Date of visit: December 28 2019 Reiman Aquarium is inside Discovery World, an interactive science museum located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Discovery World opened in 1981, originally in the basement of a Boy's and Girl's Club. It moved to the Milwaukee Public Library, and eventually today's site, next to the Milwaukee Art Museum and overlooking Lake Michigan. Reiman Aquarium takes up a large portion of the museum, a floor and a half (the museum only has 4 floors). The aquarium, I am sure, is one of the most popular parts of the facility. The main entrance to Discovery World is a beautiful hallway with large windows overlooking Lake Michigan. At the end of the hallway, a food court and the entrance to the aquarium are clearly visible. The view of the lake is wonderful, you can see a lighthouse in the distance and the water was covered in birds. I identified three species of ducks (Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, and Common Goldeneye), and am sure there were many more. At the end of the hallway, you come to the aquarium. The aquarium's opening exhibit is a complex called Great Lakes Future, however one may take to the stairs to the floor below (another part of the aquarium) and bypass Great Lakes Future if they wish. Also here, you can see the large Lake Michigan Tank from above (more on that later). Great Lakes Future The Great Lakes Future complex is a large model of the Great Lakes with small fish tanks (and other interesting things) surrounding it. The large Great Lakes model actually has weather, thunderstorms (actual water falling from the sprinklers, as well as obnoxious flashing lights) and windstorms (I'm honestly not sure where those are coming from) raging over various parts of the map. Small terrariums and tanks surround the map, including: Alligator Snapping Turtle, Painted Turtle/Pumpkinseed, Spiny Softshell Turtle/Rock Bass/Bluegill, Eastern Tiger Salamander, Corn Snake, Three-toed Box Turtle, Wood Turtle, and Bullsnake. The tanks all seem a bit too small, except for the AST one, which seems a bit too large. The terrariums are all super short with no height (except for the Bullsnake one). These terrariums are super small AND ON THE GROUND!!! I had to kneel to see any of these animals! This section, like the rest of the aquarium, suffers from a lack of reliable signage. There are other things here, too. There is a small collection of fossils (including a Mosasaur skull), a collection of birds eggs, and a collections of bird skulls. The birds skulls, weirdly, had very bright flashing colored lights on them, like they were having a party. Last time I checked bird skulls didn't have parties. After Great Lakes Future, there is a stairwell down to the lower level of the aquarium Lake Michigan Tank The centerpiece of this aquarium is the 75,000 gallon Lake Michigan tank. It is certainly a beautiful tank, and can viewed from 4 different angles, the main large window view (in the main aquarium room), the smaller entrance window (at the end of Great Lakes Future), from above (at the entrance to Great Lakes Future) and again through the elevator if it goes past the aquarium's floor. I didn't keep a full list, but I remember seeing Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Longnose and Shortnose Gars, Lake Sturgeon, Freshwater Drum, Common Carp, and both Bigmouth and Smallmouth Buffalo. Great Lakes Tank, North Atlantic Tank, Electric Eel, and Turtles The Great Lakes Tank and the North Atlantic Tank are both very uniquely shaped. They are shaped like two squares that connect on the top right corner of the bottom square (you might need to draw it out to see what I mean). The first time you pass these tanks, you walk on top of the bottom square. This means the tank is on your right as well as below you. Later you get a better view at the bottom tank. The Great Lakes Tank contains Bluegill, Smallmouth Bass, Black Crappie, and Yellow Perch. The North Atlantic tank contains Striped Sea Bass, Summer Flounder, and one other species I can't remember. In between these two tanks is a too-small tank for a single Electric Eel and a shipwrek-themed tank for three turtle species: Painted, Northern Map, and Red-eared Slider. Caribbean, Indo-Pacific, and Amazon After the North Atlantic Tank, you come to a small area with 4 tanks, as well as the entrance to the Caribbean Tunnel Tank. The first of these tanks is a tank for Moon Jellies that is the same as every other Moon Jelly tank you've seen: circular with a blue background and around 10 jellies. The second tank is a cylindrical tank Indo-Pacific reef tank featuring species like Moorish Idol, Maroon Clownfish, and Blue-Green Chromis. Then there is another oddly-shaped tank. This tank is built around the roots of a (fake) mangrove. The trunk is at eye-level and the roots are below you. A cool mangrove forest-themed tank? Wrong! This tank, called The Amazon, does a poor job of portraying even that. It features some unidentified freshwater stingrays, a Black Ghost Knifefish, a Freshwater Angelfish (one of the captive color morphs), and around 5 Blood Parrot Cichlids. (I visited this museum in the past, and I know it used to be a mangrove forest tank featuring actual mangrove species, so I was really mad when I saw it filled with Blood Parrot Cichlids). Before the entrance to the Caribbean Tunnel Tank, the last tank is a small reef tank with three Yellow-headed Jawfish. Potbelly Seahorse was also signed here but unseen, I assume they don't have any anymore. The tunnel tank is just like other tunnel tanks but much shorter. I luckily keeps the Caribbean theme well. A unique thing about is that after you come out you can view the tunnel tank from another window outside the tunnel, and see the other visitors walking through the tunnel. Touch Tanks After the tunnel are three average touch tanks: one for Horseshoe Crabs and Slipper Lobsters, one for stingrays (they weren't Cownose but I don't remember the species) and one for Lake Sturgeon. Reiman Adventure Submarine The Reiman Adventure Submarine is a replica submarine with a few small tanks in it. As this area is geared toward kids, all of these tanks are really low, which means they require more knelling. There is: a barren tank for a single clownfish, a coral-filled tank for a single Pajama Cardinalfish (aren't they a schooling fish? ), a freshwater tank I'm pretty sure was empty, a live-rock filled tank with some marine snails, and an algae-infested aquatic-plant filled tank for some Cherry Shrimp and about 50 snails that probably hitchhiked with the plants. At the end of the submarine there is a terrarium for a Ball Python. Weird and Wild: Colorful Freshwater Species from Around the World The final complex of this aquarium looks like you accidentally stumbled apon a behind-the-scenes hallway, and any minute you may encounter a staff member that will escort you out. Sure, there are well-kept tanks and colorful signage, but clearly no work was put into the walls. If the tanks and signage weren't there you would have never guessed this was a public aquarium. The tanks are all really low, so keep knelling! In fact, just forget about the lower half of your legs and walk on your knees (you would look stupid but your the view of the tanks would be a lot better). The tanks are (in order): a small Amazon tank with Black Ghost Knifefish and several tetra species, a terrarium for Blue Poison Dart Frogs, a tank of Pea Puffers, an Axolotl (the white pet store kind), a West African Lungfish, a Lake Malawi Tank, and a large Asian river tank (various loaches and barbs, Pearl Gourami, Rope Eel, and a Featherfin Squaker ). Overall it's not a bad aquarium. The signage is bad at time (but excellent at others), it's pretty small, and there's lots of knelling. It's not great, but it's not bad and is by far the best aquarium in the state of Wisconsin. As you have to pay full admission for the museum to get in, it's only worth visitng if you want to see the rest of Discovery World. Awards Most Knelling at a Zoo or Aquarium Most Inconsistent Signage Coolest Map Exhibit in a Zoo
You are gradually providing us all with information about a multitude of small zoos and aquaria I would have never known about. One of the key purposes of a site like this is dissemination of information, and you are really contributing a lot to our resources.
