Brand New Interactive Fish Tanks in Uozu Aquarium

We are delighted to be appointed by Uozu Aquarium, the only aquarium with permanent marine displays in Toyama Prefecture, to design and create three interactive aquariums – Flowing Aquarium, Bird’s Eye Aquarium and Overlooking Aquarium – for family fun in the newly renovated Kids Zone on the third floor last year. The play area, which aims at engaging visitors in learning through hands-on experiences, is open to the public from March 5, 2022.

The three aquariums have unique features and different playable interactive contents for visitors.

Flowing Aquarium, powered by an electricity-generating bike, creates and changes water current for freshwater fish, allowing visitors to get a closer look at fish swimming upstream. In the middle of the fish tank, there is Kouroka Lava to mimic the nature and construct a natural environment. Visitors can enjoy viewing the fish at close proximity while sitting on the bench next to the tank.

A bar counter-type Bird’s Eye Aquarium is also set up to grow corals. Visitors can fully enjoy the glowing corals in the dark when they shine the blacklight on the tank. As it is rare to grow corals in Bird’s Eye Aquariums, visitors can take this opportunity to indulge in the amazing and vibrant atmosphere.

Last but not least, Overlooking Aquarium, which is transformed from the classic 120cm-long Bird’s Eye Aquarium YU for keeping reptiles, allows a close Bird’s Eye view from above. Visitors can sit on the provided bench and watch the animals leisurely.

The beloved animal height comparison panel visually in the Aquarium is also revamped. Visitors are welcome to take photos and compare heights with the new stuffed toys with 1:1 ratio. What’s more, ten kinds of fluffy animal head covers are placed in different areas for photo taking. (Fluffy animal head covers are not provided currently to prevent the spread of COVID-19.)

Creating Innovative Aquariums

In order to make Flowing Aquarium, it is required to produce a system to create water flow powered by bikes. We had the whole picture in mind from the very beginning, but we encountered quite a lot of difficulties during the manufacturing process. For example, we had to go through trial and error to find the perfect balance of the gear ratio of the electricity-generating bike so that both kids and adults can have fun. In order to achieve this, some primary school students were invited to try the bike to help us make final adjustments. We also thought of different ways to make sure that fish can enjoy swimming against the produced water current.

Toyama Prefecture is famous for its rapid rivers, so it is no doubt that its freshwater fish like fast-flowing water. When they feel tired, our centrally-positioned Kouroka Lava creates a cave effect, making it a perfect refuge for them.

The fish tank is well-built with an exercise bike, but overdoing might cause accidents Visitors are advised to produce the best water current for fish with caution.

This task would not have been possible without our remarkable aquarium manufacturing skills, extensive fish and water knowledge, established expertise covering electrical and mechanical engineering, and comprehensive knowledge in a wide range of fields. As it is inventive for visitors to enjoy aquariums while sitting, we are delighted that we can make it happen.

We pursue excellence by upskilling and enhancing product developments to innovate creations and services. Please feel free to contact us for inquiries if you have imaginative aquarium designs in your mind.

Building a Medusarium for Education Purpose

Paris Aquarium (“L’Aquarium de Paris” in French), also called “Cineaqua”, is a public aquarium located next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Different from ordinary aquariums, there are two cinemas inside the building, one offering documentaries of National Geographic, and the other offering cartoon movies. Cineaqua also organizes activities contributing to children education, including fish feeding, puppet show, touch and feel, etc, making it a place other than just being an aquarium.

In 2018, we have the honor to work with their team of jellyfish specialists to install 4 bar counters of Bird’s Eye Aquarium and a big kreisel tank for displaying jellyfish in their medusarium. The 4 bar counters, each of 2 meters wide and 1.2 meters high, form a donut shape with a diameter as large as 5 meters. Surrounding the pillar at the center of the exhibition hall, the kreisel tank is of 3.6 meters wide and 1.8 meters high, making it one of the main tanks in the medusarium.

Working with Jellyfish Specialists and Extending the Enjoyment to Night Time

Jellyfish is a delicate living thing, so the tanks have to be designed and made in a way that the inner surfaces are smooth and without corner. With our product team specialised in aquarium and production team specialised in acrylic, fabricating jellyfish tanks that requires processes like bending acrylic sheets and assembling parts of a complicated structure are not difficult to us. However, water flow is a critical factor keeping the jellies alive. Vertical rotation is a common way, as had in the kreisel tank. But it becomes special when it is rotating horizontally, as had in the case of Bird’s Eye Aquarium. In order to optimize the flow, we tested the tanks with moon jellies in our factory locally, fine-tuning the curved surfaces before the international delivery.

Yet, with too much current, the jellies get stuck to the overflow and torn apart. With too little current, they fall to the bottom and injure the tissue. Setting up the tanks on site with the jellyfish specialists in Cineaqua was a valuable experience for us.

Cineaqua is an aquarium of education and entertainment. In the educational events organized for the youngsters in day time, our bar counters become a table for visitors to learn more about jellies. In the entertainment events organized at set evenings and nights, where visitors can experience the magic of jellyfish with a glass of champagne, our bar counters become a performance stage for the bar tenders to serve drinks. The small cases in between the bar counters are actually the anti-condensation tanks for iced beers!

Aquarium Presenting the Beauty of Deep Sea Creatures in Summer Festival

Sagamigawa Fureai Science Museum was opened on November 15, 1987, with the aim of promoting and preserving the nature of Sagami River. It was later renovated and reopened on March 26, 2014, with the newly built Aquarium Sagamihara to strengthen the connection between people and the river, raise awareness of environmental protection, and promote the exchange of ideas. About 100 species of creatures that inhabit Sagami River are exhibited in the museum.

A special exhibition “Touch and Feel Summer Festival” was held between July 13 and September 24, 2018, in which we installed an anti-condensation tank as an exhibition aquarium. At the event, the beauty of deep sea creatures like giant isopod were shown.

No More Dew Condensation thanks to the Special Aquarium Structure

There are four distinct seasons in Japan. While it is inevitably hot and humid in summer, dew condensation in fish tanks is unavoidable. As a result, it is difficult to show the water creatures to the visitors clearly, making it a big challenge to aquariums.

We have produced this anti-condensation tank by using two layers of acrylic sheets with special gas filled in between. It helps reduce heat transfer, and dew formation can be therefore prevented. No dew is formed on the surface of the fish tank in the exhibition hall at a room temperature of around 26°C and a water temperature at 7°C. Although the effectiveness might be altered by air conditioning, our experiment has proved that there is no condensation even with cooler water. In addition, the low water temperature can be maintained for a long time owing to excellent insulation.

As this cold water fish tank is specially made to allow visitors to “touch and feel” the giant isopods, the reinforcing plate (aka. centre flange) which is normally placed in the centre is removed. The strength is reinforced by the thickness of the acrylic sheets and the bonding method instead. As a result, the strength remains the same, and the fish tank is perfect for observation, as well as touch and feel, since there is no obstacle like flange in between. This fish tank can be made into any shapes according to customer requirements and the types of creatures.

The development of anti-condensation tank has made a significant contribution to the exhibition of cold water and deep sea creatures such as giant isopod and lumpfish. Are you also interested in growing different cold water creatures in this type of fish tank with a dew-free viewing window?