One of the biggest challenges in the world of aquaria is what is called "reefkeeping". While the majority of our planet is covered with saltwater, there is a percentage of a percentage of special areas where amazing creatures exist. These are coral reefs. A slightly-crazy breed of aquarium enthusists are dedicated to creating what are called "reef tanks", maintaining very delicate ecosystems and propogating corals and other rare marine life. This site is dedicated to my appreciation of this combination of science and art.

A tour of the National Aquarium - Washington D.C.

In December, 2001 I visited Washington D.C., and had the "pleasure" of checking out the "National Aquarium". Located in the basement of the Commerce Department building, after being carefully screened upon entry (my packet of Tic-Tacs set off the metal detector) I ventured my way into this most amazing place. Take a look at some of the pictures from this amazing tour. Note that for some reason flash photography was prohibited so I was somewhat limited in being able to capture the entire glory of this great aquarium...

Happy, happy fish! Plenty of play room!

This crab seemed to particularly enjoy the plastic grass:

The impressive "clam tank":

The "Hawaiian reef tank" - in a word... breathtaking! This amazing exhibit featured what I perceved to be a pile of coral rubble with absolutely no life whatsoever, surrounded by some token fish tossed in for good measure. If I were from Hawaii I'd be quite bothered, but rest assured, every exhibit featuring a major US waterway or area was equally well-designed so this aquarium was anything but geographically biased.

One thing I found in abundance among the majority of saltwater tanks in the National Aquarium was their amazing success in cultivating the elusive RED ALGAE, as evidenced in this tank below:

Here was the most impressive reef display in the entire aquarium: Note the rare coral and damsel species...

Many saltwater tanks showed off the National Aquarium's amazing talent in propogating the elusive Aptasia species. Yes folks, that's not algae or sea grass.. it's Aptasia! Do these folks rock or what??

One of the most popular exhibits seems to be the shark tank. By my estimation we have something like 4 5'+ sharks living in an area that appears to be way too small.

Even the sea turtle was jumping for joy...

I wonder, who do we talk to about this? This is the "National Aquarium"! Even the folks at the Smithsonian tried to talk me into not going to this place (and diverting to the Baltimore Aquarium instead). That's embarassing.