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[Matt Rogers]

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my parents and I took a trip to see the amazing Biosphere2.








I was really excited to see the 'ocean' component of the biosphere - a 750,000 gallon tank with a beach, reef and giant wave maker.










_{This giant surge device put out about 4" waves that went clear across it!}




From above I was in awe. The thing was huge and housed in a giant tall glass roof. Intense.





At this point the tour guide said they used 'Instant Ocean' synthetic salt 'which contained everything they need.' * They also built it to be 'self sustaining with fish that eat algae' (paraphrasing)

Well those tidbits made my eyebrows go up.
FIRST RED FLAG



After thinking about that, we eventually went below.





_{Those are some big pipes!}






The first thing I noticed was the display glass hadn't been clean in ages. Completely covered in algae. *SECOND RED FLAG [smiley=worried.gif]






Thick algae covered most rocks.. not the good kind either. There were a lot of tangs. And most of them looked ok, but the corals...










There were some softies, but most of the hard stuff I saw was dead or dying. *[smiley=wreck.gif]



These display windows were the only parts of the 'ocean' with artifical light. Just a couple spots which you can see in the top photos above.



Ironically the smaller display tanks in the rest of the exhibit had similar problems. One had a half dead pagoda coral, more algae problems, and aiptasias.


It's a shame that something that started with all the right ambitions is obviously going through hard times.

After the original experiment, the Biosphere changed ownership. Columbia University began to do Co2 *experiments in a few of the greenhouses. Something tells me Columbia University didn't do much with the 'ocean' judging from what I saw. It is now rumored to being potentially sold again.


I don't want to sound like a jerk, but ...


I was shocked at what I saw. I hope the new owners will give it a water change.

It's not too late to turn that tank around. It has the potential to be the coolest little ocean in the world.


[smiley=worried.gif] [smiley=worried.gif] [smiley=worried.gif]