FREE Behind-The-Scenes Tour - Manta Aquarium - Sea World
Behind-the-scenes tours of the new Manta attraction aquarium tanks at SeaWorld Theme Park will be available to MACNA attendees on Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 1:00pm. Justin Zimmerman, SeaWorld Aquatic Supervisor and ORCA member will help give these personalized tours of the new Manta attraction aquarium tanks in the afternoon. These tours will be FREE, however you must purchase entry into SeaWorld Theme Park to participate. Park tickets are available at a convention discount at www.SeaWorldTickets.com. This is a custom tour that is not available to the public and you will need to sign up for the tours in advance HERE. MACNA 2010 and SeaWorld will only be accepting the first 50 people who sign-up. After you sign-up and prior to September 2, 2010, you will be sent a confirmation email for instructions on time and location to meet in the park for your group tour.
Highlights about this Incredible Tour!
The main feature in Manta (other than the ride) is an impressive 225,000-gallon tank that is viewable from many angles, including the ride wait line. It is spectacular to stand in the underwater portal and view the graceful rays and fish swimming over you. Two of the four spotted eagle rays, Maverick and Goose (Top Gun) were born in SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove. There are a total of 10 tanks in the attraction, nine of them are saltwater.
The Manta Reef Aquarium is a fully stocked 12,000-gallon reef tank. This tank uses 8,000 watts of metal halide lights, with another 8,000 watts in reserve. The lighting fixture is so large that it is mounted on two electric boatlifts to allow adjustment and service. It contains 7,000 lbs of live rock mounted to quarried limestone base rock. Circulation is 10x turnover provided by one of two 15 HP electric pumps. The calcium reactor is a Schraun unit that holds 200 lbs of media, the kalkwasser reactor holds 50 lbs of kalkwasser, and approximately half of the corals were provided by ORA. This is one of the most spectacular reef tanks in the country. It is only 1 1/2 years old and growing fast!
There are several more specialty aquariums in the exhibit, including an octopus tank, Australian sea dragon tank, other sea horse, shrimp, goby, and pipefish tanks. A particular favorite is the rose bubble tip anemone tank featuring multitudes of offspring from one single RBTA that an ORCA member donated to SeaWorld several years ago.
MACNA 2010 and SeaWorld are very exciting to be offering this opportunity to participate in this highly specialized tour of the Manta exhibit—by aquarists for aquarists!
DON'T FORGET this tour is limited to the first 50 people - SO sign up NOW!
