Classroom tank

Hi guys and girls

I'm starting my teaching career next year and am gonna start it off by setting up the classroom.

The reason I am here is I'm looking for ideas. I've got a 2 foot standard tank lying in the garage which I want to set up, probably holds around 70 litres or so. I don't want to go the typical teacher root of guppies, I actually want a mini ecosystem in my class, so would love to have a the tank an area specific. Like amazon, asian etc. What are your guys thoughts. PS, it would be nice to have some lively fish that move around quite a bit. The tank must also be manageable without needing an overboard amount of attention.

Regards
Luke:bigsmile:

 

What is the aim of the tank in the class room? Do you need to show life-cycle, need live breeder, plants etc ... will you have access to a stable power source, run lights, filtration and a heater - need to move the tank home for the weekend or holiday?

What kit do you have other than a tank?

1st thought - mud skippers (not that I have ever had them, but they do sound cool for a class set up)

But a 2ft is a small water volume to do a mini ecosystem in.

 

Power source - stable

Equipment - Tank, air pump, UG filter. That's it so far. I'm going to buy the equipment needed when setting up.

I have successfully bred siamese fighters before, angels laid eggs but died after hatching.

Livebearers do seem the best way to go in terms of up-keep and reproduction.

The purpose of the tank is to give the learners a chance to observe and to learn to take care of pets. Each week a different child will be in charge of cleaning the glass, feeding the fish etc. Good teaching tool.

Mud skippers I have no experience with, so I am hesitant.

Run down:-tank must have

1. plant life
2. Lively fish that breed readily
3. Different types of life, eg, possibly small shrimp etc

I will buy all the equimpment, that's no problem, can build a canapy out of wood for it. Very keen to get it up at the end of this year in my class :-D

 

What grade are the learners

 

Grade 4, so they'll be turning 10 next year

 

My understanding is if you want to do plants (other than in clay pots) get rid of the UG filter.

Danios are tough and will survive abuse ..

 

For fish that reproduce easily and don't need excessive amounts of care, you are kinda limited to the live-bearers. On the plus side they are usually very active. Whereabouts are you situated?

 

Any fish should entertain them.

Supervision, in case of over feeding and just in case they wanna feed the fish their lunch.

 

I was thinking of doing away with the UG filter as well, and is pool filter sand good for plants, coz I was given a bag of it by a friend in the pool product trade.

I'm reckoning that platies and swords would make a nice colourful tank with lively fish in it don't you think?

I will take a lot of care in making sure that the learners are well supervised wrt the feeding and cleaning etc.

PS, would it be a bad idea to add mollies to the tank with platies and swords, if I am correct, mollies need a bit more salt in the water than the others/

 

Oh sorry, East London

 

You can edit your profile so your location shows when you post

 

How i wish one of my teachers did something like this!

Well done on a good decision,and the best of luck.

 

I would also suggest you go for Danios, but you will have to add some kind of bottom feeder as well as Danios only feed mid to top of the tank

 

Enter - the cory family

 

2 foot tank is normally 60 litres, so how about this - Pool sand is fine, about 50mm thick at the back sloping forward to about 20-30mm in the front. Create a pile of rocks, (+- 10 or so fist sized in the right hand corner). Along the back and left hand side, add some vallis, amazon sword and cabomba. (these do not need huge light requirements and are cheap) Throw in a Sponge filter in the back corner hidden by the rocks. This way your students must do a regular 20% water change a week.

For fish I would go with 5 OTOS (or maybe bronze cories) for bottom and interest. Then 10 rummy nose tetras, as water quality indicators and a bit of colour. Add a breeding pair of angels and a flat piece of slate +- 60mm x 20mm leaning against the back, for them to breed on.


Then - when setting up the tank put 5 zebra danios in to cycle with, the kids can measure and plot the temperature, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate graphs, and do a project on the Nitrogen Cycle, include the nitri and nitrobacteria growth in this project.

Once cycled (as shown by the graphs) add the other fish. Kids can monitor the temperature and pH to get the optimum breeding water characteristics. (Do NOT play with the pH) To try and trigger breeding, keep a chart of temperatures and do a water change with coldish water.

Try to feed live food when you can - the kids can keep a white worm breeding setup and if possible a daphnia tank. The daphnia tank provides a good project for sunlight and algae growth, the white worms a good project for soil, moisture and temperature control for species.

 

This will also help

http://fish.mongabay.com/

 

Damb Zafgak..
Should off had you as a teacher I would off loved school with all that you just mentioned...lol
you missed you true calling, Biology teacher...lol

 

Hey Gareth - my passion is lecturing and public speaking - but I have to pay the bills - so the day job goes on...

 

My girlfriend teaches Grade 4 English, and what you mentioned is FAR too advanced for them. You'd be lucky if they can write sentences that you can read at that age and the current state of education!

Oh, and you'll need a way to actually LOCK the canopy because there will be the kids that decide to try kill all the fish.

It's an ambitious project, but it's not impossible to pull off.

As for fish, I'd say livebearers are a good way to go. Just make sure that if you get platies or mollies that you actually get males and females. I've only seen females in the local shops for the last 6 months!

For plants I'd avoid the cabomba, it makes a big mess in the tank and as a teaching tool about plant growth you'd do better with hornwort. Also, if you want a cheap, nutrient-rich substrate, try get a bag of crushed red jasper. It's high in iron and my plants seem to love it.

I had a small 40cm tank with mollies, platies and corys for a few months and they all lived quite happily together, just make sure the fish have enough hiding places because there's going to be a lot of activity around the tank and it will take the fish a while to get used to that.