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i think a good option would be dwarf puffers. They do love to come to the front of the tank to greet you. Also they stay small and are relatively hardy as long as regular changes are done. Although only problem is feeding your puffers little snails atleast once a week, but other then that just feed them frozen or freeze drived bloodworms. I use both hikari freeze dried and frozen and they love them both equally it seems.

What size apistos can you put in a 10 gallon? Rams?

What pH do tanks average with your water source BB?

I think they should learn from the experience since you are a teacher. They need to know about birth, life, sickness and death. Livebearers. They are just children so they need something easy to care for. They should be as involved as possible. Get some of the local fish clubs members to be guest speakers.

max

pretty much a pair of any kind of apistogramma unless there is one that gets large i dont know about. im pretty sure the majority stay under 4 inches but i could be wrong.

you said that your tank has a heater. People are mentioning mountain clouds, those little guys are cold water hangers. They are good - interesting, zappy little guys and hardy, as are zebra danios.

But since you have a heater there is a world of other possibilities... although I agreee with our above friends that cautioned that some of the prolific breeders could leave you with fry. On the other hand it is VERY exciting to have fry... but how do you explain when they mysteriously 'disappear' (read; get eaten) hey, where'd they go...

Last edited by wish-ga at 04-Jan-2005 19:55

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

My WCMM are in a heated tank - for two years now, at 74F, with rasboras, cories, and otos.

If you want some ghost shrimp for you tank, I can send some your way.

Just had a thought...why not black neon tetras? I think they would look nice in the tank.

Those are nice egglayers too.

well, everyone else has suggested the simple, the hardy, and the insanely reproductive. what about a mated pair of something they arnt gona see in any fish store they walk into. like a apistogramma. there are species for every PH level and water temp. they are pretty hardy once acclimated. they will be happy to lay eggs for ya. and they have a short life span, about 2 yrs. they stay nice and small for ya also so you could put in a couple neons or something to give the tank more activity. my suggestion is something thats not typical.

what about shrimp? talk about learning, couple ghost shrimp would be the talk of the class lol. you can sit there and watch them eat thier food, travel down thier bodies, and come to a rest in thier stomach lol.

See, here's another place where shelldwellers are the perfect option. They do well in planted tanks, although they prefer sand. They're active and fun to watch, a bit more challenging to breed than WCMM but not half so likely to overpopulate the tank, they have fascinating behaviors that merit a bit of study, and they do well in 10 gals. A trio of multis, a pair of similis, a trio of gold occies, or a pair of brevis (although the brevis are more retiring and wouldn't be my first choice for a classroom) would do very, very well. Just put some turbos or escargot shells among the plants and you're good to go!

Or, if the water at the school's naturally soft, a pair or harem of Apistos would be lovely.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

OK here are the suggestions:

Neons
Cardinals
Lemon Tetras
Black Tetras
Guppies
Platties
Beta
White Clouds
Corries
Ghost Shrimp
Small Guarami
Apistos(?)


I keep hearing the repeat of livebearers, which I original was thinking of...fry are no problem I have the 29 at home to put them in and in a month of so will be getting another 55, (thinking of stocking it with all the fry from my 29, and use it as a grow out tank then I sell my guppies back to an lfs)

I love bettas except my experience with them is that they pretty much are the only things that should be in the tank as they kill everything else, or eat themselves to death

So how does this sound?

***Ghost Shrimp (Les, I'll take you up on them since the "ladies" didn't eat them all yet)
***3 Cories, I know they prefer a larger shoal, but 3 ok?
***1 male and 3 female guppies (I could actually gather some of my immature guppies -- not fry, not adult size guppies) and go for luck of the draw, then we could also watch them grow up till the end of the year...(generations?)

How does this sound? Sound reseasonable? End of the year I'll be taking everyone home and adding them to whichever tank (29 or 55)... Anything else? Heidi


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"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I think it sounds great, before i switched to my 20 gal. I had 3 female, and 1 male guppy and 3 Corys (still not quite sure what type they are!) and it was great fun....I did end up with at least 25 babies that have survived to "adolescence"!!
Good Luck with the tank, i'm sure the kids will love it!

Sam

P.S My roomate is an el. ed and special ed teacher and I think she wants to steal your idea , she loved it!

Thanks for the feedback! Your roommate is more than welcome to steal the idea...it really is calming for the students, and they do enjoy them greatly...Just make sure she just doesn't plan on leaving them there for the whole summer, but plans on taking them home...Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

My local fish club has a high interest in the classroom tank idea. We have several teachers in our club and support them highly. A couple of them are SW, for the more advanced and older students, like high school. One is even a highly advanced coral reef. That one has even promoted a school reef club.

But, for the younger elementary levels, let me suggest something for you. This has proved in our area to be the best setup for them, and it has kept not only a high interest among the students, but has actually brought several new members into our club (students and their parents).

Have two tanks. First, upgrade to a 20 gal, and have a pair of convicts. Very easy to keep, very hardy, and of course very prolific. They will spawn, and the kids get a great adventure in watching and learning how these fish spawn, guard their brood, and then guard and rear their young. Use the 10 gal, you already have, as a grow out tank. Raise the fry to small adolescents. Now you have some babies to distribute out to the classmates. Just have them get a parent signed permission slip, that says they are allowed to have them, bag them and send them home with the students. What could be more exciting as a young student, than to get to take home a new pet, especially one you have watched grow, from an egg to a big fish! The permission slip should include directions detailing that they have a large enough tank to keep the fish in. And, any extra fry you raise, you can take to your lfs for credit on supplies.

At current, I actually keep convicts breeding and pairing, just for any new classrooms that would like a donation to get them started. Currently, our club has sponsored 10 classrooms of this nature. And, we have helped several dozen others get started with other set ups. This too could be something you might want to look into, getting a donation for some fish, from you local fish club. Most will gladly give you something.

HTH.....

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There is always a bigger fish...

Acid that sounds wonderful!!! I wish I could afford to upgrade to a 20 or 29 right now for the classroom, but can't. But this is definately something I will keep in mind for next year (assuming I'm still teaching next year no problems, just gotta make sure all of my 3rd graders pass the TAKS, even the one won't do diddly, and the couple who are special ed...but, hey us teachers are invincible, right?) Anyways that will be the plan for next year. For this year do you think the above will be good? I'm also just going to take in the "teenagers" so the kids can watch them grow.

We do have a new member here on the site KTS, she is one of my kiddos, as she has become quite fond of the 10 gallon in the classroom, so mom and dad got her a little 10 gallon of her own, and she's really excited about the set up and all. I'm thinking sending the guppies babies home with the kids at the end of the year does sound great, but with permission slip of course...

Do you know if we have any local fish clubs in the Houston Area? How would I go about finding out myself?

Thanks again, Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Try these, some are SW, but hey, they may still donate something to help get the classroom thing going. And they may also know of more places to donate for it. As well, my club has been thinking about adding to the classroom thing, by donating 10 gal tanks with sponge filters in them, for the kids that are allowed to keep the fish. Any of these clubs may donate things like that, as it promotes the hobby, wether it be SW or FW.

Greater Houston Marine Aquarium Society
5510 Foresthaven Drive, Houston, TX 77066, Steve Crawford.

Houston Aquarium Society, Inc.
7111 Long View Drive, Houston, TX 77040, Silva St. Germaine, 713-896-7601. Meets every 4th Wednesday (3rd in November and December) at the Post Oak YMCA, 1331 Augusta, Houston, TX. Dues: $10/year - Individual, $15/year - Family, $7/year - Junior.

North Houston Pond Club
315 Falworth, Houston, TX 77060-1233, Julie Davis-Raley, 713-873-8730.

Texas Area Killifish Organization
742 Bison Drive, Houston, TX 77079, Art Leuterman, 713-493-0363.
Meets the 1st Tuesday of every month.

Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies
3502 Carter Creek Pkwy, Bryan, TX 77802, Keith Arnold, 409-846-3226. This is a state organization of member clubs.
email; http://KAArnold@tamu.edu

http://members.tripod.com/~tropical_fish/index.html



HTH......


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There is always a bigger fish...

Ok first if you don't like the idea of a class pet, stop here, and read elsewhere...

Now with that said, I'm sorry but I know some are going to say don't do it...I am going to bring in some new fish to the class tank...I do the maintenance, we keep electricity, it has a heater, parameters are normal...it has a heater...the kids love it and show it respect if nothing else...so give me some ideas of what someone might suggest...nothing extravagant, or too outrageous....not a saltwater nano tank either...Just some suggestions...

Thanks ya'll, Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I think you should get like 6-8 cardinal tetras, 2 otos and a betta. i know some people would argue that you need more otos, but i think its ok in such a small space, i doubt they will lose eachother besides they are pretty preoccupied with cleaning and dont pay much attention to eachother anyway.

dwarf corys would be cool too.

I am a teacher too! think class pets are great, real sense of community and loopy kids do calm down with looking at tanks

i think guppies, mainly cos they have babies - i know that can lead to overcrowding but it can also lead to excellent explanations of birds and bees and its very interesting any way - cute babies etc. and babies could find homes (spread the hobby!)or you could have a second fish tank(daydreaming now!!)with some type of fish to feed off babies - depends on the ages of kids - if food pyramids/ webs are taught then it would be ok?

with a care rota and good kids a school tank is excellent.

Good luck
xxxxx

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Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone