New to R2R...intro

Ryan Czaja · Jun 9, 2017

Hi all. My name is Ryan Czaja and I'm new to R2R. I'm currently an Aquarium Science teacher with over 25 aquariums in my classroom ranging from small 10 gallon FW tanks to a larger 125 gallon reef tank. I also have a bamboo shark in the classroom which the students find cool. Before teaching, I was Curator at the Mystic Aquarium and The Florida Aquarium in Tampa. I also spend many years working at SeaWorld (Ohio and Orland0) and worked at ReefHQ in Queensland, Australia. I've always had a love for corals, so much that I often spend my summers working on coral reef conservation/restoration with groups like SECORE and The Coral Restoration Foundation. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community. I'd like to see how I can integrate components into my classes next year as well.

I've attached a picture of my 1 year old reef tank in my classroom.

Looking forward to our conversations.

Mal11224 · Jun 9, 2017

Nice tank. Welcome to R2R.

Mike_J · Jun 9, 2017

Welcome to the R2R community, Ryan! Great looking tank you have there. Where in CT are you from and/or do you teach? It seems we have several local teachers incorporating reefs into their classrooms which is fantastic for the developing generation of new reefers. Looking forward to getting to know you and your tanks. Thanks for the introduction. Happy reefing!

Ryan Czaja · Jun 9, 2017

Mike_J said:
Welcome to the R2R community, Ryan! Great looking tank you have there. Where in CT are you from and/or do you teach? It seems we have several local teachers incorporating reefs into their classrooms which is fantastic for the developing generation of new reefers. Looking forward to getting to know you and your tanks. Thanks for the introduction. Happy reefing!

Thank you Mike. I teach in Norwich at Norwich Free Academy. I have a few classes (Aquarium Science I and Aquarium Science II) that focus on a variety of husbandry skills. ASI focuses on FW and AS2 focuses on SW. Students are lined up to get in. It's a fun program.