An Educational Display Tank in a High School: Reef, Brackish, and Fresh Oh My!

[PistachioSkyBird]

Gyre types can go nicely on the ends to move a lot of water.

You will want to think about maintnance needed on equiptment so you can get at/clean things like pumps without it being a headache.

I had a glass place cut and polish baffles of my tank and it was inexpensive.

Access to equipment is definitely something I have been thinking about. Luckily it will be a little easier because I want the students to be able to see all the filtration and power heads necessary to keep the fish alive.
Do you have any suggestions for how to attach the power heads on the ends? I would love to use the ecotech ones for ease of maintenance but I'm not sure there will be room between the tanks for the motor.

 

[Tamberav]

Access to equipment is definitely something I have been thinking about. Luckily it will be a little easier because I want the students to be able to see all the filtration and power heads necessary to keep the fish alive.
Do you have any suggestions for how to attach the power heads on the ends? I would love to use the ecotech ones for ease of maintenance but I'm not sure there will be room between the tanks for the motor.

Ya the motor sticks out pretty far. If you have some space, then the gyre magnets are pretty thin. They move water farther then any other powerhead can imo. Vortechs in hard to reach spots like the back would certainly make things simpler.

Main thing is to try and avoid dead spots as it will collect more debris which can lead to some algae or cyano growing and so on.

There are a lot of powerhead options and they all have pro's and cons.

Few off top of my head:

Tunze: big and bulky but powerful, amazing warranty, tend to last forever. Come in wide and narrow flow options.
Vortech: no cords, easy to clean, expensive, you can't aim them should you need flow in a certain spot.
Gyre types (there are a couple brands): Move a ton of water in a laminar motion, tend to need more frequent cleaning then traditional style powerheads
Jeabo: cheap!!! Can last for many years or months.

There is also Nero but I have never bought one of those It is wide flow an an app to control, more affordable then some others. Need to use the fish guard or they tend to kill fish sometimes.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Ya the motor sticks out pretty far. If you have some space, then the gyre magnets are pretty thin. They move water farther then any other powerhead can imo. Vortechs in hard to reach spots like the back would certainly make things simpler.

Main thing is to try and avoid dead spots as it will collect more debris which can lead to some algae or cyano growing and so on.

There are a lot of powerhead options and they all have pro's and cons.

Few off top of my head:

Tunze: big and bulky but powerful, amazing warranty, tend to last forever. Come in wide and narrow flow options.
Vortech: no cords, easy to clean, expensive, you can't aim them should you need flow in a certain spot.
Gyre types (there are a couple brands): Move a ton of water in a laminar motion, tend to need more frequent cleaning then traditional style powerheads
Jeabo: cheap!!! Can last for many years or months.

There is also Nero but I have never bought one of those It is wide flow an an app to control, more affordable then some others. Need to use the fish guard or they tend to kill fish sometimes.

Thank you! I will definitely be looking in to all of those. Is it better to stick to one brand or use which ever style fits the flow need? I know there are some that are more aim-able than others.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Just a quick up date! We are starting to order things! We have the rock for the reef tank (thanks to the BRF presidents day sale), supplies for mixing salt water, trashcans for fresh and saltwater, and a refractometer.

In the background you can see the freshwater tank that holds the convict cichlids that wont stop breeding.

I have been talking with the art teachers and they are going to have the students in the 3D design class work on making the aquascape for the tanks. We are planning on following the method presented in the HNSA video from BRS. These will be display in the main entrance to the school so we want them to look nice. Stacking rocks will not be enough.

We will hopefully be ordering the tanks in the next week or two! Its so exciting that this is finally happening! I have been working on getting an update to the fish tanks for about 3 years now!

The tank in the library has also had some updates. Sadly one of the two clownfish died. We think that the other one was being a bully and wasn't letting the other one eat.

We have removed the bubbler and it has definitely reduced the salt creep on the lid. we also added more rock and a cardinal fish!

We started with a divider but the clownfish has been jumping it every night so its not doing much good. We removed it today so we will see how feeding goes.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Question for people with way more experience. I was talking to my local fish store and they are recommending a Zetlight UFO over an AI Prime. I am having trouble finding any info on the Zetlights that is not 4 or 5 years old, but there is a lot out there on the AI Primes. Have any of you used Zetlights?

 

[Eric R.]

Question for people with way more experience. I was talking to my local fish store and they are recommending a Zetlight UFO over an AI Prime. I am having trouble finding any info on the Zetlights that is not 4 or 5 years old, but there is a lot out there on the AI Primes. Have any of you used Zetlights?

I wouldn't personally use the Zetlights, not that I have any direct experience with them before. I'd stick with the most well known brands/lights.

Also, I'm not sure who you're ordering through, but I just setup a big order for a 120 gallon aquarium at the high school I work at, and I used Champion Lighting. They offer wholesale prices to schools, so we saved a good deal of money on equipment, and they have a nice selection from well known manufacturers. One of the owners was also very helpful in making suggestions for equipment, though I had a good idea of what I was looking for going into it.

 

[Eric R.]

Also, do you have a mesh lid on the tank with the cardinal fish/clownfish? If not, I strongly suggest getting one. Many fish will jump from a tank if stressed, and most will fit through amazingly small holes (<1/2")

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Man I bet Andrew Sandler would have been all over helping fundraise this build. I wonder if he knows about this.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

I wouldn't personally use the Zetlights, not that I have any direct experience with them before. I'd stick with the most well known brands/lights.

Also, I'm not sure who you're ordering through, but I just setup a big order for a 120 gallon aquarium at the high school I work at, and I used Champion Lighting. They offer wholesale prices to schools, so we saved a good deal of money on equipment, and they have a nice selection from well known manufacturers. One of the owners was also very helpful in making suggestions for equipment, though I had a good idea of what I was looking for going into it.

That is good to know. I am trying to do as much as I can through the local fish store. I can order AI Primes through them but they have a better relationship with the person who sells Zetlights. They are virtually the same price so I am leaning toward the more well know brand.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Also, do you have a mesh lid on the tank with the cardinal fish/clownfish? If not, I strongly suggest getting one. Many fish will jump from a tank if stressed, and most will fit through amazingly small holes (<1/2")

We have a solid lid on the tank. We are looking at getting a mesh lid or something like it but the light we have for the tank is too small to reach rim to rim. Its the librarians personal tank so she is footing the bill for most of it and I don't want to ask her to buy an new light. The big tanks will definitely have a mesh lid on them.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Man I bet Andrew Sandler would have been all over helping fundraise this build. I wonder if he knows about this.

I have only had an offer for coral donations from Nicer Reef. But we would welcome any donations! We currently have enough funding to get all three tanks functional. That being said I am doing almost everything myself (down to welding the stands) to try and make this work with the funding we have. As of right now I am planning on running the reef tank with a year long cycling period mainly because we can't afford enough light for coral at the moment. That is why I starting with AI Primes. It will be really easy to move them around as we can fundraise for more.

 

[Manny’s Reef]

I have only had an offer for coral donations from Nicer Reef. But we would welcome any donations! We currently have enough funding to get all three tanks functional. That being said I am doing almost everything myself (down to welding the stands) to try and make this work with the funding we have. As of right now I am planning on running the reef tank with a year long cycling period mainly because we can't afford enough light for coral at the moment. That is why I starting with AI Primes. It will be really easy to move them around as we can fundraise for more.

Well good on you for sure. I wish you could got some viable donations for sure.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Well good on you for sure. I wish you could got some viable donations for sure.

I know that the fundraiser we got the funds from this year is a recurring one. We should be able to get the rest of the lights next year! Hopefully by then we will also have a very well cycled tank for the corals to go in to!

 

[Eric R.]

I have only had an offer for coral donations from Nicer Reef. But we would welcome any donations! We currently have enough funding to get all three tanks functional. That being said I am doing almost everything myself (down to welding the stands) to try and make this work with the funding we have. As of right now I am planning on running the reef tank with a year long cycling period mainly because we can't afford enough light for coral at the moment. That is why I starting with AI Primes. It will be really easy to move them around as we can fundraise for more.

Not sure if this was asked already, do you have any reefing clubs nearby? I've gotten coral donations for our school tank from local reefers, even though we only have a couple in the area. Stuff that grows like a weed for many, easy enough for a new tank, and corals that some reefers just toss since they have too much of it. Birdsnest, stylophora, etc.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Not sure if this was asked already, do you have any reefing clubs nearby? I've gotten coral donations for our school tank from local reefers, even though we only have a couple in the area. Stuff that grows like a weed for many, easy enough for a new tank, and corals that some reefers just toss since they have too much of it. Birdsnest, stylophora, etc.

I have found some that are about two hours away but none in my hometown. There are some parents at the school who have tanks and have offered to donate corals.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Just an update on how things are going. We have yet to order the tanks because we were waiting on a bid for some electrical work. The school has requested that the tanks be on a GFI and we are also going to add a second circuit for the tanks. This means that I will have a whole circuit for the reef tank!



In less exciting news the cardinal fish died. The librarian had also gotten another clown fish and a starfish for the tank and the starfish died as well. This prompted a more complete testing of the water parameters and she said that every thing except the alkalinity is fine. The alkalinity is some how up at about 40 from what she said. The clownfish seem to be doing ok so we don't want to lower it too fast and shock them but we definitely need to get it lowered. Any suggestions?


Here are some pictures of the clownfish in the tank. The one with the spot is the one we have had the whole time (his name is Marlin). The one with the lighter fins is Petunia and is new.

 

[Eric R.]

The alkalinity is some how up at about 40 from what she said.

Are you measuring alk in dkh or ppm? Or do you mean the salinity is at 40ppm?

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Are you measuring alk in dkh or ppm? Or do you mean the salinity is at 40ppm?

Here is a picture of the test. I had not seen the test before. To me it looks like the hardness is worse than the alkalinity but both are very high. From what she said I think she may have used tap water to fill it initially and our water here is very hard. I thought she had used distilled water to fill the tank. I tested the salinity about 2 days ago and it was at 45 ppm.

 

[PistachioSkyBird]

Here is a picture of the test. I had not seen the test before. To me it looks like the hardness is worse than the alkalinity but both are very high. From what she said I think she may have used tap water to fill it initially and our water here is very hard. I thought she had used distilled water to fill the tank. I tested the salinity about 2 days ago and it was at 45 ppm.

We have talked and I had not seen the test results before, and had been reading the new refractometer wrong. (our old salinity gauge was apparently way off) We are going to be doing a 25% water change today and are going to try and lower the salinity as well as everything else. Are there any suggestions for how much it is safe to lower it at one time? I don't want to kill the clownfish that has gotten used to the extra salty water.

 

[Eric R.]

Here is a picture of the test. I had not seen the test before. To me it looks like the hardness is worse than the alkalinity but both are very high. From what she said I think she may have used tap water to fill it initially and our water here is very hard. I thought she had used distilled water to fill the tank. I tested the salinity about 2 days ago and it was at 45 ppm.

Sorry, I'm not particularly familiar with reading this kind of test strip. I see on the bottle where is says read first, read second, etc. Do you read from right to left or left to right?

How are you calibrating your refractometer?

Depending on what is in your tap water, using tap water to fill your system may not have been an issue. However, if there is metal or other contaminants beyond just calcium and magnesium in your tap water I would recommend using RO or distilled water for managing top offs to keep salinity stable between water changes. You could see if there are water tests of your schools water. How is she managing topping off water for the tank? RODI tends to be the most effective and inexpensive long term for most tanks.

I'm not an expert, but I've generally heard it's safer to bring salinity down more quickly but better to bring it up more slowly. If your refractometer is properly calibrated, you should be able to bring it down close to 35ppm with a single water change, since you only have clownfish in the system.