mling June 25, 2015 Share June 25, 2015 Reef tanks at the Nat Zoo . Not totally ready yet but good to see marine life at the zoo again. Thanks Mike H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 June 25, 2015 Share June 25, 2015 Oh that's awesome! Any idea if the elegance will be going in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt June 26, 2015 Share June 26, 2015 This is great news! Had no idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling June 26, 2015 Author Share June 26, 2015 Oh that's awesome! Any idea if the elegance will be going in there? Elegance is suppose to go in the extreme left tank. Mike said he designed that tank just for it. When I was there yesterday, I heard that they were having some problems with the actual move of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford June 26, 2015 Share June 26, 2015 Where's our meme makers.. "One does not simply move the Elegance" When I was there yesterday, I heard that they were having some problems with the actual move of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads June 26, 2015 Share June 26, 2015 Nice! I saw these dry a few weeks ago. Glad they have water in them now. I am going to have to swing by one of these weekends and take a peek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte June 29, 2015 Share June 29, 2015 (edited) Reef tanks at the Nat Zoo . Not totally ready yet but good to see marine life at the zoo again. Thanks Mike H. Hey all - MANY thanks for starting a thread on this. It was my intention to let you all know that we are indeed keeping corals at the National Zoo (albeit it in a smaller venue...), despite losing the Invertebrate Exhibit a year ago. I just got soooooooo busy leading up to my departure that I forgot. Thanks mling. To fill you all in just a little bit - yes, the Elegance Coral is indeed going in that tank on the far left (stage right). As many of you know, that coral has been at the zoo since Invertebrates opened to the public in 1987. Given its history (and I still have yet to see a Catalaphyllia specimen rival its size...), I wasn't willing to part with it so easily. When I found out we could possibly get a donor to fund the exhibit, I kept as many of the corals/anemones/various crustaceans from Invertebrates that I could; they have all been living off exhibit in Amazonia the past year. The rework of that old Amazon GIS space (the alcove where the new exhibit is now) is part of a rebranding of the "Amazonia Science Gallery" to one of "The Science Gallery" - and is meant to focus on NZP Science (Amphibian Ark lab to the right, Zoo Nutrition science to the left, and more to come later about migratory birds). So, the coral lab will showcase the work done with corals at the zoo (Dr. Mary Hagedorn's lab in Hawaii). We tried to cram as much stuff in there that we comfortably could. There are 5 tanks total - the 3'x3'x3' Elegance tank to the left, 6'x3'x3' 'main reef' display in the center, and on the right, three smaller 50-ish gallon "focus tanks" meant to be species-only displays. These will likely rotate between things like mantis shrimp, anemone/clownfish, Frogfish, Flamboyant cuttlefish, etc. Ya know... "jewel-sized" tanks that showcase one or a couple of species. As the theme of the exhibit is the "Coral Lab," the decision was made to keep the main reef display without fish. In our experience, if there are big, showy, colorful fish, then the lay-persons' eyes tend to hit the fast-moving, colorful fish and never see the corals behind them (you all in this club don't qualify here... . This is why the tank at Invertebrates was also fish-free... And... the Elegance was never really "at home" in that main, hard-bottom reef display. Catalaphyllia is actually a seagrass/volcanic sand/muck habitat species. So, I was keen to put it in a black sand display, apart from the main reef. I hope whomever follows me will continue on with this theme and actually put sea grass in with it. All 5 of the tanks are connected underneath to a common sump - as you all know... easier to manage a single system. Alas... yes... there were MANY delays during installation. I won't go into them all here, but I was feverishly trying to piece the system together as much as I could before I had to leave. For those of you who don't know, I have moved to Hawaii (I left June 13) to return to graduate school to pursue my PhD in UH-Manoa's Marine Biology program. I'm still part of the Smithsonian family, just a research associate now and no longer a keeper/aquarist. Sadly, construction was so far behind that the water quality was not suitable to hold corals yet - so I had to leave without seeing it with life in it. But, at least I did see it with water running. It will be up to my coworkers to fill in with the rest of the corals as time passes on. They are indeed hiring for my position, though - job description has "experience with marine invertebrates" in the posting. Just saying'... Anyway, yes - I'm happy to report that corals and some marine invertebrates - and just salt water in general that is not marine mammals - can now be seen again at the National Zoo. You'll have to venture all the way down to Amazonia to see them though. If you all have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer what I can. Cheers Mike Edited June 29, 2015 by OUsnakebyte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 June 29, 2015 Share June 29, 2015 I think that is so great that there will be a new invert exhibit, even with how small it is compared its former glory, it is still something, and it looks great so far! Also happy the elegance is staying in its rightful home. Thanks for working so hard, Mike, it really shows how much you care about these creatures =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 4, 2015 Share July 4, 2015 Hey all - MANY thanks for starting a thread on this. It was my intention to let you all know that we are indeed keeping corals at the National Zoo (albeit it in a smaller venue...), despite losing the Invertebrate Exhibit a year ago. I just got soooooooo busy leading up to my departure that I forgot. Thanks mling. To fill you all in just a little bit - yes, the Elegance Coral is indeed going in that tank on the far left (stage right). As many of you know, that coral has been at the zoo since Invertebrates opened to the public in 1987. Given its history (and I still have yet to see a Catalaphyllia specimen rival its size...), I wasn't willing to part with it so easily. When I found out we could possibly get a donor to fund the exhibit, I kept as many of the corals/anemones/various crustaceans from Invertebrates that I could; they have all been living off exhibit in Amazonia the past year. The rework of that old Amazon GIS space (the alcove where the new exhibit is now) is part of a rebranding of the "Amazonia Science Gallery" to one of "The Science Gallery" - and is meant to focus on NZP Science (Amphibian Ark lab to the right, Zoo Nutrition science to the left, and more to come later about migratory birds). So, the coral lab will showcase the work done with corals at the zoo (Dr. Mary Hagedorn's lab in Hawaii). We tried to cram as much stuff in there that we comfortably could. There are 5 tanks total - the 3'x3'x3' Elegance tank to the left, 6'x3'x3' 'main reef' display in the center, and on the right, three smaller 50-ish gallon "focus tanks" meant to be species-only displays. These will likely rotate between things like mantis shrimp, anemone/clownfish, Frogfish, Flamboyant cuttlefish, etc. Ya know... "jewel-sized" tanks that showcase one or a couple of species. As the theme of the exhibit is the "Coral Lab," the decision was made to keep the main reef display without fish. In our experience, if there are big, showy, colorful fish, then the lay-persons' eyes tend to hit the fast-moving, colorful fish and never see the corals behind them (you all in this club don't qualify here... . This is why the tank at Invertebrates was also fish-free... And... the Elegance was never really "at home" in that main, hard-bottom reef display. Catalaphyllia is actually a seagrass/volcanic sand/muck habitat species. So, I was keen to put it in a black sand display, apart from the main reef. I hope whomever follows me will continue on with this theme and actually put sea grass in with it. All 5 of the tanks are connected underneath to a common sump - as you all know... easier to manage a single system. Alas... yes... there were MANY delays during installation. I won't go into them all here, but I was feverishly trying to piece the system together as much as I could before I had to leave. For those of you who don't know, I have moved to Hawaii (I left June 13) to return to graduate school to pursue my PhD in UH-Manoa's Marine Biology program. I'm still part of the Smithsonian family, just a research associate now and no longer a keeper/aquarist. Sadly, construction was so far behind that the water quality was not suitable to hold corals yet - so I had to leave without seeing it with life in it. But, at least I did see it with water running. It will be up to my coworkers to fill in with the rest of the corals as time passes on. They are indeed hiring for my position, though - job description has "experience with marine invertebrates" in the posting. Just saying'... Anyway, yes - I'm happy to report that corals and some marine invertebrates - and just salt water in general that is not marine mammals - can now be seen again at the National Zoo. You'll have to venture all the way down to Amazonia to see them though. If you all have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer what I can. Cheers Mike That's really neat, Mike, thanks for taking the time to share with us! Hopefully we can keep you updated with what is happening, in return, try your hardest to enjoy Hawaii, I bet it's tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro July 17, 2015 Share July 17, 2015 Have they found a replacement for you Mike. If so do they need help. I would love to volunteer and help out. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 July 23, 2015 Share July 23, 2015 (edited) Went to the zoo today and of course had to check out the new coral exhibits at Amazonia in the Science hall. This one hopefully will be the elegance tank, seems small though And about volunteering: Edited July 23, 2015 by Squishie89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro July 24, 2015 Share July 24, 2015 Thank you Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef July 25, 2015 Share July 25, 2015 Went there today. Tanks are coming along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling July 25, 2015 Author Share July 25, 2015 The clowns in here look like they would like a BTA. I have many large one and would like to donate. Now that Tammy and Mike are no longer there, I don't know who to call. Do you ? I also noticed the ball of Cheato I believe, any one else left a ball like that in the DT ? Surprise it stays so nicely and not break up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle July 28, 2015 Share July 28, 2015 Wow, great news. thank you for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling February 8, 2016 Author Share February 8, 2016 Elegance at last ! Picture is worth a thousand words -> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef February 8, 2016 Share February 8, 2016 They finally put it in a tank! Wahoo that thing is freaking gorgeous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 February 9, 2016 Share February 9, 2016 Aw that is so great!! Thank you so much for the update! So glad it is doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sad Panda February 9, 2016 Share February 9, 2016 Wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite February 9, 2016 Share February 9, 2016 very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads February 9, 2016 Share February 9, 2016 Very cool. I am going to have to take another trip to the zoo here soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 9, 2016 Share February 9, 2016 I wonder what their plans are for that giant electric eel in the back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 February 9, 2016 Share February 9, 2016 Yay! Planning a trip to the zoo asap. I also need a new job.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling February 10, 2016 Author Share February 10, 2016 The Elegance was the bright side of the exhibit. This before (July 2015) and after (Feb 2016) on the other hand, shows that they are not feeding the Sun coral. I think they need to be hand fed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpu933k March 1, 2016 Share March 1, 2016 (edited) Tried going there on Sunday and it was a zoo! The nice weather caused the place to be so packed that they closed the gates for parking - I couldn't even get in. So I took the kids to the zoo today (thank you Super Tuesday!) and it was pretty empty. I made sure to get some photos of the reef tanks for you all. Enjoy: Edited March 1, 2016 by cpu933k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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