The ‘coastal zone’ at the recently-launched VGP Marine Kingdom has a large tank showcasing hundreds of clownfish. Bright orange with white stripes, the baby ‘Nemo’ fish make for an adorable sight. Suddenly, a little human head pops up in the middle of the tank. It’s the grinning face of an 11-year-old. He carries on an imaginary conversation with the fish, between smiles and poses as his parents click photos from outside the aquarium. “We have pop-up spots in the middle of certain tanks so kids can put their heads in to get a 360-degree view, without getting wet,” explains VGPR Premdas, CEO of the property.

Spread over two levels, the 70,000 square feet air-conditioned space claims to be the country’s largest aquarium. It is divided into five zones — rainforest, gorge, mangrove, coastal and deep ocean. “In each zone, we have tried to replicate the ecosystem synonymous with that place,” says Premdas. “For example, look around the rainforest. The trees here have thick foliage above and buttress roots below. Most of the fish you see here are natives of water bodies there,” he adds. There are cichlids, neon tetra fish, discus fish, marble angelfish, black ghost knifefish, scat and razorfish among others.

Each zone has large acrylic cylindrical tanks (imported from Germany, with diameters between 1.6 metres and 3.4 metres, and thickness between 60 mm and 160 mm) that hold the different varieties of fish. As you move from one setting to another, the landscaping changes. There are mangroves and caves, a rocky beach, corals, slate... The colour of the light changes from one zone to another. “It starts off with 7,000 Kelvin in the rainforest, where the light has a tinge of yellow, and goes up to 22,000 Kelvin in the deep ocean where it is more blue. And during the course of the day, from day to night, the light changes as a whole: replicating sunrise and sunset. Everything is controlled by this app,” says Premdas, pointing to his phone. He adds, “The temperature of the water is maintained at 23 degrees Celsius.”

“There are nearly 80 species of fish right now and we are adding up to 160 more. The fish are from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia...” says VGP Ravidas, MD, VGP Group of Companies.

Arockia Chinnakan, curator, Marine World, says, “We are trying to get more native species. Some of the fish like magur and aierai meen that we saw as kids are not around any more. The idea is also to teach our children about the native varieties of fish and save them from becoming extinct.” Most of the species you see here are found in the Indian Ocean, adds Chinnakan, who had earlier worked with The Lost Chambers Aquarium at the Atlantis in Dubai and S.E.A. Aquarium, Singapore.

Groundwater untouched

The water for the facility is sea water, sourced from Kovalam. There is an elaborate set of filters that are at work 24 hours a day, says Chinnakan. The life support system or filtration unit has been designed by a company in Turkey that specialises in public aquarium systems. Protein skimmers, sand filters, ozone generators, UV filters are some of the different types of equipments that take care of the recycling process here. “It is a closed system, which means the water that was filled on day one is being recycled. We don’t drain it, as the water has nutrients,” adds Premdas.

The ₹115 crore project took two years to complete. “Premdas and I travelled to Japan, the US (Hawaii and California), Germany, Spain, and Singapore to study their aquariums. We picked up all the good points,” smiles Ravidas.

“This is where entertainment meets education, with visitors learning about new species, and we are starting a teaching lab which will provide children with hands-on information about marine life, watching them being fed,” he says.

Twice a day, a team of four divers feed the fish at 11 am and 4.30 pm. The diet differs with each family of fish. The stingray enclosure has a volunteer feeding the inmates fresh squid. There are four species here: spotted eagle ray, Bleeker’s whipray, cowtail stingray and cownose ray. With the elegant charm of royalty they glide about, feasting on their meal with excellent table manners. The lobsters, on the other hand, are messy eaters. Their lunch of fish lies scattered around their tank. They claw into them, and after a few bites start wandering around. Their enclosure has a climbing space because these crustaceans apparently enjoy rock climbing.

The finale is the deep ocean zone. Just like in the depths of the ocean, it is darker and quieter than the rest of the space. In the background, all you can hear is the strong, calming hum of the deep sea. A travelator takes you through the 70-metre tunnel set beneath 2.7 million gallons of water. A lemon shark whizzes past overhead. A couple of leather jumpsuit-clad cobia trail behind like retinue. There are orange-spotted and white-spotted groupers, snappers, snubnose pompano, black-spotted pompano, blacktip shark, batfish, golden trevally...

How to pop the big question

At the end of the tunnel tour is the panorama point: a room that lets you take in the view of the giant aquarium all around you. And here’s an idea: If you want to plan an underwater wedding proposal or carry a birthday message, here’s where you can do it. The scuba divers can go in and hold out a scroll while you pop the question. “In addition, we are also starting scuba diving classes here inside the big aquarium. So you can have a field day swimming with our ocean fish,” smiles Premdas.

(VGP Marine Kingdom is located at SH 49, Injambakkam and is open every day, between 9 am and 8 pm. Tickets are priced at ₹500 for adults and ₹400 for children.)