Update on our school reef projects:
Our 20 gallon mushroom reef has a breeding pair of clownfish now. I was able to harvest about 20 fry last week, we have one remaining baby left who is not 7 or 8 days old. We'll see how it goes. I added a tile for the clowns to lay on, so hopefully they will take to it and lay more clutches after winter break.
I started a rotifer culture to feed the baby clowns, along with using reef stew to get me started. The rotifer culture is alive after a week, only about 40 rotifers per mL right now. Hopefully that will increase in the next few weeks with proper feeding, cleaning and harvesting.
Our other 20 gallon mixed reef is doing well. Oddly enough, our six line wrasse jumped out after 18 months last week. Other than that the tank looks great with xenia, mushrooms, candycanes, zoas and palys, toadstool, gsp, cloves, etc.
Our 29 gallon is doing well, it currently houses a yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp, a coral beauty, and a starry blenny (being observed before moving to the big tank). A little bit of gsp and a cabbage coral round out the 29g tank.
Our 40g is bursting with gsp, there isn't much else by way of coral. Perhaps a few mushrooms and some polyps. It houses a black and white clown, a springers damsel and a young yellow eye kole tang who is being observed before moving him to the 150g.
Unfortunately, our biocube resident, an hippocampus erectus, recently came down with internal gas bubble disease and passed away. We are going to research causes and consider if we want to try seahorses again. We are able to keep the tank between 72 and 74 degrees but water quality in a biocube is somewhat difficult to keep perfect.
In the hallway outside my classroom we have our new 150g mixed reef aquarium. The tank was custom built and donated by Titan Aquatic Exhibits. The sump and skimmer were built and donated by Reef Dynamics. The stand was built and powder coated by B&B Enterprises. All local companies.
The tank currently houses anthias, a tang, chromis, a pair of snowflakes (donated by the always generous Bob Reef Stew) a conch, a sea hare, gsp, xenia, frogspawn and polyps. This will be a mixed tank with soft and LPS corals. I do not think we will venture into SPS this year. We may later add a bubble tip anemone and mandarins when the tank is well established.
We are currently open to any coral frag donations (probably not difficult sps) and possibly fish if they meet our stocking plans. Discount Aquarium (Chris Kline) offers us a significant discount on livestock so the fish we purchase usually happens there. They also donated the first 150g of premixed saltwater.
It is now december and the last month you can make financial donations to any non-profit for write-offs on next year's taxes. If you would like to, you can donate up to $250 per person or $400 for a married couple to our school marine science club. You will get every dollar back on your state taxes in April.
We have also received donations from Instant Ocean, AlgaeBarn, Algagen, Shark Reef (300gpd RODI system), Hydor, Reef Rocks, CaribSea, Marineland, Reef Breeders (SuperLux LEDs and RW8 wavemakers), Hagen/Fluval (SP4), and hopefully I'm not forgetting too many others.
I will post picture updates as I take them and get them online.
Thank you to everyone who has donated frags in the past, most are doing well with very few coral fatalities.
Our 20 gallon mushroom reef has a breeding pair of clownfish now. I was able to harvest about 20 fry last week, we have one remaining baby left who is not 7 or 8 days old. We'll see how it goes. I added a tile for the clowns to lay on, so hopefully they will take to it and lay more clutches after winter break.
I started a rotifer culture to feed the baby clowns, along with using reef stew to get me started. The rotifer culture is alive after a week, only about 40 rotifers per mL right now. Hopefully that will increase in the next few weeks with proper feeding, cleaning and harvesting.
Our other 20 gallon mixed reef is doing well. Oddly enough, our six line wrasse jumped out after 18 months last week. Other than that the tank looks great with xenia, mushrooms, candycanes, zoas and palys, toadstool, gsp, cloves, etc.
Our 29 gallon is doing well, it currently houses a yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp, a coral beauty, and a starry blenny (being observed before moving to the big tank). A little bit of gsp and a cabbage coral round out the 29g tank.
Our 40g is bursting with gsp, there isn't much else by way of coral. Perhaps a few mushrooms and some polyps. It houses a black and white clown, a springers damsel and a young yellow eye kole tang who is being observed before moving him to the 150g.
Unfortunately, our biocube resident, an hippocampus erectus, recently came down with internal gas bubble disease and passed away. We are going to research causes and consider if we want to try seahorses again. We are able to keep the tank between 72 and 74 degrees but water quality in a biocube is somewhat difficult to keep perfect.
In the hallway outside my classroom we have our new 150g mixed reef aquarium. The tank was custom built and donated by Titan Aquatic Exhibits. The sump and skimmer were built and donated by Reef Dynamics. The stand was built and powder coated by B&B Enterprises. All local companies.
The tank currently houses anthias, a tang, chromis, a pair of snowflakes (donated by the always generous Bob Reef Stew) a conch, a sea hare, gsp, xenia, frogspawn and polyps. This will be a mixed tank with soft and LPS corals. I do not think we will venture into SPS this year. We may later add a bubble tip anemone and mandarins when the tank is well established.
We are currently open to any coral frag donations (probably not difficult sps) and possibly fish if they meet our stocking plans. Discount Aquarium (Chris Kline) offers us a significant discount on livestock so the fish we purchase usually happens there. They also donated the first 150g of premixed saltwater.
It is now december and the last month you can make financial donations to any non-profit for write-offs on next year's taxes. If you would like to, you can donate up to $250 per person or $400 for a married couple to our school marine science club. You will get every dollar back on your state taxes in April.
We have also received donations from Instant Ocean, AlgaeBarn, Algagen, Shark Reef (300gpd RODI system), Hydor, Reef Rocks, CaribSea, Marineland, Reef Breeders (SuperLux LEDs and RW8 wavemakers), Hagen/Fluval (SP4), and hopefully I'm not forgetting too many others.
I will post picture updates as I take them and get them online.
Thank you to everyone who has donated frags in the past, most are doing well with very few coral fatalities.
