75 Science Lab Reef
- Thread starter ColdZero
- Start date
- Location
- NY
i wish i had flat screens in my science class when i was growing up
LOL we had a chalkboard and 16mm projector (I was the nerd on the AV squad :help: )
swimmer
I like the equipment hidden in the cabinets, very nice.
you need a sump shot to make the thread complete
I know Glass Cages requires you to put foam under the tank, but in this installation
is it necessary? that counter looks about as flat as it gets.
you need a sump shot to make the thread complete
I know Glass Cages requires you to put foam under the tank, but in this installation
is it necessary? that counter looks about as flat as it gets.
I'd like to get them a little more involved with the setup. The only problem is we're on like reverse schedules. I work on the tank at night and on weekends when the kids aren't there. Last year when we'd acclimate stuff I'd leave work early and there'd still be kids around when I was doing that. Last year the tank had a wood canopy that would have sheets with pictures on it so the kids knew what each part or what the name of the latest resident was. My mom is looking into a small marine biology club afterschool for kids who want to learn more.
I actually do the IT work in the school as a consulting job. The flat screens in that part of the lab are for different science displays. There's still some software to write to make it look nice, but eventually one display will have the pH, temp, etc from the aquacontroller + info from the school's weather station. I'd like to use the display like we used the sheets on the canopy last year since thats no longer an option. The other 3 have folding@home, Celestia and another BOINC project that changes depending on what the kids vote on.
I like the equipment hidden in the cabinets, very nice.
you need a sump shot to make the thread complete
I know Glass Cages requires you to put foam under the tank, but in this installation
is it necessary? that counter looks about as flat as it gets.
Here ya go. Not much to see yet, kinda just have some of the equipment down there waiting.
and the electrical. The plug isn't GFCI but the circuit is, all the plugs in the lab are. The electrician they had was awesome and really helpful.
- Location
- NY
Spectacular job. I hope you continue to update this thread as the project progresses. I'll be following it.
Please let us know when the tank is cycled and ready for some inhabitants. We would like to donate a fish or two as well.
Russ
Please let us know when the tank is cycled and ready for some inhabitants. We would like to donate a fish or two as well.
Russ
Update on the tank.
I did the plumbing for the drains and the returns this weekend. I had to cut a bigger hole for the drain in the sump so it could take the 1.5" drain from the tank.
I also modded the NW-150 skimmer so there is a gate valve on the exit to control the height in the skimmer. I'm thinking about doing the mesh mod on the skimmer as well, that may be a project for next week.
Before the plumbing was done, we painted the back of the tank black with some Krylon Fusion black spray paint. All in all it came out pretty good. The return pipes above the tank, nothing in the water, were also painted black.
Hopefully by the end of this week, the plumber will have installed a nipple on the cold water feed for the RO and some way to drain the water from the RO. If all goes well, we should start filling the tank at the end of next weekend or early that week.
Pics to come once I can get home.
I did the plumbing for the drains and the returns this weekend. I had to cut a bigger hole for the drain in the sump so it could take the 1.5" drain from the tank.
I also modded the NW-150 skimmer so there is a gate valve on the exit to control the height in the skimmer. I'm thinking about doing the mesh mod on the skimmer as well, that may be a project for next week.
Before the plumbing was done, we painted the back of the tank black with some Krylon Fusion black spray paint. All in all it came out pretty good. The return pipes above the tank, nothing in the water, were also painted black.
Hopefully by the end of this week, the plumber will have installed a nipple on the cold water feed for the RO and some way to drain the water from the RO. If all goes well, we should start filling the tank at the end of next weekend or early that week.
Pics to come once I can get home.
- Location
- poughquag, ny
tank
pm'ed y ou i got 2 modded nano's ill donate
pm'ed y ou i got 2 modded nano's ill donate
Oh, wow. That project is exactly what I wanted to be doing for my students!!!
I'm a new teacher, and my background is Marine Bio (academic i.e. not readily useful!!! lol...) and I'm in the process of writing proposals to get 4 mini ecosystems set up for my classes, and 1 class teaching tank.
Good luck on the new lab, and well...I'd love to talk to your mom about how she organized everything, i.e. aligned the project to state standards, delegated duties to students, etc.
I'm a new teacher, and my background is Marine Bio (academic i.e. not readily useful!!! lol...) and I'm in the process of writing proposals to get 4 mini ecosystems set up for my classes, and 1 class teaching tank.
Good luck on the new lab, and well...I'd love to talk to your mom about how she organized everything, i.e. aligned the project to state standards, delegated duties to students, etc.
Long time no update.
There was a delay with filling the tank, the plumber wanted to make the RO/DI install very neat which I'd say he did. I installed the solenoid and filter cartridges in the RO/DI last night and my mom will be filling the tank today after she lets the RO run into the sink for a few hours.
I'm going to be purchasing sand for the tank in the next few days. Anybody have any suggestions as to a type of sand they've had success with. I've always used the ESV fine sand, but it seems like it always gets kicked up for me. I see they have a new coarse sand, has anybody ever used that before?
There was a delay with filling the tank, the plumber wanted to make the RO/DI install very neat which I'd say he did. I installed the solenoid and filter cartridges in the RO/DI last night and my mom will be filling the tank today after she lets the RO run into the sink for a few hours.
I'm going to be purchasing sand for the tank in the next few days. Anybody have any suggestions as to a type of sand they've had success with. I've always used the ESV fine sand, but it seems like it always gets kicked up for me. I see they have a new coarse sand, has anybody ever used that before?
Just an update to the tank.
Over the past few weeks rock and sand were added to the tank. This past weekend scarlet hermits and snails were added to the tank. This pic is from the day after they were added.
On the live rock so far I've found 1 red mushroom and what looks to be like some kind of little acropora. I can't tell if it survived, but its been over 2 weeks since the rock has been in the tank and it hasn't bleached yet and I see it extending its polyps. It would be cool if it survived.
The pic quality is pretty low since I took it with my camera phone, I'll see if I can remember to bring my SLR when I stop at the school this week sometime.
There's a webcam next to the tank but I haven't finished writing the code to embed a still image into a webpage yet. The camera is kinda crappy and only likes sending video. There's also a Aquacontroller I've got dumping stuff to a database, but again when I get some time I can have that update in realtime on a website as well. Should be pretty nifty.
http://science.stjosephschool.net is the address if anybody wants to check it out. The stuff on the page is static now so when it says its 50 degrees out when its 26, its a work in progress.
This weekend I think we're going to be adding a fish, maybe some mushrooms or zoos to the tank to get some activity in there.
On a side note we have an acrobatic snail in the tank. The returns are free floating from the pipe above so there's no direct contact with the tank for a snail to climb on them. Well one found its way on to one of the tunzies, went up the power cord and onto the return. It did a pretty good job of cleaning everything.
Till next time.
Over the past few weeks rock and sand were added to the tank. This past weekend scarlet hermits and snails were added to the tank. This pic is from the day after they were added.
On the live rock so far I've found 1 red mushroom and what looks to be like some kind of little acropora. I can't tell if it survived, but its been over 2 weeks since the rock has been in the tank and it hasn't bleached yet and I see it extending its polyps. It would be cool if it survived.
The pic quality is pretty low since I took it with my camera phone, I'll see if I can remember to bring my SLR when I stop at the school this week sometime.
There's a webcam next to the tank but I haven't finished writing the code to embed a still image into a webpage yet. The camera is kinda crappy and only likes sending video. There's also a Aquacontroller I've got dumping stuff to a database, but again when I get some time I can have that update in realtime on a website as well. Should be pretty nifty.
http://science.stjosephschool.net is the address if anybody wants to check it out. The stuff on the page is static now so when it says its 50 degrees out when its 26, its a work in progress.
This weekend I think we're going to be adding a fish, maybe some mushrooms or zoos to the tank to get some activity in there.
On a side note we have an acrobatic snail in the tank. The returns are free floating from the pipe above so there's no direct contact with the tank for a snail to climb on them. Well one found its way on to one of the tunzies, went up the power cord and onto the return. It did a pretty good job of cleaning everything.
Till next time.
Last edited:
- Location
- Philippines
Really nice i envy aLL that countertop space... !!
i envy aLL that countertop space... !!This past weekend we added 3 female squampy anthias to the tank. They're doing well and eating already. They're gonna get it on a schedule of morning, mid morning, lunch and before my mom leaves around 4ish for feeding times.
I setup a small power compact light on a reverse schedule with the halides so that the anthias don't get spooked and jump when the lights suddenly go off at night. I'm going to try to setup some kind of moon phases eventually with leds on the shelf above the tank.
This upcoming week I'm gonna try to get some shrooms, zoos and star polyps into the tank to get a few corals in there. If anybody sees/has any for sale, let me know.
Till next time.
I setup a small power compact light on a reverse schedule with the halides so that the anthias don't get spooked and jump when the lights suddenly go off at night. I'm going to try to setup some kind of moon phases eventually with leds on the shelf above the tank.
This upcoming week I'm gonna try to get some shrooms, zoos and star polyps into the tank to get a few corals in there. If anybody sees/has any for sale, let me know.
Till next time.
Here are some pics of the stuff that has been added to the tank over the past few weeks:
Some red shrooms added a few minutes before the pic was taken
Tracto added the same time as the shrooms
2/3 of the anthias that are now in the tank
One of the clams in the tank.
A pagoda from Devious
The tracto and the shrooms are new, everything else has been in the tank for a while. Things are doing well, the fish are fed a mix of mysis, formula 1 and a formula 2 thrown in now and then. We haven't started feeding the corals yet, but plan on starting on some phyto in a week or so.
The plastics in the tank are starting to grow some purple coralline and some of the old dry rock that we used for a base has started to show some purple dots as well.
Just this past weekend, I modded the Octopus skimmer we had with a larger hole for the air intake and bored out the elbow to the skimmer. It seems to have helped a lot, but I think I may try to bore out a little more. I plan on doing the mesh mod once I can find some of the mesh materia, Enkasomething.
The kids love it so far, they have a wall where they keep all the scientific names of the corals and fish in the tank. They went to the Hall of Science a few weeks ago for a field trip and one of the demonstrations was about protein skimming through waves in the ocean. They didn't call it protein skimming, but the kids made the connection with what was happening in the skimmer and the foam in the ocean. They were pretty excited to figure out that the same thing was happening in the filter of the tank.
Some red shrooms added a few minutes before the pic was taken
Tracto added the same time as the shrooms
2/3 of the anthias that are now in the tank
One of the clams in the tank.
A pagoda from Devious
The tracto and the shrooms are new, everything else has been in the tank for a while. Things are doing well, the fish are fed a mix of mysis, formula 1 and a formula 2 thrown in now and then. We haven't started feeding the corals yet, but plan on starting on some phyto in a week or so.
The plastics in the tank are starting to grow some purple coralline and some of the old dry rock that we used for a base has started to show some purple dots as well.
Just this past weekend, I modded the Octopus skimmer we had with a larger hole for the air intake and bored out the elbow to the skimmer. It seems to have helped a lot, but I think I may try to bore out a little more. I plan on doing the mesh mod once I can find some of the mesh materia, Enkasomething.
The kids love it so far, they have a wall where they keep all the scientific names of the corals and fish in the tank. They went to the Hall of Science a few weeks ago for a field trip and one of the demonstrations was about protein skimming through waves in the ocean. They didn't call it protein skimming, but the kids made the connection with what was happening in the skimmer and the foam in the ocean. They were pretty excited to figure out that the same thing was happening in the filter of the tank.
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
The tank looks great and the kids response is fantastic.
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