Eye opener at the Atlanta Aquarium

[Nonfamous]

With all the troubles I've had at home with my tank, a friend and former AA chemist suggested I go with him to the aquarium. Long story short, I don't feel so bad about my tank right now! Two things I saw, fish wise, that really shocked me.

1 were the Chromis. If mine get as big as the ones there, I'm in trouble! They were every bit of 5 inches long and FAT! 2 was the one spot FoxFaces they had. Again, if mine gets that big, I'm in deep trouble! Not one or two, but nearly all of them were 10" - 12" long and FAT! I know some of a fishes size has to do with its environment, but goodness these things were big. The only normal, tank sized, fish I saw were the Damsels and Blennies.

I was complaining about filtering my little 114 gallon system. They can filter 22,000 + gallons a MINUTE in that place. I guess when you have 6 million + gallons it takes some serious filtering to keep those tanks habitable.

I wish I could have taken pictures of the behind the scenes stuff, but I wasn't allowed. Some really impressive people working there. They know their stuff for sure. Several had small tanks at home and loved to talk about them. I even got to touch one of the Dolphins! Really great stuff.

 

[little_fish]

Sounds like a fun adventure!

 

[motorcyclereefer]

That does sound like fun. I can't believe they wouldn't allow pictures of the background works. At the Gatlinburg aquarium they have the machinery in a room that is open to viewing. But I would love to take a behind the scenes tour of an aquarium.

 

[Smitty]

Sounds awesome...i remember going behind the scenes of the tampa bay aquarium for my birthday.

 

[kbuser92]

I hate you all...

 

[chichimom79]

ROFL! Yep, I'm pretty jealous as well. Sounds like a blast! Glad you had fun.

 

[Nonfamous]

Getting a shot at seeing behind the scenes was awesome. Some of the smaller tanks you see are actually MUCH bigger. One tank for jellyfish had a turnover rate of 200% per MINUTE!

What I did find interesting is that they rely on the same live rock/bacterial filtration we do in the home envorment. They just supliment theirs a little bit! They also feed restaurant grade sea food to the whole aquarium. The "kitchen" area was SPOTLESS. If something hit the floor it went in the trash and not simply rinsed and used anyway.

 

[hoopsdaddy]

Very cool. The wife and I want to take a trip out to see this Aquarium. Is the behind the scenes something that I can add on to a ticket or do you have to know someone?

 

[Samhain]

Nah. You can just add it on. I will recommend, if you're coming out this far anyway, take a ride up to Chattanooga during your visit and check out their aquarium. Not quite as large, but less crowded, and IMHO a nicer aquarium as well. I think we'll be going there sometime in late March or early April.

 

[Nonfamous]

You can add it on but of you know someone you can get way behind the scenes. Be. Areful though, they might expect you to work!

 

[kbuser92]

Oh damn, what a shame that would be!