Lefton Angelfish

I went to Moody Gardens the other day with my local reef club for a behind-the-scenes tour. It was pretty cool. Took lots of pics of the place, thought I'd share. First part of the tour started with the SECORE (sexual coral reproduction) Acropora palmata project. Since its endangered they've been working to propagate it. They only spawn once a year, and researchers have to be there to capture the gametes. They take them back to the lab and let them grow until they settle onto frag plugs and grow out from there. Its a slow process. Tending the corals (they take VERY good care of them): Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120642.jpg Three year old colonies: Moody Gardens got them when they were too small to see with the naked eye. Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120643.jpg Their female zebra shark just laid eggs and one has an embryo in it (a first for them). It'll take 4-6 months to hatch. Egg: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120646.jpg Their Caribbean tank - 900,000 gallons - is 17 ft deep on the shallow end, where they have reeflike structures, going to 20 ft deep on the deep end which is an open section. Its 90 ft across. Panoramas of the top of the tank: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120681_pano.jpg Here you can see the open area on the left, and the tunnel and reef structures on the right: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120708_pano2.jpg My favorite part of the tour, the LSS (life support systems) room. You will never think the maze under your tank is that bad again! All the water they use is natural sea water, filtered and adjusted for salinity. Their main pumps, five 5 hp pumps, pump 17,000 gallons a minute: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120793.jpg The metal box on the first pump is their new flux drive, very cool. Essentually using magnets to control the pump's output instead of throttling it, the pump runs 30 degrees cooler than the others and it saves them $5000/year in costs: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120796.jpg Some of their filtration – sand/gravel that the water is pumped through: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120777.jpg Salt creep affects us all :) Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120792.jpg All the big systems are automated, and can be controlled remotely. The control center: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120780.jpg The concrete box is a surface overflow for the Caribbean tank, they have several of them around the perimeter: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120790.jpg A hallway: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120814.jpg Other pics: Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120773.jpg Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120774.jpg Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120779.jpg Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120781.jpg Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1120786.jpg Image: http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv244/stargate985/Moody%20Gardens%20Aquarium/Equipment/P1130474.jpg

Are there any disadvantages for having a chiller that is rated well above your tank size?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:08:59 GMT