University Carbondale Aquatic Research Lab

Project Description

The new Aquatic Research Facility housed in the McLafferty Annex Building at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL (SIUC) is a 7000 square foot state-of-the-art aquaculture research center. The aquatic facilities were designed, built, supplied, and commissioned by Integrated Aqua Systems.

Systems were designed with the intention to provide researchers with “flex use” research space for a variety of different types of species and experiments. The project features seven fully automated and independently monitored aquatic systems as well as fish hatching and artemia cultivation systems. Tank sizes and configurations range from multi-tank rack mounted systems to larger 550 gallon tank systems for fish rearing and quarantine.

The entire facility is designed to operate with treated fresh water or saltwater with on-demand availability of water from the water makeup system. RO water is stored for freshwater makeup and an automatic seawater make-up system provides premixed salt water, with specified parameters to any of the systems installed in the wet lab. The automated seawater makeup system minimizes the required labor resources to maintain and operate the facility.

All systems were built of heavy duty non-corrosive materials for long-term use along with a level of integrated automation to allow facility management with minimal labor resources. The aquatic systems supplied by IAS are a center piece for the aquatic ecology and aquaculture programs at SIUC offering a wide range of research opportunities for students and research staff for many years to come.