A new €350,000 aquarium was inaugurated on Saturday at the Limassol Zoo as part of a €10m upgrade.

Visitors to the zoo will now be able to familiarise themselves with strange species of fish, including small fish from the Amazon, the district’s mayor Nicos Nicolaides said inaugurating the feature.

According to the mayor, the selection of fish was carried out in collaboration with expert ichthyologists of the Limassol Development Agency and zoo staff have undergone special training for the proper operation and maintenance of the aquarium.

The aquarium covers an area of 80m² and is equipped with mechanical filtration equipment to control water quality, temperature, oxygenation and radiation. It was funded by donations of various companies based in Limassol, Nicolaides said.

The inauguration is part of a wider effort by the municipality to expand and upgrade Limassol Zoo.

The municipality will add new animals such as lemurs, hedgehogs and ostriches as a first phase, Nicolaides said, adding that the places to host those animals are under preparation.

Among others, it was proposed to develop a botanical garden and a greenhouse with tropical plants, cactuses, climbing plants and a small lake with goldfish and artificial islands with aquatic plants.

The whole project is estimated to cost more than €10m and will be completed gradually, Nicolaides said, depending on the annual budget.

The first project, that will start this year, concerns the upgrade of the playground with the costs covered “by a very generous donation of our fellow residents”, that will be announced in the coming days.

The next project concerns the lake on the east side of the main pedestrian street of the public garden, Nikolaides said.