[GrampsGrunge]

I was inspired by a new book I got in 1989, for my birthday.

I don't even think it's available any more: Jorge Vierke's The Natural Aquarium. Later, in 1994 my sister came by to visit and brought a VCR camera and we did a 38 minute presentation of my three heavily planted, display tanks: A 40 gallon long, 45 gallon high and a 32 gallon high.

These are some images I've been (very crudely) trying to transfer to digital JPEG images from the old and static speckled VCR tape.

So yeah, a lot of speckles, Moire, and color banding problems, but I think it does a fair job of capturing what these tanks were like.

 

[Darkblade48]

Very nice aquariums!

On a side note, you should be able to get a video capture card that can connect from the analog out of the VCR into a USB port. That way, you can seamlessly convert your tapes to a digital format.

 

[GrampsGrunge]

Very nice aquariums!

On a side note, you should be able to get a video capture card that can connect from the analog out of the VCR into a USB port. That way, you can seamlessly convert your tapes to a digital format.

Yes, I've been looking into VHS to DVD converters.

The fish I miss most from these tanks are the Goldeneye Dwarf Ciclids and the Dicrossus Filamentosus pair. What personalities these little fish had.

Surprized me that the flock of Corydoras Pygmaeus in the 45G managed to spawn and have a couple survive with the Checkerboards patrolling the tank looking for food. But it was pretty overrun with stem and Water Sprite.

Cheers.

 

[thedood]

@GrampsGrunge I have a capture card you can have if you want and I can find it. I think I know where it is but we are doing major remodeling of our house and some stuff is shuffled away but if you want it I will send it to you. It is an internal pci card for desktops.

 

[GrampsGrunge]

@GrampsGrunge I have a capture card you can have if you want and I can find it. I think I know where it is but we are doing major remodeling of our house and some stuff is shuffled away but if you want it I will send it to you. It is an internal pci card for desktops.

You know that would be awesome! If you track it down, as I have an old desktop with a free pci slot. PM me.

Thanks.

 

[loach guy]

That's pretty cool!

 

[GrampsGrunge]

From the best of my memory of these tanks equipment, flora and fauna.

First and last images are of the 32H. It had a 125 watt, internally phosphored Mercury vapor lamp in a pendant fixture. This is the tank that I had made a DIY substrate heating system that used the lamp's ballast heat, wrapped in a layer of silicone airline tubing to heat water and then circulated it in a grid under the sand and gravel substrate. I was also using Thiel Aquatech's Laterite, under the layer of gravel/sand. ( Which was really expensive back then, about $18.00 for a pound.) I was using DIY, yeast/sugar CO2 'injection' directly into a old school Metaframe HOB power filter's output. and adding a very miniscule amount of a terrestrial Iron and micro nutrient ETDA chelated fertilizer every other week with 25% percent water changes. This tank grew plants like crazy!

Flora was: Java Fern and Moss, Hygrophila Polysperma, Heteranantha Zosterofolia, Rotala Indica and Macrandra, some little various young echinodorus "melon' and a huge Water Sprite growing immersed in the HOB power filter's over sized media box.

Fish: a mated pair of Goldeneye Dwarf ciclids.
6 Flame tetras,
A bunch of Green and regular Neons that schooled like they were co-specifics,
4 or 6 Glowlight Tetras,
1 grumpy, fat Panaqolus Maccus or Clown Pleco,
4 Hara Jerdoni, or Indian Anchor Catfish the LFS were hilariously calling 'Woodbark Cats'. I think the Clown Pleco was a bit pissed at the Hara for taking his special driftwood cave under the clump of Java Moss.

You would never suspect it had any other fish in it except for the Neons, which stayed out in the current. The remaining tetras liked to play in the Rotala and Zosterfolia forests.

cont.....