1952 Aquariums Weren’t So Primitive

After coming home from an often-frequented thrift shop, my wife announced that she had bought me an aquarium book. Immediately, when looking at the cover, it’s obvious that the book was dated, but with plants on the cover, I figure it’s at least worth a look.

Indeed, published in 1952, the author describes how to build a tank from scratch using plywood, glass, and various “cements.” Then, he describes heating your tank using gas and oils, and describes setting the proper flame height to establish the proper temperature. Wow, and I thought I had it hard with my equipment!

Despite this, I continue reading, and to my surprise, there’s a whole chapter on aquatic plants. Plants reproduce by photosynthesis, true. Builders sand is not a good substrate because it compacts, true. Light is important, true. Fertilization will be taken care of by the fish, okay not entirely false, but still reading. Then I come to a section listing possible plants for an aquarium.

As you would expect, they were growing Cabomba caroliniana, but they also grew Cryptocoryne cordata, C. griffithii, Riccia Fluitans, and Utricularia, among others.

Then, the chapter continues on to describe how to layout an aquarium, using rocks and plants to form a aesthetically pleasing look. Use rocks that are well weathered, and avoid different types of rocks in the same aquarium, as it will not look natural. Don’t position the rock in the center of the aquarium, instead offset the rock a little bit to the right or left. Then, use plants to form an nice background around the rocks.

It seems that we’re not as advanced as we think we are in the aquarium hobby today. Sure, we might have the luxury of flow-controlled canister filters, fine tuned in-line electric heaters, and an assortment of manufactured substrates, but at the end of the day, we’re still in the business of making a tank that looks nice using a variety of plants and hardscape materials. Our plant selection may be larger than our grandparents’, but it seems appropriate that the art form of aquarium keeping are continuing from generation to generation.