RedDevil83
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hey oooooooo!
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Well, if you are going to go there, , I can't resist adding 1 more... ( for now ) My first fish came home with me in a cardboard container, the kind you get take out Chinese food in.) There were no plastic bags for fish back then. Now THAT'S old!!!Well I am sure I am dating myself now, but does anyone remember using glass wool and charcoal for filter material?
+1 million and an AMEN to that. Well said!.... I just don't think you can put a price tag on the feel and warmth of a neighborhood shop like the LFSs we're talking about.
Well, if you are going to go there, , I can't resist adding 1 more... ( for now ) My first fish came home with me in a cardboard container, the kind you get take out Chinese food in.) There were no plastic bags for fish back then. Now THAT'S old!!!
+1 million and an AMEN to that. Well said!
Got me there, Andy. Never took fish home in a cardboard container. I've seen it done with birds, but not fish. Thanks for that bit of history.
I'm 42 years old, and this made me remember when I was around 8. My father would take me to "Beavers Fish shop" in town. He had a small building outside next to his home. I bet he had probably four dozen small aquariums. My Dad bought me a ten gallon and we stocked it with lots of plants and neon tetras and a couple of Cory cats. Every time I went there (which seems like It was every weekend) I left nose prints on every tank he had. I remember he was a very nice older man. Man, I miss shops like that!
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What a great thread!
Thanks to all who shared.
The smell,the odd creatures(some of my old LFS had monkeys and snakes and exoctics also!).
I do remember the boxes Andy(although I had forgot!).
I wish I had kept my original metaframe 29 g slate bottom.
Back then when I was young, you may have only had one hobby and for that the reward could be great!.
I have been blessed to have a"father and son" LFS that although moving 4 times in last 35-40 years is still run by the surviving son today.
They are my #1 LFS of all time.
It is nice to know fish history and have fish history.
I remember the first "submersible " heaters as I did not have any !
We sure can't go back and there is some good in the new(good luck finding out about it), but is nice to remember when......
Thanks all!
Thanks for the compliment.Good story, but a wee bit confusing.
Thanks Andy. You're a great guy.
Thanks for the compliment.
What's confusing?
This is it in a nutshell: The manager of the NJ store when I was a kid became the owner, through marriage, of that same store after I left NJ. Roughly 6 or 7 years after leaving NJ, I go to work for a store in FL that has a similar name to the NJ store. The reason it's similar is because it was inspired by that very store in NJ. About 2 years after working in the FL store, someone comes to work for us in the FL store and turns out to be a former employee of the same NJ store. ( Big inhale.......)
Approx 15 years after leaving the FL store, I now work for a fish wholesaler in Miami, FL and one of our customers is that same NJ store( now run by the son/stepson) and the step dad ( who was the manager from when I was a kid.) I tell him about all my memories of his old store and he's impressed because he didn't even remember some of them.
So even tho I had moved 1200 miles away and it was almost 25 years later, I was still , in a round about way, still connected to one of my LFS from my childhood. ( I'm not sure how many can say that. lol ) I told you there was a crazy twist.
You ever are down in California check out p & p tropical fish in cypress they have been there for over 30 years husband and wife owners, they need support.
Never had one. Even in a goldfish tank with a high bioload ?Many of my early fish keeping memories mimic Andy's, probably because we are both old farts....LOL
I mainly visit two stores in my area, 405 Tropical and Tong's. Both family owned and in business for many decades. They both do it more or less right and the stores are always busy from opening to closing.
I noticed Dallas seemed surprised that the store he mentioned uses undergravel filters. For a lfs undergravel filters are THE best and easiest way to go, IMO.
The only thing you need to do is give the substrate a good cleaning every few weeks and your golden.
We used to simply set-up the old Vortex diatomaceous earth filter and let it do it's thing for about 15 minutes and then on to the next tank. Easy and never any issues that are associated with centralized systems; like parasites spreading through the system.
The store I ran had undergravels in all the fresh water and reverse flow undergravel filters in the salt section.