I had written this awhile ago and never posted it:
March 29, 2008 - Tennessee Aquarium - Behind the Scenes Tour
A few weekends ago, a friend and I went to Chattanooga for the weekend. While we were there, we two hydrophiles stopped in at the Tennessee Aquarium. I had been there before, but Jack, my friend, had not. Situated on the banks of the Tennessee River in the very popular downtown area, two tall glass structures tower above arched concrete slabs. During the warmer months in the Spring and Summer, a water source flows through the area just outside the aquarium to keep children occupied while parents stand in line for admission into the aquarium.
I have a season pass for the Aquarium, but I waited in line with Jack while he got his tickets using my membership discount. Even though it was a fairly busy weekend, the line moved rather quickly. The line is deceiving, however, as it is set up like an amusement park with serpentine lines inside the admission building, winding around like you’re waiting for your favorite ride.
Jack opted for a season pass, and we both opted for the behind the scenes tour of the aquarium. While we waited for our tour to begin, we went downstairs in the River Journey building to see the seahorse exhibit. There were seahorses and seadragons. We would later find out that there is a species of seadragon that has never reproduced in captivity, and very little is know about their reproductive cycle to begin with. Tails curved around plants and rock pieces keep the fragile floating “horses” anchored in one spot. After looking at the seahorses and seadragons, it’s difficult to imagine that they are actual fish rather than miniature aquatic versions of their namesake.
We went back upstairs to meet our tour group. We were two in a group of five plus the volunteer guide. Where else would our tour start than in the pumping and filtration room? We went down to the River Journey’s pumping and filtration room in which we saw every single exhibit in River Journey’s pump and filtration system. What many people may not know is fresh or saltwater, the water that is used at the aquarium is the same water that is used in the city of Chattanooga. The water is brought into the aquarium, processed, treated, warmed or cooled, salt added in some cases, and then pumped into the exhibits. Just like a giant swimming pool, the exhibits also undergo backwashing and re-filtering. The filtration tanks were similar to the ones you would find filtering the common swimming pool but on a much larger scale.
Moving up from the pumping and filtration room, we saw a variety of different rooms including the “sick bay” and research area of the aquarium. While we weren’t allowed access, we were told of a test that the aquarium is performing to try to promote the breeding in captivity of seadragons. It is understood that seadragon males and females will circle one another up a straight line near the surface. While doing so, the male is to fertilize the eggs of the female. If both the male and female reach the surface or the “stopping point” prior to the eggs being fertilized, the female will just release the eggs without being fertilized, and thus, leaving no chance of new seadragons. The test that the Tennessee Aquarium is performing is the construction of a tall water column. This column will be used to promote and to simulate the reproductive cycle of the seadragon. There are already “test subjects” waiting to try out the love column.
From there, we moved on to the “brain” of the aquariums. This was the control room for the aquariums - computers that monitor every aspect of the aquarium from the water flow to high-tech cameras that allow the users to zoom in on various rooms of the aquarium, including the quarantine room. The person in charge of the computers at that time zoomed in on a piece of paper in the room, and we could read everything that the person had written.
The most interesting part of the behind the scenes tour was discovering the different animals’ diets: the river otters got lemons added into their “meatloaves” as it prevented fleas, and one of the fish with the worst (and incorrect) reputation, the piranha, like grapes. Sea turtles will fight the sharks and others for broccoli, but all of the fish liked what looked like fishy pesto jell-o called “fish gel food.” From the kitchen area for the aquarium, we took some of the fish gel cubes and proceeded to the top of the saltwater exhibit in River Journey. There is where we got to take the fish gel cubes and feed the fish and whomever wanted them, the cubes. Where else can you go in Tennessee and feed sharks, rays, and saltwater fish? They broke the surface of the water, and I wondered what the people down below in the aquarium thought.
From the River Journeys building, we went to the Ocean Journeys building where we saw the pump and filtration room. There is where we discovered that the aquarium makes their own saltwater with raw materials instead of buying pre-made aquarium salt. The process takes about two days to make a batch of saltwater. From that area, we saw the large saltwater exhibit from high above as well. We learned that the turtle in the exhibit is target trained. They move him out of the main saltwater exhibit into his own holding area so that he doesn’t fight everyone for broccoli. The rays are hand-fed, the sharks are “hand-fed” by large fish-mounted spikes attached to a long handle, and while all of this is occurring, blasts of food are propelled through tubes into the tank as well as tossed out across the surface. It is a pretty interesting routine to feed all of the fish in Ocean Journeys.
After the Behind the Scenes tour, we were able to explore the aquarium on our own. Knowing what we now know about the aquarium made it that more interesting.
So if you have a young Jacques Cousteau, or if you always had a question about what sea turtles eat, the Behind the Scenes tour at the Tennessee Aquarium is definitely worth it.
Behind the Scenes Tour:
$15 (plus admission) for non-members
$10 for members
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