Aquarium

Our work on the health of our seas and the animals which live within them require our experts to keep small numbers of fish in our aquarium to assess observe their behavior and better understand the stresses caused to them by changes to their environment. 

Cefas’ state-of-the-art aquarium facilities are authorised to operate as an Aquaculture Production Business by the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) and comply with rigorous Home Office (HO) standards. In addition to frequent internal inspections by Cefas, the aquarium is regularly audited and inspected by FHI and HO to ensure compliance with the stipulated licence requirements. 

Our Weymouth aquarium facility offers a world class biosecure tank and aquarium facilities and is run by a dedicated team of aquarists.

All of the waste from the Weymouth laboratory is ozone treated. This facility consists of over 200 tanks of 1000, 300, 50 and 30 litres and bespoke combinations/arrangements of tanks are available as needed.

All tanks can be supplied with either flow-through freshwater or seawater (35ppt) or any intermediate salinities, with partial or full recirculation systems if required. Both the temperature and light settings are computer controlled: temperature 5 – 35°C (± 0.1°C) and flexible, dimmable lighting to replicate any location in the world (with dawn/dusk effects). In-tank cameras as needed.

All our tanks and plants are automatically alarmed and our service includes a 24-hour 7-day, 365 days callout.

In addition to the aquarium facility, the Weymouth laboratory also rears its own stocks of rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon from eggs in the Aquatic Production Unit (APU), this ensures that high quality, disease free fish are available throughout the year. 

Fish in a tank