I recently volunteered at the McWayne Center in Birmingham. I know its kinda far from Huntsville, but I could give you Tina Smith, the senior aquariust's, email address. I'm sure she could arrange a tour if you gave her enough notice. It is very interesting to see all the equipment they use for all the tanks. They have a 12ft tall protein skimmer that's pretty impressive. Also when I was there I got to play with the octopus! They are such interesting creatures. I was very surprised how playful and curious he was. They way they feed him is neat as well. They put food in a screw top peanut jar and he opens it up. I've always heard about it, but it was amazing to see it done in person. You guys could also inspect their coral tank setup that they are planning as well.
Just an idea...