need info on sw tank set up for school project

fighttest

i need to know as much information as possible on salt water and reef aquariums. my environmental science teacher has tasked me with undertaking i think a 30 or 40 gallon aquarium in the class room. i believe she wants to have a reef and some inverts. to give you an example of my sw knowledge i know what a sump is but i dont know how it works. i plan on going to the library to pick up some books but any information including tips, advice, explanations of how things work would be great.

cat fish

ive been keeping fish for about a year know all i know is some useful information you probably get from books anyway but id be happy sharing some information with you.if you want a couple of hardy fish id recommend some neons but guppys are quite good.

fighttest

i suppose i need to start with materials needed and an explanation of how equipment works and then an in depth explanation of the process of cycling a saltwater aquarium.

Pasfur

This is one of the more complicated questions I've seen asked in some time. Because this is a classroom setting, there are a lot of potential variables that could cause multiple solutions to all be correct. Give me some details on this. Is this meant to be a temporary display, or will it remain for next years class? Who will care for the aquarium when school is out? What specifically have you been asked to do?

fighttest

durring the summer months it will be broken down and the teacher is going to take the fish and other livestock home. my teacher hasnt really asking anything specificly yet she just told me she wants to do some corals and other things. she said she was talking to some preservation group possibly noaa i think she wants me to talk to my mom also, who works for noaa.

iv already set up one 55 gallon tank my at biology classroom that contains 2 oscars so i know what goes with it being in a room full of kids. the teacher needs to go buy a vivarium cover or something, a laptop was already dropped into the tank along with a couple of phones i think. and she needs to go out and buy an automatic feeder for the oscars.

Pasfur

I think you will want to approach this like any other aquarium. I would suggest using only a 1'' sand bed, because you won't have time for a lot of diversity of life to develop, and a 1'' sand bed will be much easier to move at a later day. Add 25 to 50 pounds of live rock, and a good protein skimmer. This will be the extent of your system.

The rock could get costly, so I would suggest starting with about 10 pounds of actual live rock, and then ordering a 25 pounds shipment of dry rock. I get my dry rock from Marco Rocks The finest aquarium rock available, base rock, live rock, reef rock, marco rock, reef tank saltwater fish, live corals, Marco rocks, Fiji live rock, Tonga Live rock. You can see pictures of this rock on my 180 build thread: http://www.fishforum.com/saltwater-f...f-build-21979/

The protein skimmer will be the most important aspect of this aquarium. It will save you a TON of money, by almost eliminating the need for water changes. I would suggest either the following skimmers for your size tank:
Super Skimmer with Needle Wheel - Up to 65 Gallon | Venturi Models | Protein Skimmers | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com
Seaclone Protein Skimmer 100 - 17 3/4 in. high | Venturi Models | Protein Skimmers | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com

fighttest

alright thanks ill show my teacher the forum tommorow durring class and maybe she will create a profile and learn some stuff too