Denmark's Aquarium

By Aquarticles Editor

Original to Aquarticles

One of my favourite aquariums in the world is Danmark's Akvarium, located a few kilometers north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of Europe's older aquariums, dating from the 1930's. By the usual measures of "greatness', this aquarium does not measure up. It does not have that many tanks, does not have any really large tanks, and has no marine mammals; yet the tanks it does have are all really well established and cared for, and displays are, with a few notable exceptions, almost always faithful to any given biotope (more on that later). Overall there is a sense of non-commercial integrity that characterizes the whole aquarium. If you want slick displays, clever marketing, and myriad ways to spend your money on consumer goods, this is not the place to go - there is not even a gift shop! If you are looking for a set of world-class aquarium displays, albeit on a smaller scale than what you can find elsewhere, this is the place to come. I should also mention the aquarium is located next to a historic park - Deerhavn - which holds hundreds of acres of forests, paths, deer, and even a castle. Thus, if you spend a morning at the aquarium you can spend the afternoon wandering the park.

What follows is a photo-essay of a fall 2007 visit I made to Denmark's Akvarium. I promise to update the captions beneath each photo to provide proper species identification - as soon as I am reunited with all the notes I took during my visit.

View from the parking lot outside Danmark's Akvarium

A large mural graces the building's exterior

I began my visit early in the morning at 9:30, right when the doors opened. There was a small crowd at the front doors and so I hurried to the far end of the aquarium to the main draw - the tropical gallery holding reef sharks, sea turtles, and South American biotope displays - piranha, arowana, and associated large cichlids, etc. See photos below:

A large atrium with tropical flora holds S.American biotope tanks (left),
sharks and sea turtles (center), and reef fish tanks (right).

Pirhana tank

Pirhana - another view

S.American silver arowana, pacu, peacock cichlids, red tail catfish,
Disticodous sexifasciatus and a couple central American cichlids

Call me a purist, but I really wish aquariums would not mix fish from different biotopes. Finding an African fish like a D. sexifasciatus and some Central American cichlids lumped in with a South American collection of fish rubs me the wrong way. There is really no need that I can see to mix the biotopes, other than perhaps asthetics. I suppose the majority of aquarium visitors can't tell the difference between a guppy and a grouper, but for those of us who can it would be nice to keep displays faithful to the biotope they ostensibly replicate.

Pacu, Silver arowana, Central Amercican cichlid

Peacock Cichlid (Cichla oscilatus)

Sea turtle and black-tip reef shark

Reef shark and damsel fish

A tropical marine display

Freshwater Turtles

Freshwater turtles

Archerfish

African cichlids

Hallway that separates the two main wings of the aquarium

A display with common goldfish and mirrors; an unusual approach that works

A coldwater display of fish native to Denmark - pike

Another cold water display of native Danish fish - bream and sturgeon

A catifish (unidentified)

A large Asian salamander (2-3 feet long!)

African clawed frogs

A planted live bearer display - guppies, platties, sword tails, etc.

Live bearer tank - another view

A snapping turtle with a gaping mouth

One of my favourite tanks in the aquarium - Primitive Fish - Gars, Australian and African lungfish

Australian lung fish

Australian lung fish (rear), African lungfish (front)

Australian lung fish

Sea horses

African cichlids

African cichlids - another view

Unidentified small species tank; innovative use of columnar plants and pillars.

Same tank as prior photo; pipefish species?

Apongeneton plants, tiger barbs, angel fish, denisoni barbs. Again, I am not too
happy to see African, Asian, and South American biotopes mixed

A tastefully decorated Angel fish tank

Pearl Gourami, Moonlight Gourami, and Congo Tetra.

Australian Rainbow tank

Central American tank - Green Terrors, Acara, convict cichlids

One of my other favourite tanks at the aquarium - fire eels, P.Leopoldi rays,
lepronius, silver arowana, and silver dollar sp.

Same tank as prior photo

A silver arowana swims just above the large fire eel (24 inches)

Fire eel with P. Leoplodi rays

An always hungry P.Leopoldi ray mouths the filter intake in tank bottom looking for food?

P.leopoldi rays, another view

A tidal zone display; shrimp and anemones

Close up photo of tidal zone tank

Temperate waters marine tank

A North Sea tank

An octopus needs no introduction

Goatfish tank

Goatfish - another view

lobster tank

Mixed tropical marine tank

Juvenile sharks

Lionfish tank with old parrot fish (?) poking head at back;
I like the effect produced by the use of green sea plants.

An aged parrot fish (?)

A lion fish swims by

One question I have concerns the nature of the green plant used in the lion fish tank. I know there was a mini-scandal some years ago when the aquarium located in Marseilles, France inadvertently released a mutated form of sea-weed (popular for use in home marine aquariums) that had originally been collected at great depth in the Carribean Sea. This plant has gone on to become a great pest in the Mediteranean Sea, displacing native plants and upsetting the marine ecology. Could the green plant used in the lionfish tank pictured above hold this plant? If any readers out there can identify the plant for me and let me know whether my supposition is correct, I'd appreciate it.

Clownfish and anemone

A beautiful reef tank with tangs and wrasse

Tang/wrasse reef tank, another veiw

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Live clam in tang/wrasse reef tank

Starfish

A display that reminds of me of the Red Sea

Cardinal fish

A beautiful angelfish

Some beautiful soft corrals

Clam and butterfly fish ?

Powder Blue Tang?

Empty tank awaiting inhabitants

Horseshoe crab

This horseshoe crab was on its back with its legs clicking away; I have a feeling it was "on the way out"…

As you prepare to leave Danmark's Akvarium you are in for a surprise - there is NO gift shop! I don't think I have ever experienced that before at any aquarium anywhere in the world. Asside from a selection of three posters, some key rings and a few post cards, all available at the front ticket kiosk, there are no products for sale at Danmark's Akvarium. Instead there is a simple restaurant serving typical Danish fare of open-face sandwiches and Carlsberg beer (of course!).

A restaurant in place of gift shop

A plaque honouring the founder of the Danish Akvarium

I have heard recent talk in Denmark of their building a "new" Aquarium in Copenhagen to replace the existing one. While I am sure the Danes would do a good job of building a new one, and I'm sure they could make a lot of money by including a gift shop, I hope the current aquarium is allowed to continue on in its present form. With a few exceptions (such as the mixing of biotopes, a pet peeve perhaps), the Danes do a great job of displaying a classic or "old school" aquarium.

Ah, autumn in Copenhagen!

I left Danmark's Akvarium by bike (having just completed a major 2000+ km cycle trip).

See: Cycling El Camino to Satiago De Compostella

Post Script: After visiting Danmark's Akvarium, I came across a fellow named Dusko Bojic living in Sweden who also recently posted some photos from his own visit to the same aquarium. With Dusko's permission I have reposted a few thumbnailed photos of his below. The entire collection can be seen at his website publicaquariumpoetry.