Keeping the Fishes Healthy
Thom Demas is the Curator of Fishes at the Tennessee Aquarium. He and his staff are responsible for the well-being of all the fishes at the aquarium.
Giant Filters Keeping the Water Clean
In the basement of the aquarium we found HUGE tanks that filter the water for some of the biggest exhibits. After the water is clean, it’s pumped up to the exhibits at a rate of about 1,200 gallons per minute.
In the Main Control Room
There’s a lot to keep an eye on at such a big aquarium, and that all happens in the main control room. From here they can monitor all the systems in the building.
The BIG Fish of the River Giants Exhibit
The River Giants exhibit is housed in an 88,000 gallon tank. This is home to some really big fish, some six feet or more in length.
Up Above the Big Tank
To access the tanks and care for the fish, the staff at the aquarium go up above the water, and work from a platform. Three days a week, divers go in and clean this giant tank. Divers also feed the fish, although certain species are only fed with tongs for safety reasons.
Penguins Rock!
We visited the penguin area and got up close and personal with these birds. We also learned why you don’t want to pick up a penguin!
Huge and Tiny Jellyfish
We saw jellyfish so big you would want to stay away from them in the wild, and ones so small you might not even recognize what they were unless you looked really closely.
Welcome to the Shark Tank
This massive, 618,000 gallon tank (over 5 million pounds of water!) is home to the aquarium’s sharks. Anyone want to go swimming?
