Aquarium

Alan Ansell Research Aquarium

 SAMS has been conducting research into aquaculture and the biology of marine organisms since the early 20th century. On 20th October 2009 newly refurbished aquarium facilities were opened that support our scientific objectives and are also available for hire externally and contract research.

The Alan Ansell Research Aquarium extends over 160m2 and includes indoor and outdoor facilities. The indoor facilities include a 40m2 open plan experimental area, a 23m2 mezzanine floor for dry and self-contained wet experiments, numerous photoperiod and constant temperature rooms, and an observation room.  

The aquarium is serviced with:

• pristine sea water from the Lynne of Lorne
• reliable water pump system: duplicate, monitored and alarmed
• water pumped via sub-sea sand filters into four 62m3 reservoirs
• flow-through water system with capability for full or partial recirculation
• compressed air and localised power supplies (230V ac, 110V ac and 12V dc)
• hard-wired data and video communication links to an adjacent Observation Room.
• computer-controlled, flexible lighting system
• a selection of GRP stock tanks of the following sizes: 1000mm (length) x 500mm (width) x 300mm (depth);  1000mm x 1000mm x 500mm, and 1800mm x 1800mm x 900mm. We also have a few larger tanks and many smaller standard tanks in both glass and acrylic.

The new facilities meet the highest hygiene standards exceeding UK Home Office requirements and have been designed with the end user in mind with the use of easily washable surfaces and the commissioning of bespoke recycled plastic benches which helps the environment whilst improving the hygiene of the aquarium.
An in-house multi-skilled technical support team is available to assist in the design, development, setting up and running of bespoke experimental systems to conduct aquaculture or marine ecology related research projects.

The aquarium has been used for studies of various topics including fish physiology, fish feed trials, biology of deep-sea coral, biological rhythms, echinoculture, seaweed cultivation, larval development, behavioural studies, and the biology of non-native species. Recent clients include BOCM Pauls, Unilever, Roche, the Scottish Salmon Growers Association, the Crown Estate, the Highlands and Island Enterprise, DEFRA and Glycomar Ltd.

AQUARIUM ROOMS

MAIN FLOOR

The main aquarium consists of 40 m2 open plan experimental floor area, which is serviced by natural seawater and compressed air in the form of a ring main and also with the benefit of localised power supplies of 110V AC, 12V DC and 230V AC.
The lighting in this area is a state-of-the-art computer controlled system which enables the light levels to be selected and manipulated to customer requirments.
Hard-wired data and video communication links to an adjacent observation room allow the remote viewing of undisturbance-sensitive experiments and for remote data acquisition.

 

Our aquarium includes ten constant temperature (CT) rooms of ca 10.5m2 each. In the rooms temperatures between 0oC and ambient can be selected. Rooms are serviced by natural seawater, compressed air, electrical sockets and data and video links to the observation room.
Two rooms can supply chilled seawater (to 1oC) - e.g. to support cold-water coral research.
These rooms also benefit from an advanced computer-controlled lighting scheme that allows experimental photoperiod manipulations.

PHOTOPERIOD ROOMS (4)

The SAMS aquarium includes four dedicated photoperiod rooms that range from 10.5 m2 to 12.5m2 in size. Lighting options include a red light function or total light manipulation via a remotely sited computer-based system that allows user-defined light regimes. All rooms are serviced by valved seawater outlets and multiport controlled compressed air outlets.

MEZZANINE FLOOR

The mezzanine floor is conntected to the main aquarium and extends over approximately 23m2. This area is largely used as a dry experimental area but has the capability to support small self-contained wet experiments as compressed air and 230V AC are available.

THE ANNEX

The Annex contains 24 self-cleaning tanks with flow-through rates of 4.5 litres per minute per tank. The effluent from each tank is re-circulated through sedimentation and biological filters. These tanks can also be run with a continuous supply of fresh seawater and flow rates can be adjusted depending on experimental conditions.
This room has not been included in the recent renovations and is awaiting an upgrade.

OBSERVATION ROOM

A recently renovated, quiet and comfortable observation room with ample work top space allows experimenters to collect and analyse data remotely, and to observe behaviour without disturbing the animals. The room, located adjacent to the aquarium, has multiple 230V socket outlets and incoming video and data links from most areas in the aquarium.

AQUARIUM LABORATORIES

 The aquarium includes a number of small laboratory rooms used as specimen reception areas, for sample preparation and for basic analysis. For more complex analysis, we can access other laboratories at SAMS with advanced instrumentation.

OUTDOOR COMPOUND

SAMS has a number of aquarium tanks in an outdoor compound, serviced with natural seawater only, extending over approximately 30m2.