aquarium in munich | aquarium, zoo hellabrunn | aquarium in munich, germany

Hellabrunn’s amazing World of Fish continues below the Venomous Snake Hall, which is situated next to the Jungle Pavilion. The Aquarium and Reef Tank are home to about 8,700 individuals from 300 species. This makes the World of Fish the most species-rich exhibit at the zoo. The aquarium was designed in accordance with Hellabrunn’s geo-zoo concept: the 40 tanks are arranged so that species from the same geographical region live in the same tank and thrive in an underwater landscape inspired by their home range.

Newcomers include the weedy scorpionfish, which arrived at the Aquarium in late September. It is known as one the true masters of marine camouflage, a skill that proves quite handy when catching prey. In its natural habitat, it will lie completely still waiting for a school of the fish pass within range, then suck individual, small fish into its mouth at lightning speed – so fast that the rest of the school will not notice anything amiss at all.

Keeping so many different corals in a single tank is a particular challenge for the aquarist: To ensure that all the corals can live next to each other and not crowd each other out, a pump system was attached to the back wall, which constantly moves the water forward. This way, the moving stinging cells of the corals cannot come into contact with each other. The aquarists use a smartphone to monitor the smallest deviations in the water values ​​- such as a shift in the pH value. This allows you to intervene quickly if necessary. An app was specially developed for this unique technology.

“Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse and important ecosystems on earth. But global warming and pollution are threatening them. Half of the world's coral populations have already been lost. Unfortunately, if the CO2 emissions don't go down, we'll lose the rest as well," says Frank Müller, division manager and curator of the aquarium at Hellabrunn Zoo.

Below the poisonous snake hall, which borders on the jungle house, the Hellabrunn World of Fish continues. Together with the reef tank in the jungle house, the aquarium area is home to a total of around 8,700 individuals of 300 species. The world of fish thus includes the most numerous and species-rich animal population in the Munich zoo. The aquarium also follows the Hellabrunn Geozoo principle: in 40 different aquariums, water dwellers from their respective habitats are socialized with one another and are offered an underwater landscape that is based on their homeland.