The video and photos show the gharial habitat at the Fort Worth Zoo.
The habitat is part of their reptile and amphibian building, or as how they call it:
MOLA - Museum of Living Art: Reptiles, Amphibians and More.
The photos and video clips were taken in 2010.
https://www.wild-design.com/
(Gavialis gangeticus)
Cylinder tanks can distort the fish and make viewing strenuous. However, here are two concave tanks of very different size where the concave shape of the window enhanced the viewing.
At the Long Island Aquarium, the main shark tank is a large fiberglass tank with about 30 feet (ca. 9 meters) diameter. The windows are curved out, bringing the animals closer to the viewer. The windows are only 8' wide, that creates an intimated viewing, excellent for a family to observe and share their experience in a more private atmosphere. Compared to larger viewing windows, it made a nice contrast. Because the curve was so slight, the distortion was less than that of your average cylinder tank.
Also, noteworthy: The Long Island Aquarium doesn't have an acrylic tunnel — I didn't miss it. The second tank (at the 1min4second) shows a hemisphere acrylic window of about 3 feet (ca. 91 cm) that leads to a very strong magnification. It made the tiny animals pop out and also made an interesting viewing. The distortion was not hindering the view but making it great.
The flounder at the 1-minute point has been doing laps. I saw the flounder going around at least three times. These animals are rarely so active in smaller tanks. The touch tank was heavily stocked. Maybe overstocked due to the fact that the outdoor ray tank was closed. It was interesting to view and compare that many and beautiful animals.
A long winding ramp from the upstairs penguin viewing area to the underwater viewing area gets enhanced with projections along the walls. The shows the HMS Beagle breaking through rough seas. A bit of mist is sprayed on the guests. Then the sea calms, there's a night sky projection and a tiny amount of snowflakes (or ice flakes) falls from the ceiling.
I'm not a fan of technology in zoos, generally. Technology is outdated within a decade or two while animals are always fascinating. However, I liked what they did here to anotherwise boring ramp.
