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The Aquarium at Flamingo Land Zoo and Theme Park

By David Marshall
Photographs by Mrs Jackie Goulder
From the Ryedale Reporter, March 2004. Ryedale Aquarist Society, North Yorkshire, England
Aquarticles

The North Yorkshire village of Kirbymisperton is situated halfway between the market towns, Ryedale District, of Malton and Pickering. In the mid-1960's the lands belonging to Kirbymisperton Hall were transformed into the Flamingo Park Zoological Gardens. As public tastes changed, so did the importance of the Zoo,with the ever-growing theme park nature of the venture taking prominence and leading to a name change to Flamingo Land. In recent times the pendulum has swung again creating a more equal balance between animal and funfair attractions.

As part of the renewal of the Zoo area the aquarium exhibits were recently transferred from the Tropical House (the old tropical tanks here were a huge influence on my gaining an interest in the aquarium fish hobby and, in my younger days, I remember seeing my first Dwarf Gourami and Firemouth Cichlids here and the excitement of 'Marshall family visits' remains clear in my mind) to the area underneath the Sea lion enclosure which, as Gerry Hawksby reminded me, held some very impressive displays of fish native to the U.K. many moons ago but is now best described as 'cichlid paradise'.

The 17 display aquaria, which vary greatly in size and dimension, are looked after by my friend Mrs. Jackie Goulder so when Jackie offered me the chance of a behind-the-scenes visit off I went notebook in hand. I have to say that walking through the Zoo grounds on a dark January night, with only a torch to guide us, was quite eerie and hearing so many different animal sounds surrounding us was like being in a living Tarzan movie. Of course this is all routine for Jackie who, nevertheless, keeps a wary watch should the neighbourhood tiger ever escape and this reminded me of that old Zoo joke 'what emerged from the tiger's enclosure in one piece?'  The tiger.

Upon entering the aquarium we are stood looking into a large exhibit that is home to several Pacu, an exanthic Giant Gourami (which I feel is Jackie's favourite fish) and a very impressive large catfish whose identity is unknown. Donated to the Zoo in 2000 this particular fish came as a 'Salmon Arius' but is unlike any Arius catfish I have ever seen. All the markings and body shape are those of a Mystus wyckii but the facial features are totally different, as is the temperament, as I watched Jackie hand-feed her prized asset without any fear of losing one of her fingers in the process.

Unidentified 'Arius' catfish       Photo copyright Mrs Jackie Goulder

Catfish close-up     Photo copyright Mrs Jackie Goulder

At this point we have to say that Jackie has had to be very resistant in her attempt to keep the stocking of the above tank to a workable level as she tells me that barely a week passes when she is not offered a fully grown Oscar or large catfish that have outgrown aquarists' tanks. Perhaps there is a lesson here for us all?

Back to the exhibits. An equally large aquarium houses the first of two tropical marine exhibits. Shoals of Batfish, Green Scats and Finger fish merrily swim around and while we viewed these fish from the work gantry above their aquaria they ate lettuce like there would be no tomorrow.

A shoal of Batfish     Photo copyright Mrs Jackie Goulder

Now no aquarium would be complete without its Red-Breasted Piranha and the serenity of the 20 'friends' was broken by a frenetic rush to the surface as their favourite food of chopped marine fish, fresh from the fishmonger, was added. Out of interest they are 'not alone' as a large Hypostomus multiradiatus has no fear of his illustrious companions whilst some small Rosy Barbs, which arrived in the exhibit as eggs on vallis plants moved from another tank, darted in and out of the available cover looking for morsels of food. Jackie tells me that she can put her hands into the tank, when no food is still on the go, without any problems but rather Jackie than me.

Soon we are onto the first of the cichlid exhibits. A beautifully crafted rocky aquascaped affair it is and home to a pair of Neolamprologus brichardi and so many variously sized Julidochromis regani 'kipili', with adult pairs which will not cease breeding (perhaps the raw carrot that a number of these fish nibbled on is the secret?), that you literally cannot see the water for fish. Just to add to the effect you will also find a couple of beautiful Synodontis angelicus here and a shoal of Blind Cave Characins.

Yes I am biased, as I gave Jackie the parents, but the sight of a number of 'Cichlasoma' sajica fry been so carefully tended by their doting mother and father was a sight to behold. Often the fry of this particular cichlid will nibble at mucus produced on the bodies of their parents, in particular that of the male, during the early stages of fry rearing (as happens with Uaru and Discus) but such was the sparkling condition of their parents' skin that this did not appear to have occurred on this occasion? This was the second 'brood' brought off by this pair and a number of juveniles from their first successful coupling, which are housed 'off view', are now happily swimming around in one of my fish house tanks.

The next tank that caught my eye contained a strange mixture of fish. Much maligned Red Parrot Cichlids, which Jackie informed me produced sterile eggs while housed in the 'old aquarium', share their tank with more than one species of Tilapia. Housed with them is a Leporinus fasciatus and he is the 'old man' of the exhibit with a long serving member of the Zoo staff remembering his arrival in the mid-1970's.

The final tank contains young Seahorses, bred from parents that originated from the successful programme at Chester Zoo. This was the first time that I had ever seen Seahorses actually eating and they made short work of live brine shrimp. Nothing is wasted and thus any shrimp not eaten by the Seahorses finds its way into the Batfish exhibit.

A Pacu      Photo copyright Mrs Jackie Goulder

Well done Jackie, not only for keeping all the exhibit tanks clean but also for the excellent homemade information boards, complete with photographs Jackie took herself. Thank you for the guided tour and, once I was used to the Sea lions barking in the building above us, I had an excellent evening.

Out of interest Jackie tells me that the original goldfish pond, which was too dark for us to visit upon this occasion, that lies beyond the Tropical House is still in use and that in 2003 she found a large number of fry hidden amongst the reeds.

The aquarium at Flamingo Land is well worth a visit and sometimes you don't appreciate what is on your own doorstep.