Touch tank for Kennedy Krieger classroom

[davelin315]

That would be me purchasing the chocolate chip stars. Here's the dilemna with touch tanks - they get dirty through contamination of the water. I have been going back and forth with this idea for years and have finally settled on a 50 gallon rubbermaid stock tank. It is not the dimensions that you are looking at, but it provides several advantages to the designs you are looking at. First, there is no glass or acrylic to potentially crack and damage. Second, a touch tank does not need to be viewable from the sides, only from the top. The rubbermaid stock tanks are low profile and present a shallow enough tank to allow anything to be reached from above. Another consideration with livestock is that a true touch tank does not have a lot of options for lighting. I would avoid any sort of lighting at all, therefore I would avoid using any corals unless they are non-photosynthetic, although even these would struggle in a touch system. The last thing that I would be wary of is using liverock in the system itself. Liverock has a lot of benefits, obviously, but it also adds life to the system such as bristle worms which you don't necessarily want available to the children to touch. My own design is going to be a low profile table on wheels with the rubbermaid stock tank on the top with a closed loop beneath or possibly a VERY low profile sump, perhaps even a double stock tank design with one on top of the other and rock down below. I also am debating the merits of even having sand in the system. In my view, the less that's above the better. The alternative is to have the filtration be located next to the system and have the system itself be gravity fed with a a pump located below moving water up above the system. The whole idea, though, is to have this be as maintenance free as possible. The one necessity for this for me is carbon filtration due to the kids hands being in the system. In speaking with the zoo about their touch system, they advised having a "rest" period for the inhabitants. Expect to see some more of my own plans up here at some point in time as I work through the logistics of the system and get started on building it (it has taken me 3 years of back and forth to actually buy a stock tank to do it with!).

[civitan.erichanson]

Do you have a URL for a picture of the rubbermaid stock tank...

[davelin315]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/st...rue&cFlag=1

 

I get them from Tractor Supply. They have undrilled ones at the Leesburg store which I prefer.

[dshnarw]

It is an option, but sounds like a very short term deal. I was looking for something more permanent that I could bring home and plug in during the vacations and stuff (play with at home )

 

actually, arwndsh's solution can be quite the long term deal. All you need is a chiller, really. Almost all CW livestock is non-photosynthetic, therefore ambient light is sufficient. Metabolic rates are MUCH slower in CW livestock, so feeding every few days is fine, poor water quality can be tolerated for weeks before showing signs of stress. live rock isn't a standard choice in the cw tank, using granite river rocks from the garden center for a more natural appearance.

 

the best part of using cw livestock is that upkeep is much simpler than in the traditional reef tank - just need a pump and a chiller, feed every few days. Little to no evaporation occurs due to the low temps.

 

in that way, it addresses many of Dave's concerns:

 

-slow metabolic rates = contamination less an issue

-no lighting

-no bristleworms/pointy critters introduced on live rock

-as easy to maintain as saltwater tanks get

 

but introduces one problem:

 

the water is cold

 

 

 

 

 

Southern States, a mile or so past Scales, will order those same 50g stock tanks as well, for those Marylanders watching the thread.

[jason the filter freak]

I've got another wild, very simple, and I think over all exellent idea that would work well satisfy almost everything and be fairly cheap and would have good resale if it ever came to it.

[davelin315]

One problem with chillers, though, is that in an environment like a classroom it becomes a difficult proposition. The problems with where to vent the excess heat, the lack of ability to change the existing electrical supply (classroom plugs can be very hard to come by where you can actually use them). That said, I'm trying to help another teacher with a Northwest Ocean tank and he wants to use a chiller of some sort...

[hbh]

That's fine. BUt if you change their minds LMK. AND if anyone else needs them LMK! I hope this goes well for you! When you need a "tester" let me *PLEASE* bring over my curious Down's Syndrome daughter who loves water, fish and sticking her hands into my tanks and redesigning them! LOL! Enjoy!

[Smoothtriqueter]

If and when I have it all set up I will let your daughter be the first (after me )

[hbh]

Thanks! She'll be glad to demonstrate the ease of reach by the "how to balance onthe edge of a chair and stick your head and arms in" method of catching fish and rearranging rocks. Happy Thanksgiving!