The Sioux Falls Sertoma Butterfly House and Marine Cove

Located in the city of Sioux Falls is a very unique attraction -- the Butterfly house and Marine Cove. This large building houses thousands of butterflies as well as a number of very large aquariums which makes up the "Marine Cove" portion. Rick thought the addition of the aquariums was a great idea since he used to keep large aquariums in years past.

 Rick started his visit at the aquariums, which were great. There was a wide variety of freshwater and marine aquarium displays featuring many wonderful fish.  These large Oscars were clearly the masters of their large tank. There were a few other fish in it, but they stayed well away from these guys!

 The next aquarium was a marine tank and featured these clown fish that seemed interested in checking me out while I was watching them.

 One of Rick's favorites is this yellow tang. A saltwater fish, this beautiful marine specimen comes from the Hawaiian and Indonesian reef areas. I really liked the related materials in the tanks, such as this coral which makes the Tang feel right at home.

 I enjoyed the way the tanks were mixed between freshwater and marine environments. After the coral reef tank and the tangs, we came upon this blue discus fish in a nice freshwater tank. As you can see, the tanks were in great condition and well maintained.

 Moving back to the marine tank environment, Rick spotted this fellow nestled into the coral. I am not sure of this species, but it is a colorful and interesting fish.

 The fish were great to watch, but Rick also enjoyed the interesting plants and corals in the tank. The plants and reef materials really set off the fish and help display them in a fashion similar to their native environment.

 There were even a number of anemones in the marine tanks. While these look like plants, they are actually predatory animals and wait for their prey to land on them. These are beautiful to look at, but can be dangerous to unwary fish and other small marine creatures.

The aquariums are great and Rick loved them, but wait until we get inside the butterfly area!