As some of you know, I teach STEM classes to middle school students. One of the our projects this year was to build an all in one using a 20 long. The kids were very proud to put this together. We kept a pistol shrimp and goby which led to many great learning opportunities. Recently inspired by a Pratt University project "Anemone in a Jar" I am planning a project that might encourage students to keep a little piece of the ocean at home. I have a couple of questions. Since it will be necessary to change water often, do you think using regular tap water instead of RO will be ok? Will it work without water circulation or a heater? What is the most inexpensive light option? What about a soft coral frag? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Light Recommendation
- Thread starter Coral Reef To Classroom
- Start date
Hockeynut
NJRC Member
If it is a really small amount of water evaporation shouldn’t be To bad and if you don’t want to set a RO/DI you can use distilled water it’s cheap and easy to find.
there are ro/di units out there that are cheap and will pay for themselves easily I would try and find one maybe used.
This project will be for kids who may never have considered keeping a reef setup. In addition, parents may be skeptical. So my thoughts are to put together ideas for a setup that does not cost much money. For some kids it might end after a couple weeks but hopefully they will learn some valuable science along the way. For others, hopefully it will lead to one day owning their own full blown reef! The Pratt program challenged college students to keep Aptasia in mason jars. So far I haven't found many details about the program results but it has me thinking.
Tap water is tough. I ran my tank with HOB refugium and a good decholrinator. But I moved and the new water company add chemicals not in the other house or increased the amount. I ended up fighting dinos for a year. So I would say it will discourage your students. I agree with Hockeynut distilled water is cheap and a small tank it won't be costly. As for coral try Xenia, Anthellia, Kenya tree, and green star polyps. Some Zoas may work too.
The most common (wanted) anem in the hobby is the bubble-tip, with green, red/rose, or rainbow as the primaries in reef tanks. They require pretty high lighting and circulation.
The aptasia/glass anems are reef tank pests that can over-run a reef and they can do well in low light and flow. I’d guess if you asked there would be a few of us who could find some in their sumps (myself included).
There’s simple rock anems that pop up in established tanks, small and green, but they’re hard to find (I have about 6 that never move or split), but need moderate light and low flow.
And theres the rock ‘flower’ anems that are pretty popular. Im not overly familiar but I think they’re photosynthetic, plus at $40-60 a pop...
Why not keep it more reasonable and increase survivability by simplifying it a bit? Couple pieces of rubble rock, a sexy shrimp (or emerald crab) and a margarita snail as livestock, and an easy zoanthid that can handle unstable conditions. If you can find clear mason jar lids or fit that center metal circle piece with a piece of clear plastic) you can cut a hole in it for air (or an air line) and balance a small LED flashlight on top as a light source.
Just a bit of info and a couple of thoughts as I’m bored in qt atm and am tired of playing with the large pvc pieces.
Edit: Scrap the flashlight idea as battery costs would be insane (unless its a usb rechargable that can be charged overnight)
The aptasia/glass anems are reef tank pests that can over-run a reef and they can do well in low light and flow. I’d guess if you asked there would be a few of us who could find some in their sumps (myself included).
There’s simple rock anems that pop up in established tanks, small and green, but they’re hard to find (I have about 6 that never move or split), but need moderate light and low flow.
And theres the rock ‘flower’ anems that are pretty popular. Im not overly familiar but I think they’re photosynthetic, plus at $40-60 a pop...
Why not keep it more reasonable and increase survivability by simplifying it a bit? Couple pieces of rubble rock, a sexy shrimp (or emerald crab) and a margarita snail as livestock, and an easy zoanthid that can handle unstable conditions. If you can find clear mason jar lids or fit that center metal circle piece with a piece of clear plastic) you can cut a hole in it for air (or an air line) and balance a small LED flashlight on top as a light source.
Just a bit of info and a couple of thoughts as I’m bored in qt atm and am tired of playing with the large pvc pieces.
Edit: Scrap the flashlight idea as battery costs would be insane (unless its a usb rechargable that can be charged overnight)
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Aaaannnnnd maybe get a shop to help sponser and get their sticker on each jar (fantastic marketing for them) in exchange for steeply discounted (or free) inverts and easy common zoanthids.
I’m going to make one of these today with my son
Thanks for the idea.
I’m going to make one of these today with my son
Thanks for the idea.
I think distilled water is very doable. The goal will be to have the students observe changes, increased size, reproduction, etc. I like the idea of adding inverts because it will add to the excitement. Maybe I can do this as a phase two after they have some success. I am concerned until they understand the demands of bio load it will cause them to have problems. The flashlight would be tough. I am thinking Led glued to the inside of the cap? Thoughts?
Definitely will try to involve the LFS along the way. Mark, I would love to hear about your experiences with your son.
If there are other members with children who might be interested in doing this let me know. Maybe I can organize a little friendly competition through my program.