Steps to settting up a tank at an area School

[toastiireefs]

So here im going to hopefully document my Sorta senior project or internship project, depending on if i take the "senior project" class

My plan is to Set up a salt water tank in a school near me and accompany it with a "mini unit"

 

OK so I got the "OK " from people at my school to authorize the project

 

Now i need to find a school to host the project

 

today im gonna ask at my Middle school just cuz im gonna be there

 

But just a question: Should i do a Middle School or an Elementary school?

 

Also with the tank i'm going to write a lesson about the reefs/oceans/conservation/cycles the tank goes through either/or/all.

I personally think with the lesson plan it would be easier to work with a Middle School? maybe?

 

-Thanks!

 

Sara

[toastiireefs]

OK so i got the approval from an administrator at North Bethesda Middle School. He said i just had to talk it over with the Head of the Science department to see which curriculum it would go along best with. (I'm thinking 6thgraders because they do the whole outdoor education and adaption unit... has to do with biology! thats how im connecting it haha)

 

ANYWAY his main concern was maintanence

 

I figure if i come up with a well organized proposal type thing, i can get starteed on this....

 

once i get the equiptment :D

 

-Sara

 

 

 

PS Dave i will call you! i just wanted to get some things sorted first

[toastiireefs]

Well first of all i feel very alone in this thred

 

second of all i would like to get a list of equipment that i should have/need

 

Tank for one

some sorta lights prolly end up with t-5

HOB skimmer? Overflow box? sump???

stand

power heads

if sump then return pump

 

 

then live stock i was just thinking easy corals or what ever corals i can get a hold of

plus an anemone w/ clowns and a goby/pistol shrimp pair

to show symbiosis etc

maybe one other fish.. hehe

 

 

i will prolly wriet something up to present to them in the 6days i have to wait for an email return (out of town)

Edited January 31, 2008 by toastiireefs

[vaironman]

You're not alone on this thread. I am tagging along. Just reading and see what do we need and which potential resistant you might run into and I see how to tackle that if when comes to proposing to my daughter kindergarden school.

 

Thanks for sharing your project with us.

 

KLee

[toastiireefs]

You're not alone on this thread. I am tagging along. Just reading and see what do we need and which potential resistant you might run into and I see how to tackle that if when comes to proposing to my daughter kindergarden school.

 

Thanks for sharing your project with us.

 

KLee

 

YAY

 

so far there has been no resistance, only concerns expressed, which i fully understand

 

this is the email i sent to the Science Department Head

Ms Reed,

I have already contacted Mr Ott and he directed me to you on questions and approval for this project that I have in mind. For either an Internship or Senior Project credit I wanted to construct a saltwater aquarium, as well as write a lesson to teach students about the ocean/reefs/conservation. There were some concerns expressed about maintenance of the tank, but I can work everything out. I think it is a great learning experience to have an aquarium in the school, especially because not everyone has access/ability to go to public aquariums. Also I was wondering if there was a certain grade that would best be to do the project with, based on what types of material was in the science curriculum. I can come up with an organized written proposal addressing any issues or concerns and work everything out, including equipment, cost, location, maintenance, feeding, livestock, and timeline.

If you and the school approves this I would ideally like to get all the equipment and water/sand/rock in the tank by middle/end june, so that the tank has time to cycle (anywhere from 4-10weeks) and is ready for the school year.

 

Thank you for your time,

Sara

 

 

:D sound good?

i hope so, but she is out of town and wont be back for SIX DAYS!!!

[vaironman]

Six days is long and it's not that bad when you're projecting to have everything setup cycle by the end of June, Sara. Remember, Patience is the key in our hobby.

 

Good job! Have you tried to address her question/concerns regarding tank maintenance?

 

Cheers!

[toastiireefs]

Six days is long and it's not that bad when you're projecting to have everything setup cycle by the end of June, Sara. Remember, Patience is the key in our hobby.

 

Good job! Have you tried to address her question/concerns regarding tank maintenance?

 

Cheers!

 

well she hasnt expressed any, i said i go to the school once or twice a week

 

 

i know patience is key! and i understand thats A LOT of work to do before june, i might extend itbit, really the only thing im worrried about is the "smelly" part of the cycle, soooo it would technically be fine to still have ending stages of cycling during school.

 

I just rather be less people around in my setting up stages... so i might not even setup till june, i think im just gonna be collecting materials

and then bring everything over to do at once, set it all up etc. and maybe another trip for any LR

 

wheee i hope i get approval!

Edited February 1, 2008 by toastiireefs

[vaironman]

How about precycling your rock at home for the first month? When you setup the tank, the rock is done with cycling. Just need to get some water in your current tank with bacteria to seed the new school tank setup when you're ready and that should shorten the cycling period, plus take care of the smelling issue, I hope.

[toastiireefs]

How about precycling your rock at home for the first month? When you setup the tank, the rock is done with cycling. Just need to get some water in your current tank with bacteria to seed the new school tank setup when you're ready and that should shorten the cycling period, plus take care of the smelling issue, I hope.

 

 

yea i was thinking about that

 

But precaution sake?

 

I was HOPING that i could get some rock precycled from tank breakdowns or soemthing, and then put it in the tank, idk... hmm i'll think on it.

 

what youre saying is smart though, it wouldnt be a full cycle but it would still cycle a little bit

[toastiireefs]

Ok so in the prposal that i have to write up

 

I am going to include:

 

Equipment

Costs

Time Table

Livestock

Feeding

Maitainence (or however you spell the word)

Long term

Lesson plan ideas

 

 

anything that i'm missing?

[vaironman]

To share a minor detail and I thought it might be important to add in your proposal is how your project can introduce new knowledge and awareness of animals in the ocean lives closer to younger students in the school.

 

That one important detail I receive from DaveLin and thought it's important enough to pass it to you. I took your idea and asked Sterling Elementary School vice principal and he is very much interested in it after initial concern with maintenance part just like all responsible adults would be.

 

Keep us posted. Thanks Sara.

[toastiireefs]

To share a minor detail and I thought it might be important to add in your proposal is how your project can introduce new knowledge and awareness of animals in the ocean lives closer to younger students in the school.

 

That one important detail I receive from DaveLin and thought it's important enough to pass it to you. I took your idea and asked Sterling Elementary School vice principal and he is very much interested in it after initial concern with maintenance part just like all responsible adults would be.

 

Keep us posted. Thanks Sara.

 

 

oo thats good thanks

[toastiireefs]

this is my rough of the proposal!

it is going to be formatted slightly different than showed here

what do you think

 

 

 

Aquarium Proposal For North Bethesda Middle School

By Sara Eisler

 

 

 

Purpose:

I would like to construct a saltwater aquarium for the North Bethesda Middle School staff and students. By having this aquarium students will become more aware of the ocean environment, something that many people (including scientists!!) know very little about. Not many kids get the privilege or opportunity to go and visit public aquariums, and even those who do might not have a full understanding of what they learned that day. The school aquarium will not only give the students a “behind the scenes” view of mainstream public aquariums but also teach them responsibility and a new respect for the ocean. I really want the students to be involved with this aquarium as possible. I would love to get a few teachers on board with this project as well. I hope that I will also be able to teach each grade something about the ocean reefs and conservation that corresponds to each science curriculum.

 

Equipment:

A sample equipment list would look like this,

40gl Long Tank and Stand

48” HOT-5 Lighting fixture

Protein Skimmer

Sump

Return pump

Overflow box

Refugium

I am currently unaware of sizes and the exact equipment list because I will hopefully be getting the majority of it from donations. However the list above is a general guideline for what types of items will be needed for this set up, though items like a sump, overflow, refugium, and return pump are not necessarily required.

 

Costs:

I would hope that the costs will be as close to $0.00 as possible, through donations of other people in the Washington D.C. Area Marine Aquarist Society as well as myself. However if the school wishes to raise some money, or put down any money at all for this project it will be graciously accepted.

Maintenance:

Maintenance is not as difficult as it may seem. Yes, it does take a lot of work to run a saltwater tank, though it is a lot of fun. Once the tank goes through an initial cycle, the aquarium itself will do a lot of cleaning on a biological level. Then it would only take a 10% water change every couple weeks. Once the tank is established it would probably only need a water change every month. Another task is that if there is a skimmer on this tank, that would have to be cleaned every week, which I could do (Or you could make misbehaved students clean it). Also the glass of the tank will have to be scrubbed of algae, which is not hard to do at all, it does not even require getting a finger wet! Then evaporation would have to be monitored. It is to make sure the salinity stays constant, and it is easily done by getting the salinity at a preferred place and then drawing a line for where the water line should be, and making sure the water stays at that level by topping it off every week, every couple days with fresh distilled water.

I was hoping that some of the staff might be interested in helping the project along, and helping with some of the maintenance jobs. I can also go to the school once a week, to check how things are going.

If this was possible, it would be ideal to pick a class, and for that week or two, that class would take care of the tank, or at least look over it.

 

Livestock:

This is also a sample list of things that I would ideally like to put in this tank. Live rock is, rock that has been sitting in an established aquarium and has colonized nitrifying bacteria, or beneficial bacteria. This is essential to an aquarium, because without it, the tank would not be able to support itself with life in it.

Xlbs of Live rock (corresponds to gallonage of tank)

Xlbs of Sand

Small Polyp Stony Corals (SPS)(depending on light)

Large Polyp Stony Corals (LPS)

Soft Corals

Rose Bubble Tip Anemone

Pair of Clownfish

Shrimp / Goby pair.

Clean-up-crew. such as snails, sea stars, other invertebrates

 

Again most of these will be donations from other members and some coral fragments from myself. The best part about reef keeping is receiving fragments of corals from someone else's tank and watching them grow BIG!

 

Feeding:

Feeding is not hard at all. Foods could be frozen or flake. For SPS corals they really do not need much in way of supplemental feeding, however most if not all LPS needs to be fed on a regular basis with meaty foods. I can easily provide food for these guys. They do not have to be fed everyday, more like every 2-3 days. So feed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I also hope the students participate in feeding the fish, and keep a feeding log next to the tank so it does not get over fed.

 

Lesson plan ideas:

There is something that can be taught that would fit any curriculum. Symbiosis for ecosystems. Dissect corals, or study cnidarian anatomy. Study hot vent ecosystems. Making their own salt for chemistry. There is a multitude of subjects for any class of any level.

 

Location:

This is a topic I think best discussed as a group. Some ideas would be; a science classroom, a hallway, the library, the main office.

 

Time Table:

If this project is approved I would like to get started ASAP with the collecting of materials. Then I would hope to set it up with water and rock sometime this summer to have a chance to cycle, so that I can be ready to stock the tank for the new school year. Then I would come to the school regularly for checkups and maintenance.

Any lesson plans I hope can be integrated through the second semester, though it is fine if something fits in better with a unit earlier in the year. I would just need to know ahead of time so I can do some research and pull something together.

 

Long term:

I do not know how this project would go long term without the help of the staff. As I will be going off to college, I do not know how long I will be able to come in after next summer is over. I was considering asking a person from WAMAS to help out with this project as he lives in the area and is very talented with marine aquaria.

I am sure that there will be a teacher who will be hooked onto saltwater by the end of this project and will more than willing to continue it.

 

 

People to contact:

Edited February 15, 2008 by toastiireefs

[toastiireefs]

any comments?

[vaironman]

Excellent plan. Your major huddles will be acquirying list of equipments.

[toastiireefs]

yuuup!

 

thanks!

[toastiireefs]

is there anyone in the area that would be willing to help along in this project? any work would hopefully emergency only, or miniscule help, or building help if needed, i should do the majority of it

 

just to get another experienced person in the room... or ppl to contact

if there is anypone who has experience with school aquariums who wants to be added to the contact list incase any teachers have questions

can you PM me your info?

[davelin315]

Hey Sara, sorry I've been absentee (you still need to send me you address to send the curriculum book to!) on this thread. I've got some potentially good news for you. I picked up a tank from a member last weekend (still need to get the donation letter out) and if I end up not using it in my school I would be happy to pass it along to you. It's a complete set up (tank, lights, pumps, sump, overflows) and is on wheels so is movable. I'll let you know where I'm at once I get a better feel for it.

[toastiireefs]

Hey Sara, sorry I've been absentee (you still need to send me you address to send the curriculum book to!) on this thread. I've got some potentially good news for you. I picked up a tank from a member last weekend (still need to get the donation letter out) and if I end up not using it in my school I would be happy to pass it along to you. It's a complete set up (tank, lights, pumps, sump, overflows) and is on wheels so is movable. I'll let you know where I'm at once I get a better feel for it.

 

Awesome Let me know

 

sorry i have been real busy with school...junior year and all

i should techincally be doing my hw now..

 

also

update

i handed in the rough of my proposal because i was a little too lazy to fix it up juust a little

 

anyway

so im waiting for the response. i havent gotten an email

but i might stop by the teachers room tomorrow when i go to tutor