The whale sharks are the kings of the 6-million-gallon tank, their presence palpable even before they emerge from the murky darkness like massive star cruisers in a science fiction film.
Once visitors to the new Georgia Aquarium have seen Ralph and Norton - the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia - they'll still have at least 99,998 more fish to go.
When the aquarium, bankrolled almost exclusively by a $200 million gift from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, opens Nov. 23, it will officially become the world's largest by virtually all major standards.
It's expected to attract as many as 2 million visitors in its first year with what its creators say will be a one-of-a-kind take on fish tanks.
"It's going to be the most unique aquarium in the world," said Marcus, 76. "I don't want to say the best. (Status as) the best will come after people view it and decide."
The 500,000-square-foot aquarium, shaped like an abstract cruise ship looming over downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, will boast enough superlatives to give it more than a fighting chance at that designation.
It will hold 8 million gallons of water and be home to more than 100,000 fish. By comparison, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago - the nation's largest indoor aquarium for decades - has 5 million gallons and about 20,000 fish.
The Atlanta aquarium's pair of juvenile whale sharks, which could grow to more than 40 feet long, will give visitors a rare glimpse at the world's largest fish.
Also featured will be five beluga whales, two of them rescued from an amusement park in Mexico, that will take up residence in an 800,000-gallon tank.
"We're very much looking forward to it and we're expecting big things," said Kristin Vehrs, interim executive director of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. "We know they are going to be doing state-of-the-art things at that aquarium."
The unusual fish on display, presentations that will include computer-generated images, spotlights and music, and the sheer size of the project have aquarium officials around the world buzzing - and jealous, Vehrs said.
The aquarium will include a wide array of saltwater and freshwater fish, including some from Georgia's waters. It will have a separate "education loop," with its own faculty and a curriculum crafted with state education officials.
And it will be more than just a huge aquarium. There's a 4-D movie theater, which shows movies with 3-D animation and other special effects, and a banquet hall that can serve a sit-down dinner for 1,100 people - catered by a company owned by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
"Very early on, we even contemplated not calling it an aquarium," said director Jeff Swanagan, who has worked with Marcus the past four years after leaving the Florida Aquarium. "We really spent some time trying to think maybe there's a different word for what we are."
For Marcus, who made billions after co-founding Home Depot in 1979 with now-Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank Jr. and who remains the company's largest stockholder, the aquarium is a $200 million "thank you" note to the city of Atlanta and state of Georgia.
"When we came here, the people were just phenomenal," said Marcus, who was a top executive with Los Angeles-based Handy Dan Improvement Centers before being fired in 1978 after a run-in with his boss. "I have what I have today because of the people in this state."
The aquarium will be the centerpiece of a downtown Atlanta revival that is aimed at drawing millions more visitors to the Southern city each year. Already neighboring Centennial Olympic Park and across the street from CNN Center and the Georgia Dome, the aquarium will be joined in 2007 by a new World of Coca-Cola museum next door. The city also is a finalist for NASCAR's hall of fame that would be located in what is now a parking lot neighboring the other attractions.
Listed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as one of the nation's largest charitable donors, Marcus says his Jewish faith teaches that those who have enjoyed financial fortune should give back to their community.
"This is a legacy my family can leave to the state," said Marcus, who initially planned to be the sole sponsor, but eventually took on corporate sponsors to expand the aquarium's offerings even further.
Plus, he said: "This is a lot more meaningful to me than a yacht."
Response to the aquarium has been largely positive, with more than 40,000 annual passes sold - 8,000 on the first day they were available.
But the project has been involved, at least tangentially, in some controversies.
Marcus became part of an emotional fight over an Atlanta ordinance banning panhandling in downtown's tourism district when he wrote a letter in support of the plan. Advocates for the homeless called the plan, which was approved in September, discriminatory.
A handful of animal rights groups protested the aquarium's plan to display whale sharks, saying the giant animals are more likely to die young in captivity. Aquarium officials, and some independent biologists, say those fears are based on old statistics and note that the aquarium's whale sharks were destined to become seafood when they were acquired.
And some Atlanta-area residents are complaining about the ticket prices and the aquarium's refusal, at least initially, to offer a family pass. For a family of five, the cost of individual annual passes will be nearly $250, while one-day general admission would run $137.50.
Planners say visitors will consider the price a bargain when they see what's in store for them.
Marcus, a man who knows something about successful ventures, said he knew Home Depot would take off when he learned customers were driving nearly two hours from Athens to his first store in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta.
He'll use a similar, if somewhat expanded standard, to determine whether his aquarium is a success.
"I'll know it's successful when we find out people are coming from all over the United States and groups are coming from other countries," he said. "When we see them coming here, then we'll know we were right."
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AT A GLANCE
Opening date: Nov. 23
Gallons of water: About 8 million
Number of fish: About 100,000
Size of building: 500,000 square feet
Price tag: More than $200 million
Benefactors: Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus bankrolled the overwhelming majority of the project; corporate sponsors were invited late in the process and spent millions more
Location: 225 Baker St. in downtown Atlanta, beside Centennial Olympic Park and near CNN Center and, in 2007, the new World of Coca-Cola museum
Hours of operation: Sunday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
General admission (includes tax): $22.75 for people ages 13 to 54, $17 for children ages 3 to 12, $19.50 for senior citizens 55 and older
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WHAT YOU'LL FIND
Some of the fish and other animals that will be on display at the Georgia Aquarium (Organizers have not disclosed all the species that will be among the more than 100,000 fish in the aquarium):
Two whale sharks, the world's largest fish
Five beluga whales
Arapaima, the world's largest freshwater fish
Giant Pacific octopus
Sea otters
Giant groupers
White spotted guitarfish
Sea turtles
Stingrays
Hammerhead sharks
Seahorses
Yellow-head jawfish
Piranha
Electric eel
Asian small-clawed otters
California sea lions
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