Sam Jacoby

On Youth and Aquariums

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I’ve been returning to aquariums with a force, lately, rigging-up a new set-up with a couple of neon tetras and a dozen-odd cherry chrimp that I picked up from Ebay.1 I got started with aquariums years ago, in elementary school—I don’t recall why, exactly—but perhaps it had something to do with growing up by Allan’s Aquarium, one of the finest fish stores around.

At any rate, with aquariums on the mind, I dredged up my very first forays onto the Internet. These are gems from the rec.aquaria usenet, now archived on Google Groups. I remember posting these, sitting on my dad’s lap on the dial-up that we had from UCLA.

Here’s a sample, posted in September of 1996:

My angel fish laid eggs. What do I do

Sam Jacoby

Russell Jacoby (rja…@ucla.edu) wrote: My angel fish laid eggs. What do I do

Sam Jacoby

Buy cigars…

Jeff Walther

9/18/96

Thanks, Jeff!

The rest, on subjects as diverse as lighting levels and fungus, follow:

  1. A First Query
  2. Help!
  3. My Angelfish Laid Eggs
  4. Yep, they laid eggs
  5. Now the eggs have fungus
  6. Those babies are swimming around
  7. I can’t keep my plants alive.
  8. I got some frogs
1.

Shipped for 12 bucks from Florida, USPS priority. Arrived alive and kicking. A bit of a miracle in the heart of winter.