Jnesbitt

Thank you for the awesome corals. The kids are stoked to see some new things!!

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Thanks of the info.

My 80 gallon has been set up and cycling for the last month. I have been watching pH, Ammonia, and Nitrates and it seems to be on the end of the cycle now. I did a 20% water change, and I tested for the first time yesterday Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium and things seem off. The calcium and magnesium are very high. All other test came out ok. All test kits are new Salifert brand test kits.

Salinity=1.24

pH= 8.2

Temp= 80

Nitrate= 15 ppm (pre water change)

Ammonia= 0 ppm

Alkalinity= 8 dKH

Calcium=490 ppm

Magnesium=1300 ppm

I was wondering if this something I should be concerned about or if it is just because there is not much in the tank using the calcium and magnesium right now. Currently there is only a small mushroom rock, 3 small colt corals, and some green star polyps (have not opened) in the tank. They were all added Friday. All advice greatly appreciated.

Here are some photos of my tanks at school.

This is the 80 I started with

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This is where it is at now.

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This is the 30 I am nursing back. There is normally a skirt around the bottom but it is in the laundry.

Just to chime in here' date=' I think another great thing for the tanks for teachers program would be to watch and document the nitrogen cycle. It would teach chemistry and patience and at the same time get them used to watching chemical reactions by using test kits. Show them how to be precise with test tubes and reagents.[/quote']

 

I like this too! We talk about the nitrogen cycle in my class and the tank would provide a great example that the students could see and interact with. Much better then just using the picture of the cow pooping.

I would basically like to test out a few experiments in classes but maybe get your feedback on the design and practicality of them in a classroom setting. My goal for tank for teachers is to have the kids learn specific things, not just admire the tanks.

 

I thought the easiest things to start with would be the growing of specific types of algae under different conditions. Two identical tanks with identical equipment but different variables such as photo period, amount of nitrate, and amount of phosphate. There are several combinations that could be done there. They can involve biology and some chemistry.

 

It can have different levels of difficulty and involvement, and because it is algae, the time period would be quick and the same equipment could be used to do several experiments.

 

It can be as easy as setting up the tanks on Monday, one with a nitrate 30, one with a nitrate level of 100. Leaving the tanks alone for two weeks to let the algae grow, then coming back in two weeks and seeing what the nitrate is now to see if an elevated nitrate makes algae grow faster. Then weighing the algae to see how much more or less was grown under the different conditions.

 

It is not very sexy, but I think it could spark a little interest and would be an easy place for teachers with no experience to start. It also requires minimal equipment and expense is very low to create the kits.

I think any of those would be great. The only thing I know I stress in my class is repeated trials so setting things up so that you have three setups or more of each condition (may-be dividing the tanks some how). I don't think all investigations need to be sexy they just have to follow the scientific method.

I teach out in Battle Ground at Chief Umtuch Middle. I will work on getting some pictures up shortly, I left my Ipad at home today. I started a tank thread for the 80 the other day that has links to a few pics (not the best pics). Thanks for the offer of the corals, I need to do a water change on the 30 but it should be ready for corals shortly, and the 80 the I just started to diatoms this week so it still has a week or two before it will be ready.

I will help with you tanks for teachers in any way I can.

The plan for it right now is a mix of soft corals, LPS, and SPS right now. I don't think the lighting (175 watt MH and 2 65 watt PC) I have will support SPS yet but is one of the things I am going to upgrade, but I need to get some circulation pumps for the tank first.

It is running through a timer' date=' so I can experiment with that. I do need my light on a timer of some sort though.[/quote']

 

I found that it was the timer that needed replacing. I got some of the outdoor timers and have had no trouble since.

I wanted to say hi to everyone. I was a mainly a lurker before the site went down for a bit, and decide it was time to do some posting now that is is back up and running. I currently have two tanks up and running at the middle school I teach at. A 30 that took a big hit last year when the heater messed up over winter break last year and got very cold. I am slowly nursing it back. I also just set up a 80 gallon bow front about 2 weeks ago. The kids and teachers are very excited to see its progression over this year, so am I for that matter.

I worked at my local pet/aquarium shop in high school many moons ago, then took a long break from the hobby. I am finding that what was a go to 20 years ago is hard to find now. I went to 4 shops over the weekend trying to find kalkwasser with no luck (if you where to find some let me know).

Jon

Is it running through a timer? I had that problem and removed the timer and it started to fire every time.

Thanks for the help

How do I get the pictures to show in the post, rather than just links in the post?

This is the tank that I can currently working on. It sitting in the hall at the middle school I work at. The tank was donated by a member of this forum (I cant remember who (sad) ). It has a sump built into the back of the tank and stand.

I build a hood for the thank to keep the kids out of it. I think it came out ok for not being a craftsmen at all. I really wanted the hood to have a curved front like the tank. That proved much harder then I thought it would be.

front of the tank

side of the tank

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I had a 175 watt MH with 2 65 watt PC that I am currently using for lighting. I would like to upgrade to 2 250 watt MH at some point.

There is currently about 50 lbs of rock in the tank, but I think it needs about 15 more pounds. I also made a skirt to hide the the lighting ballasts and all the cords.

It is slowly coming together(clap). I have an older red sea berlin skimmer running right now. I am also working on getting some circulation pumps next.

Thanks for taking a look, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.