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Trip to NY Atlantis Marine World Aquarium!
Topic Started: Sep 29 2010, 05:59:08 AM (109 Views)
Post #1 Sep 29 2010, 05:59:08 AM	Suzy
Guys! We just got back from the trip of a lifetime! I finally got to meet one of my favorite people; Todd Gardner. I have been emailing back and forth with him for years, when I began raising seahorses. He is the curator of a privately owned aquarium in Long Island, and a good friend of Linda, our friend at Bonneville Sea Base. Todd has raised 42 species of fish! I told him he should write a book but he is too busy to write anything. He also teaches classes at the college there. Todd took us out into the Atlantic ocean, and because we were in the Aquariums truck, we got to go into an area that is restricted Coast Guard property. We had the entire beach to ourselves! Another day, we went to the aquarium, and Todd showed me some great ways he uses to raise fish. He also showed me how he grows zoo and phytoplankton. We got a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium, and we got to see the 20,000 gallon reef tank from the top! This was the biggest reef tank until Georgia opened, but it is now famous for having the most polyps per gallon!	Seahorse Whisperer Posts: 3,047 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: June 28, 2008
"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny!
Post #2 Sep 29 2010, 04:12:25 PM	BobC
I used to live about 15 miles away from the Atlantis Aquarium in Riverhead. Pretty nice out there, huh? Once in a while I miss the beach (but not too often) Do they still have the Moorish Idols in the big Reef tank?	breeding stock Posts: 103 Group: Members Member #122 Joined: February 2, 2009 Name Bob Carlson
- Insert witty comment here -
Post #3 Sep 30 2010, 06:49:22 AM	Suzy
No, they were in the shipwreck tank. Gorgeous, but they get a lot of live food. The guys go out with a net and get huge amounts of shore shrimp, just like I get huge amounts of brine shrimp! I have some great photos but I have to get our laptop burner fixed to import them to this desk top. I also got some great cultures! Isochrysis, a tonsa pods, and a large species of mysis!	Seahorse Whisperer Posts: 3,047 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: June 28, 2008
"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny!
Post #4 Oct 6 2010, 04:08:40 AM	Suzy
Yahoooo! Got my computer fixed! Now, I can post photos! The first day we got there, Todd took us out collecting tropicals. Todd told us before hand we were going to do this, but we had no idea how! We thought we were going to be in a boat with a net catching them somehow. But, it was way cooler! I was really surprised how warm the water was. Rob and Todd pulled this huge net through the water, over the grass beds: Posted Image Then, they brought it on shore, and we wen through it and picked the fish we wanted. There were some really cool ones! There were a few coronets, tons of pipefish. I got the cutest juvenile female seahorse! Also, these 2 tiny trunk fish. I wasn't sure about bringing them home, they were so small. But, they would have never made it back to warm water once he cold came so I took a chance. I shouldn't have. They did not survive. They made the flight and ate frozen food when I got them home, but perished on the third day. Posted Image	Seahorse Whisperer Posts: 3,047 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: June 28, 2008
"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny!
Post #5 Oct 6 2010, 04:24:05 AM	Suzy
We then went back to the aquarium and got to meet the co-founder, Joe Yaiullo. Joe is the nicest guy, and asked me to come back with our aquarium staff. He said he can save us millions by telling us how they built their aquarium from an old mill! You would never know it but after Joe showed us how there were actually two building they connected, you cold see how it was a previous completely different structure. One of the first things Joe showed us was his baby penguins. He was such a proud parent showing them off. The 3 of us were in this big nursery with their pond, and there were 3 small penguins. They were like little puppies, chasing my purse and a string hanging down from my sweater. They were very acclimated to people and let us touch them and give them neck scrunches. The pictures I have of them are not good because I was not expecting to get any photos right then, so I didn't adjust the camera for constant motion! Most of the pics are just a gray blur! But here is Joe and Kevin: Posted Image Here is one of the really playful females. I could not turn away from her 'cause she would poke my legs! Not hurtful, she wanted to play. But I was nervous to walk around because I didn't want to hurt them! Posted Image	Seahorse Whisperer Posts: 3,047 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: June 28, 2008
"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny!
Post #6 Oct 10 2010, 05:35:41 AM	Suzy
This is Joe's other baby: His 20,000 gallon reef tank. When it was first built, it was the largest reef tank, but then Georgia got all that $$$ from Home Depot! This tank still has the most polyps per gallon status! This shot is from above the shark tank. That is how far I had to go back to get the entire tank in one shot. The lights in the foyer are still off because the aquarium was not open yet. But, it is huge. Posted Image Here is a sorta crappy pic, but you can see all the tangs and fish swimming in this reef. They all looked really healthy. I believe all these fish were locally caught. The tropicals swim up the coast in the summer. Posted Image Behind the tank, we had to climb up into another room to get on top. Todd let us go on top of this tank! I didn't think until later what he/I would do if the grandma accidently fell in! I asked him how they clean it, and it is the same way we clean our large tanks at our public aquarium, and pretty much the same way we do at home. But, their scrapers are on long mop handles. They also routinely break the sps just like we do, but there are so many, you would never notice. That piece just falls down and grows where it lands! There really is no room to dive in the tank so most of the work is done from above. It had about 40 400 watt mh lights! Posted Image	Seahorse Whisperer Posts: 3,047 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: June 28, 2008
"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny!
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