CRESdragons

Hi all, I'd be open to have someone come and help me problem solve the aquarium. Phil and the guys at Reef eScape were great on Thursday helping me get new fish. We were very happy to have a new: Yellow tang Royal Gramma Yellowtail damsel Purple firefish to add with our entertaining and outgoing Lawnmower blenny (in tank for a few weeks and lived through the last fish die off) playful Clownfish This morning, the only fish alive is the purple firefish. I took them back to school and followed all steps to get them acclimated. I was out Friday but heard the kids were so excited to see all the new fish that day. I got a call from my office on the way in this morning that 3 of the 4 fish died over the weekend. I'm not sure what is going on. I immediately checked and the salinity is right at 1.025. Temperature hasn't fluctuated, lighting is good. The sea urchins, brittle stars, crabs, quarter sized carpet anenome, and all coral (tree, lettuce leaf, and original coral) are doing well. A thought was that we could have a faulty blower than is charging the water, but I think that would cause everything to die. Being I was out, the reserve tank wasn't checked and the pump sucked it dry since it wasn't filled for the weekend, so the exhaust was blowing bubbles, but that has happened before without fish dying. Regardless, I am not getting anymore fish until I can figure out why the tank can't keep fish alive. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I told the students that we are on hold until we can get it figured out. The tank was running flawlessly for the past 2 years, until about 2 months ago. I've had some staff and parents suggest I tear down the tank, however I promised the kids that I wouldn't tear down the tank. Thanks, Ken

Hi, Alright. With the blue tang on its way out of our 90 gallon aquarium, I need some ideas of fish that will work well together and be of interest to the kids. I have a 90 gallon. Ideas welcome, and I'll see Phil this week to purchase. Thanks!

The aquarium has become "THE PLACE" to hang out. Often kids will "meet at the aquarium" before/after school. This is outside of our Library so all of the kids stop and look before going into the Library. Since the kids slow down when walking down the hall, the teachers have now made it a natural stopping point to make sure all the kids are together. It's awesome to see how this has become so engrained, Which is why anything missing is so quickly noticed and then the talk of the school.

School hours are 8:30-4:30. However I am usually there until 5:30/5:45. Lately it's been weekends as well in order to get the tank remedied before kids come back on Mondays.

Checked the dumps and overflow. New hypothesis is that the blue tang (original to the tank 2 years ago) has outgrown the 90 gal and doesn't appreciate the new clownfish crowding in "his/her" tank and bullied them. Consequently, I am now working with Dave S. to find a new home for the blue tang. It's a beautiful fish and I know the school will be sad to see it go. They really enjoy the clownfish more, so this needs to happen. We are happy to know we can add different fish that aren't as aggressive and renew the joy of the tank.

I need some help problem solving. We have run into some problems with our school 90 gal aquarium. We had some fish die a few weeks ago and found out our pH was 7.8-8.0 which caused them too much stress. I spent last week getting all of the levels to back to spec. Current levels: Salinity 1.022 pH 8.3 All other levels within norm We just bought two clownfish 9 days ago, and both of them disappeared... literally disappeared. I just purchased two more ocellaris clownfish from Vienna Aquarium, introduced them on Saturday, checked on them Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, they were happy and swimming.....until this morning. They are both disappeared with no bodies anywhere to be found. This is now 4 clownfish nowhere to be found. In the tank we have: 1 lawnmower blenny (new a few weeks ago) 1 yellow tang (new last weekend) 1 blue tang (original to the tank) 2 urchins (original to the tank) handful of snails and hermit crabs. Any thoughts as to what could be going on? The clownfish were about 11/2"-2" since that is what is sold. The kids are sad and as one staff put it, "The school isn't the same when the aquarium isn't good." Yeah, it's causing me great stress as I hate seeing kids and staff sad, and I hate losing fish. I have no idea as to what could be happening. I don't want to keep getting small ocellaris "Nemo" clownfish to have them disappear, however I also don't want the kids to lose interest in the aquarium. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Ken

Here is a picture of the sign. We would love to know what fish, coral, etc. we should purchase next. I'd also love to know where you purchase your supplies. We have several SW suppliers near school. Thank you again. Ken

Hi everyone, The picture Dave did above it a child and staff favorite. Our little 'alien' continues to walk around the aquarium, much to the enjoyment of the kids and adults. Update on the tank: We have two students who are responsible for feeding the fish each morning, and another few students who are responsible for keeping the aquarium clean. This has been a great incentive for some students who need to have an incentive to keep them focused in the classroom. These students have such a vested interest in the tank that their classroom focus has dramatically improved. It's amazing to see our students take such ownership over the aquarium. We just had signage installed on the front of the tank base. "In Recognition of this gift by the members of The Washington, D.C. Area Aquarist Society (WAMAS) and the Sun family." Thank you so much, Ken

Hi everyone, We truly appreciate your help getting our first saltwater aquarium at Colvin Run Elementary. I wanted to post a picture we like to call "every morning at the tank". It's what our librarian sees every morning. You have truly followed your philosphy to educate our chidren regarding the importance of protecting our environment. They (and all of the staff and parents) are truly fascinated by this tank. Take care, Ken