Charlotte Aquarium

[Davdhole]

My third thread in this forum, but I just thought to do this after my last post. When I was a child I was heavier into aquatic life, but years later and to this day I have more of a passion for terrestrial animals, hence why I'm making it my goal to own a wildlife park someday. However, back in my "little marine biologist" days, I really wanted to own an aquarium, and maybe that dream is deep within me, but if I were to go through with something like that, it'd have to be many years after opening my park. I'd love to share what this facility would be and what species it would have, some I planned on having when I was a kid, and some I recently decided to have.

Charlotte is a beautiful city much like Atlanta, a city that holds the large, amazing aquarium that helped ignite this dream of mine when I was a child, so the Queen City is where I picked to possibly open this facility.

Just like with my dream park posts (more so the revised, more descriptive one), add any comments, including what may need to be corrected such as a species mix or anything else. I appreciate feedback.

 

[Davdhole]

Here, we start with the first gallery. The Open Ocean.

After guests enter the building and walk through a dimly lit hall, they are fed into this gallery where a large 360 tank all around the room is the first exhibit to greet them. Here, a large school of Atlantic mackerel swim in a tank with a blue backdrop, and it's bigger and deeper than it seems. Guests move on and to the left, wooden double doors just before hanging rubber chains, or they can choose to go straight ahead, where they'll run into the exhibit after the one beyond the doors and chains.

Behind the doors and chains, an aviary for coastal birds. There's water below the sturdy wooden bridge where visitors cross, and in the water, bonefish and Atlantic croaker. The birds of the aviary include-
Atlantic puffin
Royal tern
Laughing gull
American oystercatcher
Large chunks of land coated in sand, as well as tall rocky outcroppings with holes for nesting around in the aviary for the birds, as well as artificial trees.

Outside of the aviary and down the hall, a large tank that runs almost the entire length of the rest of the gallery, similar to Georgia Aquarium's new shark gallery. This large tank is one exhibit that goes far back and deep, beyond guests' view. Small to large fake rocks decorate this pelagic tank, and sand and shells of broken seashells decorate the bottom of the tank. Inhabiting this exhibit-
Brassy chub
Smooth hammerhead shark
Spotted eagle ray
Atlantic spadefish
Black sea bass
Mutton snapper
Gray triggerfish
Black jack

The sharks will be fed as often as possible to avoid any incidents with the rays.

Near the end of the gallery and across the large pelagic exhibit, almost out of view from it, a large bubble tank with sandy and seashell substrate and floating strands of seaweed, all for a sargassum fish.

Now on to the lobby where every other gallery is seen. The gift shop and dining area are also within view. As I said, this was heavily inspired by Georgia Aquarium, so the lobby is similar to there's, just less mall-like, for example, a replica skeleton of a blue whale hangs from the ceiling, and on the walls of the lobby, paintings of several fish species alongside other sea creatures like turtles and dolphins. So it will be almost like a cross between Georgia's and Aquarium of the Pacific's lobbies. Now, we move to the next gallery.

 

[Davdhole]

On the same side as the Open Ocean is the only freshwater gallery.
River Quest
The first exhibit is a large, tall tank decorated with darker sand, tall live aquatic plants, and real rocks scattered around the bottom. In here-
Orinoco angelfish
Cockatoo dwarf cichlid
Black tetra
Diamond tetra

Further into River Quest, a huge tank with live plants, a few logs, and river stone substrate houses-
Redtail catfish
Peacock bass
Arapaima
Discus
Xingu River ray
Oscar
Black pacu
Guests walk through a dimly lit hall and soon come across a wide, tall tank on the opposite side of the last exhibit where there's a system that makes the water seem like a rushing river. Large fake logs, rocks, river stones, and aquatic plants make these animals feel at home-
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
Spotted gar
Lake sturgeon
Blue catfish
Black crappie
Pumpkinseed
Dollar sunfish
Cumberland slider
Chicken turtle
Warmouth sunfish
Channel catfish
White bass

A smaller yet big tank across the last and slightly further down is coated with water lilies at the surface. Driftwood and muddy substrate gives a home to an Alligator snapping turtle, and with it, Barbour's map turtles, painted turtles, spiny softshell turtle, bluegill, and yellow bullhead.

Just feet away right in front of guests, a cold water tank with large river rocks and rushing water acts as a stream. In this tank-
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
Eastern hellbender

To the right, visitors proceed down the hall and come across a wall with tanks lined up to their left. Each tank is set up based on the animal, varies in size, and occurs in this order-
Chilean rose hair tarantula
Giant rainforest mantis
Dragon-headed katydid
Giant forest scorpion
Solomon Island tree boa
Timber rattlesnake
Albino American bullfrog
Rhinoceros beetle
Northern slimy salamander
Blue racer

A bit further down on the same side as the smaller tanks, a large exhibit halfway full of water has floating logs and a hunk of land decorated with artificial plants, wood, and a rock den. Heat lamps shine down, allowing basking for the pair of Chinese alligators.

Past the rare gators, a "room" with several tanks all around allows visitors to see witness several species. On one side, four "smaller" tanks are similar in appearance, with driftwood, live plants, and gravel.
In the first smaller tank-
Gold barb
Rainbow shark
Bristlenose pleco
Siamese algae eater
Bumblebee catfish
In the next tank-
Bala shark
Tiger barb
Clown loach
Chinese high-fin banded shark

The next tank is for a small school of Peterson's elephantnose fish.

The last tank is for an electirc eel.
The largest tank in this room is a new home for wild-caught invasives removed from Florida waters (I know, far away and a much different state, but anything to help the state with their invasives).
In this tank-
Mayan cichlid
Midas cichlid
Blue tilapia

An overhead tank with driftwood and rushing water houses spotfin chub and golden shiners.

Near the end of the gallery, an exhibit with half water, a massive log in the middle of the water, fake plants clustered around the land area, and rocks. Here, a green anaconda lives.

The second to last exhibit has slightly more water than the anaconda's, and is much larger. Artificial trees and a rock cave provide enrichment for the small pack of giant river otters.

The last exhibit has a temple-like wall on one side, and at the bottom, a fake animal skull. An artificial tree is positioned almost vertically, and both real and fake plants add to the exhibit. In here, a shoal of red-bellied piranhas and redeye piranhas.

More to come soon.

 

[Davdhole]

Back into the lobby and to the left of the River Quest exit is where we explore the unknown deep beneath the ocean.

The Mysterious Deep

A dimly lit hall, nearly dark but still visible, gives the feeling guests have traveled deep into the sea. To the right, a cold water tank with Japanese spider crabs, globe crabs, and spotted ratfish. Rocks stacked on each other provide climbing opportunities for the crabs, and dark gravel coats the bottom of the tank.

Ahead, a hallway with a few tanks on each side is next, and on the right wall of the hall, a tank smaller than the crab and ratfish exhibit, but similar in appearance. Living in here, a small group of giant isopods. On the left side of the hall, a smaller tank with sand and a large rock with a hole to provide hiding, all for a conger eel. The last of these exhibits is the smallest. Peering into the window, guests can see the Venus flytrap sea anemones and sea spiders crawling about and planted to the black gravel.

Slightly further down the hall and past the tanks, a tall cylindrical tank with a dark blue light shining from the bottom houses a group of sea walnuts.

The last exhibit is the largest. Sandy substrate, live plants, and rocks decorate the tank, and swimming in it-
Monkfish
Flashlight fish
Bluntnose sixgill shark

Now done with this gallery, across the lobby is the next gallery.

 

[Davdhole]

Pacific Coast

The first seen exhibit is the Touch Tide, a cold water petting tank stocked with California mussel, giant green sea anemone, purple urchin, hooked slippersnail, abalone, bat star, ochre sea star, mottled sea star, and vermilion sea star.

Guests walk through a hall and gaze at the kelp painted onto the walls leading them to a pretty large tank, but not huge, about the size of Monterey Bay Aquarium's exhibit that houses the white sturgeon and sevengill sharks to name a few (I don't know the name of the exhibit). This exhibit, however, is a kelp forest with live kelp and a dark brown sandy substrate and rocks. In this kelp forest-
Giant sea bass
Lingcod
Cabezon
Blacksmith
Kelp bass
Flag rockfish
Garibaldi
Sculpin
Leopard shark
Short-tail stingray
Sheep crab
Port Jackson shark
Copper rockfish
Sargo
Wolf eel
Treefish
California sheephead
Kelp greenling

Down the gallery, two exhibits side by side with a large rock wall separating them in between are outdoor exhibits that are viewed from within the building. These exhibits are zoo-like, with grassy land, rocks, and the portion of land near the giant cold pool covered with sand. In the first exhibit, three California sea lions, two males and two females. On the other side of the rock wall in the other outdoor exhibit is a habitat similar to the sea lions', but living here instead is a pair of harbor seals.

Another outdoor exhibit across the pinnipeds is slightly smaller and houses a pair of Southern sea otters.

In the marine mammal area, dozens of educational tools are here for the guests about the mammals. For example, near the pinnipeds, a large sign has differences between seals and sea lions with illustrations of both animals with labels for a better comparison. Meanwhile, near the otters, a sign showing all of the otter species, largest to smallest.

Past the marine mammals and out of view from them, a large tank in a wall with rock and kelp carvings around the borders of the tank. River stones coat the bottom, and a few strands of artificial kelp are placed randomly around the tank. Stones stacked on each one side, and on the other, the stones are stacked to make a small cave. Pink sea stars, red sea urchins, and blue rockfish live with this exhibit's main attraction, the giant Pacific octopus.

Past the octopus, another touch tank, larger than the last. Here, visitors can pet and see-
Horn shark
Bat ray
California butterfly ray
Starry skate
Longspine snipefish

The last exhibit is similar in size to the octopus's and has sand coating the bottom of the tank and live kelp planted around. In here, a Pacific electric ray.

Back into the lobby and to the biggest and likely most favored gallery in the facility.

 

[Davdhole]

The grandest gallery of all, to the right of Pacific Coast's exit. Here, an abundance of fish lives together.

Sea Sanctuary

A model of a pelagic shark chasing a school of anchovies dangles from the ceiling at the entrance of this gallery. Guests walk into down a dark hall where a faint blue light from the right corner is seen. First, though, a bubble window allows visitors to peek into this massive exhibit, see all the fish pass by. On every inch of the bottom of the exhibit, white sand and broken seashells. Small to large fake rocks are scattered around in here, and live plants add some color to the decoration of this habitat.

The light around the corner turns out to be a tunnel where the animals swim above and by the side of the intrigued guests. Most of the large rocks and plants are on each side of the tunnel, and a few caves and dens are made from the rocks.

After the tunnel, guests pass a fairly large window that gives them another peek into the exhibit, and ahead, another faint blue light. Ahead, the faint blue light is revealed to come from the massive viewing window into the exhibit. The habitat spans far back, allowing any animal to swim back and disappear from guest view. Every now and then, large buckets at the top of the exhibit dump gallons of water out, creating a wave effect.

Inhabiting this massive gallery-
Florida pompano
Tarpon
Red snapper
Cobia
Dolphinfish
Cero mackerel
Bluefin trevally
Roosterfish
Black grouper
Porcupinefish
Moontail bullseye
French angelfish
Hogfish
Yellowmouth grouper
Silvertip shark
Pink whiptail ray
Cownose ray
Great barracuda
Loggerhead sea turtle
Pelagic stingray
Lemon shark
Cowtail stingray
Red drum
Sergeant major
Harlequin tusk wrasse
Nurse shark
Yellowfin tuna
Tripletail
Longcomb sawfish
Bonnethead shark
Caesar grunt
Turkey moray eel
Porcupine ray
Blue runner
Galapagos reef shark
Remora
Atlantic sharpnose shark
Crevalle jack

After this massive exhibit, guests head back to the lobby on to the next gallery, which I will provide soon.

 

[Davdhole]

Tropical Cove

The entry to this gallery is decorated with statues of coral and reef fish "swimming" around it. Once in, projections of a reef are seen on the walls, and a bright light is ahead. Guests enter a room where they see a fairly large tank in the wall with white sand, rocks, and live coral. In this tank-
Porkfish
Queen angelfish
Clown triggerfish
Ornate cowfish
Goldsaddle goatfish
Yellow boxfish
Striped burrfish
Splendid garden eel
Spotted garden eel
Bubble coral
Brain coral
Leather coral
Trumpet coral
Emperor shrimp
Blue spotted jawfish
Humpback grouper
Yellow clown goby
Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

Not too far from this tank, a similar-sized tank with live coral, rocks, and sand for warty frogfish and stonefish.

Further down the gallery, another tank appears, on the right wall. A rocky den, fake coral with hiding holes, and large plant pots hiding holes, sand, broken bivalve shells, and live plants are in this exhibit with-
Green moray eel
Snowflake moray eel
Dragon moray eel
Honeycomb moray eel
Clearfin lionfish
Banded coral shrimp


Ahead, a touch tank called Coral Bay houses-
Fiddler ray
Yellow stingray
Bicolor angelfish
Lemonpeel angelfish
Blue chromis
Coral catshark
Chocolate chip sea star
Blue sea star
Banggai cardinalfish
Royal sea star
Biscuit sea star
Longspine urchin
Porcelain crab
Scarlet reef hermit crab
Tiger sea cucumber

Guests continue further into the gallery and pass through another decorated hall. A replica reef with replica reef animals and plants decorates both sides of the hallway's walls, immersing guests deeper into the experience. Soon, guests enter a dark room with a few tanks. In the first tank ahead, which is the largest, a smack of Pacific sea nettle. To the left, a round tank with a light at the bottom that slowly changes color. In there, moon jellies.
On the opposite end of this room, near the exit, two larger tanks. One is nearly full, but leaves a little room for guests to see the surface, allowing a perfect view for the Portuguese man-o-war. In the tank next to it, a box jelly. Near a corner of the room, a tall cylindrical tank with a smack of crystal jellies. The final tank is across the sea nettles and houses a small group of cannonball jellies.

The grandest exhibit in this gallery is next, and rather than a standard tank, this exhibit is a short tunnel, much shorter than the last. Not only is the ceiling and walls acrylic, but the floor is, too. This is the large reef exhibit, housing several species, all of which are-
Emperor angelfish
Indian triggerfish
Blue-spotted stingray
Yellow tang
Blue hippo tang
Powder blue tang
Sailfin tang
Convict tang
Bicolor parrotfish
Yellow watchman goby
Foxface rabbitfish
Blonde naso tang
Achilles tang
Clown tang
Orange-shoulder tang
Purple tang
Bluespine unicornfish
Moorish idol
Copperband butterflyfish
Kole tang
Flame angelfish
Whitetip reef shark
Squarespot anthias
Mandarinfish
Royal gramma
Tomato grouper
Yellowbanded sweetlips
Pink skunk clownfish
Epaulette shark
Harlequin filefish
Yellow longnose butterflyfish
Yellowtail snapper
Blacktip reef shark
Caribbean spiny lobster
Sailfin snapper


This exhibit is larger than it appears, allowing this many species to live in it. Now for the coral, sponge, and anemone species making the reef in this habitat-
Toadstool mushroom coral
Kenya tree coral
Glove polyp
Brain coral
Orange tree gorgonian
Young blushing finger leather coral
Blue ridge coral
Orange fan sponge
Giant carpet sea anemone

Past this exhibit, a few bubble tanks are lined up next to each other, going down the hall. They all have sand, broken seashells, and strands of sea grass. In the first tank, ocellaris clownfish, Wyoming white clownfish, maroon clownfish, and magnificent sea anemone.

In the next bubble tank, lined seahorse and common seahorse.

Bubble tank 3 houses a few common cuttlefish.

Bubble tank 4 has bannerfish and a Hawaiian day octopus.

Bubble tank 5 is a home for a few leafy seadragons.

The last bubble tank is decorated with white gravel, broken bivalve shells, and a large artificial coral hide. Swimming here, a peacock mantis shrimp.

Down the gallery, the last few exhibits are coming. In the wall to the left, a large enclosure with live plants, coconut husk and wood chips for substrate, large log hides, tree limbs for climbing, small logs and rocks stacked to make more hiding areas, and a forest backdrop, all making a home for a Fiji banded iguana.

Not too far from the lizard and on the opposite side as the last exhibit, a large tank for bigfin reef squid.


On to the next and last gallery.

 

[Davdhole]

Frozen Journey

The last gallery. At the front, a replica of a polar bear standing on its hind legs, and replica penguins made to appear as if they were tobagganing.

The first exhibit is a mid-sized tank with large dark river stones. Swimming in the cold water, a small school of Atlantic cod, common sole, and white hake.

A bit deeper into the gallery, a tank in a "corner" sticking out (similar to Georgia's weedy sea dragon exhibit) is next. Rocks stacked like to make dens and small caves, sand, clam shells, and gravel is for the pair of Atlantic wolffish.

Up a small flight of stairs are the marine mammal exhibits, which are outdoors but viewed from within the building, just like the seals, sea lions, and otters in the Pacific Coast gallery. Land that stretches back and even out of guest view, artificial ice bergs, and large rocks decorate these exhibits, and the large, cold, salty pools are right at the viewing glass. Each exhibit is on the same side, just spread out a bit.

In the first exhibit, a bull and cow Pacific walrus. In the next exhibit, a pair of spotted seals. In the last and largest exhibit, a rotation habitat for polar bears, the male and female coming out at different times of the day.

In between the mammals and birds, a large bubble tank with dark sand and a few live plants for a blue American lobster.

The last two exhibits are for the birds. In the first bird exhibit, a large rocky wall with holes for nesting. A rand coldwater pool with artificial kelp at the bottom gives these seabirds a good home in the facility.
Parakeet aukelt
Tufted puffin
Harlquein duck
Spectacled guillemot
Long-tailed duck

The last bird exhibit and last exhibit in the gallery has a large artificial ice wall, fake ice bergs, a huge land area made to look like Antarctic ice, and another land area made to look like a rocky shore and a huge saltwater pool with underwater viewing like the last bird exhibit. In this frigid habitat-
Southern rockhopper penguin
Adelie penguin
King penguin

At one point, I wanted beluga whales in this section, as well as Pacific white-sided dolphins in Pacific Coast and bottlenose dolphins in the Open Ocean, and even basking sharks in Sea Sanctuary back when I was younger, but with the pressure from others for having whales and dolphins in this type of environment, and slightly my views on it, I believe it would be best not to house them here, and as for the sharks, it's just very obvious this wouldn't be possible at all.



And that's the aquarium. I may add some forgotten exhibits and species that I may think of later.

 

[Davdhole]

Some forgotten animals and exhibits.

Open Ocean
In the large tank in this gallery, I meant to put scalloped hammerheads instead of smooth. Also, I meant to add sandbar sharks, silky sharks, and lookdown in this exhibit.

River Quest
Two more tanks in the reptile, amphibian, and invertebrate lineup in this gallery. A tropical tank with coconut husk substrate, fake coconut hides, artificial vines, tree limbs, and live plants are for-
Strawberry poison dart frog
Dyeing poison dart frog
Black-legged poison dart frog
Amazon milk frog
Hourglass tree frog

The other tank in this lineup has shallow water with gravel, and a muddy land area with live plants and rocks scattered around. In this exhibit, a Conasauga blue burrower.

A large tank near the arapaima tank and similar in appearance houses Asian arowana, giant gourami, tinfoil barb, Fly River turtle, iridescent shark catfish, and glass catfish.

Alligator gar in the large North American fish tank with the bass, spotted gar, etc.

Gizzard shad in the alligator snapping turtle tank.

Giant danio and rabbit snail with the gold barbs, rainbow sharks, etc.

Cherry shrimp with the bala sharks, tiger barbs, etc.

A medium-sized cichlid tank with the smaller tanks, housing-
Electric yellow cichlid
Giraffe cichlid
Humphead cichlid
Bluegray mbuna
Haplochromine cichlid
Lyretail cichlid
Red Congo pufferfish
Barred bichir
Reedfish

 

[Fanfin anglerfish]

The deep sea could of used more species, I am a fan of the deep and kinda from the deep after all! If your being realistic then add a few more but MBA is making keeping species such as blobfish and anglerfish possible! This is fantasy zoo after all!

 

[Davdhole]

The deep sea could of used more species, I am a fan of the deep and kinda from the deep after all! If your being realistic then add a few more but MBA is making keeping species such as blobfish and anglerfish possible! This is fantasy zoo after all!

I wanted to keep it as realistic as possible because this is a place I'm thinking of doing years after my first facility, but if by that time blobfish and deep-sea anglers are able to thrive in a captive setting, then I could add them to the deep sea gallery.

 

[Fanfin anglerfish]

Yea but blobfish are in captivity a
ready, and not in the blob state, in normal state.

 

[Davdhole]

I was inspired by some exhibits to maybe do an update, as these are things I think would be interesting to add to the facility some years after it first opens.

Ocean Discovery

This is a smaller gallery located on the upper level of the building. Guests enter and first see a long tank with rushing water, gravel, live plants, and some driftwood. In here-
Greenfin shiner
Christmas darter
Signal crayfish
Lake chub
Tennessee shiner
Peamouth

Guests continue down the hall and over a sturdy bridge crossing a large tank below, the open ocean tank featuring the eagle rays, hammerheads, etc. Once on the other side, a hallway is next where signs that show and tell about North Carolina wildlife, such as river otters, beavers, alligators, snakes, fish, and more. Off to the right side close to the wall, a tank with wood chips and dead leaves for substrate, live plants, a rock-like water dish, and a couple of small log hides provides a home for a pig frog.

Next up is a large room with interactive areas such as screens where guests can take a test to see what animal they'd be, and some exhibits. In the first, a large tank in the wall with dark sand, plants, and driftwood all for-
Dwarf neon rainbowfish
Red rainbowfish
Spotted blue-eye
Axelrod's rainbowfish

The next, across the room around the same area, is a large tank with coco husk and wood chips blended, a large log hide, artificial vines, and some plants are for a mud snake.

On the other side of the room, a large tank in the wall with sand and artificial coral making a reef.
Orchid dottyback
Two-spined angelfish
Yellowback fusilier
Bird wrasse
Longspine squirrelfish
Freckled hawkfish
Disco blenny

The last exhibit in this room is a large bubble tank with sand, crushed shells, and artificial coral. In this tank-
Arrow crab
Banded sea urchin
Magnificent anemone shrimp

Guests leave the room and proceed down another hall where they seem to be inside a submarine, and can see the "ocean" through the round windows. These tanks in the wall made to resemble a submarine are one whole habitat that circles around.
Permit

Out of the submarine and to the left, visitors can enter the double doors, allowing them to come into a lab where they can see a few exhibits. In here, coral and jellies are aquacultured, and whiteboards with info on it, such as studying depths of the ocean and marine habitats, adds to the lab. The first is a small tank with sand, live plants, and seashells.
Red scorpionfish

The second exhibit is a bubble tank with sand and mock rock for a few orange sea pens.

The next and last in this room is a long touch tank featuring-
Blackchin guitarfish
Mediterranean sea star
Doctorfish
Pyjama catshark
Bay scallop

Once out of the lab area, guests exit the gallery and continue from there.

 

[Davdhole]

The next gallery is next and is on the upper level as well, way across from Ocean Discovery.

Realm of Sharks
Guests enter the dimly lit gallery and see the first tank, a large well-lit habitat with sand and crushed shell substrate, artificial coral, and a large coral-like hide-
Spotted wobbegong
Zebra shark

Further down, on one side of the gallery, a large set of megalodon jaws stands next to cretoxyrhina jaws, and then great white shark jaws, and above each set of jaws, realistic illustrations of the sharks.

Ahead, the largest exhibit in the gallery. Like the large tank in the Open Ocean gallery, this exhibit stretches throughout the gallery once it first appears. This tall, wide, deep exhibit is coated with sand on the bottom, and some seashells. Large mock rock is placed about, and dim blue lights shine into the water. A school of Pacific herring lives with the sharks, as well as a few pilot fish. Swimming in this massive habitat with the herring and pilot fish-
Copper shark
Smooth hammerhead shark
Bull shark
Sand tiger shark
Caribbean reef shark

Guests can view this exhibit from different angles and as long as they want, as it almost stretches to the gallery's exit.

On the wall across this grand exhibit are some items that represent threats to sharks, such as a ghost net, and pictures of shark fin soup, habitat loss in the ocean, and more.

Another wall shows teeth of various shark species, including a great white shark, tiger shark, bull shark, mako shark, nurse shark, and more. Nearby, guests can use a tower viewer that allows them to see from a hammerhead shark's point of view. There will also be large signs showing sharks' roles in the oceans as major predators and even some as prey, with another educating guests about how long sharks have existed.

The last exhibit is next, just as the large shark habitat ends. This tank is on the opposite side of the main exhibit and has sand and fake coral making a reef and some hides for an Australian angelshark.