Denver Aquarium

[wastememphis]

Hello,

I'm visiting Denver for a physics confrence and I was wondering how the aquarium here was.. and if there are any local reef shops that aren't too far from downtown.

Neil

[BumblebeeGoby4]

The aquarium is awesome-- definitely worth a visit. There aren't any decent reef stores near downtown, though.

The Denver Zoo is worth a visit, too, if you have time. Enjoy Denver.

-mike

[bmwardo]

Hi Neil,
Here is a link through our club's website, it gives all of the local fish stores in the metro area. Some are better than others, as far as selection and saltwater focus go. You might be able to make it to Key's Island and Reef & Pond if you have a car while you are here. Hope this helps:

http://zoyzoy.com/aquarium/aquariumstoresmap.asp?Zip=80011

The downtown aquarium is certainly worth going to, we are pretty lucky to have such a nice aquarium in such a land-locked area.

[adova]

Also, the Denver Aquarium has a pretty decent returaunt. Both are open very late, so hit it for dinner and then cruise the the aquarium. They also validate your parking if you do dinner.....

Shawn

[gtv2000]

If you're in town for a psychics conference, you should know...Oh,
physics,... never mind

Enjoy the APS meeting...

Steve

[wastememphis]

Nice reply steve, hahaha.

I'm going tonight or tomorrow night to the aquarium, thanks for the advice on local shops... I don't have a car here so I probably wont make it to those, is the zoo far? I'm like 5 blocks from the convention center downtown, in the Comfort Inn by Brown Palace Hotel and Adams Mark

[beetle-b]

The aquarium isn't too far from down town...about a 7 or 8 buck cab ride, if that. Finding cabs are pretty easy in Denver, or if you call one they usually show up in 20 min or less. Enjoy the trip, at least you get some nice weather while here in Colorado.

[tkeracer619]

you can swim with the sharks for $150. I love the denver aquarium. They have an awsome FO setup with birds. The trigger in that tank is wonderfull.

[wastememphis]

the aquarium was very nice... nobody could tell me about the filters or lighting on the SPS reef... do any of you know about it? It was beautiful, I spoted an ORA birdsnest and some few other very pricy pieces which were doing great!

[tkeracer619]

I know they have about $1000-$2000 worth of frags in the bottom.

Were the tigers out?

[BumblebeeGoby4]

Neil-

Glad you were able to see the Aquarium. Although I have no idea what filtration or lighting they're using on the SPS tank, I do agree that it's an amazing piece.

Regarding the zoo, it's about 2 miles from where you're staying. Cab ride would run you $12-15 each direction. There is another option, however... one I like to call the "student special" :

Have lunch or a drink at the Brown Palace. Then tell the concierge you'd like to see the zoo-- they'll usually drive you anywhere within reason (free of charge) in a posh, new mercedes.

Here's the zoo's website if you're interested:

http://www.denverzoo.org/

In my opinion, it's a GREAT zoo.

-mike

[crisc]

The filtration on the sps tank is:
Large skimmer ~8' tall
Refugium with macro algae
Carbon
Filter floss in the overflows
And of course, water changes.

The tort, ORA birdsnest, and a few others were added about a month ago. Seem to have adjusted well so far and soon there will be others added. There are some holding tanks for the frags and they send corals to other zoos and Landry's facilities to populate their reef displays.
That tank also uses 10 1000w halides. Mostly 20k, but there are a couple of 6500k as well.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit.

Cris

[tkeracer619]

10 1000W halides and a 8' skimmer. WOOT I need that!

Does the aquarium take donations? It would be cool to see one of my sps grow in that lighting.

[crisc]

Funny you should say that, those are the corals that I donated. I've donated about 10 in total. A few were long ago and more just recently. I will ask Rob if he wants any more, although he has quite a few species already. It is fun to watch the growth rates. He has very good growth with his reef.

Cris

[wastememphis]

Is the SPS tank connected with the softcoral tank next to it?

[crisc]

It is not. The "predator" tank has it's own filtration. There are a number of morays in there that only come out when it's dinner time. I love the broomtail wrasse.

[wastememphis]

Since I never got a call back from the aquarium and you seem like the guy to ask anyway... I'll keep them comming.

I noticed that the top of the SPS tank didn't have much water movement. First of all, I went at night so I was wondering if there is usually alot of current but on timers or if there is current in the lower portion of the tank and not at top. I couldn't see any return lines or power heads. Thanks again for replying!