Community Tank
- Thread starter WesW
- Start date
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OP
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WesW
Active Member
Before we could get very far with a community tank we need a good group of volunteers willing to help out. I think we would need at least ten volunteers to get it up and running and probably three "gurus" to be in charge of overall design and direction of the tank(s). I definitely don't have enough experience to be one of the gurus but I would be happy to help organize everything, secure a location, raise funds, and help in any other way I can. Who would be willing to help with the tank and who could be the gurus?
Next the tank needs a place to call home. Huntsville or Madison are probably the most central and easy to acces areas for everyone. Sci-Quest, the Huntsville library, and the Huntsville Art Museum would all be good places but my vote would be to have it at Lowe Mill. Lowe Mill is super laid back so I think we would have the most access and freedom to the tank their. I'm guessing we would have to deal with a lot more red tape at the other places and may not have access to the tank after hours. What do you guys think?
Next the tank needs a place to call home. Huntsville or Madison are probably the most central and easy to acces areas for everyone. Sci-Quest, the Huntsville library, and the Huntsville Art Museum would all be good places but my vote would be to have it at Lowe Mill. Lowe Mill is super laid back so I think we would have the most access and freedom to the tank their. I'm guessing we would have to deal with a lot more red tape at the other places and may not have access to the tank after hours. What do you guys think?
Dave3112
2500 Club Member
I would be willing to donate a few things to get the tank started. Lord knows I have enough stuff laying around that could be used. But that may be all I can commit to right now though. I travel a lot with work so I never know when I will be home for more than a day or two at a time. So it would not be fair for me to say "yeah I will take care of ___________ this week" and then have to cancel because of work.
I think this is an excellent idea and I truly hope it takes off. I even bet if someone were to put in the effort we could get some equipment sponsored. I for one think the educational value to area children would be an excellent benefit to something like this.
I think this is an excellent idea and I truly hope it takes off. I even bet if someone were to put in the effort we could get some equipment sponsored. I for one think the educational value to area children would be an excellent benefit to something like this.
GrouperStupor
Active Member
Lowe Mill sounds good. I don't know a lot about it, but it looks like the easiest way to get this done and keep it maintained. Sci-Quest might want some monstrosity like on "Tanked".
EmilyXLC
Charisma +10
I don't have anything to donate but time. I wouldn't mind going & doing regular maintenance on the tank & checking on everything, wherever it ends up!
I'd like to see it at the art museum, personally... or maybe a local upscale locally-owned coffee shoppe?
I'd like to see it at the art museum, personally... or maybe a local upscale locally-owned coffee shoppe?
JSB
Usually Confused
OK, I like the idea. However...
This is just my opinion, and I am not taking a contrarian view, I just want to put some things out there. If we are to do this, with hopes of educating and generating interest, I don't think it can be somebody's old 55 gallon, with a worn pine stand. From an exterior view, this thing has got to be very attractive. Yeah, used Metal Halide ballasts, and used sumps, and used pumps are ok, as they are out of site generally. But the part that the viewer sees, the part that makes the someone go "Wow!", has got to be first rate.
Also, think about the space you are putting it in. A 75g in a 12'x14' living room is a nice size tank. Put that same tank in a hall at the Art Museum for instance, something that might measure 35' square, and a 75g is waaaaay too small to make any kind of impression. My thinking is that a 180g would be minimum for a large room, and 3-, 4-, or 500-hundred gallon tank would be more appropriate.
300 is a lot of water, power, maintenance. I we can find a host that is willing to cover the electricity, and a tank builder willing to discount or donate a 300, same for a cabinet builder, and we can get commitments from members for frags, we still have to buy the fish. Like most, I don't have any spare fish lying around, so we would likely have to buy them, especially if we want to control the temperament of the tank. If somebody donates a clown trigger and someone else an ocellaris, we are gonna have a problem.
Now on to staffing. We will need a tank master/project lead/CEO. Someone who is willing to make the final decision, and we would all allow to make the final decision on everything. Otherwise, nothing would get done. We need fund raisers, and sponsors. We need an advisory and planning board, led by the tank master. We need maintenance staff that would be willing to do chores and respond to emergencies. If we are to educate, we need a trainer. None of these jobs are particularly huge, but they ALL will need to be done.
This is just my opinion, and I am not taking a contrarian view, I just want to put some things out there. If we are to do this, with hopes of educating and generating interest, I don't think it can be somebody's old 55 gallon, with a worn pine stand. From an exterior view, this thing has got to be very attractive. Yeah, used Metal Halide ballasts, and used sumps, and used pumps are ok, as they are out of site generally. But the part that the viewer sees, the part that makes the someone go "Wow!", has got to be first rate.
Also, think about the space you are putting it in. A 75g in a 12'x14' living room is a nice size tank. Put that same tank in a hall at the Art Museum for instance, something that might measure 35' square, and a 75g is waaaaay too small to make any kind of impression. My thinking is that a 180g would be minimum for a large room, and 3-, 4-, or 500-hundred gallon tank would be more appropriate.
300 is a lot of water, power, maintenance. I we can find a host that is willing to cover the electricity, and a tank builder willing to discount or donate a 300, same for a cabinet builder, and we can get commitments from members for frags, we still have to buy the fish. Like most, I don't have any spare fish lying around, so we would likely have to buy them, especially if we want to control the temperament of the tank. If somebody donates a clown trigger and someone else an ocellaris, we are gonna have a problem.
Now on to staffing. We will need a tank master/project lead/CEO. Someone who is willing to make the final decision, and we would all allow to make the final decision on everything. Otherwise, nothing would get done. We need fund raisers, and sponsors. We need an advisory and planning board, led by the tank master. We need maintenance staff that would be willing to do chores and respond to emergencies. If we are to educate, we need a trainer. None of these jobs are particularly huge, but they ALL will need to be done.
dictionaaron
Community Member
also the heating and cooling at lowe mill may be insufficient to house a tank. i dont know if they leave it running all the time and it certainly is not as efficient as a house unit if it is....just a thought
OP
OP
WesW
Active Member
I have friends at the library and Lowe Mill that I ran the community tank idea by and both expressed interest.
I totally agree. A nano would not make a very good community tank. I was thinking 100 gallons at the smallest but preferably around 150. I also wouldn't want to shoot too big to start with and design something that wouldn't come to fruition or would be really difficult to maintain. This first tank could be more of a proof of concept and we could always go bigger and better once it is successful. Also it will probably be a lot easier to get community funding to expand an already existing community tank than to try raising a lot of money for a tank that doesn't exist yet.
Hopefully we could come up with most of the equipment from this group but it may be pretty tough to get someone to donate a good looking large tank, stand, and canopy. We may be able to get enough corporate sponsorship to pay for the tank or we could do something like a benefit concert to raise money. I lead a group that did a tornado relief concert at the lumber yard and we could do something similar pretty easily. If we did decide to put the tank at Lowe Mill we could raise money by doing a silent art auction with the artist at Lowe Mill. I'm confident we can come up with the funding for the tank but I'm concerned about staffing...
I totally agree. A nano would not make a very good community tank. I was thinking 100 gallons at the smallest but preferably around 150. I also wouldn't want to shoot too big to start with and design something that wouldn't come to fruition or would be really difficult to maintain. This first tank could be more of a proof of concept and we could always go bigger and better once it is successful. Also it will probably be a lot easier to get community funding to expand an already existing community tank than to try raising a lot of money for a tank that doesn't exist yet.
Hopefully we could come up with most of the equipment from this group but it may be pretty tough to get someone to donate a good looking large tank, stand, and canopy. We may be able to get enough corporate sponsorship to pay for the tank or we could do something like a benefit concert to raise money. I lead a group that did a tornado relief concert at the lumber yard and we could do something similar pretty easily. If we did decide to put the tank at Lowe Mill we could raise money by doing a silent art auction with the artist at Lowe Mill. I'm confident we can come up with the funding for the tank but I'm concerned about staffing...
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OP
OP
WesW
Active Member
I live in Athens but could do tank maintenance and feeding at least one day each week. I can help organize, fundraise, and promote a community tank but I do not have enough tank experience to be the tank master. I've started floating the idea of a community tank by some of the locations but someone really needs to step up as a tank master for this idea to move forward. We also need more people to volunteer to be part of the maintenance staff. So far I think it is just me and EmilyXLC but it would be nice to have closer to ten people to help with the maintenance.
Anyone else willing to help out with maintenance? Anyone interested in being the tank master? If not, anyone want to nominate potential tank masters? Sometimes a polite nudge helps
Anyone else willing to help out with maintenance? Anyone interested in being the tank master? If not, anyone want to nominate potential tank masters? Sometimes a polite nudge helps
nhago
Active Member
I'd love to volunteer, but just like Dave, I travel a lot for work and I wouldn't want to commit to something i can't deliver.
Whenever I am in town, i wouldn't mind stopping by and doing some maintenance, but it wouldn't be on a regular basis..
Anyway, this is a fantastic idea and I hope it goes from an idea to reality!!
Whenever I am in town, i wouldn't mind stopping by and doing some maintenance, but it wouldn't be on a regular basis..
Anyway, this is a fantastic idea and I hope it goes from an idea to reality!!
joejoe1055
Active Member
i like the idea and willing to help.
lets consider a few things: 1.we will need to make it nice but keep it simple 2.when alot of people look at tanks they notice the fish mostly (knew a guy who did this at a couple of restraunts as advertising bussiness, and when i went there to eat all that was noticed was the fish and inverts) 3. if we do anycorals i would suggest softies and lps like frogspawn (people like movement, plus some people think corals are flowers)
lets consider a few things: 1.we will need to make it nice but keep it simple 2.when alot of people look at tanks they notice the fish mostly (knew a guy who did this at a couple of restraunts as advertising bussiness, and when i went there to eat all that was noticed was the fish and inverts) 3. if we do anycorals i would suggest softies and lps like frogspawn (people like movement, plus some people think corals are flowers)
