Fishing for Visitors in Colorado, Kentucky

The aquarium craze is moving inland, with two landlocked cities hoping to reel in summer tourists with fish-baited hooks.

The bigger aquarium, costing $93 million, will open June 21 in Denver, stocked with thousands of exotic fish, birds and water-loving mammals.

Taking a different tack than many aquariums, which emphasize ocean life, this one, called Ocean Journey, replicates the paths of the Colorado River and the Kampar River in Indonesia as they descend from elevated peaks through deserts and rain forests and to the ocean.

“We have a lot of moving water,” says Bill Fleming, who co-founded the aquarium with his wife, Judy Petersen-Fleming. The nonprofit aquarium, near downtown Denver, has 15,000 specimens representing nearly 300 species.

Besides river life, there are green moray eels and other creatures from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, where the Colorado River empties in high-flow years, and southern sea otters from California. In the Indonesian area, two Sumatran tigers roam hilly terrain and swim in river water.

The aquarium is open daily; hours vary by season. Admission is $14.95 adults, $12.95 ages 13 to 17, $6.95 ages 4 to 12, free 3 and under. Information: telephone (303) 561-4450.

In Newport, Ky., near Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River, the $40-million Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium opened last month. It has 11,000 specimens, viewed via see-through acrylic flooring and along 200 feet of acrylic tunnels. It’s open daily. Admission is $13.75 adults, $8.50 ages 12 and under. Information: tel. (606) 491-FINS.