BX OceaLife / BXSea - New Oceanarium in Bintaro

Fargusno

Fargusno

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
In case you don't know, an oceanarium is being built in the new expansion area for Bintaro XChange, replacing the old park and jogging track. Their aim is to finish building by the end of 2021, but it won't open until 2022. Aside from the oceanarium, there will also be a new park, another mall and even a hotel (kinda like Pondok Indah Mall right now, but PIM has no aquarium although it is rumored that PIM 3 will have a towering cylinder aquarium similar to the Aquadom in Berlin or the Oceania Shopping Center in Moscow). However, the construction was halted for a while in March 2020 due to the pandemic. The construction resumed when lockdowns around Indonesia ended in early June 2020. Since the construction was slightly halted, the oceanarium might open slightly later, probably mid-2022.

I talked with a staff during my visit to Bintaro XChange yesterday while playing Pokémon GO. The mall staff said that the oceanarium will have "big sharks", as well as otters and "long-snouted crocodiles". I'm suspecting the big shark would be either Sand Tiger or Sandbar Shark, and the long-snouted crocodile would be either False Gharial or Indian Gharial. Anyhoo, I can't wait to go here. So far, the building is already taking shape, around 30% in progress.

https://elshinta.com/news/184445/20...a-oceanarium-mirip-sea-world-ancol-di-bintaro

 
However, the construction was met with negative remarks. Many people, especially Bintaro denizens complained that the decision to build an expansion area in top of their much-beloved park is a bad decision. The park was reduced into a small section with trees and a koi pond, and the kids area with the dinosaur statues is demolished. As a result, the mall faced losses and it wasn't too crowded as usual.

Bintaro XChange felt like a dying horse as a result. They had to close their ice skating rink and some other tenants.

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Fargusno said:
However, the construction was met with negative remarks. Many people, especially Bintaro denizens complained that the decision to build an expansion area in top of their much-beloved park is a bad decision. The park was reduced into a small section with trees and a koi pond, and the kids area with the dinosaur statues is demolished. As a result, the mall faced losses and it wasn't too crowded as usual.
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Well, I guess knowing the Indonesian people, the aquariums would even be much more crowded
 
Nandito said:
Well, I guess knowing the Indonesian people, the aquariums would even be much more crowded
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Heck yea. This will be a huge contender to Jakarta Aquarium and SeaWorld Ancol in the coming future, if it's bigger than them. But considering the space where the oceanarium is being built, I doubt it's going to be bigger than SeaWorld Ancol. Since this is a privately-owned aquarium, it might be kinda pricey like Jakarta Aquarium.

So, on the 2020s (2021-2030) we got Piamari and Bintaro Oceanarium. This decade will be a big decade for Indonesian aquaria compared to the 2010s (2011-2020). The 2010s was more of a zoo-oriented decade with Faunaland, Predator Fun Park and Lembang Park & Zoo and only one new aquaria, Jakarta Aquarium.
 
Went to BXChange again after almost a year of not going there, and I saw the oceanarium slowly taking shape after a rather snail-paced progress thanks to July 2021's emergency lockdown caused by the hellish Delta variant, from the looks of it it should be 50% at best. Might take 12 months or so to finish, so expect opening next July if there aren't any slowdowns again. Should there be no pandemic, the building should be finished by this year.

Also, I found out that the name of the oceanarium is called BX OceaLife. Apparently constructed and designed by Biru Mas Asri, same designers as SeaWorld Ancol and Jakarta Aquarium.

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Here's BX OceaLife's logo and trademark

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BX Ocealife is now known as BXSea, and it's aiming to open by the end of this year
Official Instagram account: BX Sea Bintaro Jaya (@bxsea_official) • Instagram photos and videos

Worth noting that the logo is a hammerhead shark, but whether they will keep hammerhead sharks or not is unknown. Also worth nothing that the ones that built this are Jaya Group, same as SeaWorld Ancol.
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Mossman Joe said:
It seems the aquariums have been partially filled, so far seeing pretty usual aquarium-stock, no hammerheads in sight :(

JKTGO - Jakarta City Guide, News & Lifestyle! on Instagram: "OCEANARIUM & BOTANICA DISTRICT AKAN BUKA SOON di Bintaro Jaya X Change - areanya seluas 7.354 meter persegi dan akan ada 36 biota laut dan air tawar dalam 4,5 juta liter air. Gak sabar buka!! Untuk saat ini belum jadi ya guys, belum ada ikan ikannya. Disclaimer: ( video teaser ya belum jadi, belum ada ikan ikannya, masih decor dan konstruksinya) video yang ada aquariumnnya itu gambaran, akan jadi wahana aquarium kira kira seperti itu kalau sudah jadi. Cc: Ekafitriahikmah & Miinttraveldiary #jktgo"
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What made me wondering was the waterfall exhibit. Is it for arapaimas or for crocodiles. I hope for the latter.
 
 
 
Ok, from their few Instagram posts and the posts you guys share, this aquarium seems rather promising. The interior design seems to me inspired by both SeaWorld Ancol and Jakarta Aquarium, with a bit of the more modern, underwater aesthetic design of Jakarta Aquarium and the nostalgic murals and temple-inspired design of SeaWorld Ancol and also Ancol in general. Though I gotta say, the jaguar or leopard statue is really ugly.

Mossman Joe said:
It seems the aquariums have been partially filled, so far seeing pretty usual aquarium-stock, no hammerheads in sight :(
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Worth noting though that the footage of the fishes and the filled tank are just placeholders according to the post you share, so it don't really mean much. On a side note, it's mentioned that the aquarium will be around 7.354 m² and will have around 36 species of saltwater and freshwater fauna, though that number could expand in the future. It was also mentioned that there will be a 4.5 million litres tank, though the post didn't specified what tank it will be thought there's possibility that it could be the main tank.

Regarding that freshwater pool, from the concept art they gave it seems to be rather small for some arapaimas. I haven't seen the full-design of the pool in real size, so I couldn't say much. Though I hope there will a underwater viewing of the arapaima pool.

Again, I find this aquarium to be very promising aside from some interior designs that I didn't really like. I genuinely hoped that this aquarium won't gradually fumbled the way Jakarta Aquarium did, with the forcing of a "Safari" theme and generally bad exhibit choice. Species choice and curating is also very important, just avoid getting unnecessary (Like in JAQ) species and stopped putting these species in an enclosure that didn't fit with their themes and also needs (Like the coconut crab that used to be displayed in JAQ). I have doubt that they will do their freshwater section justice, knowing the common mismashing of large freshwater fish from different geographical locations and the use of human-made color morphs, hybrids, and physically-deformed fish seen in Indonesian zoos, aquaria, and fish-keeping on general.

Do you guys have any map for this aquarium? Though that could help to determine what's going to be displayed there.
 
Salt Merchant said:
Ok, from their few Instagram posts and the posts you guys share, this aquarium seems rather promising. The interior design seems to me inspired by both SeaWorld Ancol and Jakarta Aquarium, with a bit of the more modern, underwater aesthetic design of Jakarta Aquarium and the nostalgic murals and temple-inspired design of SeaWorld Ancol and also Ancol in general. Though I gotta say, the jaguar or leopard statue is really ugly.


Worth noting though that the footage of the fishes and the filled tank are just placeholders according to the post you share, so it don't really mean much. On a side note, it's mentioned that the aquarium will be around 7.354 m² and will have around 36 species of saltwater and freshwater fauna, though that number could expand in the future. It was also mentioned that there will be a 4.5 million litres tank, though the post didn't specified what tank it will be thought there's possibility that it could be the main tank.

Regarding that freshwater pool, from the concept art they gave it seems to be rather small for some arapaimas. I haven't seen the full-design of the pool in real size, so I couldn't say much. Though I hope there will a underwater viewing of the arapaima pool.

Again, I find this aquarium to be very promising aside from some interior designs that I didn't really like. I genuinely hoped that this aquarium won't gradually fumbled the way Jakarta Aquarium did, with the forcing of a "Safari" theme and generally bad exhibit choice. Species choice and curating is also very important, just avoid getting unnecessary (Like in JAQ) species and stopped putting these species in an enclosure that didn't fit with their themes and also needs (Like the coconut crab that used to be displayed in JAQ). I have doubt that they will do their freshwater section justice, knowing the common mismashing of large freshwater fish from different geographical locations and the use of human-made color morphs, hybrids, and physically-deformed fish seen in Indonesian zoos, aquaria, and fish-keeping on general.

Do you guys have any map for this aquarium? Though that could help to determine what's going to be displayed there.
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Sadly no map yet, but here's hoping they don't screw up the freshwater section *literally shaking rn becoz of how much of those mutant fishes displayed in SWA, DAT and JAQS*
 
This video revealed the areas that will be in BXSea. Also, architects from Japan and Turkiye helped with the construction of the exhibits and the aquaria's entirety.
Bintaro Jaya on Instagram: "Hi Bintaronian! Sedang bingung mencari destinasi wisata untuk si kecil belajar dan bermain? atau ingin mencari suasana akhir pekan yang baru bersama pasangan? Tenang saja, karena akan ada oceanarium di Bintaro Jaya. Rasakan petualangan bawah laut yang indah tapi juga seru di BXSea segera! Selalu ada yang baru untuk harimu #cumadiBintaroJaya (021) 745 4545 0817 745 455 www.bintarojaya.id #MembangunGenerasiBerkualitas #bintaro #bintarojaya #jayarealproperty #infobintaro #infobintarojaya #bintaronian #promomenarik #betterliving #360living #untukberjutaharapan #cumadibintarojaya #bxsea"

The areas consisted of:
  • Intro room
  • Rocky Hideout (possibly where reef fishes and probably a handful of invertebrates will be housed)
  • Seahorse Kingdom (presumably exhibits featuring seahorse and sygnathids like pipefish and sea dragon, or seahorse and reef fishes)
  • Tropical Ocean (the main tank where larger fishes, including sharks and rays will be housed)
  • Exotic Rainforest (obligatory freshwater area with arapaimas and a huge waterfall, and presumably fitting faunas like reptiles or amphibians)
  • Children Playground & Refreshment Area (a small cafe/snack bar and a kids' play are themed after a pier/pirate ship)
  • Infinity Jellyfish (jellyfish section with hopefully, various species of jellyfish, not just moon jelly)
  • Tunnel and Dome (the tunnel and dome that goes through the Tropical Ocean area)
  • Amphitheatre (probably for animal shows? or otter/sea lion shows if they have them here? or a part of the Tropical Ocean exhibit?)
  • Submarine (prolly just a small stair/connecting part like in JAQS. But kinda hoping it also includes the deep-water section with deep-sea fishes and faunas)
  • African Penguin Adventure (nuff said. BXSea will be the 2nd Indonesian zoo/aquaria to house African penguins)
 
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Several animals that will be exhibited on BXSea has been confirmed. Aside for some, most of these are still vague and no further details on what species will be exhibited, especially the sharks. I'm hoping to see sand tiger and hammerhead sharks as shown in one of their ads and in BXSea's logo:
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Fargusno said:
This video revealed the areas that will be in BXSea. Also, architects from Japan and Turkiye helped with the construction of the exhibits and the aquaria's entirety.
Bintaro Jaya on Instagram: "Hi Bintaronian! Sedang bingung mencari destinasi wisata untuk si kecil belajar dan bermain? atau ingin mencari suasana akhir pekan yang baru bersama pasangan? Tenang saja, karena akan ada oceanarium di Bintaro Jaya. Rasakan petualangan bawah laut yang indah tapi juga seru di BXSea segera! Selalu ada yang baru untuk harimu #cumadiBintaroJaya (021) 745 4545 0817 745 455 www.bintarojaya.id #MembangunGenerasiBerkualitas #bintaro #bintarojaya #jayarealproperty #infobintaro #infobintarojaya #bintaronian #promomenarik #betterliving #360living #untukberjutaharapan #cumadibintarojaya #bxsea"

The areas consisted of:
  • Intro room
  • Rocky Hideout (possibly where reef fishes and probably a handful of invertebrates will be housed)
  • Seahorse Kingdom (presumably exhibits featuring seahorse and sygnathids like pipefish and sea dragon, or seahorse and reef fishes)
  • Tropical Ocean (the main tank where larger fishes, including sharks and rays will be housed)
  • Exotic Rainforest (obligatory freshwater area with arapaimas and a huge waterfall, and presumably fitting faunas like reptiles or amphibians)
  • Children Playground & Refreshment Area (a small cafe/snack bar and a kids' play are themed after a pier/pirate ship)
  • Infinity Jellyfish (jellyfish section with hopefully, various species of jellyfish, not just moon jelly)
  • Tunnel and Dome (the tunnel and dome that goes through the Tropical Ocean area)
  • Amphitheatre (probably for animal shows? or otter/sea lion shows if they have them here? or a part of the Tropical Ocean exhibit?)
  • Submarine (prolly just a small stair/connecting part like in JAQS. But kinda hoping it also includes the deep-water section with deep-sea fishes and faunas)
  • African Penguin Adventure (nuff said. BXSea will be the 2nd Indonesian zoo/aquaria to house African penguins)
Click to expand...

Since I can't edit it anymore:

  • Exotic Rainforest will house turtles as well. The official Instagram mislabeled it as exhibit for sea turtles, despite how small and shallow it is. Hopefully it will house semi-aquatic freshwater turtles like black marsh turtles or amboina box turtles. IDK if it will house other freshwater fishes aside from piranhas, arapaimas and large predatory fishes. Rlly hoping for cichlids!
  • Children Playground & Refreshment Area has two touch pools. One for marine creatures (sea stars, bamboo sharks and their ilk) and kois (probs not for touching, but feeding with a bottle like in SWA back in 2013-2014).
  • Rocky Hideout will house some cold-water creatures, like Giant Pacific Octopus and Japanese Spider Crab. Hoping they'll acqure Nautilus as well.
  • Submarine has a peeking window into the main tank.
  • Amphiteatre is used for mermaid shows, unfortunately. Not a fur seal exhibit/show area. BXSea won't house mammals unfortunately.
 
As seen in Skyscrapercity, BXSea will open its doors next Friday. Here's hoping that they already finished all exhibit-related works and started stocking their animals in this week, since they might need a week or so to adapt before opening.

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Some minor updates from some reels/videos on Instagram:
  • Exotic Rainforest will house coconut crabs and Asian small-clawed otters. No idea if they're going to exhibit crocodilians there, and if they do, it's probably smaller crocodilians like caimans. There's also a tube-shaped tank for piranhas too.
  • The marine fish supplier JB Hunt Aquatic has posted two reels showing small hammerhead sharks in concrete pools. They also provide faunas for BXSea and JAQS, so these could be for BXSea, since it wouldn't be complete for BXSea if they don't feature hammerhead sharks. No idea if BXSea is going to have sand tiger sharks, but probably unlikely (hopefully not).
JB Hunt Aquatic on Instagram
JB Hunt Aquatic on Instagram: "Torang Gass.. Di Seeepiell sikit.. ( Legal Paper ) Hammerhead Show "
 

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Early pre-opening visit by Tangsel Life to BXSea. It seems that they've started stocking the animals in ahead of the opening.
TikTok - Make Your Day

Several animals seen in the video:
  • Moorish idol
  • Humbug dascyllus
  • Regal tang
  • Razorfish
  • Blacktip reef shark
  • Unknown small schooling fish (presumably Milkfish)
  • Flagtail prochilodus
  • Sea nettle
And also better views on the tropical ocean tank (seems to be a huge reef tank, and still no animals in it yet), arapaima tank (same, no animals yet) and the coconut crab and otter exhibits. Design wise, BXSea looks like a carbon copy of Siam Ocean World, albeit slightly smaller and might not exhibit sawfish. Sand tiger sharks are still unknown.
 
Agustinus Herdianto A on Instagram

The Arapaima tank has been stocked, and it has black pacu/tambaqui instead of the commonly-seen red-bellied pacu. Here's hoping they'll add peacock basses, silver arowanas and maybe pleco or stingray, and no mutant fishes!
 
BX Sea will open its doors tomorrow, and here's the current list of animals that I compiled from videos and Instagram posts of early visits. Sorry if I missed a few since this is still an interim list. Might be updated with a complete list when I get there:

Rocky Hideout:
  • Moorish idol
  • Humbug dascyllus
  • Regal tang
  • Razorfish
  • Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips
  • Volitan lionfish
Seahorse Kingdom:
  • Flapnose ray
  • Blue-spotted ribbontail ray
  • Jenkins' whipray
Schooling Fish:
  • Milkfish
Tropical Ocean touch tank:
  • Blacktip reef shark
  • Brownbanded bamboo shark
  • Grey bamboo shark
  • Coral catshark
Tropical Ocean main tank:
  • Empty at the moment
Exotic Rainforest:
  • Arapaima
  • Tambaqui
  • Red-tailed catfish
  • Alligator gar
  • Peacock bass (unknown species, seen on signage only)
  • Pangasid catfish (unknown species, seen on signage only. Hoping it's not albino iridesecent shark, but paroon shark)
  • Florida gar
  • Flag-tailed prochilodus
  • Banded aracu
  • Piraputanga
  • Nkhomo-benga peacock
  • Pale Usisya aulonocara
  • Red Eureka peacock
  • OB peacock (urgh a mutant fish)
  • Green tree python
Children Playground & Refreshment Area:
  • Blue sea star
Infinity Jellyfish:
  • Indonesian sea nettle
  • Blubber jelly
  • Mastigias papua
Tunnel and African Penguin are still empty.
 
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