Donate an All in one aquarium for HS Bio class

[Miamialum620]

Hey guys. I’m a high school Biology teacher in Coconut Creek checking to see if anyone is willing to or knows someone willing to donate an all in one aquarium for my classroom. It would be great if the kids could see what it takes to start up and maintain a reef tank throughout the school year. An all in one would be best for the class because I don’t have space for a sump to place below the tank.

As I’m sure you know teachers are pretty broke otherwise I’d try to buy one myself and the money we are given by the county only covers classroom supplies (papers, pens, staplers, etc.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Retro Reefer]

An AIO would be a excellent choice for your application, but it is going to still take a sizable investment even if you get the tank for free as the tank itself is probably only a quarter of the total cost to set up a reef.. You can watch local want ads for used equipment, frequently you can get stuff practically for free.. I recently saw a brand new $5000 complete RS high end system with everything, rock, corals, fish, lighting and all the needed maintenance and testing supplies for $500 OBO.. maybe your class could organize a fund raiser of some sort to help fund the project.

 

[Katrina71]

A biocube would be a great classroom tank. The older Oceanic or the new Coralife ones. Check with your local fish store and maybe connect with some of the local reef clubs.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Connecting with a local reef club is a excellent idea..

 

[SandJ]

This will be an awesome learning experience for the kids! My old reef club loved to help out schools...hopefully someone in your area will provide some equipment.

Quick question, does your school turn off the ac at night and on the weekends? I have seen where some schools do this and I was wondering if this affected the tank.

 

[noahreefer]

Wish my biology teachers did this... it’s really cool that you want to set up an aquarium for your classes! Definitely agree with the above that you should connect with local reef clubs.

 

[ReefWithCare]

Ya - it’s going to be a sizable invest. Check Craigslist or even try a sponsor. You are going to need much more than just the tank.

 

[BadPanda]

I can donate a tunze 9001 skimmer (ran for 5 mins) and possibly some AI primes (depends if I decide to go hydra route) just pay shipping. I remembered the freshwater tank my biology class had. Needless to say, I was paying more attention towards the tank rather than the teacher.

 

[Katrina71]

I have some equipment that fits an Oceanic 29 or Coralife 32. I'll help.

 

[Katrina71]

Maybe R2R would be willing to help???Go Fund me with a link on here.

 

[Katrina71]

Could you post an email address? I sent out some emails for you. I'm hoping we can help.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Hey guys. I’m a high school Biology teacher in Coconut Creek checking to see if anyone is willing to or knows someone willing to donate an all in one aquarium for my classroom. It would be great if the kids could see what it takes to start up and maintain a reef tank throughout the school year. An all in one would be best for the class because I don’t have space for a sump to place below the tank.

As I’m sure you know teachers are pretty broke otherwise I’d try to buy one myself and the money we are given by the county only covers classroom supplies (papers, pens, staplers, etc.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Get with these folks, they are both teachers doing the same thing as you. They might have some tips on how they aquired the equipment. @Mr.Asbury & @James Hammett

 

[Katrina71]

@ReefersDelite

 

[Miamialum620]

Thanks guys for your responses and advice. Here is my work info in case anyone wants to contact me ([email protected] or [email protected]). I don't have a twitter account or any other social media so either of those emails would be best to contact me or through REEF2REEF works as well.

BadPanda and Katrina71 thanks for the offer of supplies and I hope we can set something up. To everyone else I promise to start a build thread with the kids so you can follow along with its progress. I'll try to keep an eye on LetGo or OfferUp to see if anything reasonable pops up. I did take the advice and contacted a local fish club to see how they can help out so fingers crossed there.

To SandJ's questions I'm pretty sure the schools keeps the A/C on for the weekend but I'll double check.

I included a classroom pic so you can see what I'm working with. The class is a lot bigger than the picture portrays with those counters running along each side of the room. My thinking was an All-in-one tank on either one of those long counters would work. While a big tank is nice because it's more forgiving and I can have more biodiversity in there, I would have to break down the tank when the school year ends and bring it home for the summer until the next school year begins (about 2 months).

 

[Katrina71]

Even if this inspired one kid to get addicted to something good, it's worth it. I've seen a lot. This could be a great tool!

 

[BadPanda]

Keep us updated

 

[James Hammett]

I started with a Biocube Led 32 Gallon. It is a great app in one that has done well. Thankfully my school allows me access year round so I didn’t have to break it down this summer. I did have to add a chiller due to AC being off. It has done well all summer. We are upgrading to a 75 with some generous sponsorships. It’s not cheap takes a lot of out of pocket funds but is very impactful for kids.

 

[James Hammett]

Here we are this morning!!!

 

[Katrina71]

I have been sending emails. I hope to get lucky. My son and his friends are willing to raise money to help. They are elementary school kids.

 

[Mr.Asbury]

I'll send you a PM now. Sorry for the late response - I was at an AP training for two weeks, and I got back just in time to start back to school yesterday.