It was 1980, and I had come to live in the USA, and in the summer of 1979 I had bought a house in South Norwalk, Ct. which had extensive built-in cabinetry at one end of the living room by one of the windows, with a wide window ledge, and cabinets to both sides. The longest piece was over 6 feet long, and 30" deep... enough to hold a 125 gallon tank. Need I say more. It did not take long ere a 125 gallon tank appeared.
This time it was serious, I really wanted a living tank, but it had to be idiot proof, for I traveled a lot, and over time it was equipped with a fully automated CO2 system, which kept PH constant, and both an Eheim 2017 canister filter, as well as a wet/dry filter, both hidden in the cabinets, and under gravel filtration filtration as well. In those days I had not read the book yet that under gravel filtration and plants are not a good combination, and despite my ignoarance, I was fairly successful with plants, usually. It was a heavily planted tank, and though it started with a canopy, by the time I graduated to automated CO2, it had metal halide lights suspended from the ceiling, and some plants growing out of the water. Originally I tried an Amazonian aquascape, but I gradually gave up on that, and just kept whatever fish were interesting, usually that included a lot of Amazonian characters, Angel fish, Corydoras, at one time an Arowana, until it became too large... but I also loved Kuhlii Loaches, so again, I did not stick to the Amazonian basin. There were gouramis, and at one time a betta. For a long time it included an African rope fish (aka Reed fish). At one time I even tried silver dollars, but the price in plants was too high, so they were recycled back to the pet store pretty soon.
But for the most part, the name of the game was convenience, and absolutely foolproof maintenance, as I traveled a lot in those days. A 29 gallon subsidiary tank appeared, and then another 20 gallon tank, so it was a house full of aquariums. Amazingly, even though we had cats, none of our cats ever seriously went fishing, even in the times when I kept an open top.
Talking about pet stores, in those days the scenery was still dominated by independent pet stores, and I usually went to the Norwalk Aquarium, on Main Street, but sometimes as far away as Fairfield, Later on I used some mail order shopping for some of the more esoteric equipment, particularly the Dupla CO2 system and lighting systems, which since then seems to have disappeared from the American scene. In those days they supplied just about the only serious CO2 system on the market, and while since then CO2-injection has become almost common place, Dupla is nowhere to be found any longer.
Today, my shopping choices are a Petland Discounts nearby, which is OK for some of the basics, and a nearby Petco, which is a 20 minute walk away, but seems to have a better selection. Serious shopping is done on-line now. The pathetic selection of plants in the stores is hard to be believed. People still keep fish tanks, more than aquariums that would at least attempt to create a miniature natural environment. Today I find that foolproof maintenance is still important to me. I want to feel like I could go away for two weeks without a problem, but I have become more interested in the ecological aspects, and under gravel filters are out, categorically. Heating cables are in - they seem to be the best way to ensure some circulation through the soil, but in a plant-friendly way. In all I am inclined to think that my aquariums in those years were primarily decorative, and that now, in my third go around with aquariums, I've become more of a student.
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