The Waikiki Aquarium developed the first displays of living Pacific corals in the United States in 1978 using water from a seawater well and natural sunlight.
A special surge device was developed later to allow culture of staghorn and table corals (Acropora spp.).
Some of the corals at the Waikiki Aquarium are over 30 years old.

The Waikiki Aquarium was the second aquarium in the world, and the first in the United States, to maintain the chambered nautilus (Nouméa Aquarium was first) and the first in the world to produce viable Nautilus embryos.

Other "firsts" for the Waikiki Aquarium were displays of the blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) ca.
1957; broadclub cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) in 1978; a mahimahi hatchery and exhibit (Coryphaena hippurus) in 1991; and the giant clam (Tridacna gigas) in 1979.
The largest giant clam at the Waikiki Aquarium was acquired from the Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center in Palau in June 1982 and was estimated to be five-years old at that time.
 At 38 years old in 2016, it is the longest-lived giant clam in any aquarium in the world.

The Waikiki Aquarium has won national awards for its exhibits and aquatic culture methods:  Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Bean Award for Nautilus propagation (1991); AZA/Munson Conservation Award for "Corals are Alive" exhibition (1999); AZA/Munson Conservation Exhibit Award (2003); and the AZA Bean Award for the "South Pacific Habitat" exhibition (2003).
The Waikiki Aquarium developed the first displays of living Pacific corals in the United States in 1978 using water from a seawater well and natural sunlight. A special surge device was developed later to allow culture of staghorn and table corals (Acropora spp.). Some of the corals at the Waikiki Aquarium are over 30 years old.
The Waikiki Aquarium was the second aquarium in the world, and the first in the United States, to maintain the chambered nautilus (Nouméa Aquarium was first) and the first in the world to produce viable Nautilus embryos.
Other "firsts" for the Waikiki Aquarium were displays of the blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) ca. 1957; broadclub cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) in 1978; a mahimahi hatchery and exhibit (Coryphaena hippurus) in 1991; and the giant clam (Tridacna gigas) in 1979. The largest giant clam at the Waikiki Aquarium was acquired from the Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center in Palau in June 1982 and was estimated to be five-years old at that time.  At 38 years old in 2016, it is the longest-lived giant clam in any aquarium in the world.
The Waikiki Aquarium has won national awards for its exhibits and aquatic culture methods:  Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Bean Award for Nautilus propagation (1991); AZA/Munson Conservation Award for "Corals are Alive" exhibition (1999); AZA/Munson Conservation Exhibit Award (2003); and the AZA Bean Award for the "South Pacific Habitat" exhibition (2003).
Waikīkī Aquarium