Last Updated on 4 August, 2025
Megaquarium casts you as the curator of a world-class aquarium, balancing fish welfare, guest happiness and bottom-line profitability. This guide prepares you for every aspect of tank design, staff management, water systems and advanced strategies. Whether you’re starting the campaign or building a sandbox megatank, this is the definitive resource to outpace your gameplay.
1. Game Overview
Megaquarium is a business simulation game in which you design and stock public‑aquarium exhibits by laying out tanks, heating and filtration systems and decorations, then house nearly 100 unlockable species each with unique habitat requirements and compatibility rules. You hire aquarist staff who specialize in feeding, fixing, cleaning or gift‑shop work then configure each role’s job priority with slider levels and confine them to custom zones to prevent undue roaming and task crossover. As guests visit and admire your tanks and amenities, they generate Prestige, Ecology and Science points that you invest into research to unlock more species, gear and aquarium expansions
- Developer: Twice Circled (Bristol‑based indie)
- Publisher: Twice Circled (PC), Auroch Digital (console ports)
- Initial Release: September 13 2018 (PC), October 18 2019 (Xbox One, PS4, Switch)
- Genre: Single‑player business simulation / tycoon focusing on aquarium design, species care, staff logistics, and guest satisfaction
2. Getting Started: Campaign & Sandbox
Campaign mode guides you through ten evolving scenarios, each unlocking new animals, filters and amenities while teaching the game’s fundamentals. Sandbox mode lets you drop into any map with full access to every item and unlimited prestige to experiment with designs.
Core early goals: capture enough prestige to rank up, fund your first gift shop, and maintain consistent water quality above 70%. Achieve each campaign objective to earn unique rewards and build confidence before tackling open-ended aquariums.
3. Aquarium Design & Layout Tips
A simple, expandable layout, i.e. square or straight line, ensures guests see every exhibit without getting lost, maximizing prestige gains. Group tanks by water temperature (tropical vs. coldwater) and by species compatibility to streamline plumbing and prevent cross-contamination.
So, use colored floor tiles to designate guest pathways, staff zones and machine rooms, this visual clarity speeds decision-making. Reserve corner spaces for future expansion to avoid disruptive rearrangements later.
4. Staff Management: Roles & Zoning
Aquarists fill four roles i.e. Feeding, Fixing, Cleaning and Gift Shop, with skill levels determined by their hire attributes.
| Role | Primary Talents | Slider Priority | Zone Behaviour | Key Risks & Scaling Advice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feeding | Empathy (boost feeding), Precision (secondary) | Pink = highest • Blue = medium • Green = low • Grey = ignore | Assigned a custom zone around high‑maintenance tanks to keep feeders near their exhibits and prevent crossover into gift‑shop or cleaning areas. | Under‑staffing feeders leads to hungry fish and possible deaths; over‑staffing wastes payroll. Scale feeder count with number and difficulty of tanks. |
| Fixing | Precision (boost fixing speed), Memory (secondary) | Pink = highest • Blue = medium • Green = low • Grey = ignore | Zone around equipment, filters, compressors so fixers stay close and respond immediately to breakdowns. | With distant or spread‑out fixers, breakdowns linger risking water‑quality drops. Consider overlapping fixer zones for quicker response. |
| Cleaning | Fitness (faster cleaning & movement) | Pink when guest‑paths must stay spotless • Blue otherwise • Green low • Grey ignore | Assign cleaners to guest walkways, toilets, seating areas. Avoid including exhibit tiles unless needed. | Too few cleaners leaves litter and dirty toilets that hurt prestige; too many leads to idle staff. Adjust based on guest flow. |
| Gift Shop | Fitness (restocking speed), Empathy (interaction) | Pink during peak sales times • Blue otherwise • Grey ignore | Zone the gift shop and its storage bins so staff focus solely on restocking and serving without straying. | Wandering staff can miss sales opportunities; overlapping with other zones reduces efficiency, so keep gift-shop zone tight. |
Regularly review staffing levels because over-saturating tools and feeders near tanks prevents fish deaths and equipment failures.
5. Fish Care & Compatibility
Each species has requirements for tank size, water quality, diet and social grouping. So, always check fully-grown size before mixing species to avoid predation or overcrowding. Use nursery tanks for juveniles of mixed cohorts to prevent size-based bullying, then transfer when they reach safe dimensions.
| Species | Size | Water | Diet | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clownfish | 8 | Tropical 60% | Orange Pellet | Pairs only |
| Royal Gramma | 5 | Tropical 55% | Orange Pellet | Solitary |
| Giant Grouper | 40 | Tropical 55% | Mussels | Predator |
| Shark (Bull) | 60 | Cold 50% | Frozen Fish | Carnivore |
Regularly top off feeders and observe compatibility icons because red skulls indicate aggression, green chevrons indicate shoaling requirements.
6. Water Quality & Filtration Systems
Maintain 98%+ water quality with properly balanced pumps, heaters, coolers, filters and UV sterilizers placed in circuits that serve multiple tanks. Daisy-chain tanks with pumps to equalize parameters, because isolated pumps can create microclimates that stress fish.
Upgrade to higher-capacity equipment as tank counts grow, and schedule regular maintenance to avoid hidden breakdowns.
7. Advanced Strategies & Profit Optimization
Unlock value-added services i.e, guided tours, VIP lounges and decor boosts to diversify income beyond entry fees and gift shops.
Use the “Important Mail” filter to track high-priority alerts like trader visits and fish growth notifications.
Oversaturate food bins near high-turnover tanks because cost is negligible compared to prestige and guest satisfaction gains.
Invest in DLC-specific species for unique achievements and rare guest accolades.
- Force gift shops at choke points because placement drives impulse spend.
- Use dry runs in campaign levels to experiment with niche builds.
- Create “machine rooms” with all heavy equipment in one zone to minimize staff travel time.
- Monitor guest thought bubbles to adjust seating, vending and decor in real time.
8. Conclusion
You’ve now mastered Megaquarium’s core loops, i.e. from campaign basics to sandbox freedom, from tank layouts and staff zoning to water systems and profit hacks. Each tip ensures your aquarium runs smoothly and lucratively in 2025 and beyond. Now, load up Sandbox mode, sketch a square-layout aquarium, and implement your first staff-zoned, pump-balanced design today!
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