180Bob

Does anybody have any pictures for the Picture of the Month? So far we have only one entrant. I was going to start the voting this weekend so that I can post the winner on Sept. 1.

You might also want to pick up a calc, and mag test kit.

I voted not because I feel that we could use our classified section for this purpose. Just add WTB at the beginning of the subject of the post.

Test for Mg. and see what it is. Mine was low and my ph was low also.

 

It helpped raise ph a little but not a lot. Shot for 1400-1500 in Mg. and see if that effects ph.

We have had similar experiences. A while ago we weren't watching the Mg level and it drifted down to near 1000ppm and my PH was running between 8.0 to 8.15. Recently I have gotten the Mg level up to ~1250 and now the PH runs between 8.15-8.4.

I'm going to wait until tomorrow. At this rate you will be paying me to take it awayDOH!

Let us know what she thinks and what else she would like to see in there.

Post your pictures for the September POTM here.

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Ignore this thread

DOH! Dang just measured and a 40b wont fit in my stand.DOH!

Sounds like time for a bigger stand too.

I can give this a home.

If you need help transport it. Let us know, we have a pickup that it should fit in the bed.

Bob

One question that I have in general about large in-wall tanks is why people don't use plywood and fiberglass for the three sides that you can't see. Seems like it should be alot cheaper than either 1' acrylic or the option shown above. Maybe there is something that I don't understand?

To be honest, each teacher would need to answer these questions for themselves. And elementary school will have different needs than middle or high school. In middle/high it depends on if it is a science room or not. For example, in my high school science room I have a lot of counter (lab) space. I have tap water (not RO/DI), and I have a lot of electrical outlets. My room is climate controlled (72F year round) while most older schools are not.

 

I think a 20g would be ideal for a small starter tank. A stand would probably be good for most teacher. And PC lights should be good enough for zoas, mushrooms, leathers, and maybe even some LPS. A 20g would also give enough room for some snails, a few hermits, and 2-3 fish. Each class could have their nemo, and maybe a goby, and something else.

 

This is looking better. Now someone just needs to start pounding pavement when the school year starts and ask some teachers if they want a PNWMAS sponsored tank in their classroom. I would be a willing "lab rat" to test this on... But I know what I am doing (I keep telling myself), so it would not be a fair test of the program.

 

dsoz

One other question. Are your tanks glass or acrylic? I wonder if acrylic tank would be scratched beyond recognition in a few months. I guess at least with acrylic you don't have to worry about the glass shattering and dumping the whole tank on the floor.

Well, since you asked...

 

The tank would need to be "bulletproof" unless the teacher has some experience with reefing. There is an article on making "bulletproof" reefs on http://www.garf.org/trever/SHOWTR/index.html I am not advocating for a plennum, or a DSB, but the whole tank need to be mostly self maintaining.

 

When I was thinking of setting up a tank in my classroom to have a variety of inverts, the limiting factor always came to lights. Spending $3-500 on just the lights needed for most of these animals is just out of the reach of most teachers. Both for the school budget, as well as out of their personal budget. Because on top of the lights, there are powerheads, salt, ROCK (DIY to make cheaper?), and then the animals themselves... Setting up a tank seems to need about $1000, no matter how you do it. I was looking at the all in one tanks like the AquaPod or Biocube. Nice products, and simple for the beginner.

 

I even looked at Albany Aquarium, and Rodger was showing me the Catalina copy of the Aquapod. I almost went that way. If he were to get a couple of those, and sell them at cost to teachers, they would be a good start. It has the lights, filters, everything needed to start the tank. Add some DIY rock, and that would be a great start for a classroom tank. Most importantly, it is enclosed so the little hands are not always poking inside, and random things don't get dumped in the tank.

 

I think the most important piece of equipment would be a club member that is willing to offer help when there are questions. I helped my co-teacher set up a marine tank last year. I tried to help guide her to getting the right stuff from the beginning. However she had already ordered a "complete setup" from a science supply company. BIG MISTAKE. It would have been great for a guppy tank, but not for a marine tank. Under-gravel filter, crushed coral, airstone lifts, the whole works.

 

There were many animals that I identified for her, and the animals that they sent her were all out of proportion. In a 20g, there were 4 brittle stars, about 20 hermits, about 15 snails (no algae to eat), two decorator crabs, an Atlantic anemone (not enough light so it died). We will see about how it has lasted over the summer.

 

I could add more, but I need to get to work. (I am fixing my chimney today)

 

dsoz

Thanks for the input. I have a couple of questions:

1) What size tank would you think be the best beginning size for teachers: 10-20, 20-30, 30-50 gallons.

2) Wouldn't VHO or PC lighting be enough for a beginning tank. This should cost significantly less than $500.

3) Would it be better to have a sand for the tank too, or could it sit on a counter? Do you know the standard depth of school counter tops.

4) Are you using a chiller on you tanks? This would be a big part of the cost if needed.

5) Do you have a RO/DI unit at the school? I guess a member could supply this to the teacher.

Bob

We use Kent right now for now reason in particular other than it was available. We have about 0-3" of sand in our tank at the moment. For rock support I built a support out of PVC, eggcrate and acrylic. I've attached a picture. It also functions as a return from the sump. The acrylic pieces stop the sand from wandering over time back under the rocks.

Bump;

Are there any comments on this ideas from our teacher members?

My quick estimate was something like 75-100. I don't see why we shouldn't be able to draw that many. I think last year we drew about that many to our BBQ. I did a quick Google search and the population of the Tri-Cites area is only about 170K. Greater Portland has almost ten times that many. They did many things to attract people. Included dinner, raffle with great prizes, door prizes, blind auctions. All things that were very entertaining.

Sorry, I guess there are advantages to being color blind(clap) . I guess I wasn't thinking of something so elaborate. I really thought something like MCMAC might be something we could pull off. I really liked there format. Get together for breakfast, do a tank tour, a speaker or two, then a dinner. If we start planning something much more elaborate we may never get the planning done.

I was thinking about the same thing. How big should such a tank be? I was thinking about something like the 30 gallon tank with a built in sump seen here.

http://www.northcoastmarines.com/quarantn.htm

The idea of an Oregon Conference has kicked around for awhile now. Not something to rush into!I agree' date=' but if we don't start planning it will never get done. I thought it was very professional having the talks in a real Auditorium at PNNL. I wonder if Portland State, or OMSI or a local community college would have a facility that we might be able to use. [/size']

Working together with PSAS on this may be be an option, as they have held a couple of similar conferences.I think that is potentially a great idea. Maybe one year in Portland and one year in the Seattle area.

 

Hey Bob, did you take some pics that you can post of the MCMAC?

I actually didn't take any pictures. There were a lot of people moving thought the homes and we we on a pretty tight schedule. We did get an agenda with pictures of all the tanks. I guess I could scan it in and post a pdf. I'll see if I can get permission to do so.

On our way to MCMAC we stopped by Advanced Aquarium in Salem and we had a good discussion with Mr. S on how our club might help teachers with marine education. One of the ideas that we tossed around was that our club might provide "Bullet Proof" aquarium setups to some teachers. Then at MCMAC I saw the DIY Nano tank that they auctioned off. As far as I understand their club built this tank as a club projects. I was wondering why we couldn't get together and do something like this. We could take the money from the auction and buy a tank for some deserving teacher. Another option would be that who ever wants a tank in their children's class room could chip in for the cost of parts, then the club could get together and build several tanks. I wouldn't be surprised if we could get things like acrylic, pumps, lights etc at wholesale cost.

What do people think? In particular, teachers in the crowd, what kind of tank would you like to see built?

Brandy and I also attended the conference and thought they did a great job. I would recommend everyone to attend next year. On the other hand, why doesn't our club arrange a conference and invite them next year???? Lets start taking volunteers!!!!

Pictures never hurt. What does the live rock look like an how much do you have?

FWIW' date=' this forum is for personal experiences with members/vendors, only. To quote the forum rules "Please relay your experiences with any fish store (or member, [i']my addition[/i]), good or bad, in this forum." This means not stories you read about on the net (or any other publication) and not stories you overheard somewhere but rather your own "personal experiences".

 

I'm somewhat amazed that this is a topic for the BOD as it doesn't concern the club in any way. I'm also amazed that a mod didn't pick up on the fact that this thread did not involve a "personal experience" to begin with and close it earlier. As many of you know, I'm usually in favor of letting the crap fly to air it out but this thread did not follow forum rules from the beginning so should not have been allowed to go on.

 

Sorry to all those that have involved themselves with this thread but it simply doesn't belong here. The wording "your experiences" was placed to avoid this kind of hearsay and chatter IMO.

 

Mods & officers: If I'm mistaken on this, please let me know.

 

James

I agree with your thoughts