Back stage tour of National Aquarium

[Rich_Long]

Hey all! For our 22nd, my wife and I went to Baltimore. Stayed at the Historic Admiral Fell's Inn in Fells point, very nice. Anyway, we did the backstage tour of the aquarium and saw some great stuff. I forgot my camera!! Yeah, i know, but I was distracted when we were getting ready to go by a black dog....long story for another time.
I was interested in seeing how the displays were constructed. I found out that the smaller ones are actually fiberglass tanks pushed up against the walls!! The tanks are made by a company in NJ.
Very cool! They also use fiberglass tanks of the 250-350 gallon size to hold fish and other animals in the back. Theses tanks have a clear front bolted to the tank openings .
I was very impressed with the organization and the general cleanness of the back areas. I was not able to get behind the discus display, but was told that there is a specific aquarist assigned to thet tank. Imagine that.
If you get the chance to take the tour , by all means do so. it's $25 a head, and that includes access to the Aquarium.

Geeeez..... Rich

You forgot the camera? Sounds like a nice get away.

BTW.... Congrats on 22 years.... sounds almost unheard of in this day and time.

Beth

[Ralph]

Rich, funny you should mention that.
Our next interview on discus biotopes is with Peter Kriz who is the aquarist in charge of the discus display tank (among others) at the National Aquarium. Maybe you met him.
He'll be talking about his trip to Heckel country, the Rio Negro. He went there recently with Project Piaba. He discusses that and a bit about the water treatment set up that they have on the displays.
I'll post it next week in the Show Tanks and Biotope Section.

Rich, The Baltimore National Aquarium has to be called just that! They cannot use the term--National Aquarium exclusively! The history behind The Baltimore National Aquarium: The plans were to build it in Washington D.C. on an island exactly as seen in B'more. Funding was cut by the Feds. There had been some sort of rivalry and hard feelings over the plans and name.
The National Aquarium in Washington pales by comparison--but is privately funded through donations. They are doing some remodeling and expansion--but it will never be like the Baltimore one.

The Baltimore National Aquarium is the best of it's type that I have seen. Through the hard work generated by volunteers--Read free--it is among the most successful as well! Hope you took the time to see the Rianforest exhibit perched above the Aquarium 8) Joe