Science teacher looking for advice

[jasagona]

Hi I am a middle school science teacher in Celebration. I am trying to start up a saltwater tank in my class. I am finding that it is much more work and money than I though.

I have a 55 gal tank and nothing else. I have $500. I have figured out that I need to go looking for grants, fundraisers, and hopefully donations.

I see that many of you are selling things. I will even buy a larger tank if it has all of the equipment that I need.

I am also looking for advice. Anything that you have is greatly appriciated. Please checkout my postings called something like science teacher and new tank.

Also if anyone is interested in coming and being a guest speaker for my classes that would be wonderful.

For those of you who have contacted me, thank you. And I will get in touch with you. I am the middle of progress report cram time. But I check my postings and emails several times a day.

Thank you for all of your support!

jasagona

 

[leatherman]

u have pm

 

[Harmsway]

I just read your thread over in the general Interest forum.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=657947&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

You may not have much knowlege or money to start with but you did get off on the right foot by coming to reefcentral. So far you have been given wonderful advise in that thread and your chances to succeed are high.

But you need to know some of the post are coming from people who spend a substantial amount of money on coral. Aquariums with coral in them are referred to as "Reef Tanks" and of course if that's what you wanted then you too would need to spend a substantial amount on equipment to sustain such coral. That is not at all necessary though for what you are looking for.

The most educational aquarium would be one with lots of critters from live rock. Poster dwculp recommended the TBS package. I would agree.

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/

These live rock tanks are truly "reef tanks" as well, they just don't have the expesive corals. Later you can add corals if you wish. My own tank ( 120 gal ) is stock full of corals that I didn't pay anything for. Some are from friends and some are from collecting in the Keys. The easiest corals to keep are the ones that are still legal to collect in Florida.

Personally I've collected all along the Florida coast and in the Keys. If you need information on what can be collected, where to find them, how to catch them, and how to safely bring them home, I can help.

BTW: I have a Marine Biology degree from Florida Institue of Technology and am currently working at Kennedy Space Center in an environmental office.

Also I start my tank out on less then $500. But I cheated on the live sand, live rock and lights. Here's how.

Live Sand
I got aragonite sand from the Ship yard. A mere $15 got me 1500 pounds of sand. Split this with freinds. I'm not sure this is possible anymore. I then seeded the sand with a little live sand from the keys. Although live rock will seed it as well.

Live Rock
I purchased coral rock from a local land scaping and rock dealer. The rock is only 10 cents a pound but it is dead of course. I used that as a reef base and add an affordable amount of live rock to it. Got a small chunck of coraline rock from a friend. Coraline is the purple/pink calcarous encrusting algea that looks pretty and out competes the other unsightly aglea when nutrients are low.

Lights
I purchased the standard 48 inch flourecent fixture ( Shop Lamp ) for $6. Place in it the expesive blue bulb you get at the Fish Store for around $30. Along side that use Phillips daylight bulb. Daylight bulbs ( 6500 K ) run for around six bucks for two of them at Home Depot.

That's how I started out on the cheap. Currently I upgraded my lights to T-5s for all the coral I have now.

The most important thing for you now is to study up on the nitrogen cycle. Get a complete grasp on how nutrients effect ecosystems.

This whole topic is an environmental one that every school student should understand. For example Rain Forest are important to the environment becuase they provide a nutrient sink. In the same way, yet closer to home, the Florida Everglades provide the same nutrient sink for the Florida Keys. If we lose the Florida Everglades we lose Florida's coral reefs. We already see trouble with nutrients flowing out of water systems below Lake Okeechobee.

Anyway much success
Gene

 

[Harmsway]

To continue on....

Nutrients are the key to make or break a reef aquarium. If your tank turns into a slimy green algae bucket it's because you have an abundance of nutrients. A crystal clear aquarium, that is healthy but not sterile, can only be maintained with extremely low nutrient levels. That's where corals can thrive. All nutrients are tied up within the corals symbiotic algae and not in the water column. The trick of the trade is learning the fine art of maintaining low nutrient levels while still providing life substances for your animals to live on.

You can learn these techniques from the mentor that the club is providing you. The methods learned then will become a skill of balancing life and water quality.

Your new aquarium will experience a series of pioneering communities. They will seem like outbreaks at first but they are a normal course of events that should lead to the low nutrient good water quality.

After lights go on there will be a few weeks of brown, then green and then maybe red algae. Some never experience the red algae while others never seem to get rid of it. This is where a nutrient sink like a separate refuge with macro algae will help. As you can see this whole process can be a great learning tool for the students.

Ask the students why the canals behind there homes are loaded with slime algae. Then ask for ways that this can be prevented. Begin to understand why there are storm water regulations, retention ponds and other environmental laws.

A simple aquarium can bring this all together for them.

Gene

 

[johnson1]

ORCA support

ORCA support

PM sent.

John Vandemark
ORCA Public Relations

 

[cfreefer]

pm sent

 

[drock59]

I know this is an old thread but I am in relatively the same boat. Recently, I accepted my first teaching job, Math/Science at a middle school. For years I thought it would be a lot of fun as well as educational to have a reef tank in my room. The problem is that I do not have the money to start something from scratch and I have no idea whom to talk to about grants or gifts.

If anyone has any info, please pass it my way. Thanks.

Dan

 

[Sk8r]

You might also get a reef club going to DIY some equipment, coupled with science projects, to understand, say, why a skimmer works, and how to run their tests.

 

[cschweitzer]

Find out as much info as possible. If possible, start the tank soon so that by the school year it will be up and running and very nice. Reefcentral is a great and abundant source of information. I would also start with a local reef club to see about donations. This is a great idea for students because it teaches patience, humility, judgement, and all the important book stuff while not actually being school... you might talk to your school and make them understand that in the long run, with the right investment, it could make them money and be a study aid, it may go over better. That's how the football teams have new uniforms every year. Schools study things too many times when they are dead and under a scope, but do not study enough the true life that is around us. I hated sitting and cutting things open, but I love to watch the things in my tank. And I know more scientific taxonomy from my reefs than I learned in my 20+ years studying for school.

 

[jpfelix]

i just had a very generous alumnus donate a 75g rr setup that is currently running. he's moving and didn't want to take a huge loss selling it, so he and i agreed on fair donation value.

i'll pm you with more info.

 

[cschweitzer]

It all comes back in taxes anyway. Just get a projected retail market value and you got a hefty tax beak...

 

[George_N_Jo]

jasagona,

I have a significant amount of base rock that is all aragnite which I am willing to donate. I also have a significant amount of south down which I will donte. But there are concerns which must be addressed. Temperature is a huge concern with respect to keep saltwater systems. You need to be sure that room in which the system will be placed is airconditioned over the weekend and for that matter throughout the year. If not you will be encounter a significant issue with repect to yuor system.

George

 

[cschweitzer]

Yeah, I have a bunch of softies I can frag for you. You pay shipping, I will send you a frag pack of a bunch of leathers, zoos, etc. This, of course, will be a few months out since the tank is not set up yet. I have a bunch of cool things that will be very interesting for students to watch "grow up". Pm me if you'd like them when everything is settled.

George is definitely correct about temperature, but I think he was answering the old part of the thread from August '05. The guy asking this time around is Drock59 from OR, with six years experience, if I am not mistaken. I think he is trying to find monetary backing and/or supplies. Might be expensive shipping rock and sand out there, but nonetheless, a very kind gesture. I'm sure if Drock59 paid shipping, we could get a bunch of stuff together for him.

 

[George_N_Jo]

lol, Boy was I on the wrong note there. Yes it would be very expensive to ship rock. I kill me sometimes I am by no means MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS. lol. I can believe I did that.

Sorrry all.
George

 

[cschweitzer]

Always there to help though...I'm sure it's the thought that counts. We missed you guys at the last meeting. It's just not the same without you.

 

[drock59]

Thanks for all the kind gestures, I did not expect it. This project will not begin for about six months as summer is coming right up! THanks again, Dan

 

[cschweitzer]

Are you going to do the setup with the kids? It will teach them how truely delicate these beautiful things are. The time taken for setup will teach true patience, as they stare upon a tank of rock for 3 months before starting to build the beauty of the reef. I think this is a great idea. I wish more teachers were enthusiastically involving actual learning to the classroom. Kudos to you. If there is anything we can help with, barring distance barrier, please tell us. This club is full of people who really care for education of fellow reef aquariasts, and there would be none of these without someone teaching them the true meaning of respecting our planet. Always remind them of the fact that without the reef, we would cease to exist. Also, just an interesting fun-fact: stony coral skelaton has been uses in bone grafting surgeries(I believe it was started on orthopedic surgeries) because it closely resemble the human skelaton. Something that might interest kids.

 

[drock59]

I am definately going to have the kids participate from start to finish. I dont see any reason why I would deprive them of the total experience. Not to mention this kind of project really builds a sense of community and pride in ones school. It should be a good deal.

 

[cschweitzer]

Heck Yes. Man, I wish I went to school where there was a cool tank to take care of. I would have been in this hobby years ago. But, then again, I would have even more debt than I already do, so...I guess it works both ways.

 

[teach]

I have a 55 reef in my 4th-6th grade classroom. It is a lot of work, but worth it. My biggest issue is temperature fluctuations in the classroom. I think they should run the air conditioning over the summer just for the tank, but they don't agree.
The kids absolutely love it. I would suggest getting the kids involved from the very beginning. My class chose the fish and corals, helped to choose the equipment etc. They do all of the maintenance on the tank. They clean, mix and change water, and do top off.