I thought the members here might be interested in how the big boys do things, and I didn't see a more appropriate place, so I'm posting my experiences here.
My wife and I took a vacation last week which included three days in Chattanooga. On the top of my list of things to see was the Tennessee Aquarium. I had been there once about 10 years ago, but wasn't an aquarist myself at the time, so this time I was more interested. A special treat was that they had opened their second building, Ocean Journeys, earlier this year, which increased their total floor space by 50%.
The original building, River Journey, is mostly freshwater, with the major exception being the large Gulf of Mexico tank. The central theme involves a trip from mountain streams though the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico, but includes tanks from all of the world. The centerpiece of the new Ocean Journey exhibit is the Secret Reef, a marine tank that is several times larger than the Gulf exhibit in the other building (I'm sorry that I don't recall the actual numbers, and they're alluding me on their website.). I've been to the Monterey Aquarium, the Baltimore Aquarium and some less significant ones, and have to say that the Tennessee Aquarium is as good or better as any of them.
I was eager to take the behind-the-scenes (BTS) tour. They do it once a day, and it is limited to 15 people. My wife and I didn't arrive at the aquarium until about 12:30, having driven from Huntsville that morning. I thought for sure it would be full (to get on a BTS tour at Sea World, you better be coming through the gate when they open.), but was told they had spots. When we showed up at the members entrance at 3PM for the tour, it was only my wife and I, and an older couple from Ontario. I mentioned to the guides that I was surprised that there weren't more people, and they said they felt that perhaps it wasn't promoted well. I read about the BTS tour on the brochure, but I don't recall it being promoted at the ticket counter, and when I bought my tickets, they tried to sell me on the IMAX film, but not the BTS tour.
On the tour, we started in the pump room underneath the River Journey building. The aquaria are primarily filtered with conventional sand filters, although just bigger than most of us would have. The filters were composite cylinders. We were told it was like a pool filter. Not having a pool, I later looked up pool filters on the internet and found that they look exactly like these, but much smaller. From memory, I'd say the filters were 6-7 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. The guide pointed to similar cylinders and said they were carbon filters. In addition to sand and charcoal filters, the marine tanks had protein skimmers - only they were somewhat larger than that I've seen on home aquaria. The sand filters were backflushed on a regular schedule.
Overall, I was a little amazed that the filtering system was not much different from what hobbyists use. Only bigger and faster. One flow meter was reading 250 gpm - that's gallons per minute. If that were gallons per hour, it would be a nice flow for my aquarium. The other things that surprised me was that the smaller pumps were not some super-duper heavy duty zoo aquarium specialty industrial pumps - they were pretty ordinary pool/spa pumps. I saw several in boxes, as well as the labels on the installed pumps. Many of them were Jacuzzi brand. I assumed these are used for the smaller displays.
I was also surprised that most, if not all, of the piping was PVC. I was expecting metal. I guess PVC has come of age. In addition to the filters, there were large chillers. The entire life system is backed-up by a generator that will run it for several days. (But not the lights, A/C, etc. for the people!). They told us of quite a lot of loss at the New Orleans aquarium because they underestimated the length of time the backup would need to be run.
For the small marine displays and Gulf of Mexico displays in the River Journey building, they used Marineland Instant Ocean (IO) and RO water to fill the aquaria. Boxes of Instant Ocean were stacked on pallets in both buildings. The guide said the IO was not economical for the Secret Reef in Ocean Journey, and they mix their own from chemicals. I did see a pallet of IO in the the Ocean Journey pump room, so I assume they still use it for the smaller displays. Both building contained large mixing vats for mixing the salt water.
Like good aquarists, they had a large room full of quarantine tanks of various sizes. We did not go in there, but could look through the door. We saw the food preparation room - as clean as any restaurant kitchen - and the freezers. The guide took some gelatin vegetable feed, and we went to the edge of the pool for the Gulf exhibit, where we could feed the fish. Two divers were in the water - one wearing a Spiderman costume, and the other, Batman. They were being photographed for an upcoming Halloween promotion. Interestingly, most of the divers are volunteers. Having a Divemaster rating myself, I wish I lived in the area so I could volunteer there.
We went to the pool edge of the Secret Reef. It wasn't very different from the Gulf exhibit, but larger and newer. I was humored that a Marineland Magnum 350 canister filter was sitting on a shelf there - the one that's on my Christmas list. I'm not sure what it was doing there.
Even outside of divers, the aquarium is heavily dependent on volunteers. If I recall correctly, there are over 400 volunteers.
In addition to the museum, the old waterfront area of Chattanooga has been nicely renovated. You can find a number of restaurants within a block of the aquarium, many with outdoor seating. The area is well-lit and seems safe. Do be prepared to pay for parking, though. The parking deck about a block away on Broad Street was $7 for all day. Considering the size and quality of this aquarium, I felt that it was a good value for the money, but I would recommend going on a weekday if at all possible. I certainly recommend adding the BTS tour for a few dollars more.
My wife and I took a vacation last week which included three days in Chattanooga. On the top of my list of things to see was the Tennessee Aquarium. I had been there once about 10 years ago, but wasn't an aquarist myself at the time, so this time I was more interested. A special treat was that they had opened their second building, Ocean Journeys, earlier this year, which increased their total floor space by 50%.
The original building, River Journey, is mostly freshwater, with the major exception being the large Gulf of Mexico tank. The central theme involves a trip from mountain streams though the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico, but includes tanks from all of the world. The centerpiece of the new Ocean Journey exhibit is the Secret Reef, a marine tank that is several times larger than the Gulf exhibit in the other building (I'm sorry that I don't recall the actual numbers, and they're alluding me on their website.). I've been to the Monterey Aquarium, the Baltimore Aquarium and some less significant ones, and have to say that the Tennessee Aquarium is as good or better as any of them.
I was eager to take the behind-the-scenes (BTS) tour. They do it once a day, and it is limited to 15 people. My wife and I didn't arrive at the aquarium until about 12:30, having driven from Huntsville that morning. I thought for sure it would be full (to get on a BTS tour at Sea World, you better be coming through the gate when they open.), but was told they had spots. When we showed up at the members entrance at 3PM for the tour, it was only my wife and I, and an older couple from Ontario. I mentioned to the guides that I was surprised that there weren't more people, and they said they felt that perhaps it wasn't promoted well. I read about the BTS tour on the brochure, but I don't recall it being promoted at the ticket counter, and when I bought my tickets, they tried to sell me on the IMAX film, but not the BTS tour.
On the tour, we started in the pump room underneath the River Journey building. The aquaria are primarily filtered with conventional sand filters, although just bigger than most of us would have. The filters were composite cylinders. We were told it was like a pool filter. Not having a pool, I later looked up pool filters on the internet and found that they look exactly like these, but much smaller. From memory, I'd say the filters were 6-7 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. The guide pointed to similar cylinders and said they were carbon filters. In addition to sand and charcoal filters, the marine tanks had protein skimmers - only they were somewhat larger than that I've seen on home aquaria. The sand filters were backflushed on a regular schedule.
Overall, I was a little amazed that the filtering system was not much different from what hobbyists use. Only bigger and faster. One flow meter was reading 250 gpm - that's gallons per minute. If that were gallons per hour, it would be a nice flow for my aquarium. The other things that surprised me was that the smaller pumps were not some super-duper heavy duty zoo aquarium specialty industrial pumps - they were pretty ordinary pool/spa pumps. I saw several in boxes, as well as the labels on the installed pumps. Many of them were Jacuzzi brand. I assumed these are used for the smaller displays.
I was also surprised that most, if not all, of the piping was PVC. I was expecting metal. I guess PVC has come of age. In addition to the filters, there were large chillers. The entire life system is backed-up by a generator that will run it for several days. (But not the lights, A/C, etc. for the people!). They told us of quite a lot of loss at the New Orleans aquarium because they underestimated the length of time the backup would need to be run.
For the small marine displays and Gulf of Mexico displays in the River Journey building, they used Marineland Instant Ocean (IO) and RO water to fill the aquaria. Boxes of Instant Ocean were stacked on pallets in both buildings. The guide said the IO was not economical for the Secret Reef in Ocean Journey, and they mix their own from chemicals. I did see a pallet of IO in the the Ocean Journey pump room, so I assume they still use it for the smaller displays. Both building contained large mixing vats for mixing the salt water.
Like good aquarists, they had a large room full of quarantine tanks of various sizes. We did not go in there, but could look through the door. We saw the food preparation room - as clean as any restaurant kitchen - and the freezers. The guide took some gelatin vegetable feed, and we went to the edge of the pool for the Gulf exhibit, where we could feed the fish. Two divers were in the water - one wearing a Spiderman costume, and the other, Batman. They were being photographed for an upcoming Halloween promotion. Interestingly, most of the divers are volunteers. Having a Divemaster rating myself, I wish I lived in the area so I could volunteer there.
We went to the pool edge of the Secret Reef. It wasn't very different from the Gulf exhibit, but larger and newer. I was humored that a Marineland Magnum 350 canister filter was sitting on a shelf there - the one that's on my Christmas list. I'm not sure what it was doing there.
Even outside of divers, the aquarium is heavily dependent on volunteers. If I recall correctly, there are over 400 volunteers.
In addition to the museum, the old waterfront area of Chattanooga has been nicely renovated. You can find a number of restaurants within a block of the aquarium, many with outdoor seating. The area is well-lit and seems safe. Do be prepared to pay for parking, though. The parking deck about a block away on Broad Street was $7 for all day. Considering the size and quality of this aquarium, I felt that it was a good value for the money, but I would recommend going on a weekday if at all possible. I certainly recommend adding the BTS tour for a few dollars more.
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