Blue Zoo Aquarium Oklahoma City — Attraction in Oklahoma City

As someone who loves fish and especially sharks, i’m with my mom on a family trip and we decided to take a day to do some fun stuff in OKC, and so when i saw there was an aquarium i really wanted to go. Right off the bat we had to sign a waiver so we couldn't sue them if we slip and fall, get a disease from one of the animals, etc. Some cool fish, but a lot of empty tanks- as someone who's done plenty of research on proper tank and care for different kinds of fish, the size of the habitats disgusted me. The shark tank had no enrichment for them, or any places to hide. The nurse sharks just sat at the bottom of the tank, only moving when they were repeatedly jabbed by the other fish in the tank. I also witnessed one of the Black Tip sharks eating one of the small fish being kept in the tank. The stingrays were cute and friendly (though there was no instructions given on being careful as to not get stung) but their water was far too shallow. There were also Angel Sharks (or maybe Sharkrays?) mixed in with the rays, most where hiding under the sand and quite a few stingrays were trying to bury themselves but unable to because the sand wasn't deep enough for the larger bat rays and cownose rays. The lady who worked there was very nice and told me a bit about the different kinds of rays and how old they were, probably the best part of the trip. In the upstairs, there is a large tank filled with many many kinds of giant fish and a few turtles- that tank was too small to fit any one of those fish into, let alone all at once. It looked like an overcrowded subway car, it was disgusting to see them trapped in a condition like that. There was also a tank with 3 axolotls and several other fish, including guppies and black moore goldfish... the tank was most definitely on the smaller side for how many goldfish they had, and maybe would be the right size for 1 axolotl, but 3? absolutely not. not to mention axolotls and goldfish have wildly different care needs in terms of tank set up and temperature, and it was definitely showing the lack of care because the axolotls had very clumped up and frayed gills. My mom doesn't know much about fish, but even she was disgusted- i tried to seem more excited just because she spent over $40 on tickets, but honestly the lack of care for these animals disgusts me so much- if i could review this less than one star, i would in a heart beat. This place has no right calling itself an aquarium, let alone a zoo. I’m doubtful this place has any of the certifications it needs/should need to have and house these animals, these conditions are just cruel. Please either improve or give the fish and animals a better home, they're living creatures not a quickstop entertainment gig. Also, we were in and out within 10-20 minutes- not even enough entertainment value for the price the charge, even if they did actually take proper care of...

I liked this place; I really, really wanted to rate this higher, but the admission cost versus the size of the aquarium and lack of exhibits is just too off. We paid $35.00 + tax (that was with military discount) for 2 adults, plus $10 for 4 feeding tokens. Regular price is a whopping $16.95, not including feeding tokens! You can visit the OKC Zoo for $24 for 2 adults and it's 100+ times larger. The entire tour, including feeding the rays, took about 35 minutes. And that was taking our time. As far as the facility design, the layout is relatively unconventional. It's a two-story aquarium with a small elevator for guests who can't use stairs. You enter through the mall entrance to the south of Von Maur. The aquarium entrance is the aquarium giftshop, so it may appear to just be a retail store for people who weren't seeking it out specifically. The first floor has only 5 or 6 medium sized salt-water tanks. It also has a large interactive Stingray and shark pool where you can pet and feed them. There is one large mixed tank toward the end of the first level, along with a starfish petting tank. You then proceed upstairs (or elevator) to the second and final level. This is where the Fresh water tanks (2 large tanks), reptiles, parakeets and children's play structures are. One thing I found strange and negligent was that one of the two tanks is filled with turtles and fish that you can touch, and directly next to it is a large tank full of piranhas with total access to reach your hands in. I think this was bad design on someone's part. Just in the few moments I stood there, a grown man attempted to put his hand in it! Thankfully a staff member caught him before he became lunch! It's only a matter of time before someone loses an arm as there is NO signage to tell people NOT to put their arm in, whereas the tank next to it is free touch. Theres a large parakeet enclosure where you can feed them. I was most disappointed in this, as the "habitat" is no more than 2 fake trees surrounded by cement. That's no way for them to live on my opinion; someone needs to do better there. The play structures for children are nice and accommodate children of any age. There's a pirate ship and some water table features. They do have a pirate show and mermaid show at certain times but since we arrived hours before either began, we didn't want to wait around, especially since it only takes a few minutes to walk through. When your tour is complete, you exit down the stairs. It was okay for one visit, but it's doubtful I'll return. This should've been used to replace the aquarium that was removed from the OKC Zoo. The only way we would return is if they reduce the fee to...

It broke my heart, in all honesty. I went just to spend time with my family and we were overrun with screaming children and parents who didn’t have the decency to even attempt to control them. A lot of the downstairs tanks featured so many fish that just swam so sluggishly and the rays. Y’all. So many of them were injured and even bleeding. What should’ve happened was they were quarantined and given proper medical care instead of just letting the go and get worse by people who refused to wash their hands before torturing these poor creatures. Upstairs was even worse. There was a large monitor lizard who just laid there with a massive and poorly wrapped bandage on his tail. How does he get that injured by sitting in his inclosure all day? The fish were so depressing and so were the turtles and literally every other animal there. There was an itty bitty tank filled to the BRIM with Madagascar hissing cockroaches (about 50+ in a five gallon). The budgies broke my heart as well. I’ve had budgies before and they’re happy and loud and LOUD, but these budgies just sat there, despite people holding out little cups of food. But enough about these poor, abused creatures. Let’s talk about the safety and obvious health issues. The water tables were DISGUSTING. There should have been some employee there at least trying to make sure the children washed their hands before and after playing in the water tables but of course not because why would they? So many kids ran rampant around the play area with little to no supervision from parents or anyone else for that matter. It’s not okay at all to let your little toddlers run around by themselves. There was also a rock wall with 0 safety guards or anything else. I guess if your kid falls off and cracks their head open, that’s on you. My little sister also got quite sick with something two days later and she wasn’t around anyone else but these other children and the clear disregard of health and sanitation. This “aquarium” needs to be shut down. For the animals there and the people that go...