WHS Reef Build (Summer 2023 Update)

[Zach0918]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my class' journey of setting up a reef tank in our classroom at Westerly High School (RI). This has been in the works since September and after a lot of work, including obtaining a grant for the some of the expenses. I am happy to be able to say we are ready hit the ground running when we come back from February vacation. This is not the first tank I have had in the classroom but this is by far the biggest and most complex so I am sure will have a number of questions along the way. I also like to try to get the students involved in the community so I am hoping this thread can serve as a way for those conversations to take place. I will be posting more details about the equipment/livestock we add we a as things as are installed and shouting out some of the amazing companies who supported us along the way.

Tank: Waterbox Marine X 110.4
Skimmer:
Heater:
Controller:
ATO:
Lid:
Controller Board
Lighting:
RODI:
Rock and Sand:

 

[Zach0918]

Tank is here, I have to give Waterbox Aquariums a huge shout out for working with my budget to make our dream tank a reality. Your support of education and inspiring new hobbyists is greatly appreciated! The tank is still in its box but I am excited to post more pictures once it is on the stand.

 

[Chrisv.]

Cool! I set up a reef tank at school when I was an AP bio student. It was a big hit. I'm sure your students will love it and learn a ton.

 

[Zach0918]

Huge shout out to Caribsea who has always gone above and beyond to support my projects. They donated all the LifeRock and live sand needed for the tank. I have used both these products in the past and have nothing but great things to say about them.

Before February break we played around with some aquascape ideas, here are two of the ones the students built. Would love to get some feedback on them. We will be cementing once we decide on a final design.

Aquascape #1 (aka The Dragon)

Aquascape #2

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I’d say 1 but I’d take the top rock on the left structure and add it to the “u” in the middle, then move the rock on bottom front of the left structure to make its own bommie in middle of the tank. This gives u an overhang on the right side of the left structire. . keep the right side as is. U have three structures to place corals with a shaded area on sandbed. Mayb move the middle bommie more to the right. U can also angle the structures so they offset and give u a channel between them for more depth Just sayin good luck. Wish I had that when I was in HS. Many moons ago lol.

 

[Zach0918]

I’d say 1 but I’d take the top rock on the left structure and add it to the “u” in the middle, then move the rock on bottom front of the left structure to make its own bommie in middle of the tank. This gives u an overhang on the right side of the left structire. . keep the right side as is. U have three structures to place corals with a shaded area on sandbed. Mayb move the middle bommie more to the right. U can also angle the structures so they offset and give u a channel between them for more depth Just sayin good luck. Wish I had that when I was in HS. Many moons ago lol.

Really appreciate the thoughtful response, we will play around with these ideas next class!

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I like minimal rock look. I had 2 Bommies staggered different heights seperated to frame the Derasa clam as centerpiece

 

[Zach0918]

Busy day today! The students all worked hard today, lots of progress.

Stand is now level!

AI Lights are mounted!

Aquascaping is in progress! Thanks again to Caribsea for providing the LifeRock and MarcoRocks for providing the cement. First time cementing an aquascape and it was pretty straightforward once you get a feel for the ideal consistency. We made a little bit of a mess. but sometimes that is half the fun.

After class we were able to get the tank mounted onto the stand and plumbing installed and lights mounted on the tank. It's coming together...

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Great progress.

 

[Sean Clark]

Before February break we played around with some aquascape ideas, here are two of the ones the students built. Would love to get some feedback on them. We will be cementing once we decide on a final design.

Aquascape #1 (aka The Dragon)

I'll vote for the dragon. A lot more room for coral mounting and the lower overall scape looks more balanced to me. Maintaining swimming space while allowing for nice vertical coral growth.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

@Sean Clark u agree w my initial advice w the dragon scape. Hard to describe what going on in my head. Lol. Wait. Disregard. Just kidding yeah but u get it lol

 

[Sean Clark]

@Sean Clark u agree w my initial advice w the dragon scape. Hard to describe what going on in my head. Lol. Wait. Disregard. Just kidding yeah but u get it lol

Yes. My initial thought was to make it shorter left to right. By moving the rock on the left as you suggested it would also add more front to back depth to the scape while also shortening the whole thing up a bit. I like it.

 

[Arcu2]

This is awesome!!

 

[MaxTremors]

This is awesome! I was already reefing in HS, but it would’ve been really cool to have a tank in biology or even chemistry. There’s just so many lessons you could use the tank as a reference/backdrop for (all kinds of biology, chemistry, ecology, all kinds of experiments, the nitrogen cycle, food chains, symbiosis, photosynthesis, light/the sun, climate change and the effect of CO2 on reefs, there are just so many things you could use it for, could probably do a whole semester or year worth of lessons with it). It’s also hands on which is much more engaging, plus the kids will have a sense of ownership or a vested interest in learning about it. It’s just a really, really cool project for a classroom. Also, you could try to grow out corals and sell them to fundraise for the upkeep of it or for other school projects, field trips, etc. I’m sure you could work out a deal with a local LFS to buy the stuff you grow out. It could even be used for a business/home EC class/lesson. I’m just kind of thinking out loud (so to speak…so to type), so excuse me if I sound a little ridiculous, I just think it’s such a great a idea.

 

[Antarcticant]

Deserves a bump and an update! I am looking at getting a WB 110.4, and would love to draw some inspiration from your students! It's instructors like you that make school more bearable. Awesome work!

 

[Dreamscapesaquatics]

Wish I had that when I was in school. Following

 

[jsker]

@Zach0918 How is the project coming along?

 

[Zach0918]

New updates coming soon!

Last year was a bit of a struggle. We had major temperature control issues summer 2022 and the whole 2022-23 school year was taken up by trying to get those issues resolved and sadly the tank was left as fish only. This challenge was admittedly very frustrating for me and although it is always nice to see the kids learning about and working on the tank, knowing what they were missing was difficult, thus my lack of motivation to update this thread.

Over this summer, a mini split was installed on my classroom, thus fixing the climate control issues that plagued us all last summer. Although the reefer in me wants to start adding corals now, I am even more excited to let the students go through the process of adding our first coral.

Now this is reefing so it's not all rainbows and sunshine, so when one issue goes away two more pop up. Immediately following the mini split install, my return pump that Current generously donated died on me out of the blue. Huge thank you to @Reef Breeders for always supporting us with a great price on equipment for the tank. Logan quickly had a replacement return pump out to me and we suffered no major ill effects to the livestock. Simultaneously my Apex had an issue when updating which we believe affected the SD card. After explaining my situation to Neptune they were very understanding and agreed to swap out my base unit free of charge. Fingers crossed this fixes those issue we are having.

With those issues fixed, I am really excited for the next chapter in this project. The goal this year is to add our first corals, develop a regular maintenance schedule, monitor water parameters regularly ( possibly dosing?), maybe add a new fish or two. Hopefully this will set us up to begin fragging next year. I intend on posting updates on new livestock/equipment as well as questions as they come up

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Just now found out about this, following along!

 

[jsker]

Great to see you guys are still at it!!