The family and I took a trip out to the California Academy of Sciences today. This is the first time I've been since I got into reefing (but not my first time ever) and all I can say is; WOW - I appreciate this stuff SO much more now!
I have no idea how big this tank is - I didn't bother asking anything about it as I (we) had fun just identifying everything without the use of their signs. :-)
And above:
I'm sure others just walk by this and go, "Meh; lights". But for me, knowing what my lights mean to my tank, this setup was beyond impressive!
(Again; didn't ask about it. Next time, perhaps - if I can find someone who knows enough about it to talk to as most of their staff are volunteers.)
These nems covered more space than your average throw rug:
Beyond the main tank, they also have many smaller, usually species-specific, tanks. Here are some shots from those:
Leafy Sea Dragons! (I love these guys)
And this was another of their main tanks - this one filled with stuff from the Pacific coast (eg; Monterey-esk):
That's my 2-year old in the shot, for reference (and because she's so stinkin' cute). The Pacific tank (tanks, really - there are several) give a pretty good, if unnatural, impression of diving in this area. The problem is that the visibility is NEVER as good as they have it. But I doubt many people would be happy to stare at a massive tank that they can only see 5-10ft into... Also; there's never that many fish in one place - not even in nature preserves with ideal conditions. But even knowing that, visiting today made me want to go out and dive again! (I've not gotten in the water since I completed my Divemaster certification...)
Also went around the corner and visited a highly rated LFS (Lucky Ocean Aquarium) to pick up something new for the tank. Ended up getting a trio of Bartlett's Anthias (currently drip-acclimating their way into the QT for a month):
I have no idea how big this tank is - I didn't bother asking anything about it as I (we) had fun just identifying everything without the use of their signs. :-)
And above:
I'm sure others just walk by this and go, "Meh; lights". But for me, knowing what my lights mean to my tank, this setup was beyond impressive!
(Again; didn't ask about it. Next time, perhaps - if I can find someone who knows enough about it to talk to as most of their staff are volunteers.)
These nems covered more space than your average throw rug:
Beyond the main tank, they also have many smaller, usually species-specific, tanks. Here are some shots from those:
Leafy Sea Dragons! (I love these guys)
And this was another of their main tanks - this one filled with stuff from the Pacific coast (eg; Monterey-esk):
That's my 2-year old in the shot, for reference (and because she's so stinkin' cute). The Pacific tank (tanks, really - there are several) give a pretty good, if unnatural, impression of diving in this area. The problem is that the visibility is NEVER as good as they have it. But I doubt many people would be happy to stare at a massive tank that they can only see 5-10ft into... Also; there's never that many fish in one place - not even in nature preserves with ideal conditions. But even knowing that, visiting today made me want to go out and dive again! (I've not gotten in the water since I completed my Divemaster certification...)
Also went around the corner and visited a highly rated LFS (Lucky Ocean Aquarium) to pick up something new for the tank. Ended up getting a trio of Bartlett's Anthias (currently drip-acclimating their way into the QT for a month):
