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Where in the World is Steven Pro?
Columbus Zoo & Aquarium By: Steven Pro
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Small, Yet Impressive
4 out of 5 Little Fishes
A big part of whether or not a visitor is going to enjoy a particular attraction is layout and expectations. This idea was very well illustrated in my recent trip to the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. I had rather modest expectations for what I heard was a very small aquatics facility inside of a large zoological park. But, my expectations were well surpassed in no small part to the staggered layout in which I was continually impressed in each building before moving on to the next building only to be amazed even more.
My recent travels brought me out into the heartland of Ohio to the small metropolis of Columbus. Columbus is most notable as being the home of Ohio State University and their Buckeye sport teams, but it should also be noted as having some very nice aquatic displays in the public zoo.
While the aquarium is part of the larger zoo, I did not have an opportunity to see the rest of the animals. We were on a tight time schedule. As such, we were escorted in via an employee entrance directly behind the scenes and into the marine aquarium building. And while this facility was rather small, it was nonetheless totally enjoyable.
The Tropical Marine Building – Discovery Reef:
Upon entering the main doors, the first thing to greet visitors was an educational display promoting conscientious choices in buying seafood and a promotion for the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. I have briefly written about this program when I discussed the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the last issue; so refer to that article for additional information. Anyhow, it is nice to see such cooperation between facilities so far away from each other.
The next thing I was drawn to was the touch pool tank. While touch pool tanks are rather common attractions in public aquaria for younger visitors with their larger sea stars and horseshoe crabs to feel, this one differentiated itself with a waterfall leading into it from a nice fish display.
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The next display was fashioned to look like a submarine with extra large portholes to view the undersea world. This was the reef display. It was okay. It was mostly a wall of rock with corals adhered to it. But, it did house some interesting animals, nonetheless. The one tank housed a big breeding colony of Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), a few garden eels (Heteroconger hassi) scattered in their burrows amongst the seagrass at the bottom of the display, and a school of green chromis damsels (Chromis viridis) that also had a few unusual specimens interspersed. The odd colored chromis looked like standard green chromis except they had a noticeable yellow edge to their dorsal and anal fins and were slightly more baby blue tinged than normal. I don’t know if they were a different species or simply an unusual color morph, but they sure were attractive.
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The next two viewing windows of the reef display were somewhat standard, nothing too stunning. Like the first porthole these, too, were mostly just a rock wall with corals stuck here and there. This display went to show there is a lot of art to arranging rockwork and sometimes people really get it right and, then, there are other times. Plus, the fish were rather standard offerings as well.
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But, the final display was a showstopper. It was a mammoth tank coming in at 100,000 gallons! It housed an impressive array of surgeonfishes, rabbitfishes, spadefishes, anthias, puffers, and sharks. This tank had some of the largest, healthy fish I have ever seen. When I usually see one of these mixed display housing sharks and large bodied, fast fishes, many of the cartilaginous fishes are suffering from Marine Head and Lateral Line Erosion. But, not in this case. The fish were simply spectacular!
And even more stunning than the animals in the display were the mechanicals behind the scenes. The equipment that keeps this tank so clean and healthy was just as stunning.
There was this large piston driven surge device that was really neat to watch. Although, one could hardly see the ripple it created in an aquarium so large.
What I found really intriguing with the display was actually the sump. Water was sucked out of the display and forced through the various filters before gravity draining back into the display. And even more surprising than this setup was that the water fed back into the display by way of a reverse flow undergravel filter. Truly thinking outside of the box. But, results don’t lie. It works for them.
The Freshwater Facility – Johnson Aquatic Complex:
I am a well-rounded and experienced fish geek. Of course, I keep marine aquaria, but I also still dabble in freshwater aquariums and have a decent size garden pond. So, I still appreciate well-done freshwater displays and the facility here did not disappoint. The freshwater building was just as nice as the marine building. They had some gorgeous, lush planted aquaria that any fish person would be able to appreciate. But, I was particularly impressed with their paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) (http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/aquatic/fish/paddlefish/faq.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddlefish). It was a large, magnificent creature that one doesn’t have that many opportunities to see in captivity.
Manatee Coast:
The last building we went into was to house a couple of manatees. It was, in a word, amazing! I walked in the doors and was greeted by a small tropical paradise in the middle of Ohio. Mangrove trees surrounded me as I walked across a small footpath that resembled a wooden boat dock. It is at this point, that you start to get your first glimpse of the water. It was this large, open enclosure with this giant pool inside. And, I was surprised to see that it was a full marine exhibit as well. For some reason I thought it would be freshwater or perhaps brackish, but it appears to be full strength seawater based on the other inhabitants. The two large manatees were sitting on the bottom of the pool like two lumps, but to otherwise capture your attention, there were several cownose rays, a sea turtle, and schools of spadefish cruising around the tank. But, the part that impressed me the most was the water clarity. It was stunning! The pool was large, but well stocked and I can’t imagine those manatees are clean animals, as evidenced by the remnants of lettuce floating all over the top of the water. But nonetheless, the water was almost crystal clear. It is a testament to the mechanicals behind the scenes as well as the general husbandry of the staff.
Recommendations:
I give the Columbus Zoo’s aquatic exhibits a solid 4 out of 5 little fishes. The only thing holding me back from giving it a full 5 out of 5 is its overall small size and some of the freshwater displays are a bit dated. Still, the staff here does a lot with the little area that they have and I would definitely stop again and visit if given the opportunity.
I would like to take a moment to thank aquarist Ramon Villaverde. He took a fair amount of time out of his busy schedule to show us around and I thank him for it. He was a very gracious tour guide.
http://colszoo.org
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Monterey Bay Aquarium: |  | |
Columbus Zoo & Aquarium: | |
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