Administered by the Coastlines and Oceans Division, our facilities, labs and vessels for marine research bring together researchers and students from the Medina Aquarius Program, Global FinPrint, the Tropical Conservation Institute, the International Center for Tropical Botany at The Kampong, and the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program.
Biscayne Bay Facilities
Aquarium Room
The "Aquarium Room" is our indoor wet lab facility, located on the ground floor of the Marine Science building. Seawater is supplied via a redundant well and filtration system and piped into the lab with multiple taps available to supply water at the turn of a valve. There is a 200-gallon reservoir of seawater that is filtered with a protein skimmer and ozonizer to supply high-quality seawater (suitable for coral and larval fish) for closed system work. The aquarium room consists of open floor space that allows flexible set up to meet individual needs, as well as some existing setups available for use. Existing setups are a tank rack system that can accommodate up to 20-gallon long sized fish tanks and a "coral rack".
The "coral rack" is a system of 24 individual 10-gallon size insulated tanks with the ability for individual temperature control. A chilled water loop provides chilled water to individually controlled heat exchangers to allow for precise chilling. If heating is needed, researcher-supplied heaters can readily be plugged into the available outlets on the back of the rack. Lighting is supplied by 4 bulb T-5 fluorescent fixtures, with each fixture covering a set of 3 tanks and on individual timers.
Mesocosms
In addition to the marine science building's seawater capabilities, we also have an outdoor fish tank area called the "Mesocosms." The Mesocosms, located next to our boat ramp and dock, are part of the Coastal Conservation and Restoration Laboratory.
Additional Facilities and Labs
Vehicles & Vessels
A fleet of small boats ranging from Airboats to a 26' Twin Vee are available from the Institute of Environment's Field Operations Center, which also provides a variety of vehicles suitable for transporting people, equipment and towing boats. In addition, the Aquarius Reef Base research vessels are used throughout the Upper Florida Keys.