What was the deal with fish tanks during the 80s and 90s?
Posted by PurpleCatBlues@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 72 comments
Growing up, it seemed like it was practically mandatory for a household to have at least *one* fish tank. At one point, I had four tanks absolutely filled to the brim with guppies, neon tetras, and platties! And of course there was a time I just *had* to have a giant pleco and angelfish.
What was the obsession? Was it due to movies like "Splash" and "A Fish Called Wanda?" Was there some Big Aquarium conspiracy? And why doesn't anyone seem to keep fish anymore (I know for me it's the upkeep and realizing just how poorly my poor childhood fish were kept)?
Note: image used for attention only - this was NOT a tank I had myself.
Thin_Cable4155@reddit
Back before streaming and the Internet and the rise of DVDs there were large stretches of time with nothing to stare at.
TheSteelFactory@reddit
This, plus i think more money? A fish tank is also an investment and some kind of status symbol: i 'm settled and succeeded in life.
GarminTamzarian@reddit
In what universe is an aquarium an "investment"? It's a fucking black hole of time and money.
TheSteelFactory@reddit
In a time you could by a house with one job in the factory
GarminTamzarian@reddit
So that fish tank your grandparents had back in the 50s appreciated in value over time?
IDontLikeYourToan@reddit
I think they meant personal investment, like, “I put hard work into this hobby and will be paid off with satisfaction”. Not investment as in, “I buy this thing in hopes of financial reward.”
GarminTamzarian@reddit
Their use of the word "investment" in conjunction with the phrase "status symbol" makes me doubt that they were referring to a hobby for personal satisfaction.
Necessary_Piano_153@reddit
I think it's the opposite. Pet stores were at is peak in the 80s and 90s. Pet store chains started expanding and even Kmart and Woolworths had full pet departments.
Once you achieved the middle class life, got a house with a lawn and a fish tank, a bird cage or a gerbil.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
That is absolutely true! I could spend hours watching my fish while daydreaming about getting rich and turning a swimming pool into a sort of pond/springs so I could dress up as a mermaid and swim with them. As I got older, I enjoyed watching their behaviors, the relaxing way they glide around, and how their iridescent scales catch the light. At night, I'd literally dream about owning a giant fish store and walking the endless rows of tanks and admiring the unique and gorgeous creatures inside.
You're right that the rise of technology and social media has changed how I view the world around me.
irate_alien@reddit
this is the best possible ad for a fish tank in today's day and age
slothbuddy@reddit
Funny you should mention DVDs because fish tanks are basically analogue DVD logos bouncing around the screen
Traditional_Cat_60@reddit
Can you can train your fish to hit the corner?
AbominablePloughman@reddit
Made my living working in the aquatics industry for 15 years. The whole thing came crashing down during the financial crises in 2008. People were broke people stopped buying aquariums.
It's a fairly niche hobby now compared to what it was.
Sharessa84@reddit
That's what I figured. Its a combination of people with money to spare and people not having to move around so often. These days buying something that's a money sink which is nearly impossible to move sounds crazy.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
I never thought about it, but you're right 2008 is around the time I noticed a huge decline in friends/neighbors having tanks. I'm sorry it impacted your livelihood like that.
AbominablePloughman@reddit
Thanks but we kept going for the guts of a decade as I was running a fairly specialist shop but we did suffer from losing a lot of casuals.
fromthedarqwaves@reddit
I think one was included with the waterbed.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
Lol! My mom had a Queen waveless waterbed, and I had a Super Single full-wave waterbed, so that definitely tracks!
Haunting-Public-23@reddit
It was likely new tech or price went low enough for many households to afford one.
We had a couple over time.
Late 80s then late 90s..
fromthedarqwaves@reddit
I had one briefly. It was a cheap one and the heater didn’t work. So it was very cold. Just awful.
B_B_Rodriguez2716057@reddit
That’s awful. Those things get ice cold without a heater.
Honestly I miss my waterbed. I slept so well on it. I could actually sleep on my side and not kill my shoulder. I can’t do that anymore. 😒
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
I kept mine through most of college and still miss it!
JWF1@reddit
My waterbed had a tiny leak that I never noticed because I was a dumb teenager. eventually it ended up rotting out the wood and the entire bed fell to pieces when I laid down for bed one night. Thank god my room was in our finished basement so it didn’t cause any real damage.
hiplobonoxa@reddit
it probably is the waterbed.
LazarusDark@reddit
The accuracy of this statement cannot be denied.
Source: literally my parents bedroom in the 90s with the waterbed on one wall and 4 foot wide saltwater tank on the other wall
Jaded-Owl8312@reddit
🤩
BaronVonNes@reddit
My mom had a king sized water bed where the entire headboard was a fish tank in the early 80s. I can still remember the faint hum of the pump taking me to sleep.
catherinecornelius@reddit
You win this thread
Glendale0839@reddit
I don't think I've seen a big fish tank like this in a private home since sometime in the mid-2000s. The only one I can still think of elsewhere that still remains is in the office of a 65 year old solo practice dentist who hasn't remodeled since he opened the office in the 90s.
VicYuri@reddit
Had a fish tank at my grandparents house. It was pretty big I think a fifty or even a seventy five. But I think part of the problem the fish tank was seen as part of the decor versus a habitat for pets. I think that's why when I started working in a pet pet shap and got into fish keeping as a hobby myself. And had to deal with the amount of people who did not see fish as living beings, but as something that was basically decor and could be thrown away or discarded at a whim. There was a great reluctance to provide even the minimal basic care. Think wanting to throw multiple goldfish in a small bow or vase and not caring if they're going to even live more than a few days. There are times I wanted to rip my hair out and scream these are living beings not inanimate objects stop treating them as such.
Kellzy1212@reddit
I work a place that sells fish. It’s so frustrating trying to help people, when they’re unwilling to take basic care of their tank. I tell a ton of parents to go buy a toy fish instead. They’re always mad because they just want a fish to put in a bowl for their kids room. Fish are by far the most mistreated pets from what I’ve seen.
VicYuri@reddit
Sesame street with Elmo's goldfish. I think the named goldie didn't help matters. It got so bad in an episode of another show that centered around animals even had Elmo on the show and showed him how to provide her with a proper home. But they never actually showed Elmo with the new tank on sesame street his fish always remained in the bowl
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
That must have been rough! I know that as I grew up and did more research on various aquatic life I realized just how inhumane the conditions were for some of the fish my family used to keep. It's baffling now how my parents thought a 10 gallon was large enough for some of the fish species we kept. Talk about overcrowding! I'd like to think my parents just didn't realize how large certain fish could get, and how much space they need to thrive.
2nddeadestlennie@reddit
They’re fucking awesome, that’s what!
tmotytmoty@reddit
I had fish and the thing I remember most about having a fish tank is that they ALWAYS leaked. My family was poor
SignificantApricot69@reddit
Idk but I have multiple in my house now. I remember them in a lot of dr offices in the 2000s
The_best_is_yet@reddit
I don't know but this looks like a saltwater tank... absolutely amazing! I can't imagine how hard it was to keep one back then - the hobby has really come a long ways. I had one tank when I was a kid. After many years without one, I now have 2 saltwater tanks (with corals and anemones, hermit crabs, shrimp and fish) and multiple freshwater. I love this hobby!
LocutusOfBeard@reddit
Was? I love my fish tank. It takes up too much of my time and money.
ManateeNipples@reddit
My kid has the fish obsession in our house, but he's 10 with ADHD so I do most of the care taking of our three big ass tanks. They are a lot of work! God forbid you decide to move things around and need to move a 100 gallon tank 🥲
EatsCrackers@reddit
90% water change let’s gooooooooo! lol
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
My son actually has a 10 gallon with an apple snail and some pond snails, but I felt like that didn't really count lol.
greaterwhiterwookiee@reddit
Ironically the only people I knew with tanks growing up were poor like me.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
I do remember there being a bit of a socioeconomic divide: lower class with huge tanks and exotic fish/amphibians, middle class with modest tanks housing relatively cheap/midrange fish, upper-middle class with large tanks and some exotics, and rich with miniature Sea Worlds.
canisdirusarctos@reddit
I think aquariums were status symbols among boomers, like Hi-Fi stereos made from a collection of components in a plexiglass case and the older boomers/silents with their china & curio cabinets.
Poorer people like us had basic fish bowls.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
You're absolutely right! I remember my parents and their friends trying to show off with stuff like that.
kermitcooper@reddit
What is the deal with fish tanks. Do you need to keep an ocean in your living room?
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
That honestly would have been my dream come true! I always wished there was a way to create miniature dolphins I could keep/play with/train at home.
59apache01@reddit
I love watching fish in a tank, but I hate the upkeep. To do it right, it's a lot of work.
Also, maybe it was a regional thing, but I remember when just about every doctor's office had a 55 gallon tank similar to the one pictured in the waiting area.
Relative-Republic130@reddit
Yup.
Doctors Offices for sure. Loved the big one that was at my dentist's office.
Significant_Dog412@reddit
One of my Granddad's had a short tropical fish phase, though he mixed sharks (some sort of small tropical fish breed) and angelfish, and predictably the sharks ate the angelfish.
Age 12, I won two goldfish at a fairground and had the very basic tank for them. One was much bigger and stronger, and eventually tried to eat the little one.
Cisru711@reddit
We had 2 ten gallon tanks. I think my parents thought it would be a way to have pets without messing up the house. They kept the tanks going for decades, until their extensive vacation travel made it too much of a hassle to keep on top of.
Siphoneder@reddit
We had a "small" fresh water fish tank in the kitchen. Seems like my mom was regularly having to clean that shit out and deal with dead fish. My dad bought a large salt water tank that sat in the garage and a large wooden stand for it that sat in our bonus room for 30+ years taking up space. They sold the house I grew up in a few years ago and left the stand because it was too difficult to remove, but my dad insisted on having the movers load up that fucking tank because he wanted to eventually get it working... even though he can't afford it, can't physically maintain it, and the tank is 30+ years old and probably not worth using at this point. Now it sits outside their new house likely rotting away and continuing to take up space. Whenever I think of spending money on some pie in the sky vanity project for myself, I just remind myself of that fucking fish tank and how much I do not want to become my father.
Apprehensive_Map64@reddit
Because TV sucked back then
SilverAsparagus2985@reddit
The red lobster aesthetic was all the rage.
Sufficient_Turn_9209@reddit
I don't ever remember a time my dad didn't keep a fish tank. I have pictures of my parents in their first house with an angelfish tank in the background (1961). He also had a guppy tank in his office that was so full you couldn't count the guppies (his fun little joke when we were there "I've been meaning to count those. Could you do that for me?") I aquascape now as a hobby so the fish are kind of secondary, but I've always had some form of aquarium since my own first home in 2000. For a while I even had a fish room when I was breeding and selling angelfish.
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johnb300m@reddit
Kinda like TVs, there was a philosophy to make them look like furniture.
serpentarienne@reddit
It was like a miniature living Wyland painting
unlovelyladybartleby@reddit
Now having a fish tank over a certain size impacts your home or renters insurance and many apartment buildings limit or ban fish tanks, so people are less likely to start. There's also more understanding that you can be cruel to fish, so it's less common to just throw yourself into fish keeping without spending a lot of time and money on it.
Randa08@reddit
Less online stuff to do. No mobiles.
dispassioned@reddit
Yeah, both of my parents had them in the 80s. My dad kept them until he died, a giant aquarium in the same spot.
We have a small planted tank currently with a betta fish and some shrimp, couple of snails. We keep it small because we move often and don't want anything larger. And it's expensive and takes so much time. I have like a job and two side hustles, I don't have time for an aquarium. But the moving thing is the biggest deal. Boomers almost never seemed to move back then.
Negative-Wrap95@reddit
Like everything in the 80s it was showing off.
ManiacRichX@reddit
We could afford them.
smooth_grooves@reddit
That era felt like a consumerist experiment of seeing how many gadgets, gismos and features we could add to our homes. Then at some point we realized we had too much junk.
DooficusIdjit@reddit
They became affordable, and they were neat. It’s extremely relaxing to many people to just watch the fish swim about.
TheVenetianMask@reddit
Probably the fancier imported fish went along the '80s obsession with anything Japan-ish.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
That's a very good point!
catcherofsun@reddit
This was before screens took over. At least that’s my guess. Lava lamps and fish tanks are great to watch
mrekted@reddit
Holy shit, you just named every fish my step father kept to the last.
PurpleCatBlues@reddit (OP)
LOL!
Oh trust me, I ended up having way more that that as I headed into college. I was absolutely obsessed with both freshwater and saltwater, and my (now late) husband just fueled the fire. After we had a kid and my husband passed, I downsized to a single 10 gallon so my kid could see things like tadpoles turn into frogs. Now the 10 gallon just has an apple snail and some pond snails, because my son is more interested in reptiles.
Jokierre@reddit
Perfect Xennial memory. The truly weird examples were the full-on wall treatments that some of these houses had. Always with angled boards.
emptybeetoo@reddit
I tore down my aquariums when my kids were little since I didn’t have enough time for the aquariums. Now that they’re mostly grown, I’ve gotten back into aquariums. Still enjoyable!
edasto42@reddit
I know they’re still going strong by the amount of aquarium stores in my area. But this reminds me of when my cunty older sister and her twerpy husband bought a really big one and needed help to move it and called 15 year old me to help. No don’t that thing was heavy-especially for a 15 year old. But it made it worse because she didn’t help, and her husband had about as much strength as an angry toddler. I’m surprised it didn’t get dropped