School Tank Projects

[adammonte]

Just saw this for the first time today. So glad to see my old 20 gallon set up again! Cool deal. Hope the students love it!

[nasanek]

Long overdue update:





Please pardon the algae on the glass, I wanted to make sure I could get pictures of the fish without scaring everyone too much. The tank has become home to quite a few happy inhabitants including: a fighting conch, a purple urchin, a coral banded shrimp, a pistol shrimp, a watchman goby, a six-line wrasse, and a clownfish. Everyone seems to be getting along well and the kids have had a great time naming everyone. I don't remember all the names, but the clownfish is Darth Nemo and the conch is Lurch The fish have been slowly introduced over the last several weeks and everyone seems to be doing well. The pistol shrimp hasn't been seen in a while, so hopefully it shows back up again.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Animart, and Chris specifically for providing most of the livestock to get this tank going. They have been incredibly generous and I really can't say thank you enough for supporting the establishment of this tank project.

I'm planning on trying to switch to some LED strips that I'm not using, but I don't have any blue only LEDs. Any chance someone has something they would like to donate?

Thanks so much for all the support!

[BraenDead]

Looks great, Nick! Thanks for the update!

Bob

[nasanek]

Another update:
Not all of the inhabitants have made it this far. The urchin up and died one day (maybe didn't get enough food?), and the pistol shrimp has gone unseen for quite a long time Most everyone else seems to be doing great. There isn't a lot of coral growth to speak of, but things are looking pretty happy, and the leather corals are actually starting to color up (getting nice and green). I switched from the CF to some LED strips I had several weeks ago and everyone seems to be adjusting well.
Full-tank shot from the front:


Happy Shrimp:


Back of the tank, showing off Zippy, the wrasse:


Close up of Professor Gary, the fighting conch:


The red feather dusters seems extremely happy:


Thanks again to everyone that has been helping this project along. The librarian at the school tells me that the kids really enjoy the tank and hopefully they're learning about it too.

[nasanek]

Huge thanks to Paul at Living Art for donating a lovely sea hare!!

[nasanek]

Hi All,
Would anyone have any zoa/paly frags that they could donate to the school tank? I brought the fish back to the library today after they spent the summer at my place. The tank is still looking pretty good and I'm excited for the kids to see it when they start back up next week. After trying a few different kinds of corals, I think sticking with softies is the best option for the school tank. We have some nice leathers and mushrooms, but I think a few more zoa/paly species would be great for the tank.

Please let me know if you have anything you would be willing to donate!

Thanks!!

Nick

[nasanek]

Here's some updated pictures from a couple weeks ago. I think it's looking pretty good!

















Huge thanks again to everyone who has helped support the tank with donations. It wouldn't be anything without all you generous folks out there!!!

Nick

[adammonte]

Any need for lighting for this tank? Not sure what's on it now or if it's still up and running

[nasanek]

Hi!
It has been a while since I posted an update, my apologies. The tank is still doing pretty well and I'm going for some regular maintenance next Friday. I'll try to get some pics before I make everyone mad with the water change. I usually go pretty early in the morning, so it's tough to get anything decent as far as pictures. RIght now I have a small T5 fixture with 2 full spectrum bulbs running on it (I believe they're 24-watts each). I also added a blue ecoxotic strip for some better coloration. The lights seem to be working okay, but I would never turn down an upgrade. The only corals that have really done well are softies (leathers, mushrooms, gorgonians). There are a few LPS corals hanging-on, but they never look very happy when I see them.

[nasanek]

Huge Thanks to Todd and Pet World Warehouse for stocking the school tank up with a great cleaning crew!!

I'm planning to stop by next week to get all the new additions into the tank and I'll try to get some updated pics.

[nasanek]

Finally some long overdue pics!

The tank was most likely without a real working light (had actinics only) for several weeks before the start of the summer. Things had shrunken quite a bit by the time I realized what was going on, so I replaced the light about 2 months ago and things are coming back nicely. These pics were taken before 7 AM and I had to turn on the lights, so no one was feeling very social

I really like that the glass is foggy because it's covered with so many tiny fingerprints









Huge thanks to jonesj_83 and okcChief for donating some new corals for the tank!!!

[nasanek]

Yes, there is still a school fish tank

I think it’s pretty clear I suck at posting updates, BUT, things are going well!

These pics are from mid-December 2017. I upgraded to an LED light, so things look better/seem happier compared to the old compact fluorescent fixture. There is still the clownfish, a firefish, a boxer shrimp, a brittle star, some peppermint shrimp, and a pencil urchin.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JQv0tNVFXSwbCt0S2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HNyna7NdBQ1pbfFA2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/G5Ahsp84sZlpu32G3

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WjH0F2Q1vwVS4t1n1

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TwI8i1DaJWiBTdnK2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fDQo4THRpCvpfIV82

Thanks for all the support over the years! I’m always looking for donations, so please keep the school tank in mind if you have anything you don’t want or need to trim back

Thanks,
Nick

[nasanek]

Hi everyone,
Big update for the school tank this year. The tank has moved across town from Marquette elementary to John Muir elementary. This move happened because I moved further out to the west side and it became more difficult to give the tank the attention it deserved. I took the move as an opportunity to make some changes, and thanks to the generosity of our community, there have been several upgrades to the tank.

We have moved from a 20 gallon up to a 40 gallon tank.
The LED lights have been upgraded.
The powerheads are new and improved.
The newer heater now has a control unit.
The filter is bigger and easier to maintain.
There is much more love rock.
The skimmer is a big upgrade.

SO, pretty much everything is new!
The upgrades are largely thanks to jpbakken; thank you so much!!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ngV9VetjfYnSpMgPA

Stay tuned for more updates, and please consider the school tank if you have anything you want to regime.