Tenji Aquarium Design + Build

Did you know that Tenji is also on Instagram & LinkedIn? Be sure to check out our other channels for additional behind the scenes content (have you met our canine Branch Managers?) and networking opportunities. We look forward to connecting with you there! You can find us on Instagram @tenjiinc here: https://www.instagram.com/tenjiinc/ and follow us on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenji/

behind the scenes at the Tenji Showroom!

We're following this river otter down to New Jersey to visit his friends at the Turtle Back Zoo. The Tenji team is working on a new North American river otter exhibit there this winter. We are excited to be partnering with the Zoo again. You can learn more about our previously installed exhibits, such as the Tickled Pink Flamingos and the African Penguins, here: https://www.tenji.com/turtle-back-zoo-flamingo-exhibit/

Getting prepped at Alaska SeaLife Center to roll in a new series of exhibits we have been working on. First the carpeting has to get in place before everything else rolls in. Check out the view of the mountains out those windows!

Hello 2021! After a restful break, the Tenji team is back and gearing up for a big year. We have high hopes for many safe and exciting projects to come, and can't wait to share them all with you. Our shop is just as busy as ever with all of our projects coming up. An old habit of ours is to preassemble our equipment so we minimize our time onsite. This has especially served us well during the pandemic.... Here's a sneak peek of some filtration equipment getting all set up for an upcoming commercial install at a new science center.

One of our clients recently got a big opportunity to be a part of the aquarium design process. See below!

Although Tenji is known for its big installations, we sometimes take on smaller, interesting residential projects. This one in Massachusetts features aquascaping chosen by the client, and the robust filter sump from MRC. As you can see in the video, the home is still under construction, but we know this aquarium will be a beautiful focal point once complete. Follow along as Austin walks us through what makes this aquarium setup unique.

We recently caught up with the former Executive Director of The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum, Dorrie Hipschman, to get some feedback now that the project is complete and the Museum is open to the public. "In the original design, Tenji laid out items that we could value engineer. Out of everything I was juggling in our production budget, Tenji was the only budget number that I never worried about. Strategically, I knew going into it that I didn’t know anything about b...uilding aquariums, and so I was not as concerned with costs as much as making sure that I had a partner that I really could trust to know exactly what choices needed to be made. Tenji created a vision for eliminating our front steps, having a ground floor entrance, adding a two-story glass atrium, and modernizing the whole building to make it more friendly, more appealing, and much more accessible. The original design from Bob is exactly what is standing there today. I don’t think we made any changes to Bob’s vision for the exterior of the building, or for the aquarium. It was that good right from the start."

Congratulations to The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum for winning another Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Award. We've been working with the museum over the last three years, alongside our partners at MRC, ThemeWorks, Inc., Aqua Logic Inc, Abyzz, DHE Plumbing and Mechanical, RocknReefs.com, Word Craft, and Andrea McCann of Emu Peacock Owl & Crow Creative. Tenji's work on this design/build project was extensive, including digital and static graphics, microscopy display, and bas-relief friezes, as well as a complete redesign of the Museum's entrance. We are thrilled to see that the new living mollusk exhibition, featuring the 11 aquariums and two touch tanks that we installed earlier this year, has contributed to their success as an educational institution.

We just wanted to show off how good our showroom is looking today Did you know that we have a separate Facebook page dedicated to our Aquarium Showroom and Maintenance service? Give us a like to learn more about the live animal care and maintenance Tenji provides to the Central Coast and beyond.

Our in-house LSS Technicians are also amazingly talented fabricators. Take a look at their process for creating an authentic looking rock out of fiberglass for an upcoming exhibit. The first step is to create the basic rock size out of insulating foam, carving it down to get the right shape. Fiberglass is then layered on top, filling in all of the nooks and crannies. After creating a latex stamp from a real rock, the texture is applied to an epoxy on top of the fiberglass. With a coat of paint to get the desired color, the rock gets a final clear coat that can withstand any cleaning and scrubbing once it’s placed inside the tank. And there you have it! A lightweight feature with realistic details that is built to last.

We have been working with our client in Palo Alto for a couple of years now, and we are excited to share that they are nearing completion of this project. Tenji designed and installed the life support systems for two outdoor aquatic exhibits. One will be used to house flamingos and shubunkin, and the other to house ducks, turtles, and African cichlids. Some final construction is still in the works before the animals can move in. We look forward to being able to give you another update once the exhibit is open to the public!

As wildfires continue to spread over much of the West Coast, we at Tenji would like to express our gratitude to all of the firefighters and emergency personnel who are on the ground working to manage the flames. We appreciate the work you are doing to mitigate the damage in our home state of California and everywhere currently being affected by the wildfires.

We have been working with The Aquarium of Niagara for the last two years, and we are very excited to see some animals make their way into the Shark and Ray touch tank and LSS that we built. Although our time onsite in Niagara has come to an end, the project is never complete until all of the animals have moved in. Currently home to some French Grunts, Dusky Squirrelfish, and Doctorfish, we can't wait for the rest of the sharks and rays to join them soon.

Next up on "Meet our Team" is our East Coast Branch Manager, Ivy! Ivy's favorite place to be is in the water, whether it's the ocean, a pond, or just a puddle - she works for the right company! She loves diving to pick up freshwater mussels, rocks, and sunken sticks, and currently holds the office's record for holding her breath the longest underwater. In her free time, Ivy loves to travel and recreate famous pieces of art (see her example of "Christina's World").

You've heard us talk about the recent work Tenji has done at the Mystic Aquarium. In 2020, the Aquarium further strengthened its commitment to educating the next generation of marine biologists and environmental scientists by constructing the Milne Center for Ocean Science and Conservation. Read the full case study on our website: https://www.tenji.com/mystic-aquarium-milne-center-for-oce/

We've shared a lot of the work Tenji has completed recently, but we feel it's important that you also meet the team behind the scenes. And who better to start off with than our new West Coast Branch Manager, Ozzie! Recently taking over the reins from the retired Wilson, Ozzie has big shoes to fill. We're pretty confident in his ability to climb the corporate ladder. Ozzie enjoys long walks on the beach, when he's not hard at work (searching for toys under the couch). He got some R&R on a recent trip to Lake Tahoe, after putting in some hard hours at the office. A sure asset to any project, Ozzie keeps us on time and on track (as long as there's a pocketful of treats nearby to keep him going).

We checked in with the team at the Nicandri Nature Center to see how their tanks and animals were doing now, three years after we installed them. Besides being a little lonely while the Center is closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, everyone is in great shape, and we received the following feedback from Executive Director Tracy Thomas. "The system is rock solid for us, and the animals are doing great. Once we got the system established, it’s so solid at filtering that we are ...able to keep a high bioload. The waste loads from just our turtles is ridiculous, and we have no trouble at all. The water is crystal clear. Everyone asks how often we have to scrub it, which we really don’t. We absolutely love the tanks. They are such a focal point, and they have really influenced the minds of our visitors. People want to stand around the tanks and talk to us about what they are seeing. As an educational tool, they are working phenomenally well. We wanted stuff like the pond, that people didn’t just walk by and glance at. We wanted them to stay and look for stuff in it and really focus, and we definitely got that from Tenji." Thanks to Michael Green for the photo. You can read more about the project on our website: https://www.tenji.com/tenji-project/nicandri-nature-center/

Curious about what the #design process at Tenji looks like? This #tbt video shows the process from conceptualization to reality for the dump tank we built at The Toledo Zoo. Our team's ability to provide engaging, impeccable designs means that you can make decisions quickly and with confidence. We created a similar dump tank at Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, and can't wait to see where we get a chance to build one next!