School Project: designing an shark tank (help?)

[micstarz]

Just wondering - if the design is suppose to represent a real aquarium of about 20,000 sq.ft.

If so you may want to have your percentages to be reflective of a real aquarium - dividied into the following - Vistors' Space (i.e. walking space, gift shop, snack bar, & restrooms), Exhibits (tanks), and Aquarium Operations (Administrations & tank Filtration)

IMO Exhibits are stupid. Why waste precious aquarium space to put a few boring preserved shark jaws or whatever? I'm not criticizing you krj, but rather anyone who would want to put an exhibit without live organisms in a zoo/aquarium...

Why not leave that to the Museum of Natural History or whatever?

LittleTiger, is the focus on just designing for the animal or for everything around it too? Like do you need to just design for the animal and it's husbandry and protection or for the visitors too?

 

[Littletiger]

Thank you everyone! ^.^ All of the advice is very nice!
A member sent me a link to an online version of the elasmobranch manual so I do not have to buy it.

The reason I need a elasmobranch husbandry manual was for a dossier. I need to write up the species' tank space needs, diet needs, habitat needs etc.
Our group also has to design our building layout (bathrooms etc) and create education programs for our fake visitors Turns out the space we have isnt too small and we will be able to have a beluga tank too. The project also requires us to build a 3D model of one of our exhibits. Lots of fun but lots of work.

The zoo and aquarium design class is UWSP's wildlife 322 class and I'm required to take it for my captive wildlife minor. (as far as I know, I am the only shark nerd at UWSP) and because I am a shark nerd, I had to put sharks in our fake aquarium. But I've only ever worked with free-ranging sharks before so I figured I'd find help here. I'm glad I posted. Designing this fake aquarium will help me later as I'm aiming for a captive shark internship this summer.

thanks again!!
littletiger

 

[Zoodiver]

The zoo and aquarium design class is UWSP's wildlife 322 class and I'm required to take it for my captive wildlife minor. (as far as I know, I am the only shark nerd at UWSP) and because I am a shark nerd, I had to put sharks in our fake aquarium.

I'll pass on the little secret that you aren't alone on the campus. One of the students who goes there has worked with more shark species than most actual professional shark keepers in the US.

 

[krj-1168]

IMO Exhibits are stupid. Why waste precious aquarium space to put a few boring preserved shark jaws or whatever? I'm not criticizing you krj, but rather anyone who would want to put an exhibit without live organisms in a zoo/aquarium...

Why not leave that to the Museum of Natural History or whatever?

Maybe I should have been clearer when I said - Exhibits. But then I thought that everyone already knew that anytime you say "Exhibits" in referrence to a Zoo or Public Aquarium that it automatically means that includes live plants & animals.

To make this clear Museums usually have non-living exhibits, and Zoos or Public Aquariums tend to have living exhibits.

Case in point - the Shark Tank at the NC Aquarium @ Pine Knoll Shores - is known as the "Living Shipwreck Exhibit" - but includes 3 species of live sharks, and nearly a dozen species of other local fishes.

 

[Reefbuff01]

I wasn't aware that WL 322 had a design component to it. I am a captive wildlife minor as well but will be taking that class next spring.

Sorry to disappoint, but you are definitely not the only shark nerd in central WI.