30l classroom nano tank

TeacherTank · Feb 10, 2025

I'm setting up a 30l nano reef in my classroom to go with the tropical tank I already have. It's under the guise of helping to demonstrate the concept of ecosystems to students, but a lot is also an excuse to resurrect a nano reef given I don't a suitable space for a tank at home. It's a 25 year old tank that originally started life with a metal halide light but got shut down when kids came around. It got resurrected when the kids were old enough to help, but then shut down when life got busy again. Third time lucky now I have students to help with maintenance.

Goals of the tank are to be as low maintenance as a nano can get, to demonstrate as full an ecosystem as possible, and to be capable of surviving 3-4 weeks without being touched during holiday periods. It was also supposed to be cheap as I could re-use a lot of existing equipment, although that's not working out so well...

We set it up properly today with Caribsea live sand to try and speed the cycle so we can start stocking it after half term. To fit with the "survive 4 weeks" goal I don't think it's going to have any fish as I can't see an autofeeder being trustworthy enough for a tiny number of fish without risking polluting the tank. So the plan is for it to be soft and LPS with a tiny number of invertebrates (hermits) for clean up and to add movement/interest.

Setup:

Tank is a 12" cube with a rear sump area
Sump will have a mangrove growing in Miracle Mud - not because it will really have much in the way of nutrients to export or that mangroves are that great at it, but it's a great visual for demonstrating the ecosystem side of things
600l/h return pump
Nicrew 50W heater/stat - I used to use a temperature controller but I can't find it and don't want to buy another
iQuatics dried reef rock + Caribsea live sand
AF Life Source to boost the microbial biodiversity in the tank
Sicce Voyager Nano Stream for circulation - might be overkill so might return this
PopBloom RL60 new fangled LED because the MH fixture is quite rusted and dead
Tunze Osmolator (at least 20 years old but still going strong)
Jebao DP-4 dosing pump - left over from a 250l tank I once had, and will be re-purposed to automate water changes during the holidays

Tank as setup. I'm not wild about its proximity to the plug sockets, but they're isolated and disconnected 95% of the time so pretty low risk.
All advice welcome, particularly suggestions on ideas for low maintenance livestock

IceNein · Feb 10, 2025

Looking good! I would strongly suggest getting some sort of cover to put over those outlets, I mean could even just be a piece of vinyl or pleather or something just as a splash guard. I know I get a little bit of water around the tank when I'm doing maintenance.

Eric R. · Mar 22, 2025

TeacherTank said:
I'm setting up a 30l nano reef in my classroom to go with the tropical tank I already have. It's under the guise of helping to demonstrate the concept of ecosystems to students, but a lot is also an excuse to resurrect a nano reef given I don't a suitable space for a tank at home. It's a 25 year old tank that originally started life with a metal halide light but got shut down when kids came around. It got resurrected when the kids were old enough to help, but then shut down when life got busy again. Third time lucky now I have students to help with maintenance.

Goals of the tank are to be as low maintenance as a nano can get, to demonstrate as full an ecosystem as possible, and to be capable of surviving 3-4 weeks without being touched during holiday periods. It was also supposed to be cheap as I could re-use a lot of existing equipment, although that's not working out so well...

We set it up properly today with Caribsea live sand to try and speed the cycle so we can start stocking it after half term. To fit with the "survive 4 weeks" goal I don't think it's going to have any fish as I can't see an autofeeder being trustworthy enough for a tiny number of fish without risking polluting the tank. So the plan is for it to be soft and LPS with a tiny number of invertebrates (hermits) for clean up and to add movement/interest.

Setup:

Tank is a 12" cube with a rear sump area

Sump will have a mangrove growing in Miracle Mud - not because it will really have much in the way of nutrients to export or that mangroves are that great at it, but it's a great visual for demonstrating the ecosystem side of things

600l/h return pump

Nicrew 50W heater/stat - I used to use a temperature controller but I can't find it and don't want to buy another

iQuatics dried reef rock + Caribsea live sand

AF Life Source to boost the microbial biodiversity in the tank

Sicce Voyager Nano Stream for circulation - might be overkill so might return this

PopBloom RL60 new fangled LED because the MH fixture is quite rusted and dead

Tunze Osmolator (at least 20 years old but still going strong)

Jebao DP-4 dosing pump - left over from a 250l tank I once had, and will be re-purposed to automate water changes during the holidays

Tank as setup. I'm not wild about its proximity to the plug sockets, but they're isolated and disconnected 95% of the time so pretty low risk.
All advice welcome, particularly suggestions on ideas for low maintenance livestock

Hello!

I’m a high school science teacher. I have a low maintenance 13.5g fluval evo tank setup in my classroom. It has a single clownfish and a mixture of soft/stony corals, all pretty hardy and low light. Also a tuxedo urchin and a hermit crab.

I have it setup with a fish mate f14 auto feeder. I like this more than the drum style feeders because it’s far more reliable. I’ve only ever had one issue when I first started using them as I put in pellets and set it up to feed twice a day instead of once and it ended up being too much food. But that was my fault not the feeder. It only ever dispenses how much food you put in since it has little rotating compartments that are run using a clock mechanism.

It has 14 compartments and can feed once a day. I usually refill once a week while school is in session, and I let it run for 2 weeks at a time over breaks. I also have a webcam to keep an eye on the tank. And a battery backup for peace of mind. Other than that the tank just has an ATO and a heater controller.

Just something to consider.

My students really love the asterina starfish in the tank. More so than the corals tbh. Hermits are popular, but they do make it harder to keep other shelled inverts. I’m a fan of porcelain crabs. Maybe a feather duster worm? Strawberry conch is also nice for small interesting invert.