Megaquarium News

Hello aquarium architects. I hope you've had a great start to the year. I've been working on a little update for you guys. Let's take a look.


Shortly after the Architect's Collection DLC launch, a suggestion was made to me. With the addition of all the new "dividers" (a selection of low wall-like objects which block movement but not visibility), was it possible to add a divider which only staff could pass through?

I'm very happy to announce that the all-new Staff Gate has been added to the Architect's Collection with this update.

This object is essentially a cross between the Staff Door and the One-Way Gate which was added to the base game last November. Like the Staff Door, only employees can use the Staff Gate, but it has the nice low aesthetic associated with the One-Way Gate that makes it look good paired with the dividers added with the Architect's Collection.



In the above picture I've used the Staff Gate to separate off a section of the aquarium where I'm storing gift shop refills away from potentially thieving guests.

In fairness, a One-Way Gate from the base game facing in the correct direction could be used to achieve the same result.



Here is where the Staff Gate comes into its own. When you have just a single line of dividers but want to allow an employee to take a short-cut rather than walk all the way around the route.

Like almost everything else in the Architect's Collection, the Staff Gate is paintable so you can customise it to your liking. What will you use it for?

[h3]Changelog[/h3]
Along with the Staff Gate there are bunch of bug fixes and improvements included with this update:

• Feature: Added Staff Gate to Architect's Collection.
  
• Fixed bug: Double clicking trade button very fast would cause multiple animals to be traded away while filing only a single trade slot.
  
• Fixed bug: Impossible "Biodiversity" objective offered in sandbox mode.
  
• Fixed bug: Floating plants in Feeding Platform Tank appeared at the wrong height (FF).
  
• Fixed bug: Fixed occasionally bugged UI with guppy breeding (FF).
  
• Fixed bug: Sand eel appears in wrong place when staff carrying it and a tool belt does a fixing task.
  
• UX: Fixed UI positioning in save and load menus in non-English languages.
  
• Optimisation: Sped up message log loading.
  
• Modding: If only English strings are present, these will be used even when the selected language is not English.
  

Hey! It has been a while since I have posted a Fishblast for you all. From now on Fishblasts will be coming out every 2 months rather than every month.


Whenever you are playing a map, it is often a big challenge to keep staff active but not overworked. User Jasper found a great way of planning their aquarium and placing the filtrations and such on strategic points as shown at the end of this video! Jasper created a 30 minute video to show their big build. And the thing I want to praise here is the great layout. It must take a lot of time to plan such a build.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo1pzO37PD4


Often people are looking for challenges. Sometimes having no idea what to create. This short segment will give you some guides to unfold your very own creativity. Are you ready to give it a try?

Try and build this: Presentation Arena

How to build this:

• Place a podium near a tank.
  
• Place benches around this podium (around 2 tiles away from it)
  
• Place stairs and platforms behind these benches to create multiple layers
  
• These layers will give the impression of multiple seating heights
  

Have fun building!


The many waters on our planet are either saltwater or freshwater. However, there is an in between. It is called brackish water. One of the most important ecosystems in our world is the mangroves. Unique flora and fauna living in harmony while the flora is keeping the ocean away from claiming more land.

[h3]Amazing Mangroves by Anubite and the H.A.A.I. Team[/h3]


This is a fan-made expansion that adds animals and plants from this unique biotope. Both for freshwater and saltwater. So definitely worth a look as it adds animals such as: Horseshoe crabs, Fiddler crabs, Scats, Whistling ducks, Upside-down jellyfish and for plants a huge variety of trees and grasses!



[Click here to discover this fantastic mod]


[h3]Common Name: Picasso Triggerfish[/h3]
[h3]Scientific Name: Rhinecanthus aculeatus[/h3]





Range: Western Indian Ocean
Habitat: Reefs
Size: 30cm (1ft)
Diet: Meaty foods such as squid, shrimp and small fish.
[h3]Needs in Megaquarium:[/h3]

• Tropical waters
  
• Water quality at least 65%
  
• Eater of Crustaceans, Starfish, Clams, Gorgoians, Stony corals.
  
• Feeding Skill: 1
  
• Territorial
  
• Bully
  
• Nibbler
  
• Explorer
  

[h3]Fun facts:[/h3]

• The Picasso Triggerfish is known in Hawaii as: humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
  
• With powerful jaws and sharp teeth, Picasso triggerfish are formidable guardians, and have been known to nip at divers who intrude on their territory.
  
• The Picasso Triggerfish is able to grunt. This is a sound they make to get attention from others (with aggression).
  

In this segment we are looking into the life behind the scenes of machinery or tasks that happen in public aquariums. We might ponder the question: How do UV filters work? Or investigate the breeding progress of a certain species.

For this edition of “How does it work” we will be looking into how PH meters work.

All the water in the world has an acidity, also known as pH. Aquaria in the world need to measure the acidity to make sure the fish they are planning on adding, will survive. The reason for this is that everywhere in the world, the water has a different acidity. Some water can have more acid in it than other places in the world. Some places even have alkaline waters. The water's pH even changes from time to time in smaller bodies of water. It is important to measure this once in a while, even in your home aquarium!



The pH meter shown above is an electrical version of a test that can also be done with fluids on a special piece of paper. In the pH meter is a piece of glass that works with specialized electrodes. Very complicated! The electrodes measure the acidity of the water while another electrode is a reference to a fixed sample that is set as a base. The voltage in these machines is measured and is linked to a pH level.

But if you do not have a machine available testing strips work just fine.

Have you ever measured pH in any type of water?

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Want to be more involved in our community? Join our [Discord] and share your works, we love seeing what you created and maybe we will feature your work in the next FishBlast.

See you in the next one!
Your community liaison, Anubite

Today is a day I've been looking forward to for ages. SO thrilled to finally announce that Freshwater Frenzy - the first deluxe expansion for Megaquarium will be coming to Switch, Playstation and Xbox on 1st March 2022!

[previewyoutube][pic][/previewyoutube]

I know most of you reading this will be familiar with the fan-favourite expansion, but for anyone new to the world of Megaquarium, feel free to head on over to the official Megaquarium website for a full rundown of what's contained.

Just like the console edition of the base game, I've partnered with Auroch Digital to develop this expansion. Check out what they have to say about the new DLC in this blog post!

EDIT: When this post was initially published we were hoping to release on the 25th January. Due to issues outside of our control we made the difficult decision to delay the launch until 1st March 2022. Click here for further information.

Click-Clack, Click-Clack… Oh hi! Long-time no see, first off Happy New Year! Welcome to my office! Here I carefully write your Fishblast’s every month! I am still recovering from an amazing New Years party, so ignore the empty soda bottles and popcorn laying around. But I think we have quite a bit to catch up on. We had a new DLC release in November, the holidays came, and I think just many amazing things happened. I hope you had a great time as well!


To celebrate the new year we hosted a unique building challenge. Asking all members to build a facility in the shape of the year 2022. And people had so many ideas, and it was a tough pick. Here we are though: The winner of the 2022 build is: Sardine. They created such a compact version of the theme, but with unique use of the new Architect’s Collection bridges. We just could not let it slide.



The smart use of smaller tanks under the bridges created a dynamic but interesting walk for all the guests. Maybe this is something you could try too!




Often people are looking for challenges. Sometimes having no idea what to create. This short segment will give you some guides to unfold your very own creativity. Are you ready to give it a try?

Try and build this: Dining area next to a reef tank

How to build this:

• Create a reef tank that covers a whole wall.
  
• Place benches facing each other against the window.
  
• Have a buffet-type area with all the food options you want to give your guests.
  
• Too much central open space? Add a small tank there too, so all guests can have a similar experience.
  

Have fun building!


We started this year with a fantastic release of a huge new mod pack for you creative people. One that allows second floors to your builds and more tools to create heights in a way you have never seen before. I am talking about the:

[h3]Rickreptile Building Kit by RickReptile[/h3]


This mod adds various tools (and even has expansion mods) to change your game into literal new levels. There are almost no words to describe the possibilities with this mod, and I could only recommend it for you to try and make something yourself.



[Click here to discover this fantastic mod]


[h3]Common Name: Arapaima[/h3]
[h3]Scientific Name: Arapaima gigas[/h3]





Range: The Amazon
Habitat: River Basin
Size: Up to 3 meters (10 ft)
Diet: Fish and other animals on the water surface
[h3]Needs in Megaquarium:[/h3]

• Tropical waters
  
• Water quality at least 60%
  
• Acidic Waters
  
• Feeding Skill: 1
  
• Greedy
  
• Heavy Armored
  
• Likes floating cover: 9
  
• Likes Caves: 11
  
• Open Space: 3x3
  
• Fish and Crustacean Eater (minimum size: 4)
  

[h3]Fun facts:[/h3]

• The mouth of an Arapaima works like a vacuum. When hungry, it opens its mouth to suck up nearby food.
  
• Arapaima can breathe air and stay submerged for 10-20 minutes at a time. It can survive up to 24 hours outside of the water!
  
• Arapaima are mouth brooders.
  

In this segment we are looking into the life behind the scenes of machinery or tasks that happen in public aquariums. We might ponder the question: How do UV filters work? Or investigate the breeding progress of a certain species.

For this month’s “How does it work” we will be looking into how public aquaria introduce new fish to a tank.

When visiting a public aquarium you might notice empty tanks, or even new fish in an already established tank. Sometimes they are changing their collection, and sometimes it is just another fine addition to a tank. But do they just drop the fish in the tank and let it live its life?



When adding a fish to a tank, it is very common to first quarantine the fish. Meaning to separate it for a while to make sure it does not hold diseases and to make sure it eats fine. Quarantine is often a room behind the scenes with multiple tanks on separate filtration systems. Separate because if there is a disease, you do not want this disease to end up in all tanks linked to that filter system. After a few weeks with the fish showing healthy behaviour, it could be ready to move it to the display tank.

Do you have quarantine tanks in your Megaquarium builds?

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Want to be more involved in our community? Join our [Discord] and share your works, we love seeing what you created and maybe we will feature your work in the next FishBlast.

See you in the next one!
Your community liaison, Timmiegun

Mostly bug fixes this time around. Thank you for all your feedback. :)

A special welcome to all the new players. I hope you're enjoying your time with the game. If you're enjoying the game and feel like helping out, please feel free to leave a review for Megaquarium and/or its 2 expansions. This can be done directly on each of the store pages.

[h3]v3.0.6 Changelog[/h3]

• UX: Decorations can now be placed even where there are no viewable locations.
  
• Fixed bug: Mods with non-capitalised folder names were not being read correctly on Linux OS.
  
• Fixed bug: Could not place underground tunnel in a position where walls would be against the middle edges, at some angles.
  
• UX: Slightly tweaked code for positioning decorations in tanks with raised or lowered substrates.
  
• Modding: Container 'adjust bounds' variables no longer apply to land-based animals when they are on land.
  
• Modding: Added hosting.childLayerConverter to allow tanks to adjust the occupation layers of incoming decorations. This is required for tanks which occupy layer -1 or 1 but not 0.
  

[h3]v3.0.7 Changelog[/h3]

• Fixed bug: 'Reptiles' category was not localised into non-English languages correctly unless FF DLC was installed.
  

[h3]v3.0.8 Changelog[/h3]

• Increased stability when encountering errors contained within mods on save game load.