There are so many creatures to witness at Austin Aquarium: sharks, several fishes, jellyfish,…read morestarfish, anemones, various stingrays, crustaceans, and even others like different species of lemurs, birds, and reptiles. There are small stations to purchase food or drinks, and a huge gift shop with so many cute items to choose from. Is it the grandest venue with state of the art attractions? No!! But it has character and charm, and their animals look taken care of, which is (to me) more important than it *looking* fancy or high tech. A cool thing about Austin Aquarium is that there is educational material everywhere you look, AND almost every animal has an extra add-on ($$) you can take advantage of if you have a favorite that you want to interact with. I've never see that as an option before! It's so important to preserve nature, educate fellow humans, and appreciate the other animals that we share the globe with. If you're looking for a fun activity to fill the day with, this wouldn't be a bad idea. The kids running around were all having a BLAST! I can't think of a single good reason (within reasonable expectation) to give them less than 5 stars. They're all doing their best, I got my moneys worth, and I had a great time!

This place is so disappointing! It's dark and so dirty. The place should be shut down. The cages…read moreare so small for the animals and they are filthy. Even the fish tanks are cloudy and nasty. Literally took 10 minutes to walk through for $60! Do not come here!

Friendly service , wealth of knowledge if you need any advice and so much inventory to choose from…read more Def my first choice

I have been coming to aquadome for almost 20 years and always really enjoyed it. Until today. I was…read morelooking forward to the visit and getting some new fish all day. But the person that "helped" me was so sour and judgmental that it ruined the whole experience for me. I probably won't come back but if I do I will make sure to avoid her. Lady that checked me out has been there as long as I can remember and was very nice but it was too late. No issues with the quality of the fish but otherwise very disappointing.

From Chicago, just moved to Austin. First time at the Meadows Center at Texas State. Here are some…read morethoughts: -Run entirely by students, done very well, very enjoyable. -We wanted to check out the glass bottom boats, and we were not disappointed! -We went on the 45-minute tour. Our guide was knowledgeable, funny, and passionate--great combo! Cost was about $15 a person. -Saw a lot of wildlife, including deer, many birds, including a hawk, turtles, and many fish. Don't forget to check out the aquarium! -About a dozen people on our tour boat, from toddlers to 60's. Everyone enjoyed the experience. -Boat was covered, so it felt cool enough on the water even on a warm spring day. Highly recommended!

A San Marcos landmark and a unique experience that everyone should visit…read more The tour can offer a nice respite on even the hottest Texas days, however, be prepared for the disappointment that you cannot partake in the cool and gorgeous springs. My only detractor for this facility is the glaring lack of history of the world famous Aquarena Springs. It is mentioned briefly in the tour, and there are of course remnants of the former attractions. However, in their "museum" there is only a small glass case with a plate smattering of memorabilia. This included some dry-rotted goggles, an old program, and poorly displayed photo slide you can squint at inside the glass box. I understand that the history of Aquarena is one of ecological exploitation. Perhaps they want to avoid celebrating this past. However, you can't deny the effect it had on the area and how it still resonates to this day through SM's mermaid culture, among other things. Maybe one day the roof top of the old hotel could house a better collection or display. Or maybe the old trails could be opened for exploration. Until then, I will ensure that every visitor that comes to see us is taken on the glass bottom boat tour and they get so see our San Marcos salamanders.

I will say this aquarium is an acquired taste but I will say there is so so much to see! I…read morepersonally really enjoyed it. There are so many animals and fish and what I loved the most is that they have an outdoor aviary area and get the chance to feed birds and even goats and llamas!

We visited the San Antonio Aquarium on a cold day when we were looking for an indoor activity…read moreduring the evening and this was all we could find. Overall it was a cute experience for the kids. They enjoyed it, especially seeing the stingrays and the small sharks up close. There was a nice variety of fish and sea life to look at, and enough unique exhibits to keep things interesting as you walk through. One thing to note is that it can get quite pricey once you start buying food for all the animal feeding stations, which are purchased in very small portions at each station using pre purchased tokens. That adds up quickly. They also have a small arcade area and spots where you can grab quick food and snacks, but nothing impressive. The aquarium itself is on the smaller side for the price you pay for the visit, and you get through the whole thing fairly quickly. I didn't find the aquarium really engaging and exciting and the value wasn't worth it. For that reason, it is probably not a place I would return to on my own, but I would go back if my kids asked to. For that reason, I would give this place 3 stars because it felt like we got through everything so quickly, and the price of the tickets didn't feel worth the value.

Being a newbie in aquaponics, I was talked into setting up my growbeds with a timer for the fill…read moreand drain cycles of my 7 beds with a "revolver" that would switch from one bed to the next. My advisor, who had never had an aquaponics system, but had lots of "book knowledge" told me it would be too hard to do the bell siphons. I decided that having beds with bell siphons would not only be less expensive, energy wise, but also less chance of a mechanical breakdown from the timer or "revolver". Then I met Mo, who actually has an aquaponics setup himself. Mo offered to help me set up the first bell siphon on one of my beds. Being a hands-on person, I thanked Mo, but decided I didn't need any help and set about installing it myself. After much frustration, I could not get my first bell siphon to work. I built it according to instructions I acquired online and In theory it should have worked. I called Mo at that point and within minutes after Mo & Cole came to look at my setup, they saw the problem and solved it quickly. Mo has checked in several times since then to make sure everything is functioning correctly and offer advice if needed. I would definitely recommend Pure Aquaponics to anyone - novice or veteran. They are a hands on company that knows their business. They turned what was a very frustrating problem into a breeze. Thank you, Mo!

From the owner: We specialize in helping set up and run aquaponic systems.read more

Need help with cleaning big tanks call this place it has helped me save time and energy when neededread more

Wes Was on time, helpful, knowledgeable and made me feel safe while he was in my home. He helped me…read morechange my substrate clean my tank and get me back to a good starting point for my small freshwater aquarium. I look forward to continuing doing business with him moving forward.

How much joy can a for-profit aquarium bring you? That's a question I was asking myself before and…read moreeven after I went to SEA LIFE off the San Antonio Riverwalk. When I was a kid, I was ecstatic when the Legoland Discovery Center and the SEA LIFE opened in Grapevine. My parents would take my brother and me on a day-trip to Grapevine to go play with Legos and tour an aquarium right after both opened in the Dallas area. Little Zach could stare at the fish for hours on end and ultimately beg his mother for another useless stuffed animal from the gift shop. Those were the days. Adult Zach is a lot more cynical. About $23.56 with fees was the price of admission for the more recently opened SEA LIFE in the Rivercenter Mall. It was the first weekend that SEA LIFE was Animal Crossing: New Horizons themed. It's the same aquarium, but with some inspired touches from Animal Crossing, including signage and info of the different critters pulled directly from Blathers, in-game. This was already successful at a few aquariums across the globe and was traveling to all the SEA LIFE locations in the US this year. I love Animal Crossing to death. It's my favorite video game franchise, point-blank period. Why couldn't Animal Crossing attempt to partner with the Dallas World Aquarium or the Texas State Aquarium? Who knows. SEA LIFE it is. SEA LIFE in all caps. SEA LIFE in all its profitable greed. SEA LIFE is housed in the worst mall in San Antonio, the Rivercenter. Home of the Texas Revolution tchotchke. A place only made to house tourists visiting the Riverwalk and the Alamo next to the Ripley's Believe It or Not, wax mannequins, and the Catholic church that wouldn't succumb to the greed that downtown had turned into. That greed hits you as you enter the Metropolis Parking Garage scanning your license plate and immediately putting a $10 hold on your card. $4 an hour here. SEA LIFE doesn't validate, just gives you a little discount. Greed. After getting my ticket scanned, I was escorted to an overflow line to meet Tom Nook. Here I waited for over 30 minutes for my little picture. I struck up a conversation with one of the ladies managing the line about the opening rush of this Animal Crossing exhibit. She was very friendly, telling me how she typically works on the aquarium floor, but was asked to help manage this line upstairs and wished she was back downstairs. As I waited in line with a family getting uncomfortably close to me in the back and two girls plotting how to get multiple pictures with Tom Nook in front of me, I eventually got my picture with the guy. I then took an elevator downstairs where I got to tour the exhibit. It's not a typical open-air aquarium where you pick where you want to go. This is one of the only aquariums where you feel pushed to keep moving through its narrow path to get the hell out of there. It was just a tier or two above just wandering a Petco. I mean, there were definitely high-dollar-value sea creatures, but that's how the vibes felt. The Animal Crossing decorations probably took them a few hours to set up. That includes six character cutouts, plenty of Animal Crossing informational plaques, and a Gully character hiding above one of the tanks. Walking through the exhibit, there were stingrays, a few sharks, jellyfish, eels, and turtles (maybe, they were not in their tank). They were fun little exhibits. There was a VR ride I didn't do because I wasn't five like everyone else sitting in those chairs. The employee managing the line from earlier was actively moving down to the aquarium floor while I was looking at the sharks. She explained the different creatures in the tank and was actually vital in helping me learn everything that was in the tank . Her expertise and knowledge were probably one of the only worthwhile and joyous things at SEA LIFE San Antonio. She deserves to work for a real aquarium. I was in the gift shop no less than 30 minutes later. That included me showing my girlfriend every sea urchin in two separate tanks over FaceTime, which probably took ten minutes in itself. The gift shop in terms of Animal Crossing merch was abysmal, as seemingly other patrons already cleared it out on day one. We were on day three here. I bought an Animal Crossing mug because why not. I love my favorite video game. When I asked for a bag while checking out, the lady at the checkout told me bluntly, "no," and offered to sell me a $5 tote bag. Mind you, multibillion-dollar attraction conglomerate Merlin Entertainments made about 2.5 billion dollars in FY25. Suddenly, SEA LIFE is the moral altruist and bastion towards sea creatures after enclosing them in a shopping mall and letting a third of their population die annually. Merlin owns the Legoland that shares the gift shop. They give Lego customers a bag. Kinda fishy.

SEA Life San Antonio is the perfect place to take your kiddos this summer!…read more If you've never been here before, they are located inside Rivercenter Mall at the street level next to Legoland discovery center. The aquarium has a wide variety sea animals such as sharks, sting rays, seahorses, jellyfish and many more! They have these pretty cool tunnels where you feel like you are walking under water. The place is very educational and there are multiple screens where you can interact and learn more about each species. They also have a section where you can touch a sea start and anemona. At the end of the visit they have an indoor playground where the kiddos can play and run off all that energy before heading to your next stop. If you are local and plan to come more than once throughout the year, I would recommend checking out their annual passes. The one-day tickets are kinda pricey, but they are targeted to tourists which makes sense. Overall, I think is an awesome place to take your kids and stay cool during our hot summer months.

I took my 13 month old in a stroller and she was in awe. It…read morewas hot inside but they had fans set up randomly so you can get a moment of cool. The attraction as a whole was great!

I was surprised to see an aquarium stuffed into a mall but here it is. With that said it's a bit…read morecramped but nice. It did get hot in there at one point with little ventilation. Definitely great for a date downtown or even to take your little ones.

A very nice clean layout of their aquariums, all of which contain healthy fish, and a great variety…read moreas well.

We stopped in to check out what they have. I was pleasantly surprised. The staff are very friendly…read moreand knowledgeable. They have lots of healthy fish, plants and live corals to choose from. They have bettas in actual tanks. The also had lots of aquarium supplies and they can test your water as well. The prices are definitely right in line with the big box stores. We will definitely be back