Inflow: Aquatic Animal Life Support Systems and Habitats

About Inflow: Aquatic Animal Life Support Systems and Habitats

Joe and Dr. Jeff discuss all things related to Zoo and Aquarium Aquatic Animal Life Support Systems. Everything from water treatment equipment and design to operations and construction. We talk to operators, engineers, architects, curators, and anyone and everyone who works on keeping our zoo and aquarium water clean, our animals healthy, our exhibits natural and our systems sustainable.

Publisher

Joe and Dr. Jeff

Category

science · science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Jan 2025

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

53 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Ep 52 - Pigging, Discharge, and Desal: A Day in the Life of a Monterey Bay Aquarium Operator

   What does it take to run life support at one of the most iconic aquariums in the world? On this episode of Inflow, hosts Joe Arlotto and Dr. Jeff sit down with Coral Tyo, Systems Operator II at Monterey Bay Aquarium, for a rare look at day-to-day operations from the control room floor. Coral's team runs far more than life support systems: they also manage the building's HVAC and the aquarium's desalination plant, all backed by an automated control system with more than 20,000 live data points. Coral walks through the natural seawater system that sets Monterey Bay Aquarium apart, starting with its pigging program. Foam pigs are shot through redundant lines, including an intake that runs a quarter mile offshore and 50 feet below the surface, then picked up by boat. She explains how the pump house, sand filters, and raw seawater system feed the Kelp Forest and Monterey Bay habitats, and how discharge water is treated before it goes back to the bay: drum filtration, UV, and temperature control to stay within five degrees of local water temperatures. The conversation also covers working with the water quality lab, bringing new systems online, commissioning vs. startup, shift rotations, training new operators, and how a diverse team, more women in the control room, and better SOPs have changed the culture of life support. Coral also shares her own path from landlocked Denver, through Orange Coast College's student-led aquarium program and Denver's aquarium, to a three-month temporary job that turned into her dream role at Monterey Bay. She closes with advice for anyone hoping to become an LSS operator: keep going after what you want, ask questions, and learn from your mistakes. This episode is sponsored by TJP Engineering. Thank you for supporting Inflow and the LSS community. Inflow is the podcast where we discuss all things related to aquatic animal life support. Subscribe, leave a review, and find more episodes, show notes, and sponsor info at https://inflowlsspodcast.com/. (0:49) Why Monterey Bay Aquarium Matters to the LSS World (3:52) Guest Introduction: Coral Tyo, Systems Operator II at Monterey Bay Aquarium (6:03) From Denver to the Ocean: Coral's Background (8:32) Orange Coast College's Student-Led Aquarium Program (10:38) Earning ALSO Level 1 Certification (12:30) Persistence Pays Off: Landing a Job at Monterey Bay Aquarium (14:44) How Shifts Work at Monterey Bay Aquarium (15:37) The Control Room Team: Life Support, HVAC, and Desalination (16:52) Day Shift vs. Night Shift (18:13) A Diverse Team and Learning HVAC on the Job (19:50) Women in Life Support and the Value of SOPs (22:08) How Monterey Bay Aquarium's Pigging System Works (23:49) Pigging Frequency and Redundant Lines (27:42) Retrieving Pigs by Boat (29:30) The Pump House and Internal Pigging (31:56) From Intake to Exhibits: Sand Filters and Raw Seawater (32:43) Discharge Treatment: Drum Filters, UV, and Temperature Control (37:07) Working with the Water Quality Lab (38:25) The Challenge of Bringing New Systems Online (39:55) Automated Controls and 20,000 Live Data Points (41:49) Commissioning vs. Startup and Working with the LSS Designer (44:27) Biofiltration, the Biobank, and Aquarist vs. LSS Systems (46:46) Turnover and Training New Operators (49:09) Advice for Aspiring LSS Operators (50:20) The LSS Family (52:15) Final Thoughts from Dr. Jeff (53:01) Outro and Sign-Off

2. 

   25 Sept 2026

   Ep 51 - Caring for Corals: Charles Delbeek on Coral Husbandry

   What does it actually take to keep a 212,000-gallon live coral reef thriving for decades? On this episode of Inflow, Charles Delbeek, coral expert at Steinhart Aquarium (California Academy of Sciences) and co-author of The Reef Aquarium book series, joins the show to walk through nearly 30 years in coral husbandry, from hobbyist reef tanks in Toronto to professional exhibit design at Waikiki Aquarium and Steinhart. Charles breaks down coral husbandry as a balance of science and art: exhibit design fundamentals like surface-area-to-volume ratio and hiding life support equipment from public view, protein fractionation and surface skimming, ozone dosing and ORP/color-based control, and the structural realities of building coral systems that last: concrete quality, rebar corrosion, cathodic protection, and sacrificial anode choice. He shares a cautionary tale about a value-engineered ozone manifold that nearly over-dosed an entire system, walks through alkalinity and calcium maintenance approaches on both sides of the Atlantic, and explains why water motion and lighting are just as much life-support components as filtration. Charles also corrects a common myth about coral growth rates, recounts a striking observation from the 1997-98 global bleaching event in Palau, and closes with a candid look at the knowledge-transfer gap facing the aquarium industry as veteran staff retire. This episode is brought to you by MDM Pumps and Longhorn Organics. Thank you for supporting Inflow and the LSS community! Inflow is the podcast where we discuss all things related to aquatic animal life support. Subscribe, leave a review, and find more episodes, show notes, and sponsor info at https://inflowlsspodcast.com/. (2:28) Guest Introduction: Charles Delbeek of Steinhart Aquarium (3:09) Charles's Background: Toronto Hobbyist, Scuba and Photography in the Keys (3:53) Reef-Tank Pioneering with the Toronto Aquarium Society and Writing The Reef Aquarium (5:58) Master's in Zoology and Starting a Career at Waikiki Aquarium (1995) (7:08) Science vs. Art in Coral Husbandry (10:35) Exhibit Design Fundamentals: Surface Area to Volume, Hiding Equipment, Spacing Corals (13:52) Surface Skimming and Protein Fractionation (17:13) Moving to Steinhart Aquarium and the 212,000-Gallon Live Coral Tank (18:18) Ozone Use and ORP/Color-Based Control (18:44) The Value-Engineering Ozone Manifold Story (23:49) Industry Staffing and the Knowledge-Transfer Gap (30:00) Structural and Construction Concerns: Concrete, Rebar, Corrosion, Anodes (34:47) Alkalinity and Calcium Maintenance: Reactors vs. Dosing, Kalkwasser (38:35) Water Motion: Diffusion Boundary Layer, DC Pumps, Closed Loops (40:11) The 1997-98 Bleaching Event: An Observation from Palau (45:22) Lighting as a Life-Support Component (50:23) Source Water Treatment and Nitrate/Phosphate Management (56:05) Closing Advice and Key Takeaways (59:31) Corals Are Not Slow-Growing: The Pruning Misconception

3. 

   9 Sept 2026

   Ep 50 - Denitrification, Ozone, and Over 60 Combined Years in LSS: The Hosts Trade Seats

   To celebrate 50 episodes, Inflow flips the format: instead of interviewing a guest, hosts Joe Arlotto and Dr. Jeff sit down to interview each other. Between them they bring over 60 combined years of aquatic animal life support systems experience — Joe's path runs through Brookfield Zoo, Albuquerque Aquarium, San Diego Zoo, and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, while Dr. Jeff's began in October 1989 at Walt Disney World's The Living Seas before moving through Walt Disney Imagineering and independent LSS consulting. This milestone conversation traces how a casual chat on a bus to a zoo conference turned into a podcast documenting the history of the LSS field, and digs into the technical topics that have defined both hosts' careers: denitrification (batch vs. continuous flow, carbon sources, and digester design), wetland and salt marsh filtration, the early days of ozone and ORP chemistry in seawater systems, and the shift from operating life support systems to designing them — including how CFD modeling shapes sump and skimmer placement today. Along the way, Joe and Dr. Jeff share the career stories behind the science: a midnight resume drop at Brookfield Zoo, a round-the-world trip after the Navy, a PhD finished on a Thursday and a start date at Disney the following Monday, and a 30-year full-circle trip through the Persian Gulf. Whether you're an LSS operator, designer, or aquatic life support enthusiast, this episode is a rare, candid look at how two very different paths led to the same field — and what both hosts have learned about designing, building, and operating the systems that keep aquatic life thriving. This episode is brought to you by Aquatic Equipment and Design, Cloward H2O, and Longhorn Organics — thank you for supporting Inflow and the LSS community. Inflow is the podcast where we discuss all things related to aquatic animal life support. Subscribe, leave a review, and find more episodes, show notes, and sponsor info at https://inflowlsspodcast.com/. Chapters (0:51) Episode 50 Milestone (1:36) Origins of the Inflow Podcast: The Bus Ride at the AALSO Conference (4:25) Joe's Background: Navy, Backpacking, and Landing the Brookfield Zoo Job (6:12) Navy and Military Backgrounds Shaping LSS Careers (16:40) Joe's Career Path Through Albuquerque Aquarium and San Diego Zoo (17:48) Dr. Jeff's Background: PhD and Starting at Disney's Living Seas in 1989 (22:58) Ozone and ORP: History and Chemistry (29:27) Denitrification Deep Dive: Batch vs. Continuous Flow, Carbon Sources, Digesters (35:34) Wetland and Salt Marsh Filtration, Steady-State Nitrate (37:22) Dr. Jeff's Path Through Walt Disney Imagineering and Independent Consulting (EEG) (42:14) LSS Design vs. Operations: Why Joe Moved into Design (49:23) CFD Modeling for LSS Design (50:45) Joe's Move to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and Construction-Phase Realities (52:52) Dr. Jeff's Broader Environmental Design Work: Coatings, Substrates, HVAC, Penguin Habitats (56:05) Closing Advice

Who has been a guest on Inflow: Aquatic Animal Life Support Systems and Habitats

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Erik Holmberg
• Holly Dempsey
• Beau Dempsey
• Terri Johnson
• Brian Joseph

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

28

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32