Tropical aquariums at the MEERESMUSEUM

After the discovery tour through the exhibitions, the aquarium tour begins in a newly constructed barrier-free part of the building. The largest tank in the MEERESMUSEUM, with 700,000 liters of water, shows a “Caribbean reef”. Its 80-square-metre inclined pane can be viewed from three levels and allows visitors to experience the reef from the surface to the bottom, just like a dive. The coral species that are highly endangered in this habitat are illustrated in the tank by means of artificial replicas. In addition, smaller tanks show other Caribbean habitats such as the seagrass meadow, the Sargasso Sea and mangroves. The journey continues in the historic vaulted cellar of the monastery complex.

The route through the Pacific leads briefly into colder waters off the coast of California with its mystical kelp forests. This is home to colorful anemones, Californian horn sharks and the kelp perch typical of this habitat. The water temperature then rises again to 25 degrees in the large Hawaii basin, whose dark decoration is reminiscent of volcanic rocks. In contrast, the journey continues into the bright underwater world of the Fiji Islands. In a pool with a capacity of 85,000 liters of water, white sand and light-colored rocks illustrate the famous reef “The Great White Wall”.

On the way to the underwater world off the coasts of Australia and the Indo-Pacific, guests can observe colorful coral reefs, poisonous lionfish and pufferfish as well as spiny lobsters.

The habitat of the Indian Ocean is characterized by a high diversity of species: colourful corals, unusual fish and large reptiles await museum visitors at the end of their journey into the tropical seas. A curved aquarium displays colorful corals from the museum's own breeding. Museum visitors also meet old acquaintances - the sea turtles. They have been in the care of the museum team for many years. As a result, valuable knowledge about the reptiles has accumulated. It helps with the international exchange of information on how sea turtles can be protected in the wild and kept in aquariums.