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Volume 28 · Issue 4, 2012

Fifty Years of Instant Ocean

WebsiteProduct CatalogOcean of KnowledgeDealer LocatorScience and HeritageInstant Answers

Welcome to Instant Ocean SeaScope!

We're excited to share our November issue which features agreat piece from Barrett Christie, the aquarium supervisor forthe Dallas Zoo and Children's Aquarium. He traced their historywith Instant Ocean and shared quite a few images from overthe years. We think you'll enjoy the read!

When you've finished, join us on Facebook, and let us knowwhat you think!

Fifty Years of Instant Ocean® in Dallas: A Look at the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park by Barrett L. Christie - Aquarium Supervisor, Dallas Zoo andChildren's Aquarium at Fair Park

A new year is almost uponus, and 2013 marks amilestone in both the historyof Instant Ocean® and theChildren's Aquarium at FairPark. In 1936, the facilityopened its doors to thepublic (it was then called theDallas Aquarium), and wasthe first inland publicaquarium in thesouthwestern United States.The facility boasted adiverse collection of (mostly

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Potomac Valley Aquarium Society Meeting and Election November 3, 2012 Green Acres Scool Fairfax, VA www.pvas.com Brooklyn Aquarium Society Event November 9, 2012 New York Aquarium Brooklyn, NY www.basny.org Michiana Aquarium Society Speaker Event November 20, 2012 Roseland Town Hall Roseland, IN www.michianaaquariumsociety.org If you are aware of an upcoming event, you may also contact MASNA to post on their calendar www.masna.org

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diverse collection of (mostlyfreshwater) animals over thenext quarter century ofoperation, many of whichhad never before been keptin captivity. In 1963,construction began on a major expansion, a saltwater wing thatwould effectively double the aquarium's size. This expansionmade the facility the third largest public aquarium in the U.S. atthe time, and one of only a few landlocked facilities in the worlddisplaying marine fishes.

Long before this construction even began, the aquarium'scurator, Jeff W. Moore, and his staff began maintaining marinefishes and invertebrates in experimental closed systems withvarious water sources, both natural and artificial. The originalplan for sustaining the menagerie of proposed marine tanksinvolved utilizing a tanker truck to make the 600-mile round tripto the coastal city of Galveston to supply the facility with naturalseawater. But their trials with artificial seawater sent themdown an exciting new path. The aquarists determined that the best course of action was touse what was being called the "Improved Frankfurt Mixture"that was under development by William E. Kelley and RichardSegedi. The pair, who would go on to found AquariumSystems, Inc. the following year, were hired as consultants andvisited Dallas during construction to mix what must have beenan extraordinary amount of artificial seawater for the time:30,000 gallons in the initial batch! With the training Segedi andKelley provided the staff, the Dallas Aquarium continuedmaking the formula that would come to be known as InstantOcean. The radical new formula worked better than anyonecould have imagined, and the marine wing opened in 1964 torecord crowds boasting over 1,500 ocean-dwelling animalsrepresenting 78 individual species. That collaborative legacycontinues today, as the aquarium still uses Instant Ocean tokeep its fishes happy, just as it has done for a half-century.

In 2009 another major renovationand expansion project began onthe venerable old aquarium. Thefacility was temporarily closed andthe animals were relocated inorder to begin a comprehensiverenovation, restoration, andexpansion. The new addition,called Stingray Bay, added 5,000square feet of exhibit space to thefacility, featuring a shark tank andstingray touch tank. The new-and-improved aquarium re-opened tothe public as the Children'sAquarium at Fair Park in 2010 toeager crowds.

During the renovation, the existing building was gutted and

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During the renovation, the existing building was gutted andretrofitted from the ground up with state-of-the-art technology.Airlift-driven undergravel filters were replaced with proteinskimmers, ultraviolet sterilization, biofiltration, and othermodern life support equipment. Wooden platforms gave way tofiberglass, metal pipes were replaced with PVC, plate glassviewing windows were replaced with acrylic panels, and thenatural sunlight cascading through the skylights wassupplemented with metal halide, power compact fluorescentand LED technologies. Sophisticated computerized monitoringand control systems were installed, allowing automaticemergency paging and remote web control of temperature,water flow, oxygen saturation, and other parameters. Despiteall of these advances, it was decided from the outset that somethings are best left unchanged; and one thing that hasremained the same is the exclusive use of Instant Ocean tocreate the ideal seawater medium for the wide diversity ofmarine life in the tanks.

The use of high-quality artificial seawater has enabled theaquarium's dedicated staff to achieve a number ofaccomplishments in fishkeeping over the years. Longevity ofcaptive animals is one factor, and the age of many of theanimals kept at the aquarium is noteworthy. When theaquarium was closed for renovations in 2009, a review of theanimal records revealed that some of the animals were quiteold for captivity and still going strong. These aged specimensincluded several 16-year-old stonefish, a 13-year-old walkingbatfish, 10-year-old Rhinopias scorpionfish, 9-year-oldchocolate-chip starfish, 7-year-old cone snails, and a record-setting White's Seahorse (Hippocampus whitei) that was justshy of her seventh birthday!

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In addition to having long-lived fishes, our facility is proud tohave displayed a very diverse collection of animals. Sincedetailed record keeping began in the 1970s, more than 900 fishspecies (and hundreds more invertebrates) have beensuccessfully maintained at the aquarium. These comprisealmost everything imaginable from seahorses to sharks, andinclude some notable species such as the first sawfish kept inartificial seawater, who called Dallas home from 1966 to 1977before being transferred to another aquarium. In the 1980s and1990s, much work was done with anglerfishes, and theaquarium received the first known specimens of what wouldlater be described as the psychedelic frogfish, Histiophrynepsychedelica. Another area where the aquarium has blazednew trails is in determining the husbandry requirements of thenotoriously delicate walking batfishes (Ogcocephalidae),enabling these bizarre animals to be successfully quarantinedand acclimated to captivity. While longevity and prosperity are surely signs of goodhusbandry, in the eyes of many aquarists, the surest measureof providing top quality care is when reproductive behavior canbe observed. For their efforts, the aquarium's staff has beenrewarded with a number of breeding events that include suchnotable species as bonnethead sharks, Sphryna tiburo; zebrasharks, Stegastoma fasciatum; chambered nautilus, Nautiluspompilius, among many others. In recent years, the aquaristshave bred numerous species of seahorses and pipefish, andbeen quite successful in propagating several types ofjellyfish.

Keeping many of the animalsthat today delight our visitors,such as jellyfish, corals, andoctopus, would have beenbeyond the wildest dreams ofthe staff of an inland aquarium76 years ago when this facilitywas built. Today technologicaladvances have madehusbandry of such animalsmore common, but no lessdemanding. Having precisecomputerized control systemsand advanced life supportequipment is a great benefit,but all the technology in theworld is useless without highquality seawater, good

nutrition, and a dedicated staff of aquarists. As the art and the

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nutrition, and a dedicated staff of aquarists. As the art and thescience of aquarium keeping continues to evolve, who knowswhat fantastic and beautiful examples of marine life theaquarium will be able to share with the people of Dallas in thenext 50 years of our partnership with Instant Ocean.

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