New Classroom Tank

awtank2017 · Aug 24, 2017

Hi everyone! I am new to reef2reef and new to saltwater tanks. I currently set up a tank in my classroom (high school science) in Lake County, IL. It's at 24g biocube with stock everything. I have added a Jager heater and a Tunze ato. The tank was set up with 25lbs of live rock and 25lbs of live sand. We currently have 3 red legged hermit crabs and 6 trochus snails. We also have some dragon's breath and an unidentified starfish that came in on the live rock.I will be getting a blue tuxedo urchin and 1 turbo snail this weekend. After that we will start adding our corals. The students are test the water parameters everyday and graphing the data. They also have created info card s for each species in the aquarium. We will later be using the tank to talk about symbiotic relationships in my Zoology class and coral bleaching due to climate change in my Earth Science class. I am so excited to have this addition to my classroom.

Due to the fact that this in a classroom, the school has given me a small budget to stock the tank. I am currently working with our lfs (Sho Tank Aquariums in Mundelein, IL) to stock the tank. However, we will very quickly reach our budget. So, is there anyone who would be willing to donate corals or other animals to stock our aquarium? My goal is to make this as maintenance free as possible so I am keeping the fish load down to only 1-3. I am able to pick up items if they are in Lake County and parts of Cook County, IL or in Kenosha County, WI.

Here are some of the corals on our list:
1. Birdsnest
2. Trumpet or Candy cane or Blastomussa
3. Pineapple
4. Duncan
5. Frogspawn
6. Torch
7. Hammer
8. Pocillopora

Fish or Other Inverts on our list:
1. Diamond Watchman Golby
2. Pistol Shrimp
3. Lettuce Sea Slug
4. Clown fish (with anemone but not sure which one)
Any feedback or other suggestions is greatly appreciated

siggy · Aug 26, 2017

I have a few soft corals, you pay to ship

jalmanza · Aug 26, 2017

Excellent!!! I'm also a high school science teacher (biology) and teach a Zoology class. Two students helped set up our 75 gallon salt water aquarium. It's been a roller coaster ride getting it stable but with adding a skimmer this past spring it's settling down. Still fighting nitrates and phosphates but it's great for the kids to see how the tank has evolved. Good luck and have a great school year!

awtank2017 · Aug 28, 2017

siggy said:
I have a few soft corals, you pay to ship

What corals? I would like to stick to my list and not add others randomly.

siggy · Aug 28, 2017

Small Hammer, porki , also a combo rock, mushroom, nothing fancy,
What school is this for, elementary or even high school , Blastos and birdsnest may be a challenge.

awtank2017 · Aug 28, 2017

siggy said:
Small Hammer, porki , also a combo rock, mushroom, nothing fancy,
What school is this for, elementary or even high school , Blastos and birdsnest may be a challenge.

It's for a high school. I just got a hammer, pineapple tree and duncan's this weekend for a lfs that gave us a good deal. What is a porki?

siggy · Aug 28, 2017

Pocillopora , chubby little fella's
I call em porkis

Reefltx · Aug 28, 2017

I have a large frag of #8 and could donate some zoas. But I've never shipped before.

ReefJake123 · Aug 31, 2017

I highly recommend if you buy a whole lot of hermits and coralline snails because in about 2 weeks that tank will be covered with algae

awtank2017 · Sep 1, 2017

ReefJake123 said:
I highly recommend if you buy a whole lot of hermits and coralline snails because in about 2 weeks that tank will be covered with algae

Thanks for the suggestion, we already have 6 snails, an urchin, and 3 hermit crabs. I am going to get more soon, just waiting for the alkalinity to get under control. We are also going to add a blenny, just need to decide which one.

ReefJake123 · Sep 1, 2017

If anything get a diamondback goby instead and then add about 5 more hermits also don't forget about copapods

Katrina71 · Sep 2, 2017

Tailspot Blenny.

awtank2017 · Sep 2, 2017

Katrina71 said:
Tailspot Blenny.

That's the one I was thinking of!

Katrina71 · Sep 2, 2017

I have extra barnacles I can send ya! I will pay shipping.

awtank2017 · Sep 6, 2017

I just thought I would post an update on our classroom aquarium. We recently got a blue tuxedo urchin which is doing well, along with a hammer coral, kenya tree coral, and dunan's coral. We will be looking to continue to add some more from our list since these are doing well. They love watching the urchin and the hammer coral!