Aquarium System Research Articles

The new aquarium and new sea-water circulation systems at the Plymouth Laboratory

Before describing the new aquarium some mention should be made of the final state of the old, which was described in detail some years ago (Wilson, 1952). Various suggestions for improvement made at that time were subsequently carried out. Thus the central table tanks were removed in 1953 and the central curtains, after shortening, were hung from the ceiling above the front top edge of the south-side tanks. This gave greatly improved viewing of the tank contents through exclusion of direct daylight to the public hall, and the viewing was still further improved when the south-side windows were blackened inside and the tanks lit solely by electric light. Modifications to the reservoirs (described below) brought about a clarity of the sea water never before attained.

The aquarium and sea-water circulation system at the Plymouth Laboratory

The aquarium or tank room, to which visitors are admitted on payment of a small charge, was not designed primarily for public display, but was intended principally to facilitate scientific observations on the habits and life histories of marine animals. This original purpose it has never lost, but of recent years it has increasingly catered also for the steadily growing number of people interested in natural history, and for numerous classes of school-children brought by their teachers. Since the aquarium was re-opened in November 1946 attendances have shown a big increase over comparable pre-war figures.