Classroom tank ideas, suggestions welcome!

[CookieRdReef]

I have a 4th grader, 2nd grader, and Kindergartener who are going to be homeschooled next year. We turned our playroom into a classroom and we are ready to go.

I want to add a low cost tank to the room. I have a 20g long leftover from a qt tank, spare light, rock in my sump, and a few big softies that I plan on adding. I want it to be very low maintenance and will be assigning my kids with responsibilities of testing, cleaning the glass, and feeding.

My current idea for the tank is to add a single clown, maybe 2, and have a lot of inverts. I also plan on leaving the water level a bit low so some rock pokes out of the top. I may attempt to grow a plant on top of the rock sticking out.

Any idea for inverts? plants that may grow on the rock?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Cleaner shrimp, an urchin, and some snails/crabs! Green star polyps will encrust on rock and mangroves are plants that can be grown half out of the water! Some nice macroalgaes may be good too and are easy to keep.

 

[CookieRdReef]

Cleaner shrimp, an urchin, and some snails/crabs! Green star polyps will encrust on rock and mangroves are plants that can be grown half out of the water! Some nice macroalgaes may be good too and are easy to keep

Great suggestions! I am not into macroalgae but that might look good. Any suggestions for macros? I would love to do a mangrove but sparw light I plan on using is an old Current USA and will sit right on top of the tank. Im not sure it would give enough light to the mangrove unless water level was very low.

 

[CookieRdReef]

I just found a good inspiration pic. This guy uses aloe plants in the outside rock. I love the idea of crabs that may occasionally leave the water and venture onto the outside rock. Maybe I can temp them out with food.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Great suggestions! I am not into macroalgae but that might look good. Any suggestions for macros? I would love to do a mangrove but sparw light I plan on using is an old Current USA and will sit right on top of the tank. Im not sure it would give enough light to the mangrove unless water level was very low.

Here is what I had in my macro display/my favorites!
Pom Pom/Red Bush (Gracilaria hayi)
Red Ogo (Gracilara parvispora)
Tubular Thicket (Galaxuara sp.)
Blue Hypnea (Hypnea pannosa)
Dragon’s Breath (Halymenia durvillei)
Grape Caulerpa (Caulerpa racemosa)
Sea Lettuce (Ulva)
Red Grape (Botryocladia)
Palm Tree (Caulerpa Paspaloides)
Sea Grass (Caulerpa prolifera)
Orange Galaxy (Augophyllum wysorii)
Purple Fauchea (Fauchea sp.)
Purple Wire (Chondria sp.)
And you definitely would need another light for it and in terms of a rock structure like that I personally wouldn’t do it with snails or crabs because you don’t want them crawling out and either getting stuck or escaping they have a tendency to do that. Plus it makes it hard to put a lid on! If you do go that route you may have better luck with some small fake plants compared to real ones especially with the salt creep/evaporation.