Volume 2, No. 3. February 8, 2002
New Arrivals
It's a warehouse!
The Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky, announces
the arrival of its new warehouse, February 6, 2002. Measurements: 13,200 square
feet (4,000 square meters), five saltwater tanks, two freshwater tanks, three
turtle tanks, one live rock tank, three snake cages, 30 10-gallon frog aquarium
tanks, three tadpole trays, 50,000 total gallons of water (190,000 liters),
one mile of pipes (1.6 kilometers).
Alicia Pradas-Monne, an aquatic biologist and veterinary assistant with the
Newport Aquarium, shuddered as she recalled the 2 a.m. phone call on October
2, 1999, informing her that the aquarium's warehouse, where 200 animals were
living out their quarantines, was on fire. The second aquarium staff member
on the scene as the blaze still raged, Pradas-Monne was also the first one to
enter the building, wearing full firefighting gear, to assess the damage to
livestock and tanks and determine how to evacuate the animals, which firefighters
had saved by covering their tanks with tarp (only three fish and a moray eel
died in the disaster). A caravan of aquarium staff and vans got the surviving
animals to holding tanks at the aquarium itself, and less than a week later
staff began searching for another warehouse.
Wednesday, Pradas-Monne was giving tours of that new warehouse, which, like
its predecessor, is in a leased space. The Newport Aquarium spent almost $1
million outfitting the warehouse for use as a quarantine center. "This place
is just phenomenal," Pradas-Monne said. "This place is gorgeous compared to
the other one." That is something only an aquatic biologist would say of a room
as utilitarian and expansive as an old aircraft hanger with walls lined by pipes,
valves and tanks of gunky-looking water.
Those pipes, valves and tanks are part of what makes this new warehouse so special.
The water, flowing through mechanical and natural filtration, is constantly
aerated as it circulates through the whole building, a circulation system the
staff calls "the Loop." Pradas-Monne and Erika Schissler, the aquarium's Aquatic
Programs Manager, helped design the facility to make it as user-friendly as
possible. "I was able to voice certain problems I had with the old facility,"
Pradas-Monne said: "valves that were in the wrong place, things that were difficult
to do. And the guys who designed this place took every little problem and made
this place unreal. It's very easy to work. It's very easy to explain to someone
else how to take care of this building."
Each of the tanks has hookups for saltwater, freshwater, air and a vacuum line.
Water and electrical outlets are placed to minimize hoses and extension cords
snaking over the floor. All valves and gauges are located within reach of the
5-foot, 11-inch Pradas-Monne and the 5-foot, 2-inch Schissler. "I had to test
every valve to make sure I can reach it," Schissler said. "If I can reach it,
anybody can reach it."
Newport Aquarium first began using the warehouse for quarantine last spring,
starting with the turtle tanks. "We've been slowly adding animals as each system
came on line," said Schissler. "It's taken us about 10 months to get this thing
fully up and running." Added Pradas Monne: "We wanted to make sure everything
was absolutely perfect, so there was no rushing to get everything running the
way it should."
Though now decreed fully operational, the warehouse has plenty of space for
more tanks and an electrical and water circulation system that can handle that
growth with hassle-free hookups. "As the aquarium grows, this place will grow
as well," said Pradas-Monne. It's part of what makes her workspace so gorgeous.