Carribean Reef 20 IM

[chgries]

This is a thread about the journey this year with my classroom tank. I set up this tank in August. The tank was kindly donated to me by a LFS in the area. It is a used IM 20. It had some other equipment such as heater and I also pieced together some other equipment I was not currently using. I wasn't sure of the direction I wanted this tank to go but I wanted it to be something that would interest students and allow them to interact with the tank. Last year I had a tank, and I fragged some coral with them, and they watched their pieces grow out throughout the year measuring and weighing them. At the end of the year, I took them to a LFS and traded them in for store credit so students could see the value of fragging coral, the growth rate and learn about aquaculture. This year I was working with a younger group of students, so I wanted to do something different. The tank started out as a clownfish tank with a pair of aquacultured oscellaris clown fish, ala "Finding Nemo". My plan was to add some anemones and have the students learn about the symbiotic relationship clownfish have with anemones. Maybe in the future even try to breed and raise some clownfish of our own. The problem was is that these clownfish were very aggressive and territorial. They would bite anytime you put your hand in the tank, so I decided put them in their own tank and that is where they currently reside, and they are very happy. So, I had the idea of using this tank as an invert only tank. The students could interact with the inverts and not have to worry about being bit. Then I had the idea to make it a macroalgae tank, which is something I hadn't done yet as an experienced hobbyist but was interested in trying. So I ordered a selection of inverts and macroalgae from a reputable online vendor. Unfortunately, their arrival coincided with an outbreak of diatoms, and wiped out all of the macroalgae and most of the inverts. After ridding the tank of the diatoms and get the tank healthy. I decided to give it another go. This time I had the thought of making a Carribean/Floirda style biotope. I live and teach in Florida and the idea of the students being able to see an ecosystem that is in their backyard appealed to me. So, I placed another with another online vendor, this time a vendor about an 11/2-hour drive away from me. I purchased some additional inverts, macro algae, mushroom coral and gorgonians.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/-2QOxC-AeFg?feature=share

 

 

 

 

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