Anyone know of a public tropical aquarium?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Aug 2007, 00:29

There are lots of "Sealife Centres" and similar in this country, but most of them seem to have one or two freshwater aquaria.

I seem to remember having read about something like it in a direction that said "roughly towards Oxford" from where I live in Surrey - I could be wrong about that direction tho'.

I'm looking for something suitable for young children as well as "fish-crazy dad".

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Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 21 Aug 2007, 09:34

I seem to remember having read about something like it in a direction that said "roughly towards Oxford" from where I live in Surrey - I could be wrong about that direction tho'.

Nothing that I know of near me....

The best aquarium for freshwater I have yet seen is the London Aquarium.

London Zoo might be worth a visit too.

I do think a lot of these public aquaria should raise their game as far as biotope design and species selection goes.

I often leave these places thinking "I could do better". I would much rather be inspired and leave thinking "wow, I want my tank to look like that".

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 21 Aug 2007, 13:21

Hi Mats

The Blue planet near chester is my fave (although it is miles from you). The Arapaima is outstanding & it is a good place for kids to go. There are many tanks which feature region specific fish like the amazonian tank etc. Really worth a visit if you are in the area.

The National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham is also great for kids but gets ridiculously busy in school holiday times. They have a monstrous tank you can walk through with sharks & turtles. My faves were the pot-bellied seahorses here but they have plenty of freshwater stuff too.

Finally although it seems like eons ago - Bristol zoo have an aquarium which featured a massive tank with the most gigantic RTC, Nigers & Giraffes i have ever seen - it was a long time ago though.

DAWN · Post by **DAWN** » 21 Aug 2007, 15:29

Have you tried the Sea-Life center in Birmingham, your kids would love all the different and wonderful fish

Someone just mention there

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Aug 2007, 19:26

Today we went to Brighton for the Sea-life center. But the queue put us off (three abreast for about 15 yards out of the door!), and we ended up doing other things. Still wanting to find some place that has tropical freshwater fish...

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Mats

TP · Post by TP » 21 Aug 2007, 20:44

Have you tried the aquarium at Birdworld in Farnham. Very close to you I guess. Its been 20-25 years since I visited so don't even remember how big it was then but I do remember they had a big tank of neons which I thought was stunning and probably was the start of me wanting to keep fish!

Heres the link, it says they have tropical freshwater - http://www.birdworld.co.uk/uww.shtml

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 22 Aug 2007, 22:24

Yes the blue planet is great Mats, and I too have been meaning to go to the bird world place. It's one hell of a drive for you to the blue planet though, my kids love it and don't forget Pier aquatics is not far away from it, thats worth a day out on it's own.

Matt

TP · Post by TP » 01 Sep 2007, 17:34

I've just returned from the Blue Planet and it is magnificent, personally I think it is much better than the London Aquarium. As well as the fish (including quite a few different cats) they have some very cool otters as well.

Highly recommended if you are in the North West (of the UK).

CFC · Post by **CFC** » 01 Sep 2007, 22:38

Theres the Aquatic Experience at Syon Park which is in Brentford/Isleworth (West London, not far from Heathrow airport/Twickenham rugby stadium). They have various tanks and pools and a massive indoor "lake" which contains several RTC including what they claim is the largest captive RTC in Britain at around 5 feet in length.