Alarm Over Dead Fish At New Aquarium

[george]

Alarm over dead fish at new aquarium

BANGKOK: -- The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is to closely monitor the management of Siam Ocean World, the giant aquarium in the basement of the Siam Paragon mall after officials said they witnessed the removal of two dying Arowana fish during a visit yesterday.

Director-general Maitree Duang-sawat, together with department officials and veterinarians visited the aquarium after participating in the opening of "Marine Turtle Preservation Year 2006", taking place at the shopping mall, following news reports about the large number fish dying in the aquarium.

The officials said they were shocked as they watched aquarium staff remove two Arowana fish, also known as dragon fish, from the aquarium. Moreover, many other fish appeared to be carrying wounds, he said.

Maitree said the condition of the fish was probably due to poor transportation, management and water systems and problems with the feeding process. Also, it was found many small fish were kept with sharks - which might be another cause of death among them.

"The aquarium needs serious monitoring. We have learnt that sick fish are just left to die because it costs more to treat the fish than buy new ones," he said, adding that because of the sub-standard management some veterinarians at Siam Ocean World planned to quit soon.

He said the department would find out where the dying fish had been purchased to ensure they had been caught legally.

The department is also planning to hold a meeting with aquarium operators from around the country about the standard of aquarium management.

Kantaporn Tongman, marketing manager of Siam Ocean World, denied all the accusations about poor management at the facility saying that the aquarium was run in line with the international standards used by Oceanis Australia Group. Siam Ocean World is a subsidiary of the Australian group, which has operated aquariums for more than 15 years.

"The staff removed the Arowana from the tank in order to clean it, not because they were dying," she insisted.

She said the aquarium's water system was now in perfect condition after passing through the initial operating period when 10 per cent of fish were expected to die in line with common practice. However, the fish death toll never reached the predicted number, Kantaporn said.

"Everything is normal. Any death now is caused only by the fish's life span," she said.

All sick marine animals are well treated in a curator tank, she said, and insisted that buying new stock was more expensive than curing them as most of the fish in the aquarium were imported from the Philippines. Kantaporn said the aquarium employed many experts and veterinarians, both Thais and foreigners - and no one had quit so far.

--The Nation 2006-03-01

[hopeless]

Bird flu hits the waters eh?

[bkkmadness]

Maitree said the condition of the fish was probably due to poor transportation, management and water systems and problems with the feeding process.

So that covers about everything that could go wrong, I thought this was a professionally run outfit?

Also, it was found many small fish were kept with sharks - which might be another cause of death among them.

"The aquarium needs serious monitoring. We have learnt that sick fish are just left to die because it costs more to treat the fish than buy new ones," he said, adding that because of the sub-standard management some veterinarians at Siam Ocean World planned to quit soon.

If the fish were healthy when they are added to the aquarium then its more than likely problems with the filteration sytems and water quality management. Adding new fish to the same bad systems will just cause more to die. Seems they are not fixing the root of the problem.

"The staff removed the Arowana from the tank in order to clean it, not because they were dying," she insisted.

That seems odd in itself. A properly set up aquarium should never have the fish removed to clean it. The aquarium should never be fully emptied and only a partial water change should be needed to maintain the aquarium.

She said the aquarium's water system was now in perfect condition after passing through the initial operating period when 10 per cent of fish were expected to die in line with common practice.

An aquarium should gradually be stocked up over a period of months to avoid these water system problems as it takes that much time for the biological filteration to grow enough bacteria to efficiently break down the fish waste. Put, too many fish too soon, with not enough bacteria in the filter and you get ammonia building up in the water which is very poisonous to the fish.

It sounds to me like they rushed the job and over stocked it before the filter could handle it. No doubt rushed to meet some politicians/businessmans opening date for the aquarium.

Any good fish hobbyist could tell you that, so I wouldn't have expected to happen at a public aquarium run by professionals.

[Ricardo]

A cynic might wonder whether they needed more sea-food, for the exotic-foods buffet at Chiang-Mai Night Safari, but I myself would of course not believe this.

[Maejo Man]

Alarm over dead fish at new aquarium

BANGKOK: -- The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is to closely monitor the management of Siam Ocean World, the giant aquarium in the basement of the Siam Paragon mall after officials said they witnessed the removal of two dying Arowana fish during a visit yesterday.

"The staff removed the Arowana from the tank in order to clean it, not because they were dying," she insisted.

--The Nation 2006-03-01

Of course no parallel could be drawn to the dead animals at the Chiangmai Night Suffering Safari Park

All these grandiose schemes seem to run to a politically orchestrated shedule...sod the animals, just make sure we open on time

[sriracha john]

Silver Arowana

Price: US$15,000 ("cheaper to let them die, then to heal them?")

R.I.P.

Edited March 2, 2006 by sriracha john

[astral]

Bird flu hits the waters eh?

Only for the Flying Fish.

[clokwise]

It probably doesn't help that they allow anyone who wants to scuba dive inside the aquarium.

[dan10400]

It probably doesn't help that they allow anyone who wants to scuba dive inside the aquarium.

your kidding, right?

[bkkmadness]

Silver Arowana

Price: US$15,000 ("cheaper to let them die, then to heal them?")

R.I.P.

Not being picky Sri John, but that must be the Golden Arowana they have in there at that price, the Silvers are pretty cheap to buy.

[Farma]

Just curious, does anyone know where they get the water supply from?

The other large marine aquariums I’ve seen are close to the ocean and have a pipeline from the sea. Are they trucking sea water in or making their own salt water mix?

Just curious.

[sriracha john]

It probably doesn't help that they allow anyone who wants to scuba dive inside the aquarium.

your kidding, right?

It's partially true. Not just anyone is allowed, but anyone with 5,300-6,000 baht can dive inside the aquarium:

http://www.cdnn.info/news/industry/i060217.html

[sriracha john]

Silver Arowana

Price: US$15,000 ("cheaper to let them die, then to heal them?")

R.I.P.

Not being picky Sri John, but that must be the Golden Arowana they have in there at that price, the Silvers are pretty cheap to buy.

good catch (no pun.. ), madness... when I went back to the site, I realized I misread things.

Guess I was so shocked at some of these prices for fish, I was too stunned to be accurate.

here's a red one for Singapore $10,888

http://www.adpost.com/sg/pets/2150

and a golden one for 1,900 pounds

http://www.arowana.co.uk/buying-arowana.htm

Criminy.... these prices are for a FISH?!?!

I don't think I'll be ordering any of them in a restaurant...

[Nordlys]

In Thailand, you can buy super red from 30 - 50K Baht and the gold from around 70,000 Baht at Sunday Plaza in JJ market, depending on the age and size. Whatever the price, I'm not so thrilled to see fish sold at JJ market at B450 per person aquarium...

Edited March 2, 2006 by Nordlys

[Heng]

I don't know the rates for the Singapore Underwater World, but their branch in Pattaya has a high rate of dying fish as well. It's a business plain and simple and no matter how well you design the system, it's not natural for the sea life to live like that. Most of my diver sea-life hugger type friends won't even visit the place.

[sriracha john]

In Thailand, you can buy super red from 30 - 50K Baht and the gold from around 70,000 Baht at Sunday Plaza in JJ market, depending on the age and size. Whatever the price, I'm not so thrilled to see fish sold at JJ market at B450 per person aquarium...

50,000? 70,000?

Thanks just the same though, but I'll take a red snapper for 180 baht... deep fried nicely with garlic and layered in chili sauce.

[bkkmadness]

Ah, but the Super Reds are a beautiful fish, one day I'll have one!

[sriracha john]

no wonder the fish are dying.... the aquarium water used is so polluted that when it's discharged, it's polluting the already-polluted khlongs even more...

Aquarium ordered to clean waste water more thoroughly

Siam Ocean World has been ordered to clean its waste water more thoroughly before discharging it into the nearby Saen Saep canal. Sonthi Kotchawat, director of the Office of Environmental Impact Evaluation, said an inspection of the aquarium at the Siam Paragon shopping complex found that it allegedly released dirty water below the acceptable quality standard from the fish tank into the canal.

The inspection was a joint collaboration between Pollution Control Department officials, the Board of Investment and Pathum Wan district office.

The team earlier held talks with representatives from the shopping complex to seek clarification over the discharge of substandard water. Siam Ocean World said it was supposed to change 5,000 litres of saline water every two weeks and drain it from the fish tank to the central water treatment pool. However, the water management system ran into problems, hurting its water treatment capacity, the firm said.

The office has given Siam Paragon one month to fix the problem and hire General Environmental Conservation (Genco) Plc, a firm offering industrial waste water treatment, to monitor the untreated water.

In addition, the shopping complex needs to install a grease trap for the water waste released from its food court.

Genco is a joint venture between the Industry Ministry, Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand and the private sector.