One of the best.

G

groundskeeper24

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
My wife and I visited the Tennessee Aquarium on Monday afternoon. All i can say is wow. I wasn't expecting an aquarium of this caliber. The freshwater building was very impressive both architecturally and in terms of animal displays.

I'd have to say that the southern swamp room on one of the rooftop levels was my favorite thing about the place. It had a good-sized gator exhibit full of live plants and natural substrate along with bright sunshine. There were also gopher tortoises, snakes, and even free flying birds. It was undoubtedly my favorite all indoor crocodilian exhibit to date.

There was a similar rooftop room with river otters that I wasn't as high on. The actual otter display was a bit small and the otters weren't very active on the day of my visit. this area did, however have a terrific aquarium filled with three species of trout that could be viewed from multiple angles.

Another big highlight was the huge, multi-leveled River Giants tank. The baramundi in here appeared to be larger than me. Large catfish and gar also inhabit the tank. This exhibit occupies a main hall that visitors come to as they descend the 12 story freshwater building. This lends a uniqueness to this aquarium that I feel sets it apart from it's less interesting, more modern counterparts.

In closing, I had a great time here and intend to visit again. I've been to Shedd and Monterrey Bay, and we went to the spectacular Georgia Aquarium on Tuesday. I always held Shedd in high regard and MB as well. It's not MB, but I'd put the Tennessee Aquarium above Shedd if I had to rank them. It's worlds ahead of places like Newport, Adventure Aquarium, and even New England IMO.
 
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Great mini-review! I've been to close to 40 aquariums in North America and I'd place Tennessee in the #5 position so we are in agreement here for sure. Georgia, Shedd, Monterey Bay and Baltimore are perhaps the only 4 that I'd rank ahead of Tennessee.
 
Thanks for the review groundskeeper24- it sounds like a great aquarium. I was coincidentally writing a list of all of the zoos and aquariums that I want to visit and this aquarium is at the top of the list.

Is the aquarium still primarily freshwater, or have they expanded into saltwater also. What species are the "stars" of the aquarium in your view? The river otters and River Giants tank that you mentioned?
 
David, the facility is comprised of two buildings. The larger building (12 stories I was told) is the freshwater half. There is another building, somewhat smaller, that houses saltwater species as well as another rooftop atrium-type area for hyacinth macaws, large freshwater stingrays, and a butterfly aviary. The saltwater tank is quite large and can be seen from dozens of viewpoints. There are large windows on the outside along with a tunnel/cavelike area with various windows into different parts of the tank. Penguins are housed in this building in an okay exhibit.

As for a "star" species, I'm not sure this place even needs one. The star of the aquarium for me was the main ramp/staircase central room. You start at the top and can see all the way down into a shallow pool of water. It's quite high. There are gigantic tanks on both sides housing both the River Giants display and a Tennessee-themed tank of local fish. As you enter and exit the other exhibit rooms, you come to different levels of this room with more chances to view the big tanks.

There's a lot more to this place than just the things I've mentioned. It's an incredible facility.
 
We visited the Tennessee Aquarium a couple days after being astonished by the Georgia Aquarium thus giving us the thought process that this would be a very ho hum experience but we were pleasantly surprised.It certainly is a great aquarium.

Team Tapir
 
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