Nearly all 200 fish rescued from hotel’s burst aquarium are now thriving
The hundreds of fish saved after an 82-foot aquarium in Berlin, Germany, burst are doing just fine now, zoo officials say.
Last month, the entrance of the five-star Radisson Hotel was left looking like a bomb site when a one-million-litre cylindrical tank exploded.
Gallons of saltwater tore through the lobby in the early hours of December 16, with two guests injured by the shattered glass.
Animal welfare officials branded the incident a ‘tragedy’ as countless fish died.
More than 1,500 tropical fish were spewn out in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz square when temperatures were just -7°C – a big drop from the 26°C inside the tank.
Around 200 surviving coral reef fish were rushed to Berlin Zoo.
Zoo officials have revealed that just nine of the saved fish later died.
A Berlin Zoo spokeswoman said yesterday: ‘Everyone else has recovered well.’
The rescued fish include cichlids, colourful fish which swim in Africa’s Great Lakes that have for decades faced extinction due to pollution.
Acanthuridae, the vibrant fish are known for their distinct disc shapes, now also call the zoo home. As do the slow-moving, flat-sided platax.
But the zoo spokesperson added: ‘It’s not certain how long they’ll stay with us.’
The tank, called the AquaDom, had a diameter of 38 feet and wrapped around a glass lift, letting visitors see the sealife inside the free-standing aquarium.
Built in 2003, it promised visitors they could ‘discover Nemo, Dory and many other colourful fish up close’ and housed clown fish, angel fish, snails and more.
The authorities still aren’t sure why the tank erupted, though government officials suggest the difference in temperature may be to blame.
Had the tank shattered only hours before or later, police officers feared the death toll would have included people, too.
The water, which German media estimated would have weighed about 100 tons, ripped through the DomAquarée complex, which includes the hotel, a museum, shops and restaurants.
Among them was a nearby Lindt shop, leaving hundreds of chocolate balls scattered along the street.
Local seismographs designed to monitor earthquakes even picked up on the water crashing out onto the street.
Officials initially believed that all the fish had died in the blast, but around 630 were safely tucked away in the basement, living in the remaining water.
Alongside the zoo, some fish were given to Sea Life aquariums while local vets prepared aquariums in case any fish needed a home.
Around 350 hotel guests were asked to pack their belongings and evacuate the Radisson.
One expert described the towering tank as a ‘ticking time bomb’ and that the tank should have been inspected more frequently.
A hotel guest told Metro.co.uk he thought a plane had crashed into the building when he heard the blast.
‘I didn’t see any fish, all I could see looking down was a lobby full of smashed glass,’ he said, ‘people looking on in shock and emergency vehicles outside.
‘It was a total disaster.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.