The River Journey facility is a 130,000 square foot structure equivalent in height to a twelve-story building.
It contains a total of 400,000 US gallons (1,500,000 L), and was the largest freshwater aquarium in the world when it opened.
It is organized around the theme of the Story of the River, following the path of a raindrop from high in the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico.
Approximately two-thirds of the facility's display follows this theme, with the rest devoted to smaller aquatic exhibits hosting organisms from around the world.

Major exhibits in River Journey include:
The Appalachian Cove Forest featuring River Otter Falls, which opened in 2014 and replaced a smaller exhibit of North American river otters.
 It also displays free-flying North American song birds, native fish species including shiners, daces, darters, redhorse, hog suckers and trout, and an artificial waterfall falling into a 30,000-US-gallon (110,000 L) mountain sink.

Delta Country, which exhibits species from the Mississippi River delta.
 Its centerpiece is Alligator Bayou, which opened in 2015 and features a group of young American alligators and a pair of alligator snapping turtles.

Rivers of the World, which includes several small to medium-large aquaria that represent the Amazon River, Congo (Zaire) River, Fly River and others.
 This gallery is also home to the aquarium's electric eel, Miguel Wattson, which "communicates" with the public through a Twitter account to which pre-programmed tweets are posted when it emits electricity.
In December 2019 the eel's electricity was also used to power the lights on a Christmas tree.

The Tennessee River gallery, which exhibits species found in the Tennessee River valley.
 Its centerpiece is the 145,000-US-gallon (550,000 L) Nickajack Lake tank featuring species which live in the intensively managed Tennessee River itself, including the American paddlefish and channel catfish.

River Giants, which contains giant freshwater fish from around the world, such as alligator gar, arapaima, giant pangasius, redtail catfish and giant freshwater stingray.

River Journey also displays turtles, seahorses, frogs and other aquatic and marine life.
The River Journey facility is a 130,000 square foot structure equivalent in height to a twelve-story building. It contains a total of 400,000 US gallons (1,500,000 L), and was the largest freshwater aquarium in the world when it opened. It is organized around the theme of the Story of the River, following the path of a raindrop from high in the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately two-thirds of the facility's display follows this theme, with the rest devoted to smaller aquatic exhibits hosting organisms from around the world.
Major exhibits in River Journey include:
The Appalachian Cove Forest featuring River Otter Falls, which opened in 2014 and replaced a smaller exhibit of North American river otters.  It also displays free-flying North American song birds, native fish species including shiners, daces, darters, redhorse, hog suckers and trout, and an artificial waterfall falling into a 30,000-US-gallon (110,000 L) mountain sink.
Delta Country, which exhibits species from the Mississippi River delta.  Its centerpiece is Alligator Bayou, which opened in 2015 and features a group of young American alligators and a pair of alligator snapping turtles.
Rivers of the World, which includes several small to medium-large aquaria that represent the Amazon River, Congo (Zaire) River, Fly River and others.  This gallery is also home to the aquarium's electric eel, Miguel Wattson, which "communicates" with the public through a Twitter account to which pre-programmed tweets are posted when it emits electricity. In December 2019 the eel's electricity was also used to power the lights on a Christmas tree.
The Tennessee River gallery, which exhibits species found in the Tennessee River valley.  Its centerpiece is the 145,000-US-gallon (550,000 L) Nickajack Lake tank featuring species which live in the intensively managed Tennessee River itself, including the American paddlefish and channel catfish.
River Giants, which contains giant freshwater fish from around the world, such as alligator gar, arapaima, giant pangasius, redtail catfish and giant freshwater stingray.
River Journey also displays turtles, seahorses, frogs and other aquatic and marine life.
Tennessee Aquarium