The real Father Fish

[Back in the fold20 5]

I was looking through Exotic Aquarium Fishes by Dr. William T. Innes today after reading posts on The Great TFF Forum about plants . Whenever I have questions I consult THE greatest authority .
Long before Father Fish came up with his dirt aquariums Dr. Innes addressed the issue .

 

[GaryE27 25]

Dr Innes was clearly surrounded by a scene in which smart people were trying to figure out a new thing. There must have been a lot of discussion, testing of ideas, sharing of ideas and collective effort going into how these glass boxes could be made to work. There must have been father fish guys who locked into a fixed idea and defended it against all evidence, just as there were people like Innes who dug and asked questions all their lives. There were Axelrods who wanted to monetize everything, and scientists who wanted to share their research.

I was lucky to have been a weird teenager who liked talking with 85 year olds, to have been able to hear the echoes of the local version of Innes' New York City scene, and sense the energy. These people had fun.
The questions they asked are the questions we ask. Dirted tanks. Old idea. No water change, balanced aquariums? An old dream that dies hard. Looking at ornamental fish versus watching fish in attempted natural tanks set ups? An old tension.

I suspect Dr Innes would have been a great guy to have on this forum. He would have pushed the heck out out of us not to sit still, and not to leave what's been learned since about ecology, evolution and genetics, chemistry, species distribution, etc out of our thinking. I suspect he'd have pushed us to share experience. A new tetra comes in? Talk about it. Maybe what you think is unimportant is a key clue to understanding it. Innes was a special writer because he was so intelligent, and so able to communicate his sense of delight and fun with this little hobby. He seems to have been a generous thinker who wanted to examine even ideas he was skeptical of, like the dirted tank. He put his views out there for us to think about many decades after his death.

He wasn't the final word on anything. If there were afterlives, they would have great fish forums.

 

[Back in the fold20 5]

That was beautiful Gary and very well said . A glowing tribute to Dr. Innes . I think you’ve hit on something else that’s well known but not often acknowledged . That what was old becomes new again .

 

[GaryE27 25]

Ultimately, I think we have a simple hobby. I've had aquariums for 60 years. What's changed in the freshwater hobby?

We do water changes. The balanced aquarium myth comes back, like all myths that say what we want to hear. But it doesn't work, and we can only get close. We know more about the biological processes aiding the chemical processes of the nitrogen cycle. We know more about fish evolution and how minerals in water operate with our fish. We know more and have better tech, but it's to do the same things.

Manage water quality. Keep fish alive and well. Feed fish and plants. Make it look good.

We've added shrimp.

If I set up a tank with the stocking I like, I need a filtration system, a glass box, sand, rocks, plants, root tabs, a light, maybe a heater. My killie tanks needs air driven filters and a cover, just as they would have in 1940. If I stock super lightly, I don't need a filter, though I dislike those tank set ups and won't do that. They're so narrow in what fish can live in them.

But we ask the same questions.

And after that? I've seen some 1930s aquarium gear, and it all attempted to solve the same problems we have now.

 

[Back in the fold20 5]

You’re right . Not much has changed . We still do the same things but we know why we do them now . The science and the reasons behind why we do them . Some of the equipment is better and that makes things less of a worry . I’m glad we don’t seal aquariums with that black tar stuff anymore and submersible heaters are a great improvement . The lighting is not just better but really better and food choices are vastly improved .
Still , we’re keeping fish . That hasn’t changed . And . . . . it’s still The Greatest Hobby in The World .

 

[GaryE27 25]

Even with energy costs rising here, it costs me less to run my fishroom than it did before LEDs. We have more energy efficient options now that give better light. I can grow plants I struggled with before. That's fun.

In the box of killie revues I talked about in another thread, I found a battered 19th edition of Innes, with the spine gone. There were lots of English language revues, but that was the only English book. Someday, I'll add a real Innes edition to my now 4 TFH era ones. Only one of mine still has the cover intact - a testament to how their original owners used them over and over again. My friend spoke very little English, but he clearly read that book over and over again.

 

[Back in the fold20 5]

Someday, I'll add a real Innes edition to my now 4 TFH era ones.

No better time than the present . They’re only getting older . Find one and buy it .

 

[Rusty_Shackleford65 181]

I think about the origins of the hobby and their aquariums from the 1800's.

I see where they were coming from. They collected plants from streams and lakes and they were growing in muck, so they used muck in their tanks. Trying to emulate nature. Tanks were placed in bright rooms where they could recieve sunlight, that's all they had. Ever try to light a tank with an oil lamp? Loaded with plants and lightly stocked with very few fish.
Here we are 200 years later with all sorts of technology trying to solve the same problems they had.
I wish I could find that octagon aquarium. That would be sooooooo cool to have.

 

[Innesfan]

I was lucky to have been a weird teenager who liked talking with 85 year olds, to have been able to hear the echoes of the local version of Innes' New York City scene, and sense the energy. These people had fun.

Beautiful, @GaryE . (Though it was Philadelphia.)

 

[GaryE27 25]

Philadelphia? I am going to go into full Father Fish denial of reality and say "Say it ain't so Joe." With all due respect to civilized Philadelphians that's the rudest city I've ever visited. That airport. How could such a nice guy....

 

[Innesfan]

Philadelphia? I

Yup. The City of Brotherly Love was the epicenter of the hobby in the USA from the beginnings in the late 1800s through @1940, when NYC took the lead. It was so renowned as such that a certain avid aquarist, the then Crown Prince of Japan--soon to become Emperor Hirohito-- when planning a trip to the USA, expressly asked for a stop in Philly to tour the tropical fish establishments and meet the breeders and fanciers. Innes made the arrangements and was his tour guide.

 

[emeraldking46 97]

I wish I could find that octagon aquarium. That would be sooooooo cool to have.

You could even make it yourself... The decorations on the frame will probably be a bit tricky to apply.

 

[emeraldking46 97]

Btw, here also an oldie of a fish tank. This was in Berlin, Germany in 2013.

 

[Innesfan]

No better time than the present . They’re only getting older . Find one and buy it .

There are several on ebay for ten bucks and under which is a steal if condition is fair or better. I saw a 13th and a couple of 19th eds. You haven't had the Innes experience until you get the real deal in your hands with its heavy paper stock, luxurious binding, impeccable printing, and glorious color plates reproduced on top-of-the-line paper.. The later incarnations by Metaframe and, worse, by he-who-shall-not-be named, pale by comparison.

 

[GaryE27 25]

Which is the last of the 'real' printings, before Metaframe of Voldemort?