Tank in the classroom

[Derekbc]

You rock dude. There is nothing better for a child's development than a passionate teacher. Truly the unsung heroes of our world.

Thanks, so much! Between you and I, teachers are just in the profession for the big bucks!

Nice progress! Those are some nice looking clowns as well! I'll probably have some orange cloves and possibly some mushrooms if I can frag them off of a rock for you in the near future.

Thank you, Jonathan! There will always be a home for diverse sea dwelling creatures!

Do you need anymore rock?

Thanks for the offer, Reef-o-Roni, but I think we're good in the rock department. I'm going with a minimalist structure since I will be hefting the tank home for the summer.

 

[AZReefJunkie]

Would you like a frag of our Duncans?

 

[reefstew]

Derek's students are really into this. Last year I helped him out with hatching brine shrimp in school & received 20 hand written letters from the students thanking me. I still have all the letters.

 

[SKAREEF]

Pm sent

 

[Derekbc]

Would you like a frag of our Duncans?

If you have a frag to spare they would be greatly appreciated.

Derek's students are really into this. Last year I helped him out with hatching brine shrimp in school & received 20 hand written letters from the students thanking me. I still have all the letters.

Yes, and my students from last year have visited the classroom to check out the tank. They wish they had it last year! I can't even begin to tell you how excited the addition of the clowns made them. There is a battle between my two science classes regarding which fish is going to become the dominate one.

Pm sent

Thanks much, replied.

 

[ksigaekdb]

I was wondering what you were going to do with it over the summer. My wife is a teacher and asked if I could setup something small (10 or 20G) in her classroom and I had to veto the idea because her principal would not give out the alarm code for weekend and break maintenance.

 

[Derekbc]

Thanks for the Duncan frag, AZReefJunkie. It was great of you to make it up this way from Casa Grande!

SKAREEF, thanks for the collection of colonies! The tank is looking established already. Your tanks are amazing, as well!

ksigaekdb, the tank will be coming home with me for the summer. Yes, it will take some work for a 2 1/2 month break from class, but the reactions from students is totally making the effort worthwhile! My principal knows there's no stopping my crazy ideas when it comes to teaching.

Here are a few update photos.

Thanks much!

Derek

 

[johanasu]

Looking good so far!

 

[Derekbc]

Thanks, Jonathan!

This is what I walked in to find when we switched classes today...

 

[SKAREEF]

Thanks, Jonathan!

This is what I walked in to find when we switched classes today...

How can that not make you smile..........way to go Derek!!

 

[incapearl]

So cool!

 

[Derekbc]

Tank update:

The clowns are still acting like best of friends--while my students are wanting them to battle it out to determine who will become the female.

Added some new mushrooms this morning, thanks to dream54ing.

This has been such a great addition to the classroom!

 

[Mael]

That is awesome to see. How do you handle the tank during school breaks like summer vacation?

Always cool to see students showing an intetrest in this addictive hobby and getting a good education at the same time.

 

[Derekbc]

That is awesome to see. How do you handle the tank during school breaks like summer vacation?

Always cool to see students showing an intetrest in this addictive hobby and getting a good education at the same time.

I go in during the winter and spring breaks--my principal was extremely nice and provided me with an alarm code. The tank will come home over the summer and return in the fall.

We're currently studying domains and kingdoms, and this really helps students gain a better understanding of a world they do not have much contact with in Arizona. There homework tonight was to research which domain/kingdom coral and starfish are classified under.

 

[Derekbc]

This last month of school has been busy! We took 94 6th graders to Camp Surf in San Diego, and no child was left behind! The kids had a wonderful time and 99% of them wanted to stay longer than the 3 days. Looking forward to going again next May.

So I spent most of this morning emptying the tank and bringing it home. This has allowed me to give the tank a good cleaning.

I didn't like the look of the black and white sand--the black sand tended to cover the top of the white sand. I bought a bag of "live" Fiji pink and am currently waiting for the dust storm to settle. I did keep a couple of baggies of the old sand to help seed the new sand--and have sifted out most of the larger black sand.

The live rock is back in the tank, but now I'm worried about putting Mr. Fish and Shadow back in the tank so soon. Would it be best to put them in my main tank's sump until the newly setup tank possibly goes through another cycle?

Thanks,

Derek

 

[ReefingWerewolf]

I am still in middle school and boiii do I wish I had a cool reefer teacher like you. I had to find my passion for reefing on the internet. Good luck with your tank

 

[Derekbc]

I am still in middle school and boiii do I wish I had a cool reefer teacher like you. I had to find my passion for reefing on the internet. Good luck with your tank

Thanks, ReefingWerewolf. You could have an amazing cold water tank in your area. I was born and raised in Seattle, and miss the water!

 

[Holyassasin]

Wow! Love the tank so far! I'm sure all the fellow students will enjoy it. I actually want to try to convince my Science teacher to set up a tank.. I know it's very costy, but I think here in the Nogales/Rio Rico area, me and Raptor72 are the only reefers. (That I know of)

 

[johanasu]

If you use some of your old sand, and your live rock stayed alive, you should be ok to add the fish soon. They are pretty hardy, maybe a little prime to make sure any ammonia/nitrite is non-toxic until the biological filter is 100% back to normal.

Our 5 tanks are still up at the moment, I've been taking some of the corals out and putting them in holding/grow-out tanks so I can use them again next year.

 

[Derekbc]

Sadly, the tank will not be returning to class this year. Mr. Fish (or Mrs. Fish?) and Shadow returned to Reefstew yesterday, to a swanky new love nest.

I want to thank everyone who donated equipment and frags for the tank! They will be moved to my main tank when I take down their current home. (I sent emails out to see if these individuals would like these items to be returned) Hopefully, the tank will be able to return to class at some point this year.

This year I have 35 students in my home room class, and another 35 in my teammate's class that cycle through my room. The classroom is so crowded I had to even get rid of my desk. We are over our class size limits in all 4 classes, but there isn't enough money to hire a 5th teacher--so we get to share a classroom assistant for an hour each a day.

Thanks!

--Derek