Reviews

I run a small (400sq ft) facility with a separate tiny satellite quarantine room (48 sq ft). As a single-PI facility it was of utmost importance to me to have a facility that would require minimum maintenance with maximal support. We considered all of the major vendors (I've had first-hand experience with all of them) and decided to go with Aquarius. First, their under-rack life support systems saved a significant amount of floor space relative to other vendors’ hardware. This let us set up a floor plan that allows up to 6 people to work comfortably. Second, the free-flowing water makes it easy to see at a glance that water is flowing to all tanks, and we don’t have problems with clogging. Finally, the competitive cost allowed us to build in complete redundancy: we have two independent systems capable of providing life support to all tanks.

Over the past two years it’s become clear that we couldn’t have made a better choice. The fish are healthy, the system really does run itself and the veterinary staff & institution seem happy during their regular inspections. Reconfiguration of racks has been easy thanks to standard parts, allowing us flexibility as we’ve grown. Of course, most of the things that could go wrong have gone wrong. Happily, when they do, Aquarius (particularly Eric Stone) is incredibly responsive. They have provided on-line/phone/text support within hours, shipped us replacement parts, and when necessary come down to do heavier duty replacements in person. I’ve spoken to a number of my other colleagues with Aquarius systems at different institutions and my experience seems to be general.

Finally, its worth nothing that Aquarius stands by the community. They continue to sponsor major and regional zebrafish conferences and, when there, are an excellent resource for current and prospective users. I can recommend them without hesitation.