A Blast from the Past

[apistomaster]

Many of you know I have been keeping fish nearly all my life even opening a small fish shop when I was only 15 years old in 1966. During those early years we subscribed to all the fish magazines of the day and my favorite magazine was Aquarium Journal.
My 83 year old mother surprised me with a box of old issues yesterday, some dated back to as early as 1954.
What a contrast it is to look through these old magazines and comparing the then state of the art of fish keeping to the present.
One contains an abbreviated version of Gene Wolfsheimer's famous photo-journal account that was published in National Geographic circa 1957 showing for the first time the secret of how Discus fry fed from the special nutrient secretions from the parent fish's skin for the first weeks. This was astounding news back then as many accomplished aquarist had been able to breed Discus but kept failing to keep the free swimming larvae alive as they assumed that Discus were much like Angelfish where it is easy to raise the fry away from the parents.
There are literally thousands of articles to re-read some 45 years later.
There are gems like comparing the growth rates of Betta splendens(Siamese Fighting Fish) fed earth worms, beef heart, snail meat and the then famous home made fish food called "Gordon's Formula", designed by the famous ichthyologist and geneticist, Myron Gordon who did most of the initial pioneering work on the genetics of wild Swordtails and Platies and their hybrids. Almost no end to this treasure trove.
There are Catfish articles, too but I have just begun to read through these magazines.
The then cutting edge aquarium equipment technologies of the day seem so quaint and antiquated now.

My Mom is still holding out on passing on "our" copy of what was at one time the most authoritative compendium of information about all fresh water fish. Gunther Sterba's Fresh Water Fishes of the World. Many of you will be familiar with Sterba as the popular Corydoras sterbai was named in his honor. Mom tells me not to worry, "You will get it someday". She still keeps tropical fish. She has a 20 gal and 30 gal tank on which I do all the routine maintenance. I fixed her up with a Fluval 404 given to me that only needed the bottom canister replaced. The water really streams around in that small 30 gal tank with such a powerful filter but it needs to be restocked and I am going to set her up with 8 Congo Tetras and maybe a pair of Kribensis. Congo Tetras are strong swimmers and will love the currents. They grow large and colorful enough for her to see more easily than smaller fish. Our eyes don't get better with age.

[andywoolloo]

incredible! what a teasure trove! You are lucky to have those. Sounds very interesting.

and how nice you help your mom with her tank.

[bronzefry]

How cool is that?
Amanda