how does the rain forest cafe do it ?

Sea monkey · 11-20-2005, 07:49 PM

so i was at the mall today and we stopped in there to look at the tanks. i couldn't help but wonder how they are able to keep all these tangs together. Do they end up killing each other all the time or do they know some secret ?

tanks sure are cool .

otolith · 11-20-2005, 07:59 PM

Quite excellent husbandry.

I remember when it first opened, and the fish didn't look that great at all. Hadn't really gone there very much, and then ended up eating there a few months ago, and boy was I impressed with the health and the quality of the fish.

I'll let Jeffie answer the rest, since he's the man behind the tanks. I was there about a week ago and he gave me a behind the scenes tour of the place. It's very nicely put together, and Jeff knows what he's doing.

smeese · 11-20-2005, 08:03 PM

Yeah it is awesome I also got the tour~

Irenicus · 11-20-2005, 08:16 PM

Yeah Jeff does a great job there and really knows his stuff. I have to get over there and see what's 'behind the curtain'

. Paul (Superman) works there too, I'm sure he brings a lot of value to the team as well.

jeffie · 11-20-2005, 08:17 PM

Sea Monkey- It's hard to answer that question but I'll try.

The tanks probably look smaller then what they actually are. We have 3- 450 gallon tanks. A 3500 gallon and a 1500 gallon all tied back to a 1000 gallon sump which is run by high rate sand filters, ozone and 5 ft. skimmers.

We depend mostly on large weekly or bi- weekly water changes. Somewhere around a 1000 gallon a week. Depending on how much water we backwash out of the sandfilters. Large water changes are the staple of my animal keeping(fish and corals).

Generally most fish will live 10-30 yrs depending on the species. We strive to keep animals to there full life span. We achieve this by a good quarantine regiment(at least 30 days), large water changes and a good diet.

Tangs in general are very social, active animals. They are highly territorial so we defuse the aggression generally by doing numerous animals of the same species so that they form a pecking order as they would more so in the wild.

I do not recommend this for the most part for home aquariums because most of the fish that people want to keep generally get to big for the average home aquarium and end up getting cramped for space and fighting because there is a limited amount of food or space.

If you ever want to come out I will give you a behind the scenes tour and show you how everything works there.

Glad you stopped by and checked it out. Wish I would have been there to show ya around and answer some of your questions.

otolith- Thanks again- always willing to throw out a compliment.

Sea monkey · 11-20-2005, 08:28 PM

cool

ya i was really impressed with how healthy everything looked, nice work : )

jeffie · 11-20-2005, 08:44 PM

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

I truely love my job and the animals that I get to care for on a daily basis. They are truely like a whole other family to me and I feel very lucky to get to do the work that I love so much.

Superman needs to take a bow also. He is an awesome guy with a big heart for all living creatures like myself. He is a great asset to the rainforest family. He and I constantly ponder and talk about what we can do to improve the health of our aquariums and the animals that we are fortunate enough to take care of daily. My hat is off to him for his strong beliefs in the proper care of the animals and for thinking outside of the box and the norm, instead of what we "think would be cool to do". He is a very stand up guy that will continue to progress and work himself to where he wants to be. If your looking for the future of conscientious husbandry, he is it. Kudos to you Superman.

the_colonel · 11-21-2005, 12:00 AM

I'll be taking you up on the behind the scenes tour one of these days!

jknut · 11-21-2005, 01:16 AM

Next time I'm up in the cities I may have to take you up on that offer as well... I work at the LFS down in Rochester and I've had a customer that donated a red soldierfish I believe, or a snapper...I don't remember exactly, but he told me he got the behind the scenes and it was amazing. I hear you have a 500 gallon in the office that it was quarantined in! That even dwarves my display.

Hats off to you two for such an amazing display of salt.

Jason

Skipponator · 11-21-2005, 08:36 AM

Is this in the MOA? If so, how lkong have you had these tanks? I don't remember seeing tanks in there when I was in there like 4 years ago, if it's the same place. But I'll have to come by.

Irenicus · 11-21-2005, 08:48 AM

Yep, in the Mall of America.

I believe they were there 4 years ago.

jeffie · 11-21-2005, 09:08 AM

Rainforest has been at the MOA for about 11 yrs. I've been taking care of the tanks for the last 5 yrs. We just had a $40,000 upgrade on our LSS system about 1 1/2 years ago. Come by and check it out. We are on the first floor next to Bloomingdales.

thegrimreefer · 11-21-2005, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffie

Rainforest has been at the MOA for about 11 yrs. I've been taking care of the tanks for the last 5 yrs. We just had a $40,000 upgrade on our LSS system about 1 1/2 years ago. Come by and check it out. We are on the first floor next to Bloomingdales.

Ask for "jeffie and superman"?

Ron

Superman · 11-21-2005, 01:02 PM

Thank you Jeff for such kind words, you are a huge reason why my knowledge base is where it is.
Ron, you can come in and ask for Jeff, you may end up with the wrong Paul if you ask for Paul.

Clownnut · 11-21-2005, 01:08 PM

got to stop by and check those tanks out sometime.