I remember my first visit to Adventure Aquarium like yesterday. It was one of the most magical experiences of my life. With a variety of species from arapaima to macaws and even green sawfish, it was an important formative experience for me, as it helped to continue and further my interest in animals, especially aquatic ones. But unfortunately for people like me (nerds), Adventure Aquarium was acquired in 2007 by an entertainment company from its original holders. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the aquarium became more kid-focused, with gaudy theming and an emphasis on non-animal attractions. I don't think any of my ideal plans will come to fruition, but I will try to make Adventure Aquarium the facility it once was.
Zone A:
Zone A is probably the most substantial area of the aquarium today. Containing Piranha Falls/Rivers of the World, Little Blue Beach, Pirate's Passage, Ocean Realm, and Touch a Shark, this area is definitely my favorite, despite the recent re-orientation towards children. My plans are as follows:
Turn the current Rivers of the World section into a dedicated Amazon section. While arapaima, a favored species of the old aquarium cannot fit into the current setups due to ethical concerns, an effort will be made to provide a comprehensive overview of the fauna of the Amazon into the compact space.
Little Blue Beach is mostly fine as is, but I do want to make one small change which I will lay out later on.
Completely revamp Pirate's Passage. I don't particularly like the current theming and I want to bring back a lot of lost species and to highlight the dangers the Caribbean reef ecosystem is facing.
Turn Ocean Realm into a geographically coherent Caribbean predators/shark tank
Revamp Touch a Shark into a section based around mangroves and mangrove conservation
Vanishing Amazon
The most ostentatious part of this area is of course, the large tank with a massive waterfall running into it. Right now this tank holds a huge school of red-bellied piranhas, which is great, but a substantial school could be moved to a different section while the old arapaima stomping grounds can house other large Amazon fish popular in aquaria. My species plan for this tank is as follows:
Ocellate river ray (Potamotrygon motoro)
(credit to @Zoological Point for the image)
Pirapitinga (Piaractus brachypomus)
(credit to @Therabu for the image)
Red-tailed catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus)
(credit to @Goura for the image)
Ripsaw catfish (Oxydoras niger)
(credit to @DaLilFishie for the image)
Silver arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum)
(credit to @KevinB for the image)
Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)
(credit to @Therabu for the image)
White-blotched river ray (Potamotrygon leopoldi)
(credit to @biggiesmalls for the image)
Is it a basic list? Admittedly, yes, nothing here is going to make fish nerds like myself go crazy about how rare they are. But all of these species are charismatic and interesting to both animal enthusiasts and the general public.
Here is the exhibit, for reference. Obviously I'd repaint the sides and try to make it look more naturalistic, but it shows the decent size this tank has for large Amazon fish. Credit to @TinoPup for the image.
This is a huge and unwieldly first post, so I'll stop it here. But since we've "decluttered" and refocused this tank, so to speak, I will say the next few enclosures will be more creative and will have some interesting Amazonian species. Hopefully this thread garners some interest, even from those of you who aren't fish-crazy like I am.
Zone A:
Zone A is probably the most substantial area of the aquarium today. Containing Piranha Falls/Rivers of the World, Little Blue Beach, Pirate's Passage, Ocean Realm, and Touch a Shark, this area is definitely my favorite, despite the recent re-orientation towards children. My plans are as follows:
Turn the current Rivers of the World section into a dedicated Amazon section. While arapaima, a favored species of the old aquarium cannot fit into the current setups due to ethical concerns, an effort will be made to provide a comprehensive overview of the fauna of the Amazon into the compact space.
Little Blue Beach is mostly fine as is, but I do want to make one small change which I will lay out later on.
Completely revamp Pirate's Passage. I don't particularly like the current theming and I want to bring back a lot of lost species and to highlight the dangers the Caribbean reef ecosystem is facing.
Turn Ocean Realm into a geographically coherent Caribbean predators/shark tank
Revamp Touch a Shark into a section based around mangroves and mangrove conservation
Vanishing Amazon
The most ostentatious part of this area is of course, the large tank with a massive waterfall running into it. Right now this tank holds a huge school of red-bellied piranhas, which is great, but a substantial school could be moved to a different section while the old arapaima stomping grounds can house other large Amazon fish popular in aquaria. My species plan for this tank is as follows:
Ocellate river ray (Potamotrygon motoro)
(credit to @Zoological Point for the image)
Pirapitinga (Piaractus brachypomus)
(credit to @Therabu for the image)
Red-tailed catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus)
(credit to @Goura for the image)
Ripsaw catfish (Oxydoras niger)
(credit to @DaLilFishie for the image)
Silver arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum)
(credit to @KevinB for the image)
Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)
(credit to @Therabu for the image)
White-blotched river ray (Potamotrygon leopoldi)
(credit to @biggiesmalls for the image)
Is it a basic list? Admittedly, yes, nothing here is going to make fish nerds like myself go crazy about how rare they are. But all of these species are charismatic and interesting to both animal enthusiasts and the general public.
Here is the exhibit, for reference. Obviously I'd repaint the sides and try to make it look more naturalistic, but it shows the decent size this tank has for large Amazon fish. Credit to @TinoPup for the image.
This is a huge and unwieldly first post, so I'll stop it here. But since we've "decluttered" and refocused this tank, so to speak, I will say the next few enclosures will be more creative and will have some interesting Amazonian species. Hopefully this thread garners some interest, even from those of you who aren't fish-crazy like I am.