My Public Aquarium: exhibit blues - how to make them?

[bekateen]

Dang you have an impressive collection of fish Viktor. Thanks for the videos.

How is your construction going? Any update worth sharing?

Cheers, Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

I am a hoarder and it shows. But thanks, Eric!

Hurricane Irma threw us back 6 months or so. Still trying to reach the point where we were before it in Sept 2017. But doing some new things too - paving driveway and parking lot. The 25,000 gal koi exhibit is still in shambles - I have just posted an update on the exhibit a few posts up.

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[bekateen]

Yeah, I saw those videos above, but I didn't know how they fit in the bigger picture. Thanks and good luck with the ongoing recovery.

Cheers, Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you, Eric, our main tinkering man

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[grokefish]

Wow Viktor! I could watch those tanks for hours

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thanks, Matt! Means a lot coming from you

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[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[bekateen]

What a jerk loach!

[Viktor Jarikov]

What a jerk loach!

More here: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... st-7889910

[bekateen]

Thanks for the link, Viktor.

I've never kept loaches like these (or similar). They look so pretty, but I've never read anything good about their personalities.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Hi all, a couple of weeks ago Zak, aka Zak Catch'em All, and Joey, aka Slay'em, from Miami, Florida came over to our place to adopt one of our RTC named Ketchup and one of our unnamed pacu. Zak on the fly offered to film it for me, which I greatly appreciated. Of course, I had to find a way to look like an idiot, which was easy this time around - just put on split pants when you go wading in your fish tank. That'll do it. I beg your forgiveness for this, guys. The catching took a while because having tired of mending ripped nets, I use makeshift nets out of old bed linen. On the minus side, some materials are more dense and don't let air or water through that easily. So I struggled with the slowness of the net when in the water - can't swing it at all! Still, caught the two fish and the guys have done a super job the rest of the way. The fish have been doing great, I hear, in their new digs in Miami. Zak and Joey are great guys, who I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and interacting with. I am so happy that there are people like these two in our hobby.

Zak's channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7MCFU ... VDl7gT7BRA

Joey's channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Pv2_ ... oe1Rt_U5IQ

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[bekateen]

Wow, Viktor, every time I watch your videos I'm impressed with the amazing work you do.

Keep it up, man.

Cheers, Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you, Eric. That's kind of you.

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-- Pumping down the semi-natural koi pond, treating koi against external parasites with potassium permanganate, rehoming into the 25,000 gal exhibit;
-- catching freeloaders 10 cubic feet worth (!) - three kinds of Armageddon fish of steel tilapia, mayan cichlid, and walking catfish plus Florida gar and sunfish - most go into freezer, some into fish tanks;
-- in and out of water in 4500 gal and in the brand new koi exhibit with feeding.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Usually their enthusiasm is through the roof, so this is not the best example but will do for the first try at this video. The gang is used to feed on saltwater cuisine without bright lights (only dim lights in the back). Instead, they are being offered freshwater fish (colonizers from the koi pond pump down) in bright light. So they are showing their dismay.

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Mr Whippy]

This is just literally, mind blowing! What else can I say

[taksan]

First time I’ve checked this out for 7 years Victor... I can’t believe how far you have come and how well you have gone to realise your dream. How are Jack’s tanks holding up?

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you, guys, I appreciate it.

First time I’ve checked this out for 7 years Victor... I can’t believe how far you have come and how well you have gone to realise your dream. How are Jack’s tanks holding up?

Wow... Hi Taksan! I feared we'd never cross paths again. It's been such a long time both here and on MFK. I still tell people every now and then about your legendary 27-year old RTC pair. We need you around, especially on MFK, to help and educate new generations of monster fish keepers.

Thank you for the kind review. I think we are on a home stretch, need to finish the pavilion around the 25,000 gal koi pond and get my Certificate of Occupancy, business license, and prohibited fish licenses and open for business.

Jack and his crew at Dolphin Fiberglass Products are great, they build the highest quality, sturdiness, and durability tanks for the money. They take no risks, nor cut corners to save money for clients or themselves, which in this wet business is the only way to go really, if one aims to uphold their company name and longevity. Hence, you pay a fair price for a great tank. Jack's never had a shortage of orders. There is always a line of people at his door but he still operates same small scale with a crew of half a dozen or so. Wonderful guy to deal with. He would seriously entertain my "novel tank designs" spending hours on them and drawing prints but after he mulls it over with George, his foreman, he always refuses and prefers to stay with what they know how to make and how to make safely.

[taksan]

They are still alive and kicking in the same pond too ! I lost my beloved Tigrinus in 2016 after about 14 years I think and that caused me a lot of distress. I felt so privileged to have him for so long and grow him so big from a tiny little kitten. I only have 2 mixed tanks and the pond now but I’ve just retired and I’m now going to get back into it and get a few more tanks.

[bekateen]

It's been such a long time both here and on MFK. I still tell people every now and then about your legendary 27-year old RTC pair. We need you around, especially on MFK, to help and educate new generations of monster fish keepers.

Viktor, is MFK still open? I thought it closed.

Cheers, Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

They are still alive and kicking in the same pond too ! I lost my beloved Tigrinus in 2016 after about 14 years I think and that caused me a lot of distress. I felt so privileged to have him for so long and grow him so big from a tiny little kitten. I only have 2 mixed tanks and the pond now but I’ve just retired and I’m now going to get back into it and get a few more tanks.

Your RTCs are still around?? No way! Really? I guess my memory failed me as I thought they have passed on. Those must have been someone else's RTCs. So how old yours are now, 34 years old? Sorry to hear about your tig. Fourteen years is a very respectable time. I am thoroughly amazed you are able to keep fish for such long times. I think you should make a thread and update everyone on what happened to you in the last 7 years and what you are keeping and doing now. Your comeback and info buried in my thread will not get any attention they deserve.

Viktor, is MFK still open? I thought it closed.

Hey Eric, I don't know what are talking about. MFK has been fine and 100,000 strong. I don't know if you are referring to the "Monster" in the name, that Monster Drinks Co has stupidly challenged in court (and lost) or if you are remembering good old "Waterwolves" that indeed perished long time ago, about 7-8 years.

[bekateen]

Hey Eric, I don't know what are talking about. MFK has been fine and 100,000 strong. I don't know if you are referring to the "Monster" in the name, that Monster Drinks Co has stupidly challenged in court (and lost) or if you are remembering good old "Waterwolves" that indeed perished long time ago, about 7-8 years.

LOL, No I was thinking of MFK... Or that's my (frail) memory, anyway. Being that my largest fish (ever) is a 5" mustard spot, I'm not a monster fish keeper myself and was only on the MFK site occasionally to follow posts of yours and others also associated with PlanetCatfish. But I have a recollection from someone... @amiidae maybe...stating that because of the negative impact of modern social media platforms like Facebook on activity at pages like MFK, that MFK would be closing its forum. And since I don't frequent that site anyway due to the non-monstrous nature of my own fish, I wasn't following closely enough to know different in the meantime.

It must have been a different fish site I was thinking of.

Cheers, Eric

[taksan]

Your RTCs are still around?? No way! Really? I guess my memory failed me as I thought they have passed on. Those must have been someone else's RTCs. So how old yours are now, 34 years old? Sorry to hear about your tig. Fourteen years is a very respectable time. I am thoroughly amazed you are able to keep fish for such long times. I think you should make a thread and update everyone on what happened to you in the last 7 years and what you are keeping and doing now. Your comeback and info buried in my thread will not get any attention they deserve.

Your memory is good Victor...yes the old fellow passed away after I think 29 years it was ...but the two kittens I got in 2001 I think it was are still going strong. I will provide updates when I can decide how I’m going to go forward. Have you got your Florida aquaculture permit yet so you can keep rays?