Freshwater Aquarium Park

As long as I remember, this was the second time I visited Jakarta Freshwater Aquarium [ Taman Akuarium Air Tawar ]. The first visit I think had been more than twenty years ago, since the memory of that visit had been buried very deep in the pile of memories. However, the good impression on that first visit remains.

It looked like the Jakarta Freshwater Aquarium Park was the largest and first of a kind in the country. Might be nothing else could ever match it, both in size and in variety. With so many islands, with lots of rivers and lakes, it's very worthy of having a museum of this size. On the glass door at the front of the building, there's an information on the opening hours, and the price of admission which includes a visit to the Insect Museum and Butterfly Garden.

The TMII Jakarta Freshwater Aquarium Park is located between the Asmat Museum and the Insect Museum, near the Imax Keong Emas Theater. The collection reached more than 126 species of fish, crustaceans and reptiles. There were many interesting collections in the educational and family tourism spot such as Chopsticks Fish, Ghost Fish that can move back and forth, Botia Fish, Blind Fish, Electric Eels, and many more.

To enter the Freshwater Aquarium Park building, we passed a rather long corridor like a pier above an artificial lake. The width of the corridor was divided into two, the entrance and the exit hallway. Separation of path is very helpful when visitors come in large numbers, during school holidays or weekends. If visiting with a toddler, it is recommended to bring a stroller, because the large area of the museum will make your little one very tired.

Red Lined Torpedo Barb

At the front of the building there's a landmark with Garuda symbol regarding the inauguration of the Freshwater Aquarium Park on April 20, 1994. Then there's an aquarium containing a Red Lined Torpedo Barb (Puntius denisonii), with a red and yellow black line in the middle of its body. Furthermore, there's the Elephant Fish from rivers in Africa.

The fish has a head with a long cylindrical tip with a body resembling a Hercules plane and a fin like a skirt near its tail. Then there's the red tailed catfish from South America which body does not look like the catfish we know, except for its antennae. There seems to be no day off for this museum. You can visit anytime to the TMII Freshwater Aquarium Park

Pirarucu

There were beautiful giant fish, that can reach 4.5 meters in length and are known as Pirarucu, Paiche, Arapaima, Bodeco, or Giant Arapaima (Arapaima gigas). This fish lives in the Amazon river basin, South America. It feeds on fish, crustaceans and frogs. Unlike other fish that were kept in an aquarium, this fish was placed in a pond.

Nearby, in a large aquarium, there were several large, beautiful fish called the Jambal Fish (Siamese shark, Pangasius sp) and the Tapah Fish (Wallago leeri). Tapah fish are predatory, which in nature can reach a length of 2 meters, spreading in rivers in Southeast Asia from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Koi fish

We arrived at a wide hall with high ceilings, and a stream of water resembling a river. There were waterfalls and artificial forests, wooden bridges across the artificial river, and ponds. After crossing the bridge, the path turns left and descends with a terraced pond filled with Koi Fish. At the end of the pond there's an interesting show when an officer feed the fish.

The fish swarmed the officer who threw the feed one by one, greeted by the waves of fish fighting over each other to get the food. After this interesting spectacle, the officer threw feed tied to a small, bright yellow ball. The fish also head up and bite the food, making the ball bounce around the pond. It was fun.

White Gurame

White Gurame (Osphronemus goramy) was another unique and beautiful fish in the Freshwater Aquarium Park, with a thick hump on its head. These fish, which feed on plants, fish, frogs and worms, live in rivers and swamps in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Indochina. Nearby there were Kumpay Gurame, Gray Gurame, and several other unique types of carp.

Passing through the forest and artificial river, we entered a long hallway with a row of aquariums filled with all kinds of beautiful fish, and on the right was a large, high-roofed room containing a unique collection. One of them was Crocodile Fish (Atractosteus spatulla), an ancient fish capable of breathing both in water and in the air, living in Central and North America.

While in Europe, Africa and India, only the fossils are left. This crocodile fish can reach up to 3 meters in length in its natural habitat, with a body shape resembling a shielded torpedo and sharp teeth in its mouth. Now Crocodile Fish can be bred in Indonesia by way of injection mating.

Labi-labi Albino

In a fairly large room with high ceilings at Freshwater Aquarium Park, there's a beautiful, tame-looking white tortoise called the Labi-labi Albino (Albino soft-shelled turtles, Amyda cartilaginea). These turtles live in southern Papua New Guinea, as well as in Northern Australia. Its diet is fish, crustaceans, insects and plants.

In the same room is another reptile called the Crocodile Tortoise (Alligator snapping turtle, Macrochelys temminckii). These Turtles with backs resembling durian skins live in rivers in North America. In the special room of the Nusantara Aquarium, there's a row of aquaria containing a collection of freshwater fish from all provinces in Indonesia.

Another fierce-faced wild fish, Piranha, could also be found at the Jakarta Freshwater Aquarium Park. The fish lives in rivers from San Francisco to Brazil. There's also a beautiful fish named ABA (Gymnarchus niloticus) that lives in the Nile River in Africa. Then the antique fish named The Black (Black Doradid, Pseudodoras niger) that lives in the Amazon River.

The address of the Freshwater Aquarium Park is inside the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah complex, Jl Taman Mini, East Jakarta. Phone 021-87795616. GPS Location : -6.305461, 106.89473, Waze. Open : 09.00 – 17.00, TMII gates open 07.00 – 21.00. Ticket : Rp15,000; front gate Rp10,000 ( 3 years+), car Rp10,000, Bus/Truck Rp15,000. motorcycle Rp6,000.

Leave comments

Type it first, then click "Login ..." or "Posting".

aroengbinang.org