1st garde classroom SW tank

A

Agreeive?fish

Small Fish
#1
Nov 24, 2006
26
0
0
#1
I am setting up a 30g SW tank in my daughters 1st grade school class room after the christmas school break.

I am looking for stocking sugestions. I want to a diffrent set up than i did last year in her K. class.

Last years tank was a big hit with the kids,
last years stocking list 20 g tank crushed coral , live rock
CC STARFISH
HERMITCRABS
NEMO
DAMSELS
yellow tail
domino
conict

The weekends will not allow for some one to feed the fish as the school is locked up, and will have about 30 kids running around the tank so the stocking suggestions should bear this in mind.

All stocking sugestions will be considered ( not gaurented to be used)

Thank you in advance for your sugestions.
 

SALTY WATERS

SALTY WATERS

Large Fish
#3
Feb 6, 2005
893
2
0
47
Waterloo, ON Canada
#3
Just out of curiosity... what happend to last years tank?

Please do not take this as a personal attack, I ask with the best interest for the tank inhabitants in mind, and wonder what message would be sent accross to all those young children about our hobby if these tanks are just set-up quickly and minimally maintained for a fraction of a year and then taken down at summer holiday time.

These are LIVING creatures and require patience, dedication, responsability and a long term comittment to provide a peacefull, natural and stable environment for them to live and thrive in.
 

angelmom

angelmom

Large Fish
#5
Dec 19, 2005
528
3
18
51
Vernon, CT
#5
SALTY WATERS said:
Just out of curiosity... what happend to last years tank?

Please do not take this as a personal attack, I ask with the best interest for the tank inhabitants in mind, and wonder what message would be sent accross to all those young children about our hobby if these tanks are just set-up quickly and minimally maintained for a fraction of a year and then taken down at summer holiday time.

These are LIVING creatures and require patience, dedication, responsability and a long term comittment to provide a peacefull, natural and stable environment for them to live and thrive in.
Click to expand...

I was also wondering the samething. As Salty said this is not a personal attack in anyway. For all we know you take the tank home and set it up at your house at the end of the year.
 

YahooFishKeeper

YahooFishKeeper

Superstar Fish
#6
Jan 14, 2006
2,177
11
0
33
A little town outside Kansas City, Kansas
www.youtube.com
#6
just thought i should let you know it sounds like an awesome idea. my teacher in 5th had her pet snakes in the classroom, and we all bred mice as a food source. we also learned aboiut the snakes and mice. we even did experiments with them. nothing freaky, just stuff like seeing which food they liked more, and measuring which they ate more of and stuff. i think its a good learning experiment for the kids if they are actually taught about the fish and tank. for example... its not a nemo kids... its a clown fish.
 

S

shwnicus

Large Fish
#7
Feb 22, 2006
100
0
0
Kirkwood, MO
#7
bump of question posed by Salty and angelmom, do you still have the fish from last year's tank? if not, what happened to them?

also reiterating this is not an attack, just thoughtful consideration. think of it as if the class pet were a dog or cat, few if anyone would agree with abandoning a dog or cat at the end of the year. its perfectly fine if you do have an exit strategy (donation to a local aquarium or LFS for example), just please keep this in mind.

as for stock, though damsels are hearty, they are also viscous. having blues and a domino in the same small tank (and to damsels 30g is small) is like setting up a fish wrestle-royal! I'd advise against anything that requires precise feeding too, as you stated they won't be fed on weekends. with these points in mind: false percula clown pair, a gobie, and perhaps a green chromis or two would be a nice relaxed tank, with live rock and critters.
 

A

Agreeive?fish

Small Fish
#8
Nov 24, 2006
26
0
0
#8
SALTY WATERS said:
Just out of curiosity... what happend to last years tank?

Please do not take this as a personal attack, I ask with the best interest for the tank inhabitants in mind, and wonder what message would be sent accross to all those young children about our hobby if these tanks are just set-up quickly and minimally maintained for a fraction of a year and then taken down at summer holiday time.

These are LIVING creatures and require patience, dedication, responsability and a long term comittment to provide a peacefull, natural and stable environment for them to live and thrive in.
Click to expand...
I DID NOT NOR WILL I CONSIDER IT AN PERSONAL ATTACK TO QUESTION ANOTHER PERSON IN AN EFORT TO PROTECT A LIVING CREATURE.

I THINK SW TANKS ARE SOMETHING ABOUT 90% (GUESSED AT #) KIDS DONT SEE

I took all in habitants home and incorperated into my existing tanks.
AS I am selemployed i made it to the class room atleast 3 times a week to do tank maintenance, each time there was a question and answer secission( i always got there the last 15 min of class. During set up i did explain to the children that all water ,live rock ,and crushed coral was taken out of my fishtanks at home and that it would be put back into my tanks at home as well as the fish when the fish tank left the school. i explained the cycling ect. invovled with saltwater. My daughter also explained to the kids on what i was doing and why on thier level of understanding as she actually understands a lot of what goes on for a six year old and saltwater fish tanks.

I Hope i at least answered some of your concerns. I do take this hobby seriously and the reason i do sw instead of fw is i have no place to incoparate fw fish when the school year is over but i do have places to incoparate sw in fact my son is about ready to have his own tank in his room and the fish from this years school tank will be the first fish in his 55 gallon bedroom tank.
 

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
#9
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
33
48
39
Cape Cod
#9
I suggest a dwarf angel and a fairy wrasse, and a goby/shrimp pair. Fairy wrasses are awesome little fish and for some reason I don't see them a lot. Make sure that the tank is covered if you get a fairy wrasse.
 

A

Agreeive?fish

Small Fish
#10
Nov 24, 2006
26
0
0
#10
I need to clarify... the tank itself is already set up(DRY) (today).

Tommorrow the water, crushed coral and live rock will be put in the tank. every few days i will go to the school and check water parameters ect. and i have gotten permission from the principle to have schedgled days to meet the maint. man who is working over christmas break so that i can check the water conditions. NO FISH , INVERTS, WILL BE ADDED UNTIL SCHOOL RESUMES AFTER CHRISTMAS BREAK THE SAME WAY I DID IT LAST YEAR.
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#11
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#11
Sounds like you have an awesome plan and it sounds like something I would love to have had when I was in school a century ago. Your plan is solid but I do question why you would chose to use crushed coral as opposed to live sand? As a rule it tends to trap nitrates and can cause problems. If you chose to go with a watchman gobie/pistol shrimp pair you would need to have a deep sand bed for them to burrow in and make their home.....

Good luck and keep us posted along with pics.....
 

A

Agreeive?fish

Small Fish
#12
Nov 24, 2006
26
0
0
#12
Lorna said:
but I do question why you would chose to use crushed coral as opposed to live sand? As a rule it tends to trap nitrates and can cause problems. If you chose to go with a watchman gobie/pistol shrimp pair you would need to have a deep sand bed for them to burrow in and make their home.....

Good luck and keep us posted along with pics.....
Click to expand...
Beacuse i donot have any tanks with live sand , as i have no tanks that hold fish that need live sand. my shark tank is bare bottom all crushed coral and live rock for it is in the sump. and in all my tanks i stir the crushed coral up when i vacum the crushed coral about twice a week.
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#13
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#13
As a child, I think I was much more fascinated by the inverts like starfish, hermit crabs, shrimp and snails than I was by fish. Perhaps introducing the kids to the diversity of the ocean would be a good thing. Every kid knows what a fish is, but what about crabs and shrimp, etc. (other than on a plate)?
 

kaihonu82

kaihonu82

Small Fish
#14
Mar 30, 2006
30
0
0
santa clara, ca
#14
This sounds like such a wonderful learning experience for the kids. It always seems more beneficial to learn "hands on" rather than looking at pictures in books. Props to you for taking the time to expand their horizons *thumbsups
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#15
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#15
I think I would still go with the dsb rather than crushed coral as it allows more diversity with inverts......kids love to look at things that make tunnels and along the edge of the glass you can watch the nitrogen bubble to the surface and the tunnels made by spaghetti worms etc.......

Then at the end of the year you can use the dsb for your son's tank......you don't need to have existing live sand....just use play sand and seed it with a cup of live sand from someone....I am sure you can garner a cup somehow....
 

SALTY WATERS

SALTY WATERS

Large Fish
#16
Feb 6, 2005
893
2
0
47
Waterloo, ON Canada
#16
Agreeive?fish said:
I DID NOT NOR WILL I CONSIDER IT AN PERSONAL ATTACK TO QUESTION ANOTHER PERSON IN AN EFORT TO PROTECT A LIVING CREATURE.

I THINK SW TANKS ARE SOMETHING ABOUT 90% (GUESSED AT #) KIDS DONT SEE

I took all in habitants home and incorperated into my existing tanks.
AS I am selemployed i made it to the class room atleast 3 times a week to do tank maintenance, each time there was a question and answer secission( i always got there the last 15 min of class. During set up i did explain to the children that all water ,live rock ,and crushed coral was taken out of my fishtanks at home and that it would be put back into my tanks at home as well as the fish when the fish tank left the school. i explained the cycling ect. invovled with saltwater. My daughter also explained to the kids on what i was doing and why on thier level of understanding as she actually understands a lot of what goes on for a six year old and saltwater fish tanks.

I Hope i at least answered some of your concerns. I do take this hobby seriously and the reason i do sw instead of fw is i have no place to incoparate fw fish when the school year is over but i do have places to incoparate sw in fact my son is about ready to have his own tank in his room and the fish from this years school tank will be the first fish in his 55 gallon bedroom tank.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear :)

I think it is great and a very responsible thing that you have the questions & answers time to help the children understand and learn.
 

A

Agreeive?fish

Small Fish
#19
Nov 24, 2006
26
0
0
#19
YahooFishKeeper said:
i think you should stay away from false percs. SOOO Annoying when people call them nemos. sure... its a movie, but you want kids vocabulary to grow, and not stay stuck on nemo, dory, and bruce. some kids gonna go home and tell their mom they want a nemo and a dory or even worse... a bruce.
Click to expand...

i have never seen the movie (refuse to)

I know who nemo is, who dory is but who is bruce????
 

You must log in or register to reply here.