All Read : Atlanta Aquarium

[commonstranger]

The board has discussed the club going to the Atlanta Aquarium. I had heard many compliments on this aquarium and have read a great deal on line about it. I think it would be a fun trip and we could all learn alot. It will include a behind the scenes tour and if noone knows they even have a whale shark in one of the tanks. People can car pool together or even go down the night before and stay the night. If someone can please post the meetings dates that are already set so we can go off it to plan when we will be going. Let us know what you think and leave your comments and questions.

[sandalscout]

I would LOVE to go on a behind the scenes there, and I've never actually been, but the pictures are very cool looking. Depending on when it is, I am down, and probably my wife as well.

[ameares8]

That sounds like a trip for me and the wife..pending the date and our work schedules of course. Sign me up Rhett!

[MVlk]

I've been there. Is a nice Aquarium. From a fish perspective, I am almost more impressed with the Chattanooga Aquarium. Some may say I am crazy, but that is just my opinion.

That being said, a behind the scenes tour could be pretty cool at either aquarium.

[fallinapart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14938090#post14938090 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by commonstranger
If someone can please post the meetings dates that are already set so we can go off it to plan when we will be going. Let us know what you think and leave your comments and questions.

Rhett here are the dates for the rest of the year

May 9- www.sustainableaquatics.com
June 13 or 14 - Andeywe
July 11 or 12 - Aquatic Critter LFS meeting
August 8 or 9 - fallinapart
September 12 or 13 - undertcontrolj
October 10 or 11 - LFS meeting
November 14 or 15 - commonstranger
December 12 or 13 - ? 4th Annual MTRC/NTRC Joint Meeting ?
January 16 (potential date for the Reef Expo!)


I would like to see an Oct or Nov trip date, since you asked :D

[NeveSSL]

Would this be an overnight trip or a day trip?

Brandon

[commonstranger]

What ever you want it to be Brandon. I would say most will car pool down together and then ride back the same day. My wife and I will go down the day before and go to Six-Flags.

[ZachB]

That would be an awesome trip. I would be in for sure, depending on when it would be.
Are the current meeting dates set in stone or maybe stuff can be shifted around?

[ct_vol]

I went down to the ATL Aquarium with the MACNA conference... It is a nice aquarium, but I agree that the Chatty aquarium is probably a bit better in the fish department...

The biggest gripe I have heard is that it is VERY crowded... Most people have to elbow their way to see the displays, if they get to see them at all... When I went it was closed to the public so I didn't have that problem...

My biggest problem with it is that it is not a very large Aquarium... I know it has one of the largest single volume tanks, but beyond that I just don't see the value for the price of admission... It was cool to stroll through before we had our dinner, especially since it was included with the conference package, but I would not have been too happy had I paid full price admission...

I did like the Garden Eel tank and they did have a few "fake reefs" with lots of anthias and whatnot... Their actual reef tank mostly has polyps and a couple anemones... It is probably smaller than a lot of your members in the MTRC...

Here is a link to some of the pics I took when I was down there...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1473371

If I remember correctly there are two behind the scenes tours... One goes to the top of the Aquarium, where the wave maker, and whatnot are, and the other goes toward the bottom where the "guts" of the aquarium are... I'm not sure if you can do both together... I do think it would be a fun trip if you got enough club members involved... Hope this helps... :D

[jhutton]

me and the fiance would love to go. probabl spend the night with friends in atlanta

[undertcontrolj]

THat sounds like an awesome trip. Me and tiffany have been and lived it. It is a little crowded but there was so much to see it was great. We would probably go the night before and stay and go to six flags too. That is always a fun trip. Are we going to be able to get a group discount. I know they have something for groups just don't know the price of it.

[supertech99]

Not to be argumentitive, but i thought the georgia aquarium was amazing! we went down there 2 months ago. The reef tank was very impressive, especially the fish health and quality. the regal tangs were FAT and beautiful color. The naso tangs had amazing streamers! they had an inpressive fake wave system on it and the small reef sharks in it were cool too. The big tank was neat but not as interesting. The big tank did have some impressive purple tangs. The corals in the reef were a lot of polyps and lots of lps but they stated that the growth of the tank is a long term process for them, and the frogspawn looked to be taking off. I think it is worth the admission, it is crowded though!

[andywe]

Leah and I would lvoe to go, but in warm weather and would not make a Oc-Nov trip. We would make a weekend out of it.

[MVlk]

I was not implying that the Atlanta Aquarium would not be worth it, but going to one more local might be more bang for the buck and get a larger group as you would not have to commit to such a long drive. Just my two cents.

[DMBillies]

I've been before and wasn't overly impressed but that was shortly after it opened and the main reef tank definitely needed a few months/years to get to where it is really impressive. I would love to have a backstage tour if we could get a group rate that was a little more affordable. Also, I'm always open for carpooling and getting to know some folks. If its when the whether is still decent I'd probably look for some semi-nearby camping.

For guys with wives who are uninterested...
just tell them "we can go to Ikea" and that might help.

[supertech99]

hahahahahahaha funny you say that, thats totally how i got my wife to go! hahahahahahaha