schoolreefer
In Memoriam
problem solved 
NCPARS School Tank
- Thread starter rickyfins
- Start date
Brent,
As you are located within my school district, I just might do that.
I teach at Bloomsburg High School and help with the tank that is currently in Biology teacher Jim Perry's classroom. We have a 120 set up. You can see pictures of it on the NCPARS website.
I just saw where you were located this past weekend on my way to Shamokin Dam. I knew what road you were on but was never able to find the store from the road while driving. My husband pointed it out to me. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop in that day, but we hope to in the near future.
Good luck on your new endeavor. You just might want to put a sign up by the entrance off of Rte. 11 for those visually impaired customers such as me. I passed by there at least six times since learning there was a store somewhere in that area and still needed assistance to see it.
As you are located within my school district, I just might do that.
I teach at Bloomsburg High School and help with the tank that is currently in Biology teacher Jim Perry's classroom. We have a 120 set up. You can see pictures of it on the NCPARS website.
I just saw where you were located this past weekend on my way to Shamokin Dam. I knew what road you were on but was never able to find the store from the road while driving. My husband pointed it out to me. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop in that day, but we hope to in the near future.
Good luck on your new endeavor. You just might want to put a sign up by the entrance off of Rte. 11 for those visually impaired customers such as me.
I passed by there at least six times since learning there was a store somewhere in that area and still needed assistance to see it.Mid Valley School Tank
Mid Valley School Tank
I'm a biology teacher and I run a tank at Mid Valley High School, in Throop ( near Scranton). I was able to get a pretty good setup donated to us by a local person. We have a 120 gal glass tank, about 150 lbs rock, Hamilton MH lighting fixture. Remora pro skimmer, refugium, etc. I currently run an eheim canister filter but am looking to get a sump going this summer. Our school agreed to budget about 500 dollars for the sump, but i could use some help choosing the equipment and advice on setting it up. We also could use some livestock donations if anyone is willing. A few people (including regalauto) donated some coral frags at the thatfishplace swap, thanks again and most of it is doing well. The tank was donated already setup and had a bit of a cyano problem since then. I have never been able to totally fix it. We have a spectra pure RODI system and i was doing weekly water changes. I've fallen a little behind lately, my wife an I just had our first child a few weeks ago. I could use some help cleaning up the cyano and getting some coral going if anyone is interested. I will be off for the summer next week and plan on working on the tank this summer.
Mid Valley School Tank
I'm a biology teacher and I run a tank at Mid Valley High School, in Throop ( near Scranton). I was able to get a pretty good setup donated to us by a local person. We have a 120 gal glass tank, about 150 lbs rock, Hamilton MH lighting fixture. Remora pro skimmer, refugium, etc. I currently run an eheim canister filter but am looking to get a sump going this summer. Our school agreed to budget about 500 dollars for the sump, but i could use some help choosing the equipment and advice on setting it up. We also could use some livestock donations if anyone is willing. A few people (including regalauto) donated some coral frags at the thatfishplace swap, thanks again and most of it is doing well. The tank was donated already setup and had a bit of a cyano problem since then. I have never been able to totally fix it. We have a spectra pure RODI system and i was doing weekly water changes. I've fallen a little behind lately, my wife an I just had our first child a few weeks ago. I could use some help cleaning up the cyano and getting some coral going if anyone is interested. I will be off for the summer next week and plan on working on the tank this summer.
rigleautomotive
Premium Member
I can donate some corals when you are ready.i have some giant feathery anethelia and some other soft corals i will give you.Todd over at something fishy had a used sump sitting outside his place today and it would suffice for your tank.I dont know how much he was asking but i am sure it will be less then i can build you one for.wish i had time to physically to help out but my plate is full and over flowing at the moment,but i can give you direction if needed
rigleautomotive
Premium Member
sure any time,glad to help
Unfortunately the Bloom High tank project suffered a huge loss this past week. A janitor, who was truly trying to be helpful, set up a float system. Over this past weekend the system failed and the tank was inundated with fresh R/O water. The salinity plummeted and we lost nearly all of our coral. The fish survived unscathed (as fish often do), but almost all the coral is gone.
It was a sad sight to see. One leather coral was absolutely black, while most coral was just gone. The smell in the science room was putrid. After several water changes, the bio teacher has the tank smelling better and the parameters back on the way towards normal. I'm just bummed we lost all that coral. Even the giant anemones seem to have disappeared. The only thing good that came out of it was that we had a small flatworm problem in the one corner that I was concerned about that has also disappeared.
I have several large pink anemones with green tips that I plan on taking into the tank when it is established, but I currently don't have any extra roses. Hopefully mine will split in the near future as that was a favorite of the kids.
There are a couple of small leathers that are probably from the one large leather Sanjay donated that look like they may have survived. Hopefully there are more survivors, but we're just not seeing it right now.
It was a sad sight to see. One leather coral was absolutely black, while most coral was just gone. The smell in the science room was putrid. After several water changes, the bio teacher has the tank smelling better and the parameters back on the way towards normal. I'm just bummed we lost all that coral. Even the giant anemones seem to have disappeared. The only thing good that came out of it was that we had a small flatworm problem in the one corner that I was concerned about that has also disappeared.
I have several large pink anemones with green tips that I plan on taking into the tank when it is established, but I currently don't have any extra roses. Hopefully mine will split in the near future as that was a favorite of the kids.
There are a couple of small leathers that are probably from the one large leather Sanjay donated that look like they may have survived. Hopefully there are more survivors, but we're just not seeing it right now.
insanefishguy
New member
Sorry to hear about you loss. Keep your eyes open though, you may be surprised at what starts growing back. I have some leathers and sinularias I can donate when you are ready.
Thanks for the offer Joe. We'll probably be taking you up on that as I don't have a bunch of extras in that department in my home tank to donate.
I was hoping the anemones just found a good hiding place and are all shriveled up...I guess we'll see if that is true. Hopefully it will stable out with the water changes and we can put some life back in it soon. It's just such a downer.
I was hoping the anemones just found a good hiding place and are all shriveled up...I guess we'll see if that is true. Hopefully it will stable out with the water changes and we can put some life back in it soon. It's just such a downer.
Sanjay,
Thanks so much for your offer. I'm so bummed we lost the leathers we got from you. They were my favorite thing in the tank since the BTAs were all something I already had. I think a few little ones survived, but we'll have to wait to see if they make it.
The janitor hooked up an every day toilet float...you know, like you have in the tank of your commode. He had it set so that it would turn on the R/O water if the sump dropped below a certain point. It worked, from what I'm told, for about a week before the "incident" occurred. The float stuck (not uncommon as I've had that in my own commode, but it has only lead to a waste of water). It left the R/O water running into the sump for an undetermined amount of time sometime over the weekend when nobody was in the school. When the teacher found the tank on Monday morning, there was water all over the floor and the tank was looking stark, with the exception of the fish and a few obviously tough little corals that were all shriveled up.
The janitor meant well and the Science teacher didn't think it was a bad idea, so he never told Tim and I that it was done. He thought it would save him from overflowing the tank (which he has done a few times, but not of this magnitude) when he used the R/O system to run water into the sump due to evaporation and then forgot to shut it off. We learned off it only after the Science teacher held it up out of his lab sink and said, "I think this was the culprit." That cheap solution cost us hundreds of dollars worth of coral...ARRGHHH!!! Totally frustrating, but I know they both meant well. It's just that they didn't know any better.
Thanks so much for your offer. I'm so bummed we lost the leathers we got from you. They were my favorite thing in the tank since the BTAs were all something I already had. I think a few little ones survived, but we'll have to wait to see if they make it.
The janitor hooked up an every day toilet float...you know, like you have in the tank of your commode. He had it set so that it would turn on the R/O water if the sump dropped below a certain point. It worked, from what I'm told, for about a week before the "incident" occurred. The float stuck (not uncommon as I've had that in my own commode, but it has only lead to a waste of water). It left the R/O water running into the sump for an undetermined amount of time sometime over the weekend when nobody was in the school. When the teacher found the tank on Monday morning, there was water all over the floor and the tank was looking stark, with the exception of the fish and a few obviously tough little corals that were all shriveled up.
The janitor meant well and the Science teacher didn't think it was a bad idea, so he never told Tim and I that it was done. He thought it would save him from overflowing the tank (which he has done a few times, but not of this magnitude) when he used the R/O system to run water into the sump due to evaporation and then forgot to shut it off. We learned off it only after the Science teacher held it up out of his lab sink and said, "I think this was the culprit." That cheap solution cost us hundreds of dollars worth of coral...ARRGHHH!!! Totally frustrating, but I know they both meant well. It's just that they didn't know any better.
Report on the Blue Mountain Middle School Tank - A sad story
I'm sorry to report that the Blue Mountain Middle School Tank is no more. It's been a sad story since about one month after we helped revamp the tank in the spring of 2008. The primary teacher behind the project, Jill Kerstetter, initially set the tank up as a project for the gifted students at the Middle school. Mrs. Kerstetter is the gifted coordinator for the Middle school.
Before we got involved, she started out by buying a very old, not-designed-for-salt water system from an LFS, She was trying to run a fish only tank with dead coral and plastic stuff. The LFS had sold her two very large, very ugly (sorry staff!) damsels to "condition" the tank.
We tried to help her by re-doing the tank with live sand, live rock, an automatic top-off system, a sump, better lighting with a custom-built hood. Carl Cattau from our club did most of the work. He and I donated most of the equipment, and this club donated two Koralia pumps and the lights.
We then received numerous corals donated from the spring 2008 frag swap which we added to the tank. It looked fantastic!
The tank looked great for a few months, but over the summer it was clear that the tank was not being properly maintained. We received several calls from Mrs. Kerstetter that the tank was overflowing - and when we went in to help, it was because the proper water level was not being maintained in the top-off container. Carl would reset the system and then it would happen again. Mrs. Kerstetter would call to get help, but never actually came in to the school when Carl went in, either to help Carl or have him show her why this was happening.
Also, when we redid the tank, Carl took the one remaining very large, very ugly (sorry school staff!) damsel that was systematically killing every other new fish in the tank. (Thanks LFS!) He kept it in his sump for about 5 months, waiting for the school to build a table next to the main tank where the fish could be kept separately. Carl donated the tank and equipment to keep the fish in, once the stand was finally available.
When school started in the fall of 2008, it was clear that there was no effort by the students or Mrs. Kerstetter in properly taking care of the tank. They put in a few fish but the fish died. Again, the top off water was not being maintained.
When I saw Mrs. Kerstetter at "back to school night", she immediately brought up the fish tank as I had been trying to get in touch with her about the students coming to one of our swaps, or posting on our forums. she made an excuse about the care of the tank, complaining that the school had put a freeze on all expenses and that she could not buy top-off water or anything for the tank. When I asked her if her students could post on our reef central forum or Website about the tank, she said they had tried but could not log on. I went home and tried to get them help with the webmaster but ultimately I wonder if they ever even bothered. I mean, how hard is it to put a post? Not hard at all.
Over the past year, Carl and I have had to decline donated corals for the school's tank because we knew it would just die.
At the end of the school year, in June of 2009, I got a phone call from Mrs. Kerstetter telling us that the tank was going to be taken down and wanting our help. I called her back and gave her Carl's work schedule and asked her to contact us and to set up a time we could go in and help her. Also Carl emailed her at least twice, as recently as this past Monday. She never contacted us.
Yesterday I happened to go into the Middle school on another matter and found Mrs. Kerstetter tearing down the system, with the principal standing there and watching, saying nothing. The tank was empty except for water and sand. I asked her where the live rock was that Carl and I had donated. I told her we had someone we wanted to give it to. She said she didn't know, but then "found" some in another room. She asked that I come back at 3:15 to pick up the donated items. Neither she nor the principal offered to be there at 4:15 when I told them that Carl worked until 4PM and couldn't get there before that.
She made it clear that it was our fault that the overflowing system was the reason the tank was being dismantled, that she had tried and could not fix the problem because she did not understand how the system was set up.
Carl ended up taking off an hour of work and we came at 3:15 and picked up the items. Everything was there except for the live rock we had donated, and Carl had donated some beautiful Tonga finger rock. The rock they had in a bucket was some base rock which was white and clearly had never been in a tank.
The true keepers of the tank were the wonderful office ladies (the tank was in the school's main office) and they are truly sad to see the tank go. They were the ones who fed the fish every day and tried to keep it going. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place because it wasn't their tank, and they were never shown how to operate it, which we would have been more than happy to do if someone would have asked us.
Their beloved damsel "Tiki" died this spring and they have it buried out front under a tree.
We have the lights and the two Koralia pumps that the club donated and we will get those back to the club. As far as the donated corals, most died and we assume any that were still alive in June were given away by Mrs. Kerstetter along with the remaining two fish and live rock.
The end result is that we wasted our time because the teacher, Mrs. Kerstetter, was not fully committed to taking care of the tank and having the students take care of it, which was her job. She never asked us to come in to show her how to operate the tank or to show the office staff how to operate it. Every time we came in to the school we watched the slow demise of the tank due to lack of care. Eventually everything was covered with a black cyano algae.
In addition, the school set a bad example on the care of live animals and also made it appear to everyone that a salt water tank is too difficult to take care of. Mrs. Kerstetter plans to now use the tank for a fresh water system, but if it receives the same lack of care the salt water system did, the result will be the same.
Despite our many invitations, neither she nor her students ever posted about the tank or attended any of our club swaps. Because of the poor condition of the system, we eventually asked them to take down the "thank you" posters they had made for us and our club which they displayed around the tank because we didn't want the club associated with this system.
The moral of the story is, no matter how much you want to help a school out with a salt water tank, or how much you want to share your knowledge to students, the teacher you have to work with must be dedicated for the right reasons and committed to making sure the tank is properly cared for 365 days a year. They must be capable of understanding the basic maintenance needs of the set-up and also be capable of delegating those tasks when they are not able to do it themselves. A control-oriented person who is too busy to even have time to meet with the students who are "supposed" to be taking care of the tank is not a good sign of things to come.
I'm sorry to report that the Blue Mountain Middle School Tank is no more. It's been a sad story since about one month after we helped revamp the tank in the spring of 2008. The primary teacher behind the project, Jill Kerstetter, initially set the tank up as a project for the gifted students at the Middle school. Mrs. Kerstetter is the gifted coordinator for the Middle school.
Before we got involved, she started out by buying a very old, not-designed-for-salt water system from an LFS, She was trying to run a fish only tank with dead coral and plastic stuff. The LFS had sold her two very large, very ugly (sorry staff!) damsels to "condition" the tank.
We tried to help her by re-doing the tank with live sand, live rock, an automatic top-off system, a sump, better lighting with a custom-built hood. Carl Cattau from our club did most of the work. He and I donated most of the equipment, and this club donated two Koralia pumps and the lights.
We then received numerous corals donated from the spring 2008 frag swap which we added to the tank. It looked fantastic!
The tank looked great for a few months, but over the summer it was clear that the tank was not being properly maintained. We received several calls from Mrs. Kerstetter that the tank was overflowing - and when we went in to help, it was because the proper water level was not being maintained in the top-off container. Carl would reset the system and then it would happen again. Mrs. Kerstetter would call to get help, but never actually came in to the school when Carl went in, either to help Carl or have him show her why this was happening.
Also, when we redid the tank, Carl took the one remaining very large, very ugly (sorry school staff!) damsel that was systematically killing every other new fish in the tank. (Thanks LFS!) He kept it in his sump for about 5 months, waiting for the school to build a table next to the main tank where the fish could be kept separately. Carl donated the tank and equipment to keep the fish in, once the stand was finally available.
When school started in the fall of 2008, it was clear that there was no effort by the students or Mrs. Kerstetter in properly taking care of the tank. They put in a few fish but the fish died. Again, the top off water was not being maintained.
When I saw Mrs. Kerstetter at "back to school night", she immediately brought up the fish tank as I had been trying to get in touch with her about the students coming to one of our swaps, or posting on our forums. she made an excuse about the care of the tank, complaining that the school had put a freeze on all expenses and that she could not buy top-off water or anything for the tank. When I asked her if her students could post on our reef central forum or Website about the tank, she said they had tried but could not log on. I went home and tried to get them help with the webmaster but ultimately I wonder if they ever even bothered. I mean, how hard is it to put a post? Not hard at all.
Over the past year, Carl and I have had to decline donated corals for the school's tank because we knew it would just die.
At the end of the school year, in June of 2009, I got a phone call from Mrs. Kerstetter telling us that the tank was going to be taken down and wanting our help. I called her back and gave her Carl's work schedule and asked her to contact us and to set up a time we could go in and help her. Also Carl emailed her at least twice, as recently as this past Monday. She never contacted us.
Yesterday I happened to go into the Middle school on another matter and found Mrs. Kerstetter tearing down the system, with the principal standing there and watching, saying nothing. The tank was empty except for water and sand. I asked her where the live rock was that Carl and I had donated. I told her we had someone we wanted to give it to. She said she didn't know, but then "found" some in another room. She asked that I come back at 3:15 to pick up the donated items. Neither she nor the principal offered to be there at 4:15 when I told them that Carl worked until 4PM and couldn't get there before that.
She made it clear that it was our fault that the overflowing system was the reason the tank was being dismantled, that she had tried and could not fix the problem because she did not understand how the system was set up.
Carl ended up taking off an hour of work and we came at 3:15 and picked up the items. Everything was there except for the live rock we had donated, and Carl had donated some beautiful Tonga finger rock. The rock they had in a bucket was some base rock which was white and clearly had never been in a tank.
The true keepers of the tank were the wonderful office ladies (the tank was in the school's main office) and they are truly sad to see the tank go. They were the ones who fed the fish every day and tried to keep it going. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place because it wasn't their tank, and they were never shown how to operate it, which we would have been more than happy to do if someone would have asked us.
Their beloved damsel "Tiki" died this spring and they have it buried out front under a tree.
We have the lights and the two Koralia pumps that the club donated and we will get those back to the club. As far as the donated corals, most died and we assume any that were still alive in June were given away by Mrs. Kerstetter along with the remaining two fish and live rock.
The end result is that we wasted our time because the teacher, Mrs. Kerstetter, was not fully committed to taking care of the tank and having the students take care of it, which was her job. She never asked us to come in to show her how to operate the tank or to show the office staff how to operate it. Every time we came in to the school we watched the slow demise of the tank due to lack of care. Eventually everything was covered with a black cyano algae.
In addition, the school set a bad example on the care of live animals and also made it appear to everyone that a salt water tank is too difficult to take care of. Mrs. Kerstetter plans to now use the tank for a fresh water system, but if it receives the same lack of care the salt water system did, the result will be the same.
Despite our many invitations, neither she nor her students ever posted about the tank or attended any of our club swaps. Because of the poor condition of the system, we eventually asked them to take down the "thank you" posters they had made for us and our club which they displayed around the tank because we didn't want the club associated with this system.
The moral of the story is, no matter how much you want to help a school out with a salt water tank, or how much you want to share your knowledge to students, the teacher you have to work with must be dedicated for the right reasons and committed to making sure the tank is properly cared for 365 days a year. They must be capable of understanding the basic maintenance needs of the set-up and also be capable of delegating those tasks when they are not able to do it themselves. A control-oriented person who is too busy to even have time to meet with the students who are "supposed" to be taking care of the tank is not a good sign of things to come.
Last edited:
insanefishguy
New member
That is REALLY disheartening! Sorry Mary and Carl
insanefishguy
New member
Murph, how is that tank coming around? Are you ready for some donations yet?
