Confessions of a Monster Fish Keeper

RebelRiver

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 11, 2015
12
1
0
Las Vegas, Nevada
I bought one FRT from a member on MFK in March/April 2014... then sometime in the summer, someone posted 2 pairs for sale on MFK.. the ad was taken down shortly after because MFK does not allow FRT sales. Anyways.. I was able to see the ad before it was deleted and contacted the seller. The seller claimed he had an adult pair of mated FRT's that were 20 years old and another pair that were around 12 years old. At first I was skeptical, I asked for pictures and videos... in one of the videos provided I did see the adult female leave the water and start digging in a sandy area! This was enough for me to pull the trigger. I rounded 2 of my buddies and we decided to hit the road the following morning but didn't get going until 3pm....OC coffee shops and a tune up slowed us down!:ROFL: Los Angeles to OKC is roughly a 19hr drive, nonstop.:screwy: So, we drove nonstop from LA to OKC with the exception of gas and food stops and it ended up taking 22 hours. Met up with the seller(kool dude) and he had the turtles separated in rubber holding tubs filled half way with water. When I asked the seller why they were in the tubs.. the seller pulled one of the partitions and the male instantly mounted the female... I mean.. within one minute he was on top of her doing his thing! So we packed up the turtles and the seller wanted to give us a whole bunch of things(rubbermaid tubs, pumps, intex pool...etc) but since we drove in my buddy's tacoma that had a snugtop.. we were unable to fit much more than the FRT's. These guys are BIG! Long story short, we left for home and barely escaped a storm that had multiply funnels that were forming. We made it back around 1pm... time elapsed... 45 hrs. No sleep and we were all beginning to smell a bit! lol

So I guess my answer is Yes, John. I have a full set of TMNT and Splinter too!
That's a crazy story! Glad everything worked out for you.
 

jlnguyen74

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2007
7,553
922
174
United Species of Arowana
:ROFL: He's just gonna say my collection is worth 25 cents. Thanks for inviting him tho!:ROFL:
It's more like, "they're common, cheap, not collectable, readily available, but my runner won't sell to you, or I can't find any pictures..." :grinno:
 

vincentwugwg

Gold Tier VIP
MFK Member
Oct 22, 2013
3,071
6,711
3,354
New York Mets
I have an interesting story to share... I got my first Tigerfish from Vince's (this is the only place where I saw a freshwater Bullshark for sale)in the San Gabriel Valley (S. Cali) off Valley blvd x San Gabriel blvd in the mid 80's. Saved for almost a year before I could afford it(was in Jr. High then). They had 3 for sale, the smallest one was going for $750 and the other two were $950 and $1500. By the time I was ready for the small one... they had sold him a week earlier. Luckily my mom was willing to pay the difference so I was able to buy the next size up. The tigerfish(8 inches) survived for about 2 months before my Mala decided to taste test him. Costly mistake back then. :( Back in the days.. it was only 'Tigerfish'.. that's it.. no TATF, VATF, GATF etc..just Tigerfish! haha It would be years before I buy another VATF. This time around.. I think it was 1992-93.... I bought my 2nd Tigerfish from Sam of Cathy's in Alhambra CA. The tigerfish was barely 2.5 inches and I had to feed her baby guppies for almost 2 weeks before she could take normal sized guppies. Started her in a 20 gallon tank... 2 months later.. 100 gallon tank. A few months after that I got her a 180... then I upgraded to an 800 gallon tank. Almost destroyed my sister's house trying to bring that tank in.:ROFL:(tore a big hole in her wall) And we had 10 guys helping out! Had this girl for 3 years and got her to over 24 inches before I lost her in a move. Bummer! :cry: I braved the waters again a few years later but lost interest quickly because my hobby was beginning to feel like a job and gave up ATF fish keeping for 17 whole years! When I got back into this wonderful hobby (1 year ago) and my second purchase was a group of 10 VATFs. They are all alive and well! One of my goals is to grow these guys out to at least 24 inches... would be an awesome looking pack, wouldn't you all agree?! In case anyone was wondering...My first purchase after my 17 year hiatus was an Aimara!:grinno:
 

D.Wolf

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2013
362
4
18
Slovenia, Europe
A 750g tank?? Thats my most wet drooling dreams that will never get true..but i would definetely sell everything else before tank :)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

jlnguyen74

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2007
7,553
922
174
United Species of Arowana
I have an interesting story to share... I got my first Tigerfish from Vince's (this is the only place where I saw a freshwater Bullshark for sale)in the San Gabriel Valley (S. Cali) off Valley blvd x San Gabriel blvd in the mid 80's. Saved for almost a year before I could afford it(was in Jr. High then). They had 3 for sale, the smallest one was going for $750 and the other two were $950 and $1500. By the time I was ready for the small one... they had sold him a week earlier. Luckily my mom was willing to pay the difference so I was able to buy the next size up. The tigerfish(8 inches) survived for about 2 months before my Mala decided to taste test him. Costly mistake back then. :( Back in the days.. it was only 'Tigerfish'.. that's it.. no TATF, VATF, GATF etc..just Tigerfish! haha It would be years before I buy another VATF. This time around.. I think it was 1992-93.... I bought my 2nd Tigerfish from Sam of Cathy's in Alhambra CA. The tigerfish was barely 2.5 inches and I had to feed her baby guppies for almost 2 weeks before she could take normal sized guppies. Started her in a 20 gallon tank... 2 months later.. 100 gallon tank. A few months after that I got her a 180... then I upgraded to an 800 gallon tank. Almost destroyed my sister's house trying to bring that tank in.:ROFL:(tore a big hole in her wall) And we had 10 guys helping out! Had this girl for 3 years and got her to over 24 inches before I lost her in a move. Bummer! :cry: I braved the waters again a few years later but lost interest quickly because my hobby was beginning to feel like a job and gave up ATF fish keeping for 17 whole years! When I got back into this wonderful hobby (1 year ago) and my second purchase was a group of 10 VATFs. They are all alive and well! One of my goals is to grow these guys out to at least 24 inches... would be an awesome looking pack, wouldn't you all agree?! In case anyone was wondering...My first purchase after my 17 year hiatus was an Aimara!:grinno:
I agree with my whole heart! I bought a group of 40 a couple of years ago for the same goal, down to 22-24 when they reached 10"-14", with 5 VATF, 3 TATF, and the rest were GATF. I got excited and moved them into bigger tank with the bichir. You wouldn't believe the outcome.... :nilly:

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gangster

Arapaima
MFK Member
Apr 17, 2008
13,418
709
201
mountains
Wow! Im not sure I know what to say. Vincent you have pushed the hobby beyond the limits most can think of. The sheer size and numbers of fish and gallons of water is incredible! And im sure your not even done yet. Hats off to you buddy! I hope one day we can all have a mfk meet at your office. THis is dedication to the fullest. But your missing some cichla ;)

Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate it!
 
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