My school has an old 5'x2'x2' tank that used to house some Eastern Box Turtles. The Turtles have been rehomed to an ecology center we put in the school, where they have friends like frogs, crickets, birds, even a chipmunk found its way in there somehow (completely surrounded by the school. 
).
Anyway, another teacher and I are really into aquariums. He has about 4-8 salt water tanks going at his house at any given time. (The variance in numbers depends on how you define his sumps and refugiums.)
So, we have been talking about it for a little while and it seems that we have settled on a planted South American biotype tank for display in the environmental science classroom. He and I will be caring for it, and splitting the duties of coming in over the summer to care for the tank. (Two is better than one in this case, and we might recruit another teacher who also has fish at his house to help out as well.) We have slightly acidic soft tap water 6.8pH, soft water (kH test kit - 3, gH - 6) here with zero nitrates.
Livestock: We are thinking of centering the display around a group of apistogrammas - specific specie to be determined. The rest is up in the air, although we have discussed cardinal tetra. We are open to suggestions for other tank mates, but they must come from the same region of S. America, to be authentic. We aren't going to be mixing regions. We want a small slice of a South American river basically. Further, since this will be in a classroom, less skittish fish would be preferred over ones that flee every time there is movement outside the tank.
Plants: Low tech suggestions only please! We are also without light on that tank currently, so that is yet to be determined in terms of high light or low light. I'm thinking low, so that we don't have to trim the plants as much, but I could be convinced otherwise if it really makes a huge difference for the biotype.
Any other suggestions are welcome. We are still in the very early stages of discussions regarding this, but I promise that once it is up and going, I will post pics.
(See what I did there, you guys and gals are suckers for tank pics. 
)
). Anyway, another teacher and I are really into aquariums. He has about 4-8 salt water tanks going at his house at any given time. (The variance in numbers depends on how you define his sumps and refugiums.)
So, we have been talking about it for a little while and it seems that we have settled on a planted South American biotype tank for display in the environmental science classroom. He and I will be caring for it, and splitting the duties of coming in over the summer to care for the tank. (Two is better than one in this case, and we might recruit another teacher who also has fish at his house to help out as well.) We have slightly acidic soft tap water 6.8pH, soft water (kH test kit - 3, gH - 6) here with zero nitrates.
Livestock: We are thinking of centering the display around a group of apistogrammas - specific specie to be determined. The rest is up in the air, although we have discussed cardinal tetra. We are open to suggestions for other tank mates, but they must come from the same region of S. America, to be authentic. We aren't going to be mixing regions. We want a small slice of a South American river basically. Further, since this will be in a classroom, less skittish fish would be preferred over ones that flee every time there is movement outside the tank.
Plants: Low tech suggestions only please! We are also without light on that tank currently, so that is yet to be determined in terms of high light or low light. I'm thinking low, so that we don't have to trim the plants as much, but I could be convinced otherwise if it really makes a huge difference for the biotype.
Any other suggestions are welcome. We are still in the very early stages of discussions regarding this, but I promise that once it is up and going, I will post pics.
(See what I did there, you guys and gals are suckers for tank pics. )
