Shedd Aquairum

Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago that opened on May 30, 1930. The aquarium contains over 25,000 fish, and was for some time the largest indoor aquarium in the world with 5,000,000 US gallons of water. Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection.  It contains 1500 species including fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects.  The aquarium cost $3,000,000 to build, and initially included 132 exhibit tanks. Groundbreaking took place on November 2, 1927, and construction was completed on December 19, 1929; the first exhibits were opened on May 30, 1930. As one of the first inland aquariums in the world, the Shedd had to rely on a custom-made railroad car, the Nautilus, for the transport of fish and seawater.  There are several permanent exhibits at the Shedd: Waters of the World, Caribbean Reef, Amazon Rising, Wild Reef, Stingray Touch and the Abbott Oceanarium.