Red Tidings (or, A Few Quick Lines on Marine Aquariums and Museums)

I visited the Science Museum today for the first time in over a year.

There is still cyanobacter in the Marine Aquarium display. Tons of it.

Now, mind you, with whatever money was spent on their new aquatic display with both the Fresh and shallow Marine petting tank, you would think they could have had someone clean the wall display.

Honestly, your average saltwater hobbyist, upon discovering the existence of cyanobacter (red slime 'algae') in their aquarium, is going to fight it. It doesn't take much, really... a few doses of erythromycin to kill a portion of it whilst conducting a thorough siphoning of one's substrate, followed by the application of greater flow (through the use of powerhead) and some sort of protein skimmer to reduce the dissolved organics. It seems like a great deal, but, realistically, you could accomplish all of that and purchase a moderately high-end skimmer for about $500.

So, why can't our Science Museum cough up such a small amount to make their display presentable?

And, no, this isn't the usual fare with which I started the blog. However, it has been irritating me since I saw it and needed to have a little rant to clear it from my system.

This is the downside to having worked in the Pet Industry... particularly with aquatics.