# how do Aquariums fill their huge tanks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415 "2014-05-27T22:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/21 "2014-05-28T21:56:25Z")
[I just googled](http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/georgia-aquarium1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/22 "2014-05-28T23:01:26Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > [I just googled](http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/georgia-aquarium1.htm) “Instant Ocean”! Just add water! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/23 "2014-05-29T00:59:23Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Not if you’re trucking it to Las Vegas casinos. Obviously they want to stop any sea life from colonising the desert. I am picturing transplanted tardigrades. A new SyFy movie: _Water Bear_. It’s about a pretty blonde woman who has a fear of bears so she moves to the desert. Then a freak genetic experiment creates giant waterbears and she has to face her fears and fight them with the help of the 80s finest B actors. The sequel will take place after she becomes an astronaut, thinking she is safe in the vacuum of space. > [@njtt](#): > > Of course, not all such places are right on the coast, but I think quite a lot are. (Another that is familiar to me, and that is also right by the sea, is the Long Beach Aquarium.) Also, isn’t Monterey’s sea otter enclosure literally part of the bay, closed off? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/24 "2014-05-29T04:43:06Z")
Permits might be needed as otherwise there could be a critical shortage of seawater. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/25 "2014-05-29T07:33:32Z")
\*The Tardigraveyard Oncopodnado Moss Pig Tun Death: The Slow Stepping Dehydrated, Irradiated, Pressurized, Molecularly Still Cryptobiots From Hell\* ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/26 "2014-05-29T07:37:07Z")
**how do Aquariums fill their huge tanks?** Starting at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/27 "2014-05-29T07:40:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Like there aren’t marine invasive species… Or organisms that are adaptable enough to tolerate different salinity levels. Or inland bodies of water with some salinity. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/28 "2014-05-29T08:49:23Z")
Do they ever empty the tanks? Or just “top off?” And if the do empty, can a normal type city drain handle the deluge? They must hold thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of gallons of water. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/29 "2014-05-29T09:18:46Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > … which are polite enough to move around only by truck, and never by boat or ship? No, they’ll take what they can get. But your post was saying you can’t get invasives going from one ocean to another by whatever means, and so you don’t need to check, which is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/30 "2014-05-29T09:24:06Z")
I’d guess the same way you would do if you had a salt water aquarium at home. Take ordinary tap water. De-chlorinate it, then add chemicals to give the correct salinity and ph level for your fish. And then add the fish. Use your filters to clean the water and add chemicals as needed. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/31 "2014-05-29T09:51:48Z")
Or dump a portion of the water, less than half, and replace with similarly treated water. Repeat frequently enough and it will be all replaced eventually, unless you are a homeopathic aquarist. Dangerous fishes can be moved into a side tank, while divers scrape the sides. Moving the animals themselves can stress them, which is why you put goldfishes in a bag first and slowly acclimate them to the new tank. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/32 "2014-05-29T12:03:39Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > your post was saying you can’t get invasives going from one ocean to another by whatever means, and so you don’t need to check No, my post was expressing skepticism that checking seawater at state lines is done, or needed. I’ll speculate that no such inspection has ever happened, and the number of invasive species propagated by this method is very close to zero. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/33 "2014-05-29T14:18:49Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > Yeah, it’s drawing it from the sea I was thinking would require a permit. I’d imagine seawater is one of the safer things shipped by tanker truck. A saltwater spill is not too good for vegetation. Oil and gas companies get fined pretty steeply for spills of produced saltwater. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/34 "2014-05-29T14:23:20Z")
Bad for glass. :: I’ve posted that joke before, but this time it works … :: ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/35 "2014-05-29T14:41:01Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > No, my post was expressing skepticism that checking seawater at state lines is done, or needed. Done, likely not. Needed, definitely yes. > [@](#): > > I’ll speculate that no such inspection has ever happened, and the number of invasive species propagated by this method is very close to zero. How would you even know? And any non-zero number can be too high. Look at zebra mussels, or the sea walnut - one ship’s bilge water could do it, so could one seawater tank. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/36 "2014-05-29T14:45:06Z")
Zebra mussels I had heard about it. Sea walnut: “blind and no brain” [Wiki]. Seems rather mean-spirited. Neither do jellyfish, for one, but that’s never needed to be pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/37 "2014-05-29T16:12:01Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Done, likely not. Needed, definitely yes.How would you even know? And any non-zero number can be too high. Look at zebra mussels, or the sea walnut - one ship’s bilge water could do it, so could one seawater tank. I live in a northern Dallas suburb–our area got some of it’s water piped from Lake Texoma on the TX/OK border. When that lake got infested with zebra mussels, that pipeline had to shut down because the pumping station was on the OK side of the border, and transporting invasive species across state lines was a violation of Federal Law. (quick Google search indicates it’s the Lacey Act). Congress had to pass a specific exemption to allow pumping to resume. Now, would anyone actually inspect a tanker of water taken from the ocean? Perhaps not. But it does leave you some liability if you do somehow take something other than just the water with you. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/38 "2014-05-29T16:42:43Z")
Just a reminder for those on the tangent of marine invasive species, we’re talking about tanker trucks (which are approved to carry things like gasoline, raw sewage, industrial chemicals, milk) carrying seawater to a professional aquarium. That aquarium will almost certainly have at least one marine biologist on staff, extensive water treatment facilities (compared to drinking or waste water, at least), and, fairly strict policies about how to handle potentially contaminated (i.e. not known to be free of unwanted organisms) materials. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/39 "2014-05-29T16:49:07Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > No, my post was expressing skepticism that checking seawater at state lines is done, or needed. I’ll speculate that no such inspection has ever happened, and the number of invasive species propagated by this method is very close to zero. What??? You don’t own a boat do you? The transportation of invasive species is a very real problem. If you transport a boat or even a large canoe across state lines in the western US you most certainly _do_ have to take it to an inspection site and pay for an invasive species permit that certifies that your craft has been inspected before you can legally put it in the water. Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and several other states including Minnesota. [http://www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy/invasive\_species/quagga\_zebra\_mussel.asp](http://www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy/invasive_species/quagga_zebra_mussel.asp) This hypothetical tanker truck of raw seawater would almost certainly be stopped by the weighmaster at the first set of scales it crosses and be flagged for inspection. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415/40 "2014-05-29T16:57:50Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Most places in the US do not abut sources of saltwater. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has saltwater exhibits, and they have to get it [from somewhere](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-08-08/news/9908080349_1_aquarium-officials-sea-otters-water)! Yeah, I was going to answer the question from personal experience but it looks like I was beat to it. I worked at the John G. Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium in 1991-1992(right after they added the whale and dolphin exhibits with the 6-million gallon tanks or whatever). At that time, they had their own ocean water recipe that they would mix themselves. I see from the linked article that they now purchased dehydrated water. To answer another question up thread, they didn’t replace water in the tanks very often. All the water went through huge filters and was recirculated. The would pretty frequently have to add additional fresh water to account for evaporation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-aquariums-fill-their-huge-tanks/689415.md?page=3)