[Baker School]

I am a middle school science teacher at Baker Demonstration School and am posting on behalf of the 6th grade class at Baker. As part of our oceanography this year, we had the idea of setting up a saltwater aquarium to study the interaction of living and non-living factors in the ocean and educate others at our school about ocean environments. We have research marine aquariums and equipment and wrote a grant to our parent organization to fund our project. Our grant was recently approved and we are ready to begin purchasing our items and setting up the tank. We have read the saltwater cycle thread, but are seeking any additional advice you may have. Here is a list of what we are planning on purchasing for our 30 gallon tank.


Item
Top Fin Durham Aquarium Stand (30 gal. model)
Sea Clone 100 protein skimmer
All-Glass Aquarium Deluxe Full Fluorescent Hoods
All-Glass 10 Gallon “Hospital Tank”
Hydor Koralia 1 Powerhead (400 gph)
Seachem Prime Water Conditioner
Red Sea Marine Lab Test Kit
(Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Alkalinity)
Red Sea Marine Lab Test Kit
(Phosphate, Calcuium)
Jager 150 Watt Submersible Heater (13 inch)
CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand (15lb)
Marina Easy Clean Gravel Cleaner
Hagen Hydrometer (8 inch)
Python Easy Cleaning Algae Mitt
Rainbow Lifeguard Little Time or Temp

30 gallon live rock/sand "package" from Tampa Bay Saltwater
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
Frozen Fish Food



Fish and Invertebrates
Clown Fish (2)
Cardinal Fish (2)
Yellow Clown Goby
Algae Blenny

Thank you in advance for you help. We promise to keep you posted on our progress.

Jesse Semeyn (On behalf of the 6th grade class at Baker Demonstration School)

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

Your list is comprehensive but is lacking a few items you'll need for making salt water for water changes. Rather than try to go through your list and compare it to mine, I'll leave that to you and your class.

Live sand is a bit of a waste of money and doesn't really speed the maturation process along. There is a lot of mis-information in this hobby, so reviewing the post linked below is very important.

Review this post: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium not only for considering the equipment, but for a step by step maturing of the aquarium.

The 30 gallon aquarium, though manageable and useful, is not a particularly good size for the fish you have chosen. For fish keeping, you would do best to NOT have two Anemonefishes. (As a teacher, I hope you will let your class know that these fish are not "clowns." The fish are properly named Anemonefish. Only one species of the Anemonefish is officially nick-named Clownfish.) Two Anemonefish would likely want to pair and, depending on the species you choose, they will want all that space or a larger aquarium. This would leave no room for any other fish.

I would just put one Anemonefish into that 30 and choose a species that is small when old.

Cardinal fish are docile fishes, in general. The Anemonefish is of the Damsel fish family and are usually assertive by nature. The films and imagination of the public are something this fish is not aware. It has a rather 'forward' disposition. Making sure food gets to the Cardinals before the Anemonefish eats it may be a challenge. Unless your class needs to learn survival of the bully over the timid, you may want instead to put in a couple of fish from the Damsel family. Damsels will 'hold their own' with another Damsel. Also the Damsels are often swimming around whereas the Cardinals tend to just 'float.'

After the above, there is no room for any more fish. For capacity considerations, please review this post: Fish Stocking Limit - for FO and FOWLR This tank is suitable for two or three very small fish that remain small, or one small fish that will grow to about 3 inches in total length.

There is an index post of sorts which has links to other posts and articles you should be learning and teaching as the project progresses (leveled to the ability of the children): Table/Contents - Link List

I would lastly have to warn you of a potential problem which may not have been taken into consideration at the time you initiated the project. I always like to see children introduced into the hobby in schools, hospitals and other institutions, however there is a downside. There is something which may post risk or exposure to you and your school.

Marine fishes live with a wide variety of bacteria. One group of these can be caught from humans and transmitted to humans. It is the group of bacteria of the Mycobacterium sp. These bacteria cause lesions and tumors in fish and humans. Humans can give it to the fish and the fish can give it to humans.

No one should put their hands into aquarium water. No one should touch the water with a bare hand. Use (latex or rubber) glove when it comes to a need to touch something wet. Don't let water splash on people.

If the above isn't practical for your project, you may wish to just setup a reef aquarium without fish.

Good luck!