SeaWorld Reef Tank Pictures

[Gary Majchrzak]

FANTASTIC job, Justin.
The corals covering the plastic pillars give a great look IMO.
Almost like a "floating reef" type illusion.
Besides, the corals will gradually cover the plastic with their growth. (It would be easy to glue some frags on those plastic pillars!)
I'm amazed that you can actually get inside that display to do any maintenance!
Is there any live rock at all in the system?

 

[Cody Ray]

Are there some large colonies of montipora digitata? I didn't realize how nice they could look when they grew out!

 

[onehundred20]

Must be fun to maintain those things!
id be afraid to stand in that thing, would end up with a bunch of frags,

I noticed the 2 clams in there, are either of them giga, also your pocillopora starting to grow rampid wherever it can find a place

 

[onehundred20]

are most of the corals wild?

 

[justinzimm]

Are there some large colonies of montipora digitata

Yes, it's a very fast grower in this aquarium.

I noticed the 2 clams in there, are either of them giga,

Actually, there are 5 clams, 2 squamosas 1 derasa and 2 maximas. I'm would love to put in an order for a gigas from ORA.

are most of the corals wild?

A couple colonies came from walt smith when we first set up the aquarium (large brain, pachyseris and porites) 90% of the corals were aquaculted by other aquariums. Micth Carl from Omaha sent frags for probably 50% of all the coral in the aquarium. Monterey Bay Aquarium sent me quite a few also. And a few other came from donations by local reefers. Allot of the coarls in the aquarium are repeats of each other. Hopefully when we get more reef aquariums at SW we will try to diversify our speices a little better.

 

[onehundred20]

i think somone asked up top somewhere, is there any live rock in this system, I noticed when I was loooking I really didnt see any

 

[justinzimm]

Sorry, I forgot the live rock question. Yes, there is about 500-700lbs. of live rock that is covering a framework or milk crates. The milk crates allow for good water flow and don't trap detritus like dead base rock. If we didn't use them we would have need 2X the live rock.

 

[cwegescheide]

Hey Justin great job buddy. I was there about a year ago I'd say and the corals looked REALLY pale in compairison to what they do in these pictures. At the time I was there I didn't see any fish in the tank at all that I remember. Probably a reason why the coral didn't have that much color huh? Not feeding the tank? Anyways keep up the good work. Kinda sad the reef tanks are in the back of the gift shop!! You need to convince Sea World they need to have an exhibit just for a natural reef display. 86 Shammoo and fill that puppy up with LR and SPS! Thats what I say

Chris

 

[onehundred20]

i agree, they should have a nice reef exhibit...sucks its the only hidden in a store.

 

[REEF-DADDY]

I have a 12" Gigas, its yours if you can get it from CT to FL.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7849981#post7849981 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinzimm
Yes, it's a very fast grower in this aquarium.






Actually, there are 5 clams, 2 squamosas 1 derasa and 2 maximas. I'm would love to put in an order for a gigas from ORA.



A couple colonies came from walt smith when we first set up the aquarium (large brain, pachyseris and porites) 90% of the corals were aquaculted by other aquariums. Micth Carl from Omaha sent frags for probably 50% of all the coral in the aquarium. Monterey Bay Aquarium sent me quite a few also. And a few other came from donations by local reefers. Allot of the coarls in the aquarium are repeats of each other. Hopefully when we get more reef aquariums at SW we will try to diversify our speices a little better.

 

[justinzimm]

cwegescheide,

Some off the corals have been pretty pale in the past. Mostly during the Red-bug days and right after we had problems with our lights. As far as the amount of fish goes. We haven't added any new fish in the past couple years. In fact we lost a few anthias since then so we have fewer now.

Thanks for the offer reef-daddy! I'm sure if it get too big Mysitic or Atlantis Marine World would take it.
Justin

 

[onehundred20]

how does seaworld deal with adobtions like if I wanted to donate a large colony or a fish i need to get rid of?

 

[justinzimm]

Donations are rarely taken. It really depends on the case and what kind of fish is being donated. We usally don't take large things like nurse sharks, grouper, pacu, oscar etc. We stopped because people were useing us as an adoption service for fish that outgrow their tanks. Other thing may be if we have room and they have room in quarantine. If you want to PM me I can give you the number or e-mail of someone who could let you know for sure...

Justin

 

[onehundred20]

not really looking to get rid of anything but have thought about getting more reef friendly fish, lion fish and grouper keep me from having shrimp and stuff, but who cares about shrimp etc anyway lol

 

[SERVO]

Beautiful job Justin!!!!!

I'm sure that people around here love to hear about a beautiful tank that took more than a year to turn the corner.

Sometimes, we hear about the instant sucess with people that set up a system and after a year it looks 5 years old! Even with the best husbantry there is a little bit of art and luck.

I love the idea of you trying to diversify the corals that you have. I'm sure a system like that that needs prunning or gets inadvertantly prunned by the fish serves the local reef club well!!!