For the first time that anyone can remember, the Austin Pond Society broke away from the normal and traditional thing by holding their monthly meeting at the Austin Aquarium which is located on the North end of town off Rt 183. Just as the title says, it is an Aquarium and has many tanks containing fish from around the world, some of which are pretty big. They also have several Parrots and Macaws, a very large turtle who shares his living quarters with a couple of ducks, a large aviary containing parakeets of all colors and many glass tanks containing snakes, turtles and other items of interest including an Alligator that is about 5 feet long.
The Koi tank alone is currently holding about 1500 large Koi, many more than we as Pond Enthusiasts ever would consider having in our ponds at one time and one of the reasons for holding the meeting in this location was for them to explain to us the systems they use to keep the water clear and oxygenated with so many fish in one place. A couple of the young staff that worked at the Aquarium took the time out of their busy schedule to explain the systems and then spent the next 45 minutes answering questions of which there were many. Clear water is a subject near and dear to a Pond persons heart.
The meeting was very well attended and I counted a little over 50 members who prior to the discussion about clear water, enjoyed a meal of Chinese food delivered from one of our sponsors, Bamboo Bistro. We had very little business to discuss and most of it was about the upcoming Zilker Garden Festival and the need for volunteers. Ted Paone, this years Pond Guru made a short announcement that there would be 27 ponds on the Tour split pretty evenly between North and South. That is the most number of ponds in recent memory.
We actually got out of there earlier than we normally do but that was mainly because we didn’t have a Speaker. The Austin Pond Society would like to thank the Staff of the Austin Aquarium for working with us and allowing us to hold our meeting at their location. I heartily recommend that anyone who has not yet visited this place especially if you have children, to make the effort to do so. It is well worth it and very educational.
The slide show below is of the Austin Pond Society attendees at the meeting.
Below is a slide show of some of the exhibits in the Austin Aquarium.
Below is a video of the discussion held with two of the employees of the Austin Aquarium as they answered questions about their filtration systems.
Below is the video of the Business Section of the meeting at the Austin Aquarium.
