Possibility of a URS Club Tank @ Seneca Park Zoo

FSU3NOLES28

FSU3NOLES28

New member
This has been touched on in its own thread, but I wanted to make a new one just for talk about this specific area.

Apparently the tank there was started by the URS a number of years ago. Several vendors and members contributed alot of time and money into getting it up and running. Last I saw it (last summer) it needed quite a bit of work.

It'd be great if we could indeed work as a group to restore and maintain it. Obviously it'd be mostly for those of us in the Rochester area who do the contributions but it could be open to everyone in the URS.

Who all would be interested and knows they can provide the time into getting it back to where it should be?

I haven't approached them yet to talk specifics, I'm just trying to get a feeler out there to gauge interest.
 
I would be interested, but likely wouldn't be able to lead the charge. I think Mark (puter) is still somewhat involved in maintaining it. I'm not sure though - I think the zoo staff does most of it now. I would agree that it needs a bit of attention - it's full of aiptasia for one...
 
Perhaps we should contact Puter and inquire about it again.
See if the URS would even be allowed access. It still is a Zoo exhibit offically I believe.
Though it was "donated" through the URS.

For it to be a working hobby aspect for US to use as a tool to come together, the Zoo would have to "allow" URS members access to it without needing to pay zoo admission everytime, just to get to it. That is a key question to pose. If not, then it's not really going to be a true "club tank" which we can work on and add to- hobby wise.

General Maintenance: perhaps some of us whenever interested can stop by and do some. (Besides Zoo employees, which I have to assume would still do general weekly maintenance) But the main point was to be able to do "on-going" projects re scaping it and trying different corals etc.. That's the only way it's going to be a true "Club Tank".

Otherwise, it's just a tank the old group donated to the Zoo and is curently suffering, needing a re do.
 
I saw it last year and it was definitely an aiptasia farm. I was at the zoo two weeks ago and it was in very good shape. I was impressed with the turnaround.
 
DEEP BLUE SIX said:
Perhaps we should contact Puter and inquire about it again.
See if the URS would even be allowed access. It still is a Zoo exhibit offically I believe.
Though it was "donated" through the URS.

For it to be a working hobby aspect for US to use as a tool to come together, the Zoo would have to "allow" URS members access to it without needing to pay zoo admission everytime, just to get to it. That is a key question to pose. If not, then it's not really going to be a true "club tank" which we can work on and add to- hobby wise.

General Maintenance: perhaps some of us whenever interested can stop by and do some. (Besides Zoo employees, which I have to assume would still do general weekly maintenance) But the main point was to be able to do "on-going" projects re scaping it and trying different corals etc.. That's the only way it's going to be a true "Club Tank".

Otherwise, it's just a tank the old group donated to the Zoo and is curently suffering, needing a re do.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Lots of Questions to bring up to others who have worked on it and the zoo itself. If its going to be a big hassle just for us to work on it, I could see why some people would lose interest in it quickly.

Basically if this is going to be done, we need a list of people who are committed to contributing in one way or another and a place to do it. Ideally it would be a place where people can go and enjoy it whenever they would like to. Personally, I'd like to sit and relax and enjoy it after knowing I spent quite a bit of time on it. I'm not sure I can do that at the zoo like I would personally like to.

That's my take on it anyways. The reason I'm so interested in it is because I want to learn more about everything. I can only grasp so much by reading forums and websites. A lot of this IMO needs to be hands on. I'd like to work with people who have built systems and maintained them for 10-20 years. That IMO is the best way I can learn things. If it isn't justifiable then I understand, I just think this is a great way for younger reefers like myself to work with people who have been around longer and for us all to build something as a group.
 
Don't quote me but i believe that anything living in a zoo falls under the American Zoological Association and there are a ton of rules that must be followed which is why the club doesn't do any maintenance with the donated aquarium. I helped a lot years ago with the reptiles and remember there being a lot of red tape to maneuver around. This was also brought up at the zoo meet a few years ago.
 
Landolakes is right, the zoo wanted things like all snails to be counted, and the losts to be documented. I used to volunteer and clean the tank. There is a ton of red tape, it is run and controlled by the county and also has to fellow all the rules of AZA.
 
Not a problem to look elsewhere then.

I had a short tenative talk with G today about possibly doing one at his shop. He said he would consider it.

My points to him:

A. Just wanted to see if it was even an option on both ends.
B. What the guidelines should be if we were to go through with it.
C. What would be in the tank.
D. Perhaps we could each do a small section and have it be ours. I'd potentially purchase a coral from him, put it in my section of the tank and change it out when I want to by purchasing another. We would be responsible for upkeep on the tank and shall anything crash G would not be held responsible.

He's considering it but in the mean time how much serious interest would there really be through here?
 
jfl14609 said:
What would be the advantage to putting a urs tank in a lfs?
Click to expand...

It's obviously a place where we can enjoy it. The rest of the community could enjoy it too and maybe even decide to join the group. His lounge is a fantastic place to kick back.

It's in an area where it's easily accessible for many people to help keep up their end of the bargain not to mention its easy to enjoy it when you're heading to a lfs anyways.

Just a few points.

I'm not really sure where else we could have it so many people can enjoy it.
 
Last edited:
tagging along - I'm interested to see where this goes. I'm all about helping out and like the idea [caveat] I'm not not interested in helping with "red tape" affairs.
 
Here are a few concerns I would have. who is going to organize it all? then as we all know salt cost money dosing cost money bulbs cost money who pays for it if abc pays for it and g maintains it then its not a urs tank we would need to do all of that. and as soon as we ask for donations we would need a 503c I believe it is for tax purposes
 
jfl14609 said:
Here are a few concerns I would have. who is going to organize it all? then as we all know salt cost money dosing cost money bulbs cost money who pays for it if abc pays for it and g maintains it then its not a urs tank we would need to do all of that. and as soon as we ask for donations we would need a 503c I believe it is for tax purposes
Click to expand...

If there is enough interest there is no reason all of us chipping in can't make it happen. G sells salt for $50, we can probably come up with the needed equipment at a decent cost. It's not going to be free by any means, but if there was enough interest in it, there is no reason we can't make it happen.

I guess my main question to all of you guys is...

How committed if at all are you towards making this happen and sticking with it to keep it successful?

As I said G is considering it. If there isn't a ton of support from our group, then it shouldn't even be an option. I really don't want this to end up being 1 person maintaining this and running it. If there is enough interest we can pursue it, if not we can scratch it.

All the other specifics I agree we need to discuss; some between us before we goto G with specifics and obviously other things after we talk to him.
 
I think a tank would be a nice thing to do down the road there is too much involved with it. I also think a more neutral location should be considered maybe a kids hospital daycare school so many places were the tank could be used to teach people about reefkeeping. I think a store really isnt the right place for it. nothing against g at all but if its at a store I am really no into it. For some reason it doesnt make sence to me.
 
I guess i Was thinking more towards where us setting it up and we can enjoy it ourselves. I understand the reasoning behind a childrens hospital or something but to me it wouldn't really be enjoyed by us as much. Lots of other.people would get enjoyment out of it, but I'm not sure we would really get to enjoy it.

What about a library?
 
This is a good idea. Looking at this as a club member I can see the benefits and possibilities a community aquarium could bring us. Location is very important and objectively thinking about there are pros to having it at our shop. However there are cons, some of them are by no means minor and need to be addressed. Having said this I am personally not the store manager, my father Aleks is. He would be deciding what is being put up at the store and what terms. So if the club is interested in having it located at the shop, please figure out what it will entail and we can approach him about it. He doesn't read this forum and is out of the loop on most of this.
Having the aquarium set up in a public space would not only make it easy for the club to access it but also will bring new hobbyists into the reef aquarium hobby and the club itself.
My suggestion is to go slow. No need to jump into collaborative projects without having a member base that can work together and gets along. How about doing some planning. Maybe even begin planning the community tank on paper. Spending the time to research different aspects and drawing up plans. This could keep many folks interested and busy. Even break into teams of lighting, filtration, rock scape. People would have a choice to take part in all or some of the groups. This could be the test to see how club members can work together, give time to raise funds and figure out the location.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
filter roller install help
Replies
3
Views
360
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
Radicaljbr
ID?
Replies
2
Views
319
Reefing102
Reefing102
Brian60077
Big project starting today......
Replies
7
Views
445
Dustin07
D
adova
300g DIY Acrylic Tank Recommendations
Replies
5
Views
342
griss
griss
S
Where to get a new aquarium?
Replies
10
Views
581
alton
alton
Back
Top