Jellyfish require very clean water to survive because they have no scales or protective skin. For the new jellyfish gallery aquarists designed a complex life support system to provide clean seawater to the exhibits. Seawater flows from each kreisel to a large tank where it is pumped through a series of filters. The first stage of filtration consists of canisters with large polyester socks that trap any excess food or other debris. Called fluidized bed filters, these tubes contain bacteria that metabolize harmful waste products such as ammonia into non-toxic nitrate.
Seawater then passes through large, clear, funnel-shaped tubes for further cleansing.
The tubes are called foam fractionators and they inject the water with many small air bubbles spun in a pattern similar to a tornado. The combination of flow and aeration creates a dark foam at the top of the tube. This dark foam, which resembles the same foam seen on a beach after a stormy day, is organic waste from the seawater. It is forced out of the top of the fractionator where it spills into a collecting container to be washed down the drain. Once the water leaves the fractionator it passes through an ultraviolet sterilizer to eliminate any harmful microorganisms that may be present.