Welcome to the Battelle Darby Creek Living Stream Exhibit Prototype

emilystrohm — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:31:50 +0000

When completed in the fall of 2012, the Battelle Darby Creek Nature Center for Franklin County Metro Parks will feature an innovative indoor living stream exhibit. This 53 ft. long freshwater aquarium will feature a naturally- sourced fully functioning aquatic ecosystem. The performance prototype that you are viewing through cameras one and two incorporates the main features of the exhibit’s stream bed. It allows us to test different design details and is an important tool in developing this new style of aquarium.

Numerous riffles, shallow pools, planted gravel bars, and a large deep pool will be streamscaped with local rock land gravel, plants, fish and mussels, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates showcasing the rich geo- and bio-diversity of the Darby watershed. The prototype waters will be flowing through May of 2012 as we fine tune the design, so please visit often and leave your own ideas on our blog.

As I continue the process of creative prototyping, every so often I discover something really special that I look forward to sharing with everyone. The winter weather has limited time for water testing and it has been 4 weeks since I checked everything. In addition, there has been no water change for about the same length of time. I was expecting to find elevated nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels but was amazed to observe zero levels on all three from the cold water increase in algal biomass. This is important to note in developing future exhibits with an outdoor stream component. Our winter phase prototype continues to yield useful information.

Click HERE to view camera #1 (Downstream underwater view)

Click HERE to view camera #2 (Upstream underwater view)

Click HERE to see a Microscopic View

Click HERE to see our construction updates.

Click HERE to comment on our blog and read what others have said about the project!