One of the aquarists turns on the lights, pumps and other electrical equipment which have been shut down overnight. (Some equipment, such as the filters, air-blower and main water pumps run 24 hours a day).

9:10 a.m. The aquarist then checks every tank in the aquarium, to make sure the internal filters are working properly, and also to check that all the fish are healthy.

9:20 a.m. In the Plant Room, another aquarist is preparing the food for the fishes breakfast. It is mostly young and new-born fish which get breakfast, as does our Seahorses, Pipefish, Cuttlefish, White Skate, and Grey Mullet.

Breakfast time for the fish!

One of the aquarist’s will go across the road to the beach to collect some live food for the fish that don’t like Squid or Herring. This includes collecting Sandhoppers for the young Cuttlefish, Mussels for the Starfish and Crayfish, and Shore Crabs for the large Cuttlefish, Octopus and Smoothounds

The young fish get their lunch, a mixture of Mysid Shrimp, Squid tentacles, and Herring

The main sand filters are “back-washed”. This means reversing the flow of water through the filters for a short while to clean the sand in the filters, so that they maintain their effectiveness.

In the afternoon we will often have Birthday Parties or Guided Tours to run, which makes a nice change from beavering away in the aquarium. If there are no tours or parties it means we have extra time to clean the tanks and update the exhibits.

FEEDING FRENZY!! All the big fish get their dinner of Squid, Herring and Crab, as part of a guided feeding tour.

Small Fish Feeding. This is another guided tour, where all the smaller tanks get fed. They get a mixture of Herring flesh, Squid tentacles and Squid Heads!

4:30p.m. The baby fish, as well as the Seahorses, Skate etc. get their final meal of the day. The feeding of the fish ranges from once every second day for the big eaters such as the Conger Eels, to four or five times a day for those fish that need small amounts often, such as the Seahorses and new born Dogfish.

5:30p.m. The staff have a short meeting to discuss the days events, and plan for tomorrow, including planning any fishing trips, upcoming tours or courses, or any special jobs that need doing such as stripping tanks or moving fish.

The last job of the day is to put the fish to bed! This involves checking them over to make sure they are all okay, making sure all the covers and lids are on so that the fish cant jump out overnight, and then turning off the light so they get a nice nights rest!