The Reef-A-Palooza tank goes to middle school

[reefiniteasy]

Looks great, hopefully you can get Apex or Hydros on the tank so you can monitor it during the weekends and summer/winter breaks

Already in the works. It’ll have a Hydros X4 and XP8 on it.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Equipment and supplies list as of right now:
Trigger Sapphire 34 Sump
Trigger ATO 5-gallon reservoir
IceCap 100gpd RODI
2 55-gallon Brute trash cans for storage
Hydros X4/XP8 with ato
Reef Octopus Essence Skimmer
Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0 return pump
Sicce XStream SDC flow pump
Kessil a360x (2)
CaribSea Fiji Pink sand
CaribSea Life Rock

 

[reefiniteasy]

Forgot to post the other day. We had an in service day. I did a half day PD and then spent the afternoon working on the tank. Got the lighted setup. I followed a YouTube video from Parker’s Reef and used Loc-Line to mount our Kessil a360x lights in the canopy. I used a strip of pvc board to bridge the gap in the canopy. I used all marine grade stainless steel hardware from Monsterbolts.com. I just have to clean up where the drill bit broke through the canopy. It splintered the wood as the canopy was not solid. It came out great. Also, check out our school logo 3D printed by Rhino’s Reef.

Now I am working on plumbing the RODI into my lab classroom. Then I need to paint the back of the aquarium, and finally plumbing the tank.

 

[OldRed1]

Such an awesome build!

 

[reefiniteasy]

Making progress little by little. My principal purchased two 55-gallon Brute trash cans for water storage and salt mixing. Last weekend I marked out the inside in 10 gallon increments. I am also in the middle of installing the RODI in the lab.

We are waiting on the district to complete a work order to install a doorstop in front of the tank to prevent one of the office doors from hitting it. They originally increased the tension on the hinge but some fool keeps pushing the door all the way open until it hits the canopy, which pushes the tank back on the stand. Thank god I never filled the tank yet, otherwise it would not have been able to slide and it would have split open.

The school PTA has been very supportive. They purchased us the 700watt IM Helio heater. I was having trouble finding heaters to fit the Trigger sump because each chamber is roughly 14” x 14”. The two 350 watt elements are only 11”. So it’ll be perfect. They also got us two Sicce Ultra Zero utility pumps. One for water changes and one for the RODI storage.

The most frustrating part of this build is the fact that everyone thinks it’s a simple quick process. No one is a reefer so they don’t understand that patience is key to our success.

 

[jimmy904]

Forgot to post the other day. We had an in service day. I did a half day PD and then spent the afternoon working on the tank. Got the lighted setup. I followed a YouTube video from Parker’s Reef and used Loc-Line to mount our Kessil a360x lights in the canopy. I used a strip of pvc board to bridge the gap in the canopy. I used all marine grade stainless steel hardware from Monsterbolts.com. I just have to clean up where the drill bit broke through the canopy. It splintered the wood as the canopy was not solid. It came out great. Also, check out our school logo 3D printed by Rhino’s Reef.

Now I am working on plumbing the RODI into my lab classroom. Then I need to paint the back of the aquarium, and finally plumbing the tank.

I have the Kessil A160. What will your light schedule be

 

[fishface NJ]

Why two utility pumps? Couldn't you just use one? Two 350w heaters is better than having the 700w. It is better to have two smaller sized heater so if one fails the other is able to heat the water

 

[ScubaShane]

This is Awesome!!

 

[reefiniteasy]

Such an awesome build!

It is! It’s been a lot of fun so far

I have the Kessil A160. What will your light schedule be

Roughly ten hours on. It’ll ramp up over the course of an hour and then ramp down over the course of an hour.

Why two utility pumps? Couldn't you just use one? Two 350w heaters is better than having the 700w. It is better to have two smaller sized heater so if one fails the other is able to heat the water

One will stay in the 55-gallon Brute and be hard plumbed to bring water up. I can’t have my younger students reaching in to the large Brute to get it when we need it for the tank. Last thing I need is a child to fall in. Just edficiency. One for the lab, one for the tank area. These containers are so large, that when I reach in to the bottom, half my body is in the container.

This is Awesome!!

It is!

 

[reefiniteasy]

So we can finally push forward. The school district finally installed the doorstop for the office door next to the tank. Only took 6 months for that work order to be approved. Health and Safety had to give the go ahead for a door stop. So ridiculous. Did you all know that doorstops are considered a liability.

More equipment has come in. This tank will be automated and monitored with Hydros. CoralVue is very supportive of education and we appreciate it very much. We’ve also started working on the rockscape. We built two arches with a cave. Plenty of swimming space and plenty of space for frags on the rock and sand.