DoughPat

Bob (and Mr. S)-- I've sold another teacher on keeping the tank over the summer! He's teaching summer school, so it can just stay in place. Thanks for the offer! Ryan

Bob- That might work perfect. I'll get back to you before then.

Hi All, My Tanks-For-Teachers tank has been an awesome success. I've had a dozen kids taking care of it all year and the corals have (literally) taken over almost every surface in the tank. Next year I'm moving to Thailand to teach at the American School of Bangkok. As you might guess, I'm not bringing the tank. Our school counselor would like to set the tank up in his office next year, but he can't take care of it over the summer. So what I'd like to do is find someone to take the inhabitants for the summer, then (hopefully) give them back when school starts back up. If that doesn't work out, we'll have to just give them away on craigslist (or, of course, to someone from PNWMAS). Inhabitants (from a 29 gallon aquapod): 2 Clownfish (percs, I believe) about 15 lbs of live rock -One rock totally covered in white Xenia -The rest of it with small chunks of colt, xenia, and a few baby frogspawns -1 base-ball sized colony of frogspawn 1 cleaner shrimp I need to take care of this stuff ASAP. Please email me directly if possible: ryanjohnlenz "at" gmail. 'dot' commm. Thanks very much. Ryan Lenz

Rather than re-write it all....: http://macquarium.wikispaces.com/ Thanks to Dennis (dsoz), Dave (Barelycuda) and Saltwater Fantaseas for donations and discounts. Absolutely couldn't do it without their help. We're working on getting students permission to edit the wiki at school. NOT an easy task. Pics to come soon....I swear!

Greetings all! I've got about 10 students lined up to join the "aquatics club" (we're keeping it really broad to allow for funding of field trips to local waterways), and most of them are real information hounds. They are super eager to get the Aquapod going, but I'm going to make them into somewhat educated fish nerds/nerdesses before I let them add a drop of water to the tank. I've got only a few books of my own--mostly stuff that's pretty advanced (Delbeek, Moe, Calfo). I'm hesitant to loan out my personal books anyway--SO, long story short, I'm looking for some good introductory sites to aquarium management, both in general (i.e. nitrogen cycle, testing, etc.) and reef specific. The best sites would be classified as "education", so that they are allowed by our uber-oppressive web filter. Most forum-type websites, blogs, and "personal or social" sites are filtered. Yeah, that's like....80% of the internet--I know. Maybe we could compile a list and make it into a Sticky for the TFT forum? Excited in Mcminnville...by the way, thanks to dsoz for the offers of material goods for getting the tank up and running. Ryan

Oh. :( bummer...

Hi all, I've finally got my Tank For Teachers Aquapod up and filled with water--it's time for sand, salt, and live rock. I've got a $50 gift certificate kindly donated by The Fish Tank People--but I've never been to their shop, and their web site doesn't show their address. Any advice? On that note...I'm heading into Portland this afternoon and my primary goal is to collect materials for my Tank For Teachers aquarium. Many of you have graciously offered supplies, and I could really use live rock, sand, and a water purifier at this point. Thanks! Ryan Lenz

Want to donate it to a classroom tank? If so I'LL take it

Hi all- Thanks especially to Kris and John (and all you dues-paying PNWMAS members!) for the beautiful Aquapod that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I've never used one of these before, but it looks very slick. Now--I hate to keep asking for things but money is very tight, both personally and at school. To get things rolling, I really need a stand for this tank. I've hunted for a table that will fit it, but the only ones I can find are much too big. My room is tight! So--does anyone have an Aquapod stand? Or a table that is at least 20" by 17", preferably not much bigger than that. Height is not too big of a concern. They look like they run about $70 new, but there's no need to spend that if not neccessary. I just cant afford the counter space to put this thing on.... Looking forward to getting this going! I've got a few students who are my "Tank Team". They're pumped.(rock2)

Garrett- I'd be very interested in a trade. I'll be setting up my Aquapod (Tanks for Teachers!) in a couple weeks and will need LR, sand, critters, etc.. Get in touch with me in 2 weeks? I'd love to see your tank. Ryan

Hi alll, I bought this when I realized my live rock was going to have to sit in garbage cans for a week. Outside. In December. So I've now got this massive 1000W heater, I think it's a biiiiiiit overkill for my 30 gallon tank... It's literally almost brand new. Ran it for a week. No rust on the heater, everything works great. I think $90 is a fair price. I live in Mcminnville, and make fairly frequent trips to Portland. This weekend I'll be passing through Salem. PM if interested. Here's a link for more specs: http://www.desertcoralaquatics.com/heaters/won-pro-heat-lcd-digital-1000w-titanium-heater/prod_1358.html

I thought the issue with Oregon coast sand was that it was silicate-based....leading to lots of algae blooms and a lack of buffering capacity. Calcium carbonate vs. silicon dioxide, is that correct, chemistry teachers?

Yes...that would probably work, but then I've got to have two regulators. It just seems like they ought to be able to operate off the same regulator. Though now that I think about it, maybe not. The keg needs to operate on about 4 psi, and if I remember correctly, aquariums usually want very very low pressure, i.e. >1 psi. So maybe a T after the first stage of the regulator....and two secondary/output regulators? Hmmmm...

Calling all homebrewers: How did you use your single CO2 tank to BOTH pressurize a keg, AND provide CO2 to a calcium reactor/planted tank? I can't justify owning two CO2 tanks... I'm thinking I just need to pop down to Airgas with my regulator and look for the right combination of T's/valves. But maybe, *maybe* there's some miracle fitting out there that won't require the usual mishmash of pipe clamps, couplers, tee's, and all the leaks/duct tape associted with those... Ryan

Might as well throw some crushed coral in the bottom...let it "harden up" while it sits there. As I understand it, the pH of RO/DI water is usually a bit low (6ish), so it should be able to dissolve a bit of of CaCO3...every little bit helps Ryan