Share thisAquatic animal life support systems are complex and require increasing levels of skill, care, and coordination to provide and maintain, as the size and holding capacity of these systems increase.
The implementation of a large-scale aquatics program requires a partnership between the buyer and internal and outsource providers to generate a successful outcome in the face of this complexity. This article describes some of the more important criteria that buyers should use in preparing requests and evaluating proposals for large, laboratory aquatics projects.
It should be noted that this article seeks more to identify and clarify the requirements of large-scale, integrated aquatics laboratories relative to the water treatment aspects of the systems than to the features, functions, and benefits of the racks and vessels themselves. It is in the area of larger, integrated systems where the level of customization, engineering, and project management become more important.
The variety of standardized, independent rack systems has expanded appreciably over the past few years. It is expected that over the coming years, there will be a convergence of basic feature sets among and between the various vendor offerings, as has happened in the mammalian IVC marketplace. This convergence will come as a response to regulations for laboratory aquatics programs not yet in existence, as well as a growing consensus among practitioners as to system requirements.
As feature sets become increasingly similar, vendors will inevitably choose a market position somewhere along the continuum between lower cost and lower quality to higher cost and higher quality. Buyers will continue to have choices between vendors who supply equipment that is acceptable in lieu of regulations, has fewer features and/or results from lesser quality materials and methods, and equipment that reflects the opposite. The opportunities to construct a system under a do-it-yourself approach outside the purview and physical confines of a managed animal care facility will dwindle accordingly. Those parties interested in well-designed, well-documented, and professionally supported systems that meet defined criteria and regulations will ultimately engage a specialized vendor to provide systems.
As the market for pre-designed, ‘packaged’ systems levels out, it will be in the area where larger, more integrated, complex systems are required that differentiation among providers will occur. This follows from the generally accepted idea that the application of aquatic animal models in the laboratory setting will continue to expand. The average aquatics laboratory will no longer consist of a single, packaged, or independent aquaria rack system, but be an engineered and highly integrated system of multiple rack elements on a consolidated, purpose-designed life support system. Systems of this nature require careful planning and consideration to provide the most robust, easily maintained, and cost-effective life support. Buyers should consider much more than the specifications of the aquaria rack systems themselves when selecting a partner for projects of this scope. An understanding of certain system fundamentals, as well as a true project management approach, is required to ensure a good initial design as well as a successful lab in the future.
Defining Terminology/Understanding System Fundamentals
As of this article, a unified terminology to describe systems that are designed to house aquatic animals in the laboratory setting, and certain of their key features, does not exist. Generically, these systems are referred to as aquaria rack systems (ARS) where, as with IVCs, a large number of small vessels (in this case, holding treated water) are mounted in a specialized rack in a high-density arrangement. ARS, as compared to IVCs, require a more extensive amount of interconnection to facility infrastructure that generally fixes them in place, as opposed to allowing them to be readily relocated.