Megaloptera
Community Member
Good Afternoon, My name is Adam and I have had the pleasure of building a beach classroom through grant money for our local school district at its environmental center. I was a teacher at this facility but I will be embarking on a new employment endeavor to earn a higher wage so that my wife can attend to family medical needs. It occurred to me that I hadn't fully shared the great tanks that we share with these students. Let me tell you, it has been a learning process and R2R has been a great help as a quick resource for answers. Thanks to all of you who participate on this forum. Welcome the the beach classroom containing 5 biotope style tanks representing our local aquatic habitats.
We teach two lessons in this classroom. The younger kids learn to sort and measure shells and participate in a tank scavenger hunt. The older kids complete water parameter tests on water samples and attempt to match them to the aquatic habitat that best matches the data.
Freshwater tank: mosquito fish, sailfin molly, marsh killifish, golden topminnow, fat sleeper goby, lyre goby, snails, and plants
Brackish Bay Tank: Bull minnow, Slippery Wrasse, Emerald Parrotfish, Thin striped hermit crabs
Emerald Parrotfish Nicholsina usta: I caught this little guy in a dip net and it looked like a fingernail clipping with eyes. He was tiny. I put him in a mature refugium and a year later he is a hair algae eating machine. As you can tell from the rocks I keep the GHA growing as fast as it can and he mows it down just as fast. Amazing little fish with great personality. He's usually sits on the bottom after eating his fill of table shrimp. This is the only way to keep him still for a photo op.
Florida Panhandle Beach Tank #1: Spotted Scorpionfish, Lane Snapper, Variegated Urchin, Thin Striped Hermit Crabs
The Spotted Scorpionfish is one of the show stoppers of the classroom!
Florida Panhandle Beach Tank #2: Lionfish named "Ceviche," Molly Miller Blenny, Pleated Sea Squirt, Thin Striped Hermit Crabs, Variegated Sea Urchins.
Florida Keys Tank (disclaimer-I couldn't collect everything so I purchased items that represented Keys creatures but aren't exact.) Orange shoulder tang, Falco hawkfish, Royal Gramma, Filefish, Green Chromis, Molly Miller Blenny, Banded Coral Shrimp, Rainbow Bubble Tip Anemones, Mushrooms, Hand Leather, Green Cabbage, Favites, , Blasto, Red Monti Cap, Birds Nest, Chalice, Photosynthetic Sponge, Urchins, Snails, and Hermits. Forgive the poor photo quality it was the last minutes of the last day of work that I quick snapped these with my phone.
If you are still reading you may be interested in the back sides of these tanks. The reef is a 250G. The other tanks are 125G. Ceviche's tank is a 90G.
250G its a work in progress. I should have cleaned up the wires a little better. Filter socks, Protein Skimmer, Separate Refugium on the table, ATO below the table. The most recent upgrade was the APEX and the dosing pump.
The 125G wall
Thanks for reading. It's theraputic to have this for a little closure. I was offered a new job last Thursday. Friday was the last day before summer break. I told the school district I wasn't returning and walked away from the environmental center into a new adventure. I did manage to take home my QT tank/water storage tank. It was up and running for more than a year and will be my little reef at home now.
My new beginning!
Happy Reefing!
We teach two lessons in this classroom. The younger kids learn to sort and measure shells and participate in a tank scavenger hunt. The older kids complete water parameter tests on water samples and attempt to match them to the aquatic habitat that best matches the data.
Freshwater tank: mosquito fish, sailfin molly, marsh killifish, golden topminnow, fat sleeper goby, lyre goby, snails, and plants
Brackish Bay Tank: Bull minnow, Slippery Wrasse, Emerald Parrotfish, Thin striped hermit crabs
Emerald Parrotfish Nicholsina usta: I caught this little guy in a dip net and it looked like a fingernail clipping with eyes. He was tiny. I put him in a mature refugium and a year later he is a hair algae eating machine. As you can tell from the rocks I keep the GHA growing as fast as it can and he mows it down just as fast. Amazing little fish with great personality. He's usually sits on the bottom after eating his fill of table shrimp. This is the only way to keep him still for a photo op.
Florida Panhandle Beach Tank #1: Spotted Scorpionfish, Lane Snapper, Variegated Urchin, Thin Striped Hermit Crabs
The Spotted Scorpionfish is one of the show stoppers of the classroom!
Florida Panhandle Beach Tank #2: Lionfish named "Ceviche," Molly Miller Blenny, Pleated Sea Squirt, Thin Striped Hermit Crabs, Variegated Sea Urchins.
Florida Keys Tank (disclaimer-I couldn't collect everything so I purchased items that represented Keys creatures but aren't exact.) Orange shoulder tang, Falco hawkfish, Royal Gramma, Filefish, Green Chromis, Molly Miller Blenny, Banded Coral Shrimp, Rainbow Bubble Tip Anemones, Mushrooms, Hand Leather, Green Cabbage, Favites, , Blasto, Red Monti Cap, Birds Nest, Chalice, Photosynthetic Sponge, Urchins, Snails, and Hermits. Forgive the poor photo quality it was the last minutes of the last day of work that I quick snapped these with my phone.
If you are still reading you may be interested in the back sides of these tanks. The reef is a 250G. The other tanks are 125G. Ceviche's tank is a 90G.
250G its a work in progress. I should have cleaned up the wires a little better. Filter socks, Protein Skimmer, Separate Refugium on the table, ATO below the table. The most recent upgrade was the APEX and the dosing pump.
The 125G wall
Thanks for reading. It's theraputic to have this for a little closure. I was offered a new job last Thursday. Friday was the last day before summer break. I told the school district I wasn't returning and walked away from the environmental center into a new adventure. I did manage to take home my QT tank/water storage tank. It was up and running for more than a year and will be my little reef at home now.
My new beginning!
Happy Reefing!
