dwarfgourami
Fish Connoisseur
Universeum, Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden
Not just an aquarium, but a sort of general zoology museum with biotopes, mainly fish and herptiles. There is an indigenous section which starts off at the top of the building with mountain streams (you really do get an illusion of being outside), then woodland streams (with fish and amphibians) and all the way down to the sea. There were some tropical tanks too but had little time to look at those.
Then there is the rainforest- which is a high open room - several floors - with rainforest plants, birds, small monkeys and open fish tanks. The children found it too hot and damp, but I could have stayed a long time.
Also, a section with poisonous snakes and lizards. At first I found this concept a bit sensational but it was well done, and meant you are not just staring at the same old easily-kept boas and pythons, but getting to learn something new.
All in all, good value for money, the animals looked well kept.
Gothenburg also has an Aquarium (below the Maritime Museum), which I haven't visited for many years. It used to be cramped and underheated, but I have been told they have got their act together and it's well worth a visit now.
I've been to both the Bournemouth and the Portsmouth Aquariums. Only once to Bournemouth, and I did have a few concerns then about some ill-matched fish and obvious signs of aggression/injuries in the tanks, but that may have been a temporary glitch; also, about the appalling environmental sense of a place that keeps all its cafe doors wide open on a freezing cold day in February, yet heats the room inside to tropical temperatures. Still, they had lots of interesting fish.
Portsmouth is one I visit regularly, and I do like this one. Fish always look well kept, and there's often something interesting to see, like baby rays on one occasion. Not enormous but nicely laid out, something very satisfactory about it. And kids love the otters.
The Deep in Hull is a bit more on the mind-blowing scale. Only been once, but I did enjoy it.
Not just an aquarium, but a sort of general zoology museum with biotopes, mainly fish and herptiles. There is an indigenous section which starts off at the top of the building with mountain streams (you really do get an illusion of being outside), then woodland streams (with fish and amphibians) and all the way down to the sea. There were some tropical tanks too but had little time to look at those.
Then there is the rainforest- which is a high open room - several floors - with rainforest plants, birds, small monkeys and open fish tanks. The children found it too hot and damp, but I could have stayed a long time.
Also, a section with poisonous snakes and lizards. At first I found this concept a bit sensational but it was well done, and meant you are not just staring at the same old easily-kept boas and pythons, but getting to learn something new.
All in all, good value for money, the animals looked well kept.
Gothenburg also has an Aquarium (below the Maritime Museum), which I haven't visited for many years. It used to be cramped and underheated, but I have been told they have got their act together and it's well worth a visit now.
I've been to both the Bournemouth and the Portsmouth Aquariums. Only once to Bournemouth, and I did have a few concerns then about some ill-matched fish and obvious signs of aggression/injuries in the tanks, but that may have been a temporary glitch; also, about the appalling environmental sense of a place that keeps all its cafe doors wide open on a freezing cold day in February, yet heats the room inside to tropical temperatures. Still, they had lots of interesting fish.
Portsmouth is one I visit regularly, and I do like this one. Fish always look well kept, and there's often something interesting to see, like baby rays on one occasion. Not enormous but nicely laid out, something very satisfactory about it. And kids love the otters.
The Deep in Hull is a bit more on the mind-blowing scale. Only been once, but I did enjoy it.
/www.melbourneaquarium.com.au
