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

[Viktor Jarikov]

Unfortunately a post mortum report.

~17" Murray cod, 2 years old, from Wes. I think killed by Malachite Green treatment I've conducted against some stubborn external parasites in both of my 4500 gal tanks. Used the usual ~3-5 ppm dose. Too much of a coincidence - had two cods eating exceptionally well and growing and both perished within a few weeks after MG treatment. This was the first time all the fish in both 4500's had ever seen Malachite Green. I try to turn to medications as a last resort only, especially as harsh as MG is. I've been told Methylene Blue is far milder and its killing spectrum is wider.

The other cod is ~18". The tail is damaged post mortum, likely by our 6 vulture catfishes.

Interesting fish. Don't like each other at all of course. Swim very little, just sit on the bottom in one spot a long time then move to another in 4500 gal. They preferred catfish farm pellets but did take some thawed fish too. Didn't seem to care if they were in 4500 gal or 240 gal (one per tank in the latter case, of course).

Haven't noted much tank mate interaction, even with other perch and bass-looking fish in 4500 gal.

[Viktor Jarikov]

The other Murray cod:

[Viktor Jarikov]

17 video compilations made of snipets from the 40 min update.

[Martin S]

That's one hell of a collection Viktor! Sorry to hear about the Murray Cod losses, especially as you were only trying to eradicate the chance of disease! Is the 'project' seeing a good footfall? How much work still to do, or is it one of those that are truly never ending?
Thanks
Martin

[Viktor Jarikov]

Hey Martin, thanks. We surely have been making progress, slow but steady. I am finishing the acrylic koi pond window 45'x3.5', got the EDPM rubber liner, next step is to glue the liner to the window and line the pond. I'd say we are 95% complete here. Need one final good push. Will film an update of the koi pond soon, if God is willing.

Once the koi pond is complete with a wet/dry filter containing 7,000 pot scrubbies and pumps and plumbing enabling 40,000-50,000 GPH, I need to:

-- finish the koi pond pavilion, namely walls, doors, and flooring,
-- drill holes and plumb overflows in my ten 240 gal glass tanks in the main pavilion (just one bottom drain proved problematic at times),
-- make the main 12 exhibits child-proof (they bang on the tanks scaring fish no matter signs, no matter parent supervision, etc.!),
-- pave and set up the parking lot and walkways,
-- concrete steps in the main pavilion to make them wheelchair accessible,
-- install a gate and signage on the road,
-- pass my final inspection by Florida Wildlife Commission,
-- get permits to exhibit certain restricted and prohibited species,
-- get my business license and certificate of occupancy, and
-- cut the ribbon.

Right now I have been out of commission with a blown lower back for a week. I need to cut grass on 10 acres - that's two days on my tractor mower. Two roofs in two of our houses on the property started leaking in the rain. An RO booster pump is leaking badly in the pump house. Etc. You know, the usual joys of house owners and business builders, who can't throw money at problems and tasks... they all keep delaying and delaying my project progress.

I've learned to accept it all. When I try to do more, I hurt myself, most usually my lower back. When it gets pretty bad, I could be bed ridden for a week and not being able to work for a whole 3 weeks. Bad disks. What I am having right now is mild. I can walk and serve myself. So this should take a week to start getting back to construction. Don't think I could do anything more or different.

I started building in Feb 2012. So here we are 5+ years later... but don't cry for me, Argentina

[Viktor Jarikov]

Comparison of SJCAM 5000X Elite, $130, shipped direct from China versus GoPro Hero 5 Black, $400 from local Walmart.

Filmed side by side under water.

Tank 21, June 6, 2017.

[crkinney]

Your set up looks great ,keep up the good work.
mule

[Shovelnose]

I started building in Feb 2012. So here we are 5+ years later... but don't cry for me, Argentina

That is a colossal effort there Viktor! Hats off for persevering, reading through the amount of work completed and remaining has made my legs quite rubbery!!

[Viktor Jarikov]

Haha, thanks guys! I appreciate your support and humor.

Now that I am trying to reflect and absorb it all, I would guess that I've been only able to devote half of those 5+ years to actual building due to the aforementioned reasons.

Anyhow, the show marches on. An update on ten 240 gal tanks and all the growouts, what not. June 14, 2017.

I've decided to switch to GoPro camera and sell my SJCAM. So all these are shot by GoPro Hero Black 5. I hope you will notice better clarity and colors.

14 videos.

[Viktor Jarikov]

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[Viktor Jarikov]

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[Viktor Jarikov]

An update on the ~50'x15'x5' koi pond construction:

[bekateen]

That is impressive construction, Viktor. Good luck with the pond.

Cheers, Eric

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thanks, Eric!

45'x14'x5' Rubber liner pond with a 45' window took me about a year to build and very roughly

~$1000 in wood and plywood, screws, etc.
~$2000 in acrylic sheets
~$2000 in acrylic glue
~$1000 rubber liner
~$500 in misc. expenses, Dow 795 sealant, stainless steel bolts, etc.

In sum ~$6500.

Caveats - my aesthetic standards are low and long-term performance of the build is yet to be revealed.

My steps, roughly:

-- dug a sand pit about 1.5-2.5' deep along the house - grade slopes away from the house (by hand, so no formal expense)
-- built the enclosure around the pit and attached it to the house side - 4x4 posts, roof boards, shade cloth, UV-treated tarp on top, insect netting for walls - no expenses included in the numbers above as these are not directly related to the tank construction
-- one 50' wall is the house wall, so built two 15' sidewalls out of wooden posts and doubled up 3/4" plywood, all pressure treated of course
-- built the window, 42 feet x 43 inches to be exact, joining five ~9'x43"x3/4" acrylic panes with four 2' wide posts (posts are outside of the tank) made of laminated sheets of acrylic, posts are 7' tall (~1/2 dug in ground, ~1/2 of the post height is above ground); glued 2'x43"x1/2" panels to each of the 4 joints on the inside, plus 6" wide strip all around the remaining perimeter of each of the 5 acrylic panes inside and out, top and bottom; plus two 3" wide acrylic strips along the top inside and out and a 6" wide acrylic top (to make a T top) along the entire 42' length; the glue is weld on #40 at $550 for 4 gals before shipping from Interstate Plastics, California, took 16 gals; watch and listen to the video above
-- all acrylic is from Craigslist, all cell cast - fish tank appropriate, NOT extruded
----- 9'x43"x3/4" five, $950 all
----- 7'x5'x1/2" eight, $400 all
----- 8'x4'x1/2" five, $600 all
-- attached 60'x20'x45 mil EPDM rubber liner to the window -
----- cross section: window | Dow 795 | liner | 3" wide acrylic strip, 1" thick
----- the 3" strip runs entire length and sides, one piece, made out of 1/2" acrylic
----- the 3" strip compresses the liner and Dow silicone with 1/4" stainless steel 316 marine grade bolts every 4.5", about 100 bolts
----- the vertical sides have no bolts but are screwed to the wooden side posts with stainless steel 6"x5/16" screws
-- dressed the sand pit, made an ~45 degree angle at the window to eliminate blind spot below the grade - the window only shows top 43" of the overall 4'-4.5' depth
-- laid down make shift liner underlayment - 4-5 layers of high quality, thick, used greenhouse plastic, waste scavenged from my neighbor who runs an orchid nursery
-- spread the liner
-- water tested, holds water

That's where we are at. I am fixing the liner to the top perimeter and building a wet/dry filter for the tank that will run on ~7000 nylon mesh pot scrubbers. Projected flow - eight to ten 5000 GPH pumps.

[yellowcat]

For those who may not know, Viktor is located in Naples Florida on the southwest coast and in the dreaded path of Hurricane Irma. He and his family are doing what they can to prepare for the onslaught of wind and water that will surely severely impact the region in the coming days. Viktor is as resourceful as anyone I can think of and we can only hope that he and his family will stay safe and be able to weather the storm as best they can, knowing that so many on this site and others will be hoping and praying for the best outcome that can be under such dire circumstances, for them and everyone else in Florida and beyond...

[Mr Whippy]

Hoping everything will be OK for them.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you, Mr. Whippy and special thanks to Yellowcat for rounding the praying and wishing troops!

The front wall of the eye of Category 3 hurricane Irma hit us Sept 10, 2017 around 2 pm. Around 4 pm it got all quiet - the eye center was traveling over Naples for an hour. Then the back wall continued the battering. Sustained winds of ~120 miles per hour (~190 km/h) with gusts up to ~140 miles per hour (~225 km/h).

I'm narrating the video but if it's hard to hear me over our obnoxiously loud but life-saving generator, I apologize.

All in all, we had been 9 days without power. Just my 7000 running-watts generator. Had to fill it every 7 hours with 5 gal of gasoline. Used ~$50 of gasoline a day at $2.70 a gallon. The first 5 days had to spend ~2 hours in gas lines. Then it got much better.

The generator ran

-- ten 360 watt 5000 GPH pumps
-- one 150 watt 3000 GPH pump
-- fridge and two freezers
-- several lights, laptops
-- a fan (to fall asleep in a 95 F, 75% humidity house)

Not enough power to run the well, RO filters, etc, or supply house with water.

We are ok, most fish are ok. Had 2-3 losses so far. Lots and lots of property damage but structurally everything held up.

A lot of work ahead. That will delay our opening by a few months for sure, if not half a year.

[NCE12940]

Good to hear you made it through without major disasters, and best wishes for the cleanup ordeal!

[Jools]

Yes,I thought about you quite a few times - Irma got a lot of coverage in the media in the UK. Backup generators are the best!

Jools

[amiidae]

Good to hear that you are OK, Viktor.

Money can always earn back !

[Deb]

Hey, Viktor!

I'm so glad to hear you are okay, and came out of the storm without too many losses! You weren't too far from where the storm made landfall, were you? Scary.

As you may remember, my brother lives a few hours from you - remember the pleco rescue conversation? - but was out of town and stayed out until the worst was over. We were in touch the whole time.

Florida folks are survivors! Good luck to you moving forward from this.

Deb

[Mr Whippy]

I'm so glad you have come through basically OK although I can see you have a lot of work ahead of you.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you, guys for the support. The eye of the hurricane went straight over our heads. Yea, a lot of work is still ahead. I have still been working on restoring the main fish pavilion. The roof tarp is new plus had to build up a leaky spot. Now, gotta close up the sides. The cold time is coming. And still sawing and trashing and burning a lot of trees.

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Update on Tank #42 - eighteen lima shovelnose, 2 spotted bullheads, VATF vitattus African tigerfish, tig catfish, African arowana, black shark, albino iridescent shark, orinoco peacock bass, synodontis decorus.

Limas didn't particularly care for the video shoot and shed their slime coat more than usual. The jellyfish-looking things floating in the water column are the slime coat pieces.

[Viktor Jarikov]

My own "I can't believe what my gulper has done" story came to pass after all.

After a year of 5 blochii and 3 gulpers being together in a 240 gal, one of the gulpers swallowed the smallest blochii, which, of course (sarcasm), was the most interesting one to me as it looked different and I tentatively assigned it a Pimelodus tetramerus ID.

It was the sole survivor of 5 I bought in 2011 as tester fish for my new ponds, when we moved to Naples from upstate NY. Three of that batch looked like tetramerus, the rest looked like the usual blochii. All others have been picked off over the years by jau catfish and other predators because they were growing together and couldn't monitor what was happening in those ponds.

The gulper is ~9", the tetramerus was too 8"-9".

Out of the water part of the video is narrated:

[Viktor Jarikov]

An update on the inhabitants of the other part of the same tank behind the divider: 2 dourada catfish, one B. capapretum, and two giant Siamese carp.

I've been having horrible luck with the dourada catfish. Probably over the last year or two I tried about 10 of them, at some point having 6 all at one time. Two were lost to predatory attacks by a gulper (missed the size disparity that creeped up on me because of different growth rate) and, totally unexpectedly, by a piraiba. The rest succumbed to some unknown to me disease, wherein they start spinning and swimming funny and never recover, some within weeks, others after many months. Currently have two in this tank section - one from Mark Chen of Discus Origins at ~5" and one from snookn21 at ~3.5".

As a result of these troubles, I became convinced that I must grow out dourada separately or with the meekest of tank mates to have any shot at raising them to size. Sad to report that after all these attempts, my biggest fish didn't exceed 7"-8".

The story with false piraiba, aka B. capapretum, is pretty similar except that I have not lost any yet - only ever worked with two and, miraculously, still have them, one 2-year old at ~2' and the other that I got this spring, featured in this video, at ~7". But they are very skittish and very touchy and too meek with other tank mates and stress way easily, just like dourada are.

So with capa too, I decided I must by all means try to raise them solo or with most gentle tank mates. In any case, IME and IMO dourada and capa catfish require a LOT more vigilance and observation than others to catch problems in time.

The giant Siamese carp I got from Rapps this spring too. Slow growers and exceedingly shy, they have been pestered in their original tank, so they are in this section until I figure out where to place them. They are ~6". I still have a 16" pair in 4500 gal.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Here is a quick overview of all the fish that we currently keep in ten 240 gal glass tanks and two 4500 gal fiberglass+acrylic tanks. We will also feed the two 4500 gal tanks. Plus show the temporary koi pond, also with feeding, and finally show the still unfinished koi exhibit, which, unfortunately, hasn't been touched since before hurricane Irma, meaning since the end of Aug 2017. We have just barely finished restoring the main fish house housing the 12 tanks but in the process also modified the roof and other structures to eliminate problem spots where rain water used to leak.

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]

[Viktor Jarikov]