Piranha Feeding Madness In Kuala Lumpur

Located in the basement floors of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, smack dab in the heart of Malaysia's captital, lies the Aquaria KLCC. It was next on our list of places to visit using our KL Hop On Hop Off bus pass. It doesn't compare to Monterey Bay Aquarium or Osaka Aquarium, of course. But what it lacked in space and exterior aesthetics, it made up by having compact area filled with a plethora of different things to look at and a lot of feeding shows. Still, I personally felt that the price for the Aquarium (64RM) was a bit steep. I wasn't too happy about the sea otters and other mammals, who looked like they did not get a lot of natural sunlight or ample space to roam around. Nevertheless, I'm glad they were still a bit active, because that's already better than most of what I see back home. My favorite part of the day was going through a cool 90 meter underwater tunnel, where you can get a closer look at the sharks, sea turtles, and rays:

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The daily piranha feeding show starts at 4pm, so we arrived with some time to spare. We roamed around the rest of the aquarium (twice, to get our moneys worth). There are a lot of different exhibits to wander through, including a touch pool, reptiles, and amphibians, to name a few.

Despite the small size, there are actually two floors to KLCC. This is the view of the Deep Forest Zone from the second floor, with the arapaima:

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We made it back to the piranha tank near the entrance around 3:50 as a crowd was starting to form. I'm clueless when it comes to piranhas aside from what Hollywood and mainstream media portrays them to be. The closest piranha encounter I had was on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, and those aren't even real! The real thing doesn't look quite as scary or intimidating compared to their fake counterparts, but with a tank full of these red bellied piranhas at KLCC, it was still definitely a sight to see... especially with the decor they chose to put in the tank. I overheard a few parents reassuring their children that the skeleton wasn't real, haha.

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This was the only good picture I managed to get before the staff dropped in the poor tilapia. Well, the tilapia was already dead, but had it been alive it wouldn't have had much of a chance judging by the way these fish swarmed in swiftly to take bites. Despite their carnivorous reputation, we were told that these piranhas mainly feed on weaker or dead animals. It took a couple minutes for the tilapia to be devoured, but there has been days when it would take less than half a minute! They weren't as hungry the day I was there, perhaps.

I was really hoping that aquarium guests would be able to drop in their own share of fish into the tank, but I could see how there would be a few safety concerns... ha.

Featured Photo: Underwater Tunnel at KLCC Aquaria, Malaysia Hours: Open daily from 10:30am – 8:00pm, including weekends Last admission 7:00pm. Price: 64RM for adults, 53RM for kids ages 3-12 Transportation: There are multiple ways to get to KLCC, but we were using the Hop On Hop Off Bus. KLCC Aquaria is at Stop 4; alternatively you can get off at stop 22 near Petronas Towers and walk over.