Before internet..

I started with salt around 1991... t was a complete dice roll with LFS knowledge... I remember skimmers making a big difference but lots of trail and error and DEATH... I was exposed to the 'berlin method' in 1993... that was huge.

 

+Matt Rogers
I never used the internet for my first saltwater tank, (even tho it was around) and that seemed to work out OKAY. The LFS was king at that time, and all my buys were basically pure impulse. No corals or anything more delicate than a trigger fish.

 

..and a million fish keepers were not telling you how stupid you were. Those were the days!

 

Lol whats the 'berlin method'?

 

Exactly what most of us use today- live rock and a skimmer, although IIRC, the original was done in a large sump rather than the DT.

 

I didnt read this whole thread, but its not just the internet. It is technology as a whole. From lighting to filtration.

 

Valid point but the majority of the thread is focused on how the way of learning about the hobby via the internet has impacted the hobby. Its interesting to see the way ppl that have 20+ years in the hobby got started out, vs. someone like myself that learned 100% of my aquarium knowledge thru this site. So if the internet wasnt around, guess i wouldnt have this tank. well as awesome as a tank .

 

first salt tank was in 1966. alot of hit and miss. learned from the mistakes and there was not as much info out there. things have changed and big strides made in supporting our water friends.

 

I'm only 35 yrs old, but I had tanks when I was a teenager, back in the early 90's. And it was books, magazines, and the LFS. I look back on some of the things that were acceptable, and it makes me sad. I killed so many fish and anemones and corals. Because the LFS's near me had no idea about compatibility or they didnt care. I was mixing triggers and small clowns with corals and anemones from the Atlantic. They didnt know it was a clown trying to pair up, they just ate them like any other fish! And I wondered why my corals were closed all the time, until I saw my huma huma trigger munching on it!

 

Sometimes I forget that time existed before the internet. Thinking without the internet is a scary enough idea, but reef keeping without it is just too much. All of you pre internet reef keepers are hard core!

Michael Rice
Marine Engineers Aquarium Blog
Sent from Tapatalk so excuse my poor English