Houston aquarium fish health

[lilbitreefer]

So went to the downtown aquarium in Houston tx. A lot of these fish look like they have been attack really bad. Many of the fins look eaten up. Any thoughts? Did they over stock causing some of these injuries? Or maybe hurricane Harvey lead to aggression from no feeding or care during the flood. Maybe they bought rescue fish....

 

[Maritimer]

All of the above.

Harvey did nobody any favors in that town, but knowing aquarium husbandry team members, somebody was there through the storm, doing their level best for the animals.

Public aquaria have a conundrum. They've got to have a lot of fish in their tanks, or many visitors will complain - but overstocking fish can, as you're aware, cause problems as well. They try to walk a fairly tight balance. (This tank does look pretty heavily stocked!)

One of a public aquarium's sources of fish can also be a source of problems - folks getting out of the hobby or folks who bought that pretty yellow tang for their 29 gallon tank, who call the aquarium asking if they can drop off their fish. Those fish always come with a history, and it's not always a good history. Fortunately, public aquaria tend to have some pretty awesome QT protocols in place.

~Bruce

 

[roberthu526]

Georgia Aquarium is in the same boat. Their tropical marine section have most of the fish under poor health condition. But the Aquarium is so big I imagine it is impossible to take care of every fish.