Miamialum620

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Hey fellow reefers,

My name is Darrin and I'm a high school Biology (and U.S. History) teacher down in Coconut Creek, FL who with the help of many amazing people on this forum have the opportunity to show my kids what reefing is all about.

If you want to get an idea of how this all started and just want a prime example of strangers genuinely coming together to help someone out, check out this thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/donate-an-all-in-one-aquarium-for-hs-bio-class.438409/

To quickly summarize (still check out the thread though), I made a post asking if anyone was willing to donate an aquarium that I could set up in my classroom. I plan on using the tank as a reference to several topics we'll discuss throughout the year. To my surprise there was a lot of responses and ultimately I got a 32g Biocube donated by Coralife.

So I've been ordering things and also receiving some other donations of supplies and finally this week I have everything in place to begin setting up the tank with the kids. I plan on the documenting the evolution of this tank and also let you know how the kids are contributing to its success.

This thread would not be possible without the help of several people on this forum and a few companies (if I forgot anyone forgive me). So I just wanted to take a second to shout them out... @siggy, @BadPanda, @Retro Reefer, @hdsoftail1065, @James Hammett, @Mr.Asbury, @VolStateAquatics, @cmcoker, Two Little Fishies, @AlgaeBarn and Coralife. But the biggest shout out has to go to @Katrina71, if you read my original thread you will just how much she has helped get the ball rolling on this.
 

Chrisfish

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Welcome to R2R and congratulations. Really looking forward to following this thread and your right the members on this forum are awesome :)
 
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Miamialum620

Miamialum620

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@AlgaeBarn gave me a great deal on dry rock and they arrived today. I rushed out of class in between periods to pick them up downstairs. I ordered 30 lbs. and requested some smaller pieces so a more intricate design could be created.

2882e49b2b46b318eeedca184d5a2aeb.jpg


This is my first time aquascaping any tank but I did have an idea of what I wanted to final product to look like and I think I got pretty close on my first attempt.

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The structure appears to be pretty stable. I didn’t use any glue or epoxy but continuously pushed down on the pieces as I was going up to see if the structure was sound.

Here’s what I have left over...
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Here’s one of my last posts from my previous thread
 
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Miamialum620

Miamialum620

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So after I aquascaped that I wasn’t 100% sure it would hold even though I really liked the way it looked. I decided take it down to epoxy it but unfortunately when reconstructing it I couldn’t get the pieces to fit the same way. What I ended up with the second time is this...

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Miamialum620

Miamialum620

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Since I have 4 bio classes I have to find a balance of letting all the classes feel like they’ve contributed. My history classes are upset they can’t involved as well. On Tuesday I had one period set up the 10g freshwater tank I have (completely forgot to take pictures of them working on it). Today I had my other classes add the sand and water to the Biocube

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Here’s where we left the tanks at the end of the day.

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MTBake

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Looking real good! Wish I had something like this when I took Biology.

We did go down by the local river searching for inverts and plant life. Learned a lot in that class. Helped me develop a love for aquatic life really.

Very cool to see all the donations that came together on this. Proof that this is a fantastic group of people on this forum!
 
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Miamialum620

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Looking real good! Wish I had something like this when I took Biology.

We did go down by the local river searching for inverts and plant life. Learned a lot in that class. Helped me develop a love for aquatic life really.

Very cool to see all the donations that came together on this. Proof that this is a fantastic group of people on this forum!

At some point during the year I plan on getting water from a nearby canal or using tank water when it’s more established and having the kids look at it under the microscopes
 
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Miamialum620

Miamialum620

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The scape turned out great!

Thank you. I may have bought to much sand though and need to even it out some once I can see the bottom a little better. I bought 30lbs and still have 1/4 bag left over.

I did have a question for you guys... @Katrina71 was gracious enough to get me an intank media basket along with refugium basket.

b0e976e8415d5a0a02895acbb315d56c.jpg


What do you think is the best combination of things to add to the media basket and where would you put them (top, middle, bottom)?
 

hdsoftail1065

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I'm still using my stock basket, so I won't be much help. I have chemi-pure blue on top, rock rubble on my 2nd and cheato one the bottom. I plan to watch yours to see how your media basket works out for you. I know other folks are using the media basket you have so I'm hoping they chime in.
 

Katrina71

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I use floss on the top. Ceramic bio tubes in the middle. Chemipure blue in the bottom. (Tie the chemipure bag to the green tray above it)
 

hdsoftail1065

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I use floss on the top. Ceramic bio tubes in the middle. Chemipure blue in the bottom. (Tie the chemipure bag to the green tray above it)
How do you like your media basket? If you had it to do all over again would you buy another one?
 

Katrina71

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InTank sells the 5.5oz chemipure in a 6 pack for a bulk discount. I have also seen it on eBay in bulk.
 
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