800 gallon classroom setup build

[hobogato]

the school where i teach used to offer aquatic science as an elective class. the setup consisted of 10 cabinets that each housed three 20 gallon long tanks. the tanks were set up individually with under gravel filters, crushed coral and air pumps for circulation - not to mention the fake plants and pet store sculptures usually seen in FW aquaria.

i was asked to take over the program, and agreed to do so as long as we could update the setup. here is what i have done so far, more pics as i progress...

original cabinet
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC003042.jpg

this is how i modified each cell of the original cabinets to get a completely connected system (as you can see - i am not very good at painting :lol )
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC003052.jpg

each of the 27 tanks i will be using was drilled for a drain into a 1.25" drain line.

this 150 gallon tank will also be part of the system, so it was drilled in the end as well. i also made this simple canopy to house a couple of 400 watt halides
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC003062.jpg

im not sure what i will do with the 150 yet, since it is mine to manipulate, while the 20 gallon tanks are for students to maintain.

all of these tanks are tied together by this 7' long sump/fuge and duall beckett skimmer (powered by a mag 24) that i built last summer.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC003092.jpg

each tank has a 1" ball valve so the return flow can be controlled or even shut off for water changes and other individual tank maintenance.

three mag 12 pumps serve as the return pumps - one for each level of tanks

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC003072.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC003082.jpg

here are a couple of overall views - notice the RO line strung across the top. once i am finished filling the system, that line will connect to a float valve in the sump to provide top-off.

shoud have the system full of water this week, and then i will add the salt after i leak test the plumbing for a couple of days.

the next task will be to add sand and live rock to each tank so the system can cycle over the summer and will be ready for the students sometime in the fall.

[5.0Stang]

ditto!

[Triggerman]

That's pretty cool Ace this must be at madison. I remember the old aquatic science teacher, good to see they found some one well qualified for the job. The only thing that worries me is hopefully you won't get a crazy kid putting bleach or anything to mess up the system since it's all tied together. Set-up a hidden camera :-)

Ray

[SA-DSM]

Set-up a hidden camera :-)

I think that is a must.

Nice setup, and I wish that class was available when I was in high school. Can't wait to see it all up and running.

[Jeff]

i have 2- 5 gl buckets of sand if you need it.

[SACoastie]

Hey Ace you think they would notice if I attended the class? :w00t ;)

[emac]

thats awsome i've been to alot of different schools and none of them offered any kind of marine bio. class. the set up looks awsome ace.

[apedroza]

Excellent job as usual Ace. Makes me wanna go back to high school. IS your school still planning on culturing corals for fundraising??? Also how did you get away with building so close to the electrical breaker panel??? I tried that when I was teching lab they told me it was against code. Said there needed to be a 3' clearance on all sides. Oh wel nice job any way. Maybe we should have our meeting at your school :lol

[caferacermike]

HHHmmmmm.... Looks like a fish store to me, lol. What are you up to with tax payer dollars? You realize child labor is illegal right?

[hobogato]

thanks everyone - i cant wait to get it going!


IS your school still planning on culturing corals for fundraising?

next year's project :D

[sharkboy]

Are you worried at all about A/C shutoff during the summer months? I know that a lot of maintenance is done over the summer on chillers and such...

[hobogato]

no, in the summer time, there will only be fish in the large tank, so the other lights can stay off, and i can put a couple of fans over the sump to keep it cool enough. not planning on any corals that are sensitive to higher temps.

[LoneStar]

Looking great.

I'll let you know when my agrocrete is ready freshwater cureing and give you all the pieces I won't use. Should fill a few tanks atleast.

[urban79]

LOL I remember that room. LOL I was more of the ag kid.

[tony]

that is great, ace!!!

[Ram_Puppy]

so how can we help?
projects like this can only help maast... i think what your doing is awesome ace.

[hobogato]

thanks for asking steve - right now, i have to come up with a bunch of sand and liverock (thanks jeff and mike for donating some already).

[txstateunivreefer]

talk with louis about sand and rock he has 1000 lbs and about 800lbs of sand he said he needs to move out...its leftover from the store you may go thru his equipment and see if there is anything else needed

[hobogato]

good idea chris - ill try to contact him

[taldrich13]

If we make a bunch of agrocrete it should be ready by the time school starts again. I have some materials left over from the last batch, I'l whip up a few pieces for the cause.

[technomex]

I also have almost a 3/4 full bucket of sand if you need it.

[Ram_Puppy]

I think Buckkykatt and I have some aragocrete w/ never intend to use, and maybe a little material to make more.

Also, i don't know if you want it, but I have the sand out of my 120 cube... it probably needs to be rinsed for nitrates and such, but it's oh, 4 bags of special grade I think.

I can probably drop it off next week sometime.

I might be able to swing a bucket of salt if your not picky about that.

[hobogato]

thank you all so much! i will be finished with giving finals on friday, so next week, i will get with all of you about picking this stuff up. what a great organization we have here!!!!

[Ram_Puppy]

what a great organization we have here!!!!

says the guy doing the really hard part! :) lol

ok.. I will have to talk to bucky.. but i think this is what we can get you:

1) Almost full bucket of oceanic Salt
2) somewhere between 40 and 90 lbs of ugly as sin aragocrete (good for baserock (it was our first attempt! :) lol ))
3) If you want the used sand, it's enough to cover 30" square, at a depth of about 5" if memory serves.

Oh, and I have an old RO filter that i cannibalized for parts if you wanted, you could probably increase the number of stages on the one you have and just order new cartridges for it.

once your up and running, I can frag you off a piece of a 'sunset' tubastrea colony (yellow, peach, orange) and maybe some shrooms.

I have yet to get 'wonderful' at keeping SPS... they just kinda survive. :) working on that part! lol

[rocketeer]

Wow, you can have all kinds of stuff in there! You've got a cool job.

Will you have a quarantine system?

Jack

[Ram_Puppy]

I would imagine quarantine would be as simple as plumbing a UV in to one of the smaller 'cell' tanks...

which reminds me...

Ace, I have a UV sterilizer that was yanked out of a fish store a few years ago... as far as I can tell it's a lab quality unit.

the only problem is it's metal, so it's only suitable for a freshwater setup... are you going to need anything like that?

[erikharrison]

Ace, I hope all this effort inspires some of your students. I HATED SCIENCE/BIOLOGY. If we had done anything half as cool as this in class, maybe I would have gone ;)

[hobogato]

woo hoo!! full of salt water and starting to cycle! thanks for the sand jeff. any of you that have sand or rock for me, could you please let me know when i can come pick it up so i can get this all cycling. pics tomorrow after i get the lights moved onto the tanks....

[LoneStar]

woo hoo!! full of salt water and starting to cycle! thanks for the sand jeff. any of you that have sand or rock for me, could you please let me know when i can come pick it up so i can get this all cycling. pics tomorrow after i get the lights moved onto the tanks....

I can go through my agrocrete batch tonight or tomorrow and see what I'm keeping and what you can have. That will give me a good idea on how much live rock I still need to buy for my project too.

If you got a pH test kit, bring it (don't have one) so we can test the water and see how it fairs. Its been soaking for 2 months in fresh water.....so it may be ready to start curing in saltwater ;)

I'll pm you my address and a good time to swing on by.

[AMulwani]

cool let us know when the fundraiser is going to be:)

[hobogato]

got all the sand and all the live rock i have (still need about 200 lbs) in this morning

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00668.jpg

then, this afternoon, i got the lights installed over the small tanks. they are NO florescent right now, but hopefully t5 or PC depending on budget by the end of the year.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00669.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00670.jpg

hopefully i will be able to assemble the reflectors for the 400 watt halides that are going over the 150 tonight and get them installed some time this week

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00671.jpg

[hobogato]

a huge thank you to all that have donated: michael, louis, john, jeremy, anita and brian, scott, todd, as well as those who chose to remain anonymous.

[LoneStar]

Looking good!

So when does school start?

[Darth-Tater]

Way too soon... :w00t

[Jeff]

hey ace , why are you doing the lights? have your electrical trades class do it. also you can have the shop class build a skimmer and really get the students into it. i've never heard of a shop class that deals in acrylic and if they get good enough they can sell skimmers to the lfs.

[moneytank]

anything still needed?

[hobogato]

jeff, our shop program just had a bit of an upheaval and the new teacher is still settling in.

jared (i think that is your name, if not im sorry monetank) i still need about 200 pounds of live rock.

[KyleV]

I've got a bunch of PC bulbs and ballasts if you want instead of the NO. You would need to make reflectors though.

LMK

[hobogato]

sure, will be heading thru austin on the way back from dalllas next week sometime, maybe i could stop and pick em up.

[KyleV]

Just let me know when you'll be heading through. Most are 65 watt 12K or 50/50 bulbs. I have 2 workhorse ballasts one Corallife and I think 1 Jebo still.

[tg1119]

I have some really tough zoas and mushrooms that I will donate when I move my tank. Oh yeah and I will be able to get those damsels out of my tank. Two 4 stripe ones. I am going to be moving my tank when I get my new stand built in about 2 weeks.

Todd

[hobogato]

thanks todd, but i dont think the system is ready for any of those yet - i just added all of the sand and live rock this week.

just got home with three more buckets full of donated liverock! thanks george!

[crossxfire2]

i am taking that class next year! BOOYA!

[aggie4231]

Ace, If you need any leather frags, I've got at least 5-6 finger leathers. Might also have some others including candy canes. I'm possibly heading to Killeen the weekend of Sept. 7-9.

[hobogato]

thanks for the offer justin, but i dont think the system is ready for any corals now - at least for a few months.

[hobogato]

ok, got the skimmer beckett chambers redone, and one of the reflectors for the MH lights on the 150 gal put together.

got rid of the acrylic chambers (the way i used to build these) and replaced them with pressure fittings - work great and VERY easy to disassemble for cleaning the beckett injector
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00760.jpg

still have to make the bracket that holds the socket for both and assemble the second one
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00769.jpg

the water is all cleared up, and i now have all the lights on timers. just a temporary PC light on the 150 until i get the halides installed

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00762.jpg

the 150 gallon
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00757.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00767.jpg

the other tanks
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00764.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00766.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00765.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00758.jpg

[LoneStar]

I recognize some of my DIY rock pieces!

[mhaynes01]

shweet....

[RayAllen]

Looking good ACE. I have a few coral cool coral skeletons you can have if you want some for your class room.

Ray

[erikharrison]

My cousin said "man, it looks TOTALLY different from when I took that class." Apparently, this was before Ace got in there and cleaned it up!

[Jeff]

alright ace, now we need to have a maast meeting at the school and everyone that shows up needs to bring a frag or some item that is needed for the tanks. i know we are set up for meetings through the year but incase someone cancels or the begining of next year and have some of your students show up for a meeting to show off what they have done.

[Bill S]

Good idea, Jeff.

[hobogato]

thanks bill and felipe for the live rock donation! i like the meeting idea, i will have to run it by the principal.

[mathias]

that is a great idea..... so after his system goes through its first bloom and then after we should have the meeting :)

[hobogato]

got the reflectors finished for the 150, and got those installed. also go the first fish for the system, a panther grouper. decided to go aggressive softie reef in that tank.

reflectors finished
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00776.jpg
installed
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00777.jpg
back of the tank
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00778.jpg
front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00779.jpg
bashful panther grouper trying to hide
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00781.jpg

thanks for the donations troy, pete, and jason!

[hobogato]

alright ace, now we need to have a maast meeting at the school and everyone that shows up needs to bring a frag or some item that is needed for the tanks. i know we are set up for meetings through the year but incase someone cancels or the begining of next year and have some of your students show up for a meeting to show off what they have done.

talked with the principal and he approved of having a meeting in the room, so i will get with chrissy and discuss it.

small update - finished the sump/fuge by adding sand and mangroves to the middle section.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC00797.jpg

[Jynxgirl]

Ace, where do you get the metal for your reflectors? Thanks, Jill

[hobogato]

lowe's

[Ping]

Mtg to look at this will be awsome.

I say "Bring a frag to school day" :D

[ou812pezz]

super job ace!

[BuckeyeHydro]

What have you got going for an RO/DI system?
Russ

[hobogato]

i have a four stage, but i cant remember the brand. it is pretty nice, it is the one i got when i bought another reefer's setup a while back.

[erikharrison]

Ace, when I get back from Padre, the trigger is yours :) I noticed him bullying my new little boy around the tank.

[hobogato]

first, let me say thanks to the people who have donated the latest round of stuff - kyle, richard and mark, erick, erik, and john

well, the students have pretty much finished researching the nitrogen cycle. they are now in groups and have picked their tanks for the year. rather than numbering the tanks, each group was asked to name thier tank after a real reef, island or marine body of water.

this is the pile of rock that the student are choosing from to re-aquascape the way they want (have 50 lbs more to pick up and add still)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00926.jpg

here are the first few tanks that have been re-scaped
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00915.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00916.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00919.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00917.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00921.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00920.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00918.jpg

the skimmer is finally producing some nice green/black gunk now that there is a little bit of a bioload on the system
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00928.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00929.jpg

the 135 display (realized i had the size wrong before) now has a panther grouper, volitans lion, huma (picasso) trigger, and a wolf eel as well as a few frags of coral
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00927.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00922.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00913.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00912.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00914.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00905.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00907.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00908.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00911.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC00910.jpg

the next step is for the students to research possible inhabitant, make compatibility charts and then we will be stocking the tanks. we will partially stock all of the tanks around the beginning of october and finish stocking around the beginning of november.

[Bill S]

Ace, is everyone ok with the liability of the lion? LMK what else you need.

[Darth-Tater]

Ace it looks very nice. I am sure the students will enjoy the heck out of it. Good Luck

David

[hobogato]

Ace, is everyone ok with the liability of the lion? LMK what else you need.

cleared it with the principal - i was surprised he said yes.

all i have left to do is upgrade the lighting on the student tanks using PC retro kits (i already have enough for 8 tanks) and finish stocking the display. any little frags that you would like to donate would be great bill - it looks like it is even gonna support sps - already have that cap and a small milli frag polyped out.

[NewB]

I have a Sea World frag that I bought from CB a while back that WAS a nice Green with some really nice purple tips you can have. I am having some issues with my tank right now and SPS is not doing good. It morphed into the super rare brown acro. Maybe you can nurse it back to health? It's a good sized piece on a plug.

When I get my tank straightened out maybe I can get a frag of it. :-)

[BIGBIRD123]

Ace, remind me to bring those WH 5's to you and I'll see what else I can find.
I may have some endcaps, too.
Steve

[hobogato]

thanks newb - will probably be next week before i can come get it.

hey steve, dont forget to bring me those ballasts, while you are at it, do ya think you could scrounge up some endcaps too? :lauging:

jk, thanks buddy :)

[aggieMEDIC]

I dont get a chance to check out MAAST very often but now i really wish i had. like everyone else is saying I REALLY with this was offered in my HS. good luck with the whole project i will be tagging along.

one question, at the end of every school year what happens to the parts of the system? meaning LR and more importantly to the inhabitants, i assume it will be a different group of students the next year and they will want to personalize if you will.

[hobogato]

the system will remain running as is, but the inhabitants of the student tanks will be the responsibility of the students since they are paying for them. they have three options, set up a tank at home and keep em, sell them (watch for that in the for sale forums at the end of the school year) or give them to someone they know with a tank.

[Bill S]

Ace, I'll put together some frags for them. I've got a few frags growing from my last pruning. Along with sps, do you want palys and star polyps too? I was wondering earlier tonight what to do with all these frags - I'd rather give or trade them than sell.

[texasfootball21]

The kids at that school don't know how lucky they are that the class is offered!

[hobogato]

got in a shipment of donated snails, stomatella, limpets, and a shrimp from jonathan in WA. all of them made it thru acclimation and into the tanks it was enough snails for 12 of the 27 student tanks :D thanks again for the donation!

the package
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01102.jpg
just before letting them out of the bags to acclimate
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01103.jpg
dripping our tank water in (for 3 hours)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01104.jpg
the unknown shrimp - gonna be a good ID contest for the students (if you know the id, you can pm it to me but please dont post it)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01107.jpg

couple of close-ups of some more donations in the 135 gallon tank - thanks Sherri!
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01108.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01110.jpg

[don-n-sa]

I just would like to say Ace you have done an outstanding job....I wish you were there when I was in that class taught by Mrs. Sutton I believe it was back in 1989. She did a good job considering what she had to work with. I remember cleaning those undergravel fiters you talked about earlier in this thread.

I would like to donate somehing to this....just need to figure out what I got. Anything else you need?


Donny

[hobogato]

we got our first order of fish for the student tanks today. huge thanks to jason at aquarium designs for working so hard with me to get them here. we added 35 fish to the student tanks today. hopefully we will add about 40 more in the next week, and then about 60 more in the following month. this will bring the total in each tank to 4 to 6 fish.

forgot to take pics while the bags were floating, but i remembered to start taking pics before we cleaned up.

here is the pile of empty bags - out of all the fish ordered, we only lost 2 in shipping and acclimating.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01174.jpg

this order included some damsels, cardinals, tiny blue tangs, a few bicolor pseudochromis, a couple of longnose hawks, some oscillaris clowns (i think they sent a couple of true percs by mistake), a couple of tomato clowns, a cinnamon clown, a neon blue goby, a yellow clown goby, a friedmani basslet, a sixline wrasse, a small yellow tang, a red fromia and a skunk cleaner.

here are a few of the fish - most of them were too bashful to come out so soon

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01184.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01185.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01186.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01191.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01194.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/DSC01192.jpg

[hobogato]

I would like to donate somehing to this....just need to figure out what I got. Anything else you need?


the students are stocking their tanks now. we are very limited in the cleanup crew department - so snails and hermits would be great, and i would like to upgrade the NO flourescent lights to PC or T5. would also like to add a couple more fish (maybe a tang or two) to the display as well as some more easy corals.

[hobogato]

took some pics of the tanks today, we have about half of the fish in the student tanks now. here are some pics of some of them and a new pic of the 135 gal.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01272.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01271.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01270.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01269.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01268.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01267.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01266.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01265.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01264.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01263.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01262.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01261.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01260.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01259.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01258.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01257.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01256.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01255.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01254.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01253.jpg

[hobogato]

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01252.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01251.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01248.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01247.jpg

[erikharrison]

I shoulda been a teacher :(

[hobogato]

wow, it has been a while since i updated this....

i was about ready to start featuring student tanks when i procured grant money to replace the NO florescent lights with T5 lights, so i will start that when i get all of the lights changed out. for now, a comparison pic of the old lights (20 watt NO florescent) to the new (48 watts of T5):
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC018142.jpg
this is what my students have been working on lately - since it is environmental systems class, we have to study soil. to do that, we built raised vegetable gardens with 5 different types of soil. they will all be planted with identical plant so we can study the affect of the different types of soil.

we had four different types of soil delivered - the students moved it into the raised beds they built after it was delivered
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC019082.jpg
and the fifth is compost from our ag department
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC019492.jpg
here it is after all the dirt was leveled and the plants and seeds were planted
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC019602.jpg

[cpreefguy]

Well Id say T5s>NO lol

[Sherri]

Ace...can you still use any corals for the tanks...I have a 3"-4" rock completely covered with 2 different colors of neon green star poylps - some mushrooms that I can go ahead & cut & set in the sand till the meeting...some rics...LMK - I'd be happy to donate them...or is it too late in the school year???

[hobogato]

sounds great! we will definitely find space for anything :)

[JimD]

Are you living vicariously through your students? lol... :)

[Sherri]

Are you living vicariously through your students? lol... :)

:lauging:

[hobogato]

thought i would post a quick update.....

the tanks are full of pods and our snails and peppermint shrimp are starting to reproduce. the students have selected their inhabitants and they will start arriving next week. pics to follow soon :)

[Rychek]

thought i would post a quick update.....

the tanks are full of pods and our snails and peppermint shrimp are starting to reproduce....

Very nice! Escpecially for a classroom setting. I wish my shrimp and snails would reproduce. :)

[d3rryc]

You oughtta bump this year's stuff to a new thread so we can put the two side-by-side!

[aggman]

wow, i wish my ghetto inner-city high school had stuff like this when i was there...i'm thinking of starting something down here in corpus for schools to get kids moreinterested in the hobby. this is a great program hobogato, for planning purposes-how much would a setup like that cost? minus the livestock.

~alex

[Sherri]

This is such a cool project Ace...can't wait for more updates as the school year goes by.

[mabel_photo6]

I wish so bad I had this when I was in school. :( SO BAD!

[Hamp]

Very cool, you are a great teacher.

[lakers10]

what school do u teach at??

[barderer]

tell us more about what you teach the students in the class. What text do you guys use? What is the overall long term objective of the cl***** Looks like a lot of fun. Would def have taken this when I was in school.

[barderer]

I don't know why it stared out the word class

[hobogato]

thanks all,

i teach at Madison HS. the class is environmental systems, so we cover all of the biomes and how humans affect/interact in them. some of the other things we cover are poplulations, carrying capacity, soil studies (vegetable garden project),nutrient/water cycles, a little meteorology, a little geology, and native species. the aquarium stuff is additional to the normal things an env. sys. class would do. with those, the students apply the nitrogen cycle to a closed system, learn the steps of setting up and maintaining a marine tank including various types of filtration. then they plan a hypothetical tank for themselves. we also take an overnight trip to port a and do various labs on the jetties, beach, marshland and go out on the utmsi boat the katy for four hours.

it is the type of class i would have loved to take in high school, so i really enjoy teaching it.

[Roo&Lis]

Haha! I remember taking Aquatic Science at Madison my junior year (9 or 10 yrs ago). Although, Ace wasn't teaching it was Ms. Schierer or something like that. Do you all still take field trips to the coast and San Marcos? That was my favorite class and the reason I do reefing today. Although, I was a little more interested in the ladies back then.:wub: I think that was the reason I signed up for the class. Who would of thunk it? :bigsmile:
By the way, your setup blows our old ones away.

[lakers10]

Dam ace that rocks bro i wish had a opportunity like this back when i went to school a year ago lol

[Crazyeyes]

I know i would have enjoyed that type of class in high school, sounds awesome.

[LittleReef]

Dang! I wish I had you as my teacher...

[neogenix]

Wow, looks great!