Review your city's aquarium

jake0110

Member
My wife and I found ourselves near Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut today and decided to stop in for a look.
We have seen some pretty cool displays and are always looking for something new to see. I thought you might like my quick reviews and I am interested to see yours. Here goes....
New York Aquarium, Coney Island, NY. Excellent choice. I was particularly impressed by the HUGE striped bass and an entire building devoted to jellyfish. They also break down their tropical fish displays by region and have a very good larger tank. The outdoor displays, penguins, seals etc. are also well done.
NJ State Aquarium, Camden, NJ. Excellent. This Aquarium was renewed a few years ago and the result was outstanding. They have a cool water tunnel where you can walk through/under a large tank. The hippopotamus exhibit is unbelievable! If you are near Philly, this is a must see.
National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD. Good. The shark tank with the spiral walkway in the middle is terrific. The other exhibits were good, but nothing really stands out.
Boston Aquarium, Boston, MA. Very Good. The large display tank in the middle is impressive. I remember the huge permits, probably because I caught a near-record sized one on spinning tackle and these were nearly twice the size.
Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, CT. Mediocre. The kids may like it, but it's kind of small and there are no stand out exhibits.
That's all I can remember. We are thinking of heading down to Atlanta, since we have heard good things.
Let me know which ones you have seen and liked. I am always up for a day trip to a new aquarium, and maybe even traveling a good distance to see something cool.
 

ifirefight

Active Member
Not my city but Atlanta aquarium is a MUST SEE for anybody thats into SW fishkeeping. I was HIGHLY disappointed in the CORAL/REEF section...
It was laughable..
BUT...The sheer volume of water and the tanks IS VERY IMPRESSIVE..a seeing whale sharks in captivity...well you cant see that just anyplace..
The behind the scenes tour is well worth the extra $$$$. This is the HOLY GRAIL of aquariums as far as I am concerned...everybody should see this.
 

tr1gger

Member
The John Shedd Aquarium here in chicago is the Best in the country and was just featured on Green TV the other night. 3 Million gallon Oceanarium, fish from all over the world. More than 22,000 animals of all factions. More than 750,000 Gallons of saltwater Displays and not to mention the 90,000 gallon Caribbean Reef with more than 250 inhabbitants including my buddy nickle the sea turtle :)
Oh and the oldest living fish in captivity in the world, a lung fish from 1933 named Gran-dad that is still alive today which came from the Sydney aquarium.
 

morval

Member
well buffalo dont got an aquarium but niagara falls(20 mins away) does...it might be one of the worst in the country. looks like it was built in the 1700's and has not been updated since then. largest thing they got is sea lions and there all real old, one of them had lasik eye surgery back in the early '80s cuz i guess they go blind fairly often. salt water tank is smaller than many members here. biggest tank they have is "the Fish of lake erie". when i go to an aquarium i dont wanna see a school of perch and some small mouth bass. i know it a part of bird life but last time i was there the penguins were molting and looked like crap. ive always said if i ever win the lottery i would open my own privately funded aquarium for this area cuz we need it bad. very jealous of all the other cities that have respectable aquariums you guys are lucky
 
The one here in NM is not that bad. They have a 250,000 ( I think ) Main tank with sharks and rays and lots of stuff. Some jellies, a nice hallway tank with eels, a good size ray tank. They are planning on expanding soon from what I was told. Did a behind the scenes tour a few weeks ago and that was pretty cool. Kinda funny to see a city aquarium DIY stuff.. Here are some pics from the trip..
Pic of some random stuff and DIY skimmer

Water room (storage tanks/Skimmers/Mixing tanks/etc.) Notice the pallets of salt all around..

BIG skimmer

View from on top of the main tank 250,000 I think..
 
K

kikithemermaid

Guest
Originally Posted by tr1gger
http:///forum/post/2714844
The John Shedd Aquarium here in chicago is the Best in the country and was just featured on Green TV the other night. 3 Million gallon Oceanarium, fish from all over the world. More than 22,000 animals of all factions. More than 750,000 Gallons of saltwater Displays and not to mention the 90,000 gallon Caribbean Reef with more than 250 inhabbitants including my buddy nickle the sea turtle :)
Oh and the oldest living fish in captivity in the world, a lung fish from 1933 named Gran-dad that is still alive today which came from the Sydney aquarium.
Here, here! I worked there for 3 years.
 

dragonzim

Active Member
Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, Long Island, NY.
Great place. From what I've read they have the largest straight reef tank in the country. Nice sharkjacktuna tank with a couple of really great green moray eels living in it. Also offers cage diving in the shark tank as well as eco tour trips in their own boat along the river and bay that the aquarium is located on. Its not quite as grand as the Shedd or Atlanta aquariums but it definitely gives the Boston one a run for its money.
I may be a little biased since this is where I got married though
 

aquaknight

Active Member
Uhhhh...... hmmm......
... Seaworld, Orlando, FL
Not really known for their reef setups, but has a good Orca show
, and it's got a roller coaster, and what?!?!
 

jake0110

Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/2715215
Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, Long Island, NY.
Great place. From what I've read they have the largest straight reef tank in the country. Nice sharkjacktuna tank with a couple of really great green moray eels living in it. Also offers cage diving in the shark tank as well as eco tour trips in their own boat along the river and bay that the aquarium is located on. Its not quite as grand as the Shedd or Atlanta aquariums but it definitely gives the Boston one a run for its money.
I may be a little biased since this is where I got married though

I will definitely check this one out. It is probably about two hour's drive from me. Thanks!
 

hlcroghan

Active Member
Yep the Shedd aquarium is the best one I have ever been too. You can walk underneath the water in a tunnel for the shark exhibit. Pretty amazing. The hippos like to come up to the glass to look at you. One of the divers was cleaning the tank when we were there. He had a big pole to keep the fish away from him. They were so big they could have taken his arm off. Amazing.
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by indigobluetc
http:///forum/post/2714977
The one here in NM is not that bad. They have a 250,000 ( I think ) Main tank with sharks and rays and lots of stuff. Some jellies, a nice hallway tank with eels, a good size ray tank. They are planning on expanding soon from what I was told. Did a behind the scenes tour a few weeks ago and that was pretty cool. Kinda funny to see a city aquarium DIY stuff.. Here are some pics from the trip..
BIG skimmer

Will that be an overkill on my 28 gallon nano cube reef?
 

kjr_trig

Active Member
I will rate the ones I have been to on a scale of 1-10...I'm a pretty easy judge because I love aquariums so much
Washington D.C. 2 Horrible
Charleston SC 8.5
Seattle 9
San Fransisco 9
San Diego 9
Maui 9.5
Chicago 9.6

Hear Altanta is great
Also love Sea World and even more so the aquariums at Epcott.
Phoenix is getting one soon, very near my house too.
 

mimzy

Active Member
I've actually been to "Adventure quarium" - as it is called now, since it was sold by New Jersey state - and was sorely, horribly dissapointed. The displays are very small, dirty, full of aiptasia and cyano, and some of the labeling and information provided is just downright WRONG.
Another thing that shocked and irritated me was the timelines posted up everywhere.... they were all...religious. Inappropriate and out of place in a what is supposed to be a scientific institution.
Huge disappointment and wayyyy overpriced.

The Aquarium in Baltimore, however, is one of my very favorite places on Earth. AMAAAAAAAAAZING. The place is absolutely enormous - it would take more than one day to see everything there, and they've also got a massive spiral stairway that goes down into the middle of a multi-story tank brimming with full-sized sharks. It's really, in the truest sense of the word, awesome.
 

crimzy

Active Member
Shedd is awesome. Unfortunately we don't have an aquarium in Michigan.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned a couple of classics... Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas is unbelievable. We stayed there for a week and just walked around most nights looking at everything. Also, the aquarium in Mandeley Bay is really cool.
 

wangotango

Active Member
Rochester doesn't have an aquarium, but here's what I've been to:
National Aquarium (Baltimore) Awsome
Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta) Really Awsome (once the reef fills in)
New England Aquarium (Boston) Meh, not too bad
-Justin
 

kclester

Active Member
HUMMM well lets see i have been to 3
1. Ripleys aquarium in the smokey mountains...it was pretty cool, it had a ray-shark tank where you could auctually touch the rays. Cool horseshow crab tank and you could pick them up, all kinds of tanks for the kids. It had a big show tank with a tunnel that went under it they had some good sized sharks...rays...saw fish and stuff like that
2. Ripleys aquarium in myrtle beach sc same as the one in the smokeys lol
3. I think its called The Aquarium of North Carolina i think i cant remember but its rihgt near the beach.....Humm it was cool they had some gators and a bunch of FW fish....and they had some cool SW setups to they were all good would visit them all again
 

clownfish11

Active Member
aw so the DC one sucks im there right now well maryland, but heading to DC tomorrow to see my cousins baby "to be" aka give a gift, leave the shower, go tot he city, and I was going to go tomorrow, but now that I hear it sucks is there even a point?
 
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