THE PUBLIC AQUARIUM ' 



ITS CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT, AND MANAGEMENT 



By Chari.es Haskins Townsend 

 Director, New York Aquarium 



CONTENTS 



Introduction .-. 249 



Exhibits 253 



The building 256 



Exhibition tanks 258 



Placing the glass fronts 260 



Lighting the tanks 162 



Rockwork 262 



Wooden exhibition tanks 265 



Reserve tanks _ 265 



Floor pools 265 



Fish hatchery 269 



An object lesson on mosquitoes 272 



Reservoir for sea water : 272 



Analysis of stored sea water 274 



Distributing tanks 274 



Aeration 274 



Pumps, piping, and valves.- 275 



Heaters for stored sea water 278 



Heater for floor pools 279 



Heater for fresh water _.. 279 



Refrigerating plant 279 



Aerating and cooling by other means 280 



Gravity filter for sea water. 281 



Page 



Filters for fresh water 282 



Ventilating system 282 



Collecting the specimens _._ 282 



Collecting boat 287 



Emptying the well .._ 287 



Collecting equipment 287 



Transporting fishes with the aid of oxygen 291 



Feeding 292 



Other matters of care.. 297 



Combinations of species 300 



Injury and disease 300 



Hibernation 302 



Longevity of fishes in captivity 302 



Cleaning tanks 303 



Labeling aquarium exhibits 304 



Laboratory and library 304 



Beauty in the aquarium 305 



Creating an aquarium 307 



Cost of construction and exhibits 313 



Appendix A.— Care of small aquaria 315 



Appendix B. — Treatment for removal of chlo- 

 rine from city water 322 



Appendix C .-Aquariums of the world 328 



INTRODUCTION 



The writer has had lono; experience in the manafjement of the 

 aquarium in New York City and has assisted in phmning certain 

 aquariums ah-eady built as w^ell as others projected. He was con- 

 nected with the National Commission of Fisheries during the period 

 when that organization maintained temporary aquariums at the 

 great industrial expositions held in this country and observed some 

 of them in operation. Millions of people saw those aquariums of 

 the past, while other millions enjoy the few that exist here at 

 present. 



Having supplied information recently to a score of cities that 

 contemplate constructing aquariums, the writer has felt it incumbent 

 upon him to set forth the essentials of the matter for the guidance 

 of an increasing number of inquirers. The present discussion is 

 based largely on the methods of the large aquarium in New York 

 City, which has been in operation for 30 years and is now under- 

 going extensive modernization. 



The public-aquarium idea persists in the municipal mind to a 

 degree that indicates a further and early development of the insti- 



> Appendix VII to the Report of the United States Commissioner of Fisheries for 1928. B. F. Doc. No. 1046. 



249 



