. :)
 
Oh yeah , I forgot about sea monkeys ; another blast from the past.
I also remember in elementary school reading a book for a book report or some kind of assignment called " Gallons of Guppies' , it was about a kid that had bought a couple guppies and they kept multiplying and if I remember correctly he started a little business selling them.

Ahhh , the good ole days!
 
I had an experience with guppies ! :(
Never again unless I go with all males.
I can't remember if @ one time they sold miniature seahorses.
 
Speaking of guppies in the good old days, I've been doing some web based research on the subject. Take a look at these.

Downloads | wildguppies.com

I have some of the old books from when I was growing up , have to look and see what they are. I do recall having a big hardcover book that was mostly yellow with a section of colored pictures in the middle of the book of different species of fish , back in the day it was the go to book for any questions you might have had.
Long before the computer days were even a thought.
 
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