NANFA-- antique aquarium stuff

Nicholas J. Zarlinga (njz_at_clevelandmetroparks.com)
Sun, 25 Nov 2001 02:19:49 -0500

Your aquarium pump sounds neat! Antique aquaria collecting is sort of a
small little cult that has been getting more and more popular. I have a
friend who is really into it and has some neat pumps that are older than
what you discribed. His pump has a vertical mounted disk that rotates by a
magnet and works as a piston type pump. I have been collecting old
aquarium periodicals for a while. It is neat to look at the ads from the
early and mid 1900's to see the technology. One day I would love to set up
a display which would show the history of aquaria keeping, using some of
the old pumps that you are talking about. If you ever see an old aquarium
with an iron frame and turrets on the for or six corners (for a hex tank)
let me know! The old victorian tanks are getting rarer and rarer. Check
out ebay and you will see more than you could ever imagine. Makes me wish
I would have saved some of my childhood setups.

Nick Zarlinga
Aquarium Biologist
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
216-661-6500 ex 4485

"Fish worship... is it wrong??" (Ray Troll)

Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 09:00:26 -0600
From: "Hoover, Jan J ERDC-EL-MS" <HOOVERJ_at_wes.army.mil>
Subject: NANFA--antique aquarium paraphernalia

A friend gave me some old aquarium supplies that included an odd-looking
air
pump. The "VibraPower" pump is a single-outlet type but is large ( 16 x 8
cm
x 7 cm), heavy, with a gold-colored solid metal housing. It has a tiny
intake port (with air filter) and two empty chambers at each end (to reduce
noise?). Like automobiles of the 50s, it is oversized, overengineered,
with
plenty of working room around the motor. I am gussing it to be late 50s
early 60s vintage.

This has me wondering what happens to all the historical artifacts of the
aquarium hobby. Does anyone collect old aquarium paraphernalia ?

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