Exhibit Design and Lighting Abstracts
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Moon Jellies: A Touching Experience Nate Jaros, Aquarium of the Pacific Watch Video (Login required) . Full Abstract
The Aquarium of the Pacific has operated a popular Moon jelly touch exhibit for the past 5 years. The design was a retrofit that remained intact through multiple themed exhibits within our changing gallery. The time has come to pack it up for a new theme, but we’ve decided to design a new and improved permanent Moon jelly touch system that will open later this year. In this presentation I’ll share the logistics involved with operating this touch system, what issues we hope to overcome with the new design, and our guest’s response. |
From Artificial to Live:
The Design, Construction, and Maintenance of a Large Scale Live Coral Exhibit Danny Munoz and Briana Fodor, Aquarium of the Pacific Watch Video (Login required) . Full Abstract
The Aquarium of the Pacific recently undertook the challenge of converting an 11,000 gallon (42,000 Liter) fish and artificial reef exhibit into a live coral reef tank. Substantial changes had to be made by the Husbandry, Life Support, and Facilities departments in order to make this possible. Light fixtures were replaced with a combination of metal halides and LED’s. The plenum was removed, and water flow was redesigned. New reactors were added to help with the water quality needed to maintain a living reef. Thousands of pounds of rock were added to make shelves for the coral to be placed. After five months of work, the exhibit was ready to be stocked with live coral. The Aquarium of the Pacific staff learned many important lessons from this process, and ended up with a thriving living coral reef exhibit. |
The Science of Light Tulio Dell Aquila, Illumination Technologies, LLC., Reef Brite Watch Video (Login required) . Full Abstract
The Science of Light A comprehensive look into the fascinating world of light. The talk would include an interactive (Yes the attendees participate) talk/demonstration about Spectroradiometer, Quantum flux (PAR), and other light meters commonly used to measure and categorize light for scientific use. During the talk I demonstrate a Spectroradiometer and a Quantum flux meter and do comparative measurements real time. The spectral graph is actually displayed live through the video projector. The talk would cover Kelvin, PAR, Spectral power distribution, Lumens, Lux, C.R.I, wattage and other commonly used/misused lighting terms. Attendees will learn about their relevance in evaluating light sources for exhibit lighting. In the talk I cover color temperature and how Kelvin is often misused to categorize lamps. I discuss PAR and explain the common misconceptions when using PAR to evaluate light sources. I also prove scientifically why you should reconsider the role a PAR meter plays when evaluating light sources for photosynthetic organisms. I explain Spectral power distribution and what those colorful spectral charts actually mean. I also explain how to use the charts to compare light sources of different wattages/intensities. I discuss/compare human eye response and absorption wavelengths/efficiencies of photosynthetic organisms. Lastly, I discuss radiometric (wattage) vs. photometric (optical output) comparison. |
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LEDs not another talk, more information leads to the death of Metal Halides
Grant Anderson, Butterfly House and Marine Cove Watch Video (Login required) . Full Abstract
As more and more public aquariums are moving from metal halides to LEDs the number of manufactures trying to break the 1000 watt comparable units has never been higher. There has been so much advancement in the LEDs for coral husbandry in the past 4 years. The focus of major manufacturers has changed to larger and brighter units to take over the public aquarium markets. Our facility has been solely lit by LED for over a year now and the data is in. From corals to freshwater planted exhibits. This year will focus on can LEDs sustain larger colonies of corals and penetrate to the inner branches? Are the LEDs holding up? Are the LEDs still producing all the photons that they originally did? Are the LEDs keeping the color spectrum they originally were? Are they worth the investment? Can you really save money by switching to LEDs? This year will have pictures, videos, and more information to build on what information has been presented in the past. There have been some good times and some not so good times with testing these LED units over larger public aquarium reefs of all sizes and depths. We are working with many different manufactures to build units that can penetrate to the depths comparable to the 1000-watt metal halides while also keeping the spectrum we want. At the same time the affordability or comparability to running metal halides. With giving them the data they need and the specs we need this part of coral husbandry has made leaps and bounds. The LEDs have also been moving into the non-reef sector of lighting aquariums due to the cost savings and many other advantages over conventional lighting options. |