Aquaculture In Richmond
Richmond Aquarium operates an aquaculture center focused on growing new aquatic marine animals, plants, and food. The products we produce in our aquaculture center are available for sale in our store under the Richmond Aquarium Brand, and are also used in the aquariums we maintain, including lease aquariums that participate in the Aquaculture Network.
Our Richmond Aquaculture Center has grown large enough that we can now open it to the public. Our Aquaculture facility now occupies an entire building. Inside you will find lots of coral frags, special invertebrates, a variety of saltwater plants, and macro and micro algae. The next time you visit the store, be sure to visit our Aquaculture center.
Aquaculture Corals
We grow a variety of corals in our aquaculture center. Most of the coral frags used to start our aquaculture colonies come from our clients or customers.
Cultured Corals Include:
- SPS Colonies
- LPS Colonies
- Mushroom Colonies
- Polyp Colonies
- Leather Corals
- Remarkable Xenia Colonies
Aquaculture Plants
We grow a variety of plants and macro algae in our aquaculture center. Most of the plants used to start our aquaculture colonies come from our clients or hitchhike in, attached to other items.
The plants we produce are used as decoration or food for most marine fish, including the fish in our store and systems we maintain.
The plants are also used as part of a filtration system for marine aquariums. Plants naturally absorb pollutants from the water, making the inclusion of plants quite beneficial to marine aquariums.
Phytoplankton
We produce our own phytoplankton and use it to feed invertebrates in our aquaculture center, our store, and systems we maintain. The phytoplankton we grow in our aquaculture center is also available to purchase in our store as Richmond Aquarium Brand Phytoplankton.
Phytoplankton serve as the base of the aquatic food web, providing an essential ecological function for all aquatic life, and are an essential component of the diet for many reef creatures (such as fan worms, sea apples, corals, clams, and tunicates).
Phytoplankton are tiny floating plants which serve the same role in the food chains of the oceans as grass and shrubs serve on land; namely small things eat them, which are in turn eaten by bigger things, and so on down the line.
Many coral reef animals feed directly on phytoplankton, and even those that do not, rely ultimately on the nutrition gained from phytoplankton eaten by other organisms.
Some essential nutrients provided by phytoplankton cannot be synthesized by animals, and are therefore extremely important components of a healthy diet. Benefits of feeding phytoplankton to your reef inhabitants include better color, improved health, and faster growth.
With the availability of Richmond Aquarium Brand Phytoplankton, you can now give your reef aquarium every opportunity to succeed by feeding this important food source to your livestock. Richmond Aquarium operates an aquaculture center focused on growing new aquatic marine animals, plants, and food.
