Hi, I have a lot of freshwater experience, but very little saltwater (seahorses, clownfish, chromis). I stopped doing saltwater several years ago, but a school has aked me to set up a saltwater tank for them. They have limited space and money, so how small of a tank do you think I can use that could feasibly be maintained by amateurs.
how low can I go?
- Thread starter viciousconvict
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There's limited space and money and then there's limited space and money...a solution would be a nano reef, but you mention amateurs....alternatively you could build, say, a 50 gallon with some small puffers or acanthigasters...
IMO
IMO
When you say amatures do you mean to imply the children being the keepers?? If so, I would say no less than a 29gal(Rectangle.)and make sure you have an awsome filtering unit which requires little hands-on application once up and running. Also, stick to basics. I would steer away from stony corals and instead maybe add in some xenia, mushrooms, gorgonians and so forth...or better yet, start with fake coral and see how well they keep the tank up before investing in delicate corals.viciousconvict;675736; said:
Is this just for the school as a whole or for a classroom?? I think it's awsome to have tanks in classrooms but one has to be realistic in the fact that every child has the "new toy" syndrome where the tank will be facinating, but in a couple months - who is going to keep it going? If it is for a classroom, to keep up the intrest, maybe you could talk to the teacher about adding a "Tank Buddy" system. I came up with this a while ago, and it has shown to work from my experience at least. The "Tank Buddy" system is a way to keep the children interested in the tank, wanting to take care of it and watch it flourish. So to break my system down simply I put it in bullet form for you.
TANK BUDDIES
* Talk it over with the teacher first
*Decide on your tank and what you will eventually house in it
*Once you have a list of every tank mate which will live in the tank, give a copy to the teacher.
*Have her do a little research on each one of the animals off the list, and ask her to prepare a lesson for each, with at least one assignment and one in-class activity for that specific animal.
*Each month (only ONE animal per month), the teacher will focus on an animal, give the lesson, head the in-class activity and assign out the project to the students.
*Each tank buddy covered should be added at the beginning of the month its lesson starts so that the kids can see the animal they are learning about while they learn.
*Make sure you count corals and inverts (should you have them), as tank buddies too!
*Once the tank is fully stocked, the teacher can prepare an ocean project for the students as a "final" of sorts, possibly ending with a field trip to a nearby aquarium to show the children other ocean inhabitants.
This was an idea I came up with a long time ago after having several teachers come up to me and ask me questions on good assignments and ways to keep children interested in the ocean and its conservation, while being hands-on at the same time. This has a number of benefits
1. Allows children to actually see what they are learning about, living and breathing right infront of them.
2. Enlightens them to the world of the oceans, and creatures who live in them, promoting awareness, and instilling in them a sense of connection since they form bonds with the tank buddies.
3. Tank wise - by adding only one tank mate per month, the tank is allowed to cycle and re-adjust its self at a steady pace, ensuring no spikes occur in the parameters.
And so on...