Hey folks, i was lucky enough to receive an invite from a friend to go and visit him at work in the Aquarium at London Zoo. I finally got round to it yesterday and to say it was amazing would be an understatement!! It really was a fantastic experience seeing the inner workings of just keeping so many tanks running let alone thriving in the way they do. I can honestly say that the fish health was remarkable with many tanks breeding unassisted.
While a lot of what they do goes right over my head it was fascinating to see the work being done to maintain communities of fish that are now sadly extinct in the wild or their habits seriously threatened.
Whenever i have talked about it with him over a beer it always seemed like a dream job, working with aquatics everyday and getting to talk to people about it, aside the terrible pay i was ready to hand in my notice!!
Now, having visited it is clear how difficult it is. With all back of house areas being maintained at 30+ C, humidity levels through the roof, water changing all tanks daily with most smaller tanks (still 100lts min) being done by bucket!, the responsibility that if you syphon up one fish it could be 5% of the worlds population, glass cleaning all display tanks daily etc... you get the idea, safe to say ill be in hospitality a while longer!
On the plus side, feeding huge arapaima whole almonds, crickets etc will never get boring. Just watch were you put your fingers as they smash open whole brasil nuts like they are satsumas!!
IMG_5244 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
Aside from the aquarium i would also say the zoo is fantastic, far more interesting that most zoos and safari parks ive been too.
Id very much recommend it if your looking for a day out!!
Ill put up a few my fave pics and personal highlights of the day but if you want to see the others then follow the flickr link to the album 🙂
No photos of the tigers, gorillas etc while the conservation work they are doing is sadly now vital i dont see anything pretty with caging in the background etc...
seahorse breeding
IMG_5017 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5275 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5357 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5353 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5349 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5279 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5256 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5233 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5209 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5205 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5185 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5117 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5106 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
Huge amounts of corals that the zoo receives from customs seizures...
IMG_5100 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5090 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
huge arowana tank...
IMG_5085 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
all of the fresh water tanks have riparium gutters to suck up nutrients and pollutants.
IMG_5127 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
breeding extinct in the wild species
IMG_5075 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5074 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
how do you fancy cleaning all these every day? most tanks have about a 4" gap along the back to get into them.
IMG_5061 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5031 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5028 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
2 TMC 1000 tiles running a 10,000ltr cichlid display tank 🙂
IMG_5123 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
While a lot of what they do goes right over my head it was fascinating to see the work being done to maintain communities of fish that are now sadly extinct in the wild or their habits seriously threatened.
Whenever i have talked about it with him over a beer it always seemed like a dream job, working with aquatics everyday and getting to talk to people about it, aside the terrible pay i was ready to hand in my notice!!
Now, having visited it is clear how difficult it is. With all back of house areas being maintained at 30+ C, humidity levels through the roof, water changing all tanks daily with most smaller tanks (still 100lts min) being done by bucket!, the responsibility that if you syphon up one fish it could be 5% of the worlds population, glass cleaning all display tanks daily etc... you get the idea, safe to say ill be in hospitality a while longer!
On the plus side, feeding huge arapaima whole almonds, crickets etc will never get boring. Just watch were you put your fingers as they smash open whole brasil nuts like they are satsumas!!
IMG_5244 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
Aside from the aquarium i would also say the zoo is fantastic, far more interesting that most zoos and safari parks ive been too.
Id very much recommend it if your looking for a day out!!
Ill put up a few my fave pics and personal highlights of the day but if you want to see the others then follow the flickr link to the album 🙂
No photos of the tigers, gorillas etc while the conservation work they are doing is sadly now vital i dont see anything pretty with caging in the background etc...
seahorse breeding
IMG_5017 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5275 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5357 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5353 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5349 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5279 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5256 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5233 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5209 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5205 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5185 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5117 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5106 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
Huge amounts of corals that the zoo receives from customs seizures...
IMG_5100 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5090 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
huge arowana tank...
IMG_5085 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
all of the fresh water tanks have riparium gutters to suck up nutrients and pollutants.
IMG_5127 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
breeding extinct in the wild species
IMG_5075 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5074 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
how do you fancy cleaning all these every day? most tanks have about a 4" gap along the back to get into them.
IMG_5061 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5031 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
IMG_5028 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr
2 TMC 1000 tiles running a 10,000ltr cichlid display tank 🙂
IMG_5123 by iainsutherland24, on Flickr