kentmoney Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Montessori Classroom Reef - Palo Alto, CA The 'quarium at one year. No skimmer, one small pump, 10 gallons. Six fish, SPS, clams, nems, gorgs. Good stony coral growth and a pair of spawning sexy shrimp and clownfish. Equipment Format: Custom All-In-One Design, ~8g display, 2g "sump" Aquarium: 10g Aqueon AGA Light: Kessil 350 Blue Tuna - Magnetic Refugium LED Flow: MaxiJet 1100 (294GPH) > SCWD > Loc Line Nozzle Filtration: Overflow > Poly Filter > Chaeto Refugium > Semi - Benthic Rock Rubble > ROX Carbon and GFO (PRN) > Return Pump ATO - AquaLab Aquaria Livestock Fish: Ocellaris Clowns, Mated Pair - Neon Gobies, Mated Pair - Tail Spot Blenny - Trimma Goby Inverts: Sexy Shrimp, Mated Pair - Bubble Tip Anemone Clones - Crocea Clam - 3 Nassarius Snails, 1 Turbo SPS: Ponape Birdsnest, Red Planet Acro, Montipora digitata, Montipora capricornus, Bali Slimer, more LPS: Brain, Frogspawn, Duncan, CandyCane, Sun Coral, Chalice Gorgonians: 2 Photosynthetic - 1 Azoox Soft: Blue Xenia, Pulsing Xenia, Kenya Tree, Neon Toadstool, Zoas, Green Star Polyps, Ricordea Algaes: Dragon's Tongue, Gracilaria, Valonia (trying to eradicate) Maintenance -Weekly Water Change, 10-20% -Daily Alkalinity and Calcium Dosing, Manually, ~4mL Alk and ~2ml Ca -Chaetomorpha Pruning -Glass Scraping Feeding -It seems like I feed with reckless abandon. Not to mention my students often over-indulge the fish and corals...I'm starting to theorize that this may be one of the reasons the tank is doing so well; I feed like a mofo and the corals like it. My phosphate is undetectable (Hanna) and my nitrate never registers (API). -Live phyto, Coral Frenzy, Cyclopeeze, and flake daily. Link to comment
SbCaes Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 wow VERY nice! some more info on the tank please! Link to comment
acrab78 Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Yeah Wtf. Almost to good to be true... Please tell more about lighting filtration etc... Six Fish in a ten? But is absolutely beautiful.... Link to comment
bdevillier19 Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 +1^^, more info on the setup and maintenance schedule Link to comment
kentmoney Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Hey guys, I'm really glad you're all into it. Been reefin' for 10 years now, but this is my first tank after a 3-4 year hiatus. I'm a bit short on time at the moment; I'm about to go pick up some ADA aquariums, LED lights, and AquaSoil from AquaForest in SF. If anyone on the Penensula or South Bay would like to get an ADA aquarium, please send me a PM! I'll hook it up. I'm based out of Mountain View. In the mean time, here are a few other photos of the tank during the beginning. A lot has changed...Lots of success, but a few catastrophes along the way. And I run a Kessil now which made a world of difference... Link to comment
kentmoney Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 wow very cool wow VERY nice! some more info on the tank please! Yeah Wtf. Almost to good to be true... Please tell more about lighting filtration etc... Six Fish in a ten? But is absolutely beautiful.... +1^^, more info on the setup and maintenance schedule Thanks guys! I added equipment, livestock, maintenance, and feeding to the original post. Let me know if you have any questions. Link to comment
gena Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 This is one of the prettiest 10g reefs I've seen! At first I didn't think it was a typical 10g tank as the size looked different, now I see you made it a DIY AIO system. I really love this. Nice job . Link to comment
frankdontsurf Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Damn I feel like starting my 10 all over again. Link to comment
bdevillier19 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Damn I feel like starting my 10 all over again. same here. i have a 10 gallon with a badfish AIO kit just sitting in the garage. Link to comment
1.0reef Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Yeah Wtf. Almost to good to be true... Please tell more about lighting filtration etc... Six Fish in a ten? But is absolutely beautiful.... Insanely awesome tank! It looks like many of the fish are very small.... Link to comment
JR! Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 really like all the shots of the start. well done Link to comment
kentmoney Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Insanely awesome tank! It looks like many of the fish are very small.... Thanks everyone! Yeah, most of the fish are small little guys. The trimma goby almost seems like he's not there, but he comes out once in a while for food. The clownfish are at least twice the size they were when the tank was set up. My, my, they grow up so fast! The tank underwent a minor aquascaping to create more places for successful SPS growth. I'm going to borrow my girlfriends Fuji and try to snap some nice photos of the most recent scape. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 AHHHH !!! Such a good looking tank !! Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Very nice! My wife is a Montessori guide. Do the students help with the tank maintenance at all? Edit: This is a perfect Montessori classroom component! I assume upper elementary? Link to comment
1.0reef Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Just realized you were in Palo Alto! That's where my dad lived, IIRC the house he grew up in isn't far from your school! BTW you should ask Legendary Corals for a few frags, they're local and have some insane stuff! Link to comment
SchnauzerFace Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Beautiful tank! I strongly considered starting some sort of Reef Club or Ocean Chemistry Club at my school, which would be an outstanding way to teach science in a hands-on and exciting way. Buuuut I just worry about things like Spring Break, Winter Break, Summer (!). How do you do maintenance during those times? Also, my school can't keep my classroom temp stable to save their life. Some days it'll be 60-62 in the classroom!! I just felt like there were too many obstacles. If you're willing to give us (me!) a little background info on how you manage to make this happen, I may consider doing it at the beginning of next school year! Link to comment
kentmoney Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hey guys, sorry for lack of updates. Will post new pics soon of the student aquarium and the new aquascape. in other good news, my head of school looks like she will be approving an upgrade to a 29g with sump! Link to comment
JR! Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hey guys, sorry for lack of updates. Will post new pics soon of the student aquarium and the new aquascape. in other good news, my head of school looks like she will be approving an upgrade to a 29g with sump! That's awesome news. Thanks for the update! Link to comment
kentmoney Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Recently threw on an MP10 that I would be using in the upgrade anyways... Link to comment
Red_Blenny Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 That's quite a looker. Beautiful Link to comment
NanoClown Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Looks great! Im interested on seeing a pic of the back chamber. It seems simple but I dont see how you can fit a scwd back there effectively Link to comment
kentmoney Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Very nice! My wife is a Montessori guide. Do the students help with the tank maintenance at all? Edit: This is a perfect Montessori classroom component! I assume upper elementary? Thanks! Yes, the students regularly do feedings, parameter testing, algae scraping, etc. As a matter of fact, some students have become so keen that I threw them a 5g rimless cube a, canister filter, and a few other things and they're maintaining there own reef at the moment. I do most of the heavy lifting on the main aquarium though. I'll get some pics of the student aquarium up soon. Just realized you were in Palo Alto! That's where my dad lived, IIRC the house he grew up in isn't far from your school! BTW you should ask Legendary Corals for a few frags, they're local and have some insane stuff! Yes! I'm aquainted with Darwin from Legendary Corals. Darwin, if you're reading this feel free to contribute to the cause! I actually have negotiated an even bigger set up, so I'm exciting to begin planning for a tank I hope to be in the 40-75g range. Beautiful tank! I strongly considered starting some sort of Reef Club or Ocean Chemistry Club at my school, which would be an outstanding way to teach science in a hands-on and exciting way. Buuuut I just worry about things like Spring Break, Winter Break, Summer (!). How do you do maintenance during those times? Also, my school can't keep my classroom temp stable to save their life. Some days it'll be 60-62 in the classroom!! I just felt like there were too many obstacles. If you're willing to give us (me!) a little background info on how you manage to make this happen, I may consider doing it at the beginning of next school year! I absolutely agree with you about the impact aquaria can have in science education; you should go for it. Start small, build interest, ask for more! The way extended vacations are handled is that students help, and my girlfriend (who also works at school) helps with filling the ATO, etc. The truth is though, during those times the tank does start to suffer. I recently went on a last minute trip to Europe and I had my students doing most of the work. It's not perfect though, during that trip they replaced one gallon of saltwater with freshwater. Oops! Our classroom temps were also unstable, and I suffered mass casualties during a heat wave in the first few months of the system. I ended up getting a nano chiller that year. Lately I convinced our facilities manager to let the AC run longer in my classroom to help with summer temps. Switching to LEDs also helped tremendously. I just recommend you set up a system with as much automation as possible, as it makes it easier to be successful. But in the end I definitely put in extra hours to have a reef in the classroom... That's quite a looker. Beautiful Thanks a ton! Looks great! Im interested on seeing a pic of the back chamber. It seems simple but I dont see how you can fit a scwd back there effectively Ah yes! It is a tad tricky. Will try to get a picture for you. It is simple: A refugium/cryptic chamber, bubble trap, and the return chamber that houses the pump, scwd, heater, and ATO float switch. Link to comment
kentmoney Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 65 rimless upgrade in the works. Stay tuned, it will be good. Very good. Kent Link to comment
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