Classroom Fish

I have an idea! A single crayfish in a 10. They are fun to watch, and a crayfish escaped only once in my teachers classroom tank. The crayfish was covered in dust and was very dry. My teacher just picked it up, and tossed it back into the tank.

 

6 zebra danios and 2 albino catfish, corys. The Pygmy Cory may be better but i’m not familiar with them.

I think a 10 is too small but this was one of my tanks back in the 70s.

Both are hardy.

Corydoras need a larger group, and therefore a larger tank.

The best solution for a classroom tank is something hardy and colorful, because the fish are going to get messed with. Male guppies would work. So would male endlers. You can add some snails for cleanup crew and algae control and with live plants and a decent filter, maintenance would be fairly low.

 

Red cheery shrimp, ghost shrimp, betta, platies, guppies and endlers are good options

 

I've been looking after two aquaria in my school for the last 15 years.

I wouldn't have platies again as mine were unable to cope with the glass being tapped and they stressed out and pineconed (I lost a few but the rest recovered in a day at my home).

Things will be put in your aquarium and may kill your fish.

Heaters and filters will be switched off and if you don't spot it before the weekend...

I'd recommend a 20 gallon and stick to a single species its much easier.

I have Gold White Cloud Mountain Minnows (with no heater) in one aquarium, Neon Tetras (with a heater) in another.

I'd choose the minnows because although my school neons are healthy I bought some neons for my home aquarium and they came with Columnaris which is a major problem.

 

I have a 10gal in my classroom. I started out with one male guppy, two females, a DG, a small BNP, and a mystery snail. The DG killed the BNP, and harassed the guppies and snail. I rehomed the DG, and now have the mystery snail and 6 male guppies.
This seems to be working fine. Each day, a randomly selected student feeds the fish (I got a little tiny measuring spoon from Amazon), and records water temperature and level. They also record how long it takes for the fish to eat the food, and if any fish doesn't eat. On Fridays, the student does a 20% water change.
Once I was absent, and despite it being included in my lesson plans, the sub wasn't going to let anyone feed the fish. Several students staged a distraction on one side of the classroom while another slipped them some food. I'd say it's been a positive experience, although not something Id do every year -- some classes I've had would make it too risky for the fish.

 

I like small tanks. If your teacher is okay with it, you could do a planted tank to make it look more full and appealing. I'd do a couple of mystery or nerite snails, an endler, and something like a school of 6 chilI rasboras, and a few cherry shrimp for a 10 gallon.

 

LyndaD I liked your positive post and how you overcame difficulties at the start. I'm glad your aquarium has worked out so far. Unfortunately I tried male guppies but mine fought each other and two died! So, I can't recommend these. But lucky you!

 

Maybe an invertebrate tank is the way forward? Get a large school of really colourful neocaridinia shrimp and maybe some nerite snails, then add some planting. They're much lower maintenance, very entertaining to watch, and won't overstock your tank the same way fish will do.

 

I highly recommend Endlers for small tanks. I have a 5 gallon with a sponge filter and lots of live plants, and my Endlers have thrived with astonishing little effort on my part. There is a strong colony of MTS and a few shrimp in there as cleanup crew as well.

 

I think the best idea for a 10 gallon is a trio of guppies/endlers and some shrimp. Honestly there’s not much u can put in a 5 gallon other than a Betta so... don’t do 5 gallon

 

Something SUPER easy and fun are zebra danios. They are such hardy little fish! When I was fist new nothing, I had three in a 1 gallon with no water changes and they are still living, all though I have them in a ten gallon now. I would put 4 or 5 in a ten gallon, but only in a ten gallon. You could get away with three in a 5 gallon but I wouldn't. A betta would thrive in a 5 or ten gallon and you could get a snail to keep him or her company. Have fun choosing!

 

The OP Fudgeness did not reply after the initial post on 16 Feb and did not read any of the replies after 17 Feb or visit Fishlore again according to profile.

I have found Zebra Danios to be relatively short lived compared to WCM Minnows and Neon Tetra but I agree they are another good choice and I used to keep them at school.

 

Just a little info before I ask my questions.
I teach grade 5 in a small town in Maine, and was given permission to set up a fish tank in my classroom. I also was given a $400 grant from our lfs. I set up two 20 gallon long tanks with live plants and spider wood and rocks. I’ve been keeping tanks at my house for about five years, so I seeded the filters with media from my personal tanks.

Here are the two tanks...





Now for the questions if you’ve made it this far.

I need ideas for incorporating the tanks into class lessons? I’m teaching the kids how to feed them and test the water with a API test kit.
Outside of that I’m drawing a blank on ideas! Any ideas/input is welcome. Also, input on the tank setup itself.

 

maybe teach them about some of these things?
aquarium nitrogen cycle
how different fertilizer affect aquatic plants
how different temps effect activity level in fish(nothing really drastic, just going to the lows and highs of the fish's temp range over a course of days)
how different foods affect coloration and behavior
The life cycle of some of the fish(it'd be great if you could get some to breed and raise them)
fish anatomy/the way they breath and swim

I think its awesome that you got a grant and are allowed to use the tanks to teach! I bet the kids love it and will learn a lot from it, beautiful tanks too.

 

You could teach them how to choose fish for a community tank. They could learn what different fish need to thrive . That schooling fish need to be kept in schools of at least 6 to feel safe. How to properly stock a tank, what size tank different species need. Also teach them how to care for an aquarium to keep the tank and fish healthy. The students could learn about common community fish and create stocking schemes.

I think it's great that you're doing this! Your tanks look great!

 

You could do one tropic tank and one subtropic to show the fishes different needs.

 

I think the best thing u can teach them is responsibility. The fish are totally and utterly dependent on their keepers for their well-being. What makes for happy fish in a tank? How can that be provided? Teach them about scheduling time for maintenance needs, and prioritization. Incentivize upgrades or new livestock against collective accomplishments. Budgeting purchases (ie how to go about it).
Explain redundancy planning. When they understand how to care for the fish, ask what obstacles there are or could be? What unexpected accidents or events could undermine success, and how can you plan around, accommodate or prevent them?
Then there’s the no brainers, like ecology. Biodiversity, trophic levels, food webs, mutualisms, and all that, I think that’s introduced or covered (at least some of it, in very general terms) in gr 5 curriculum. ???

 

You could choose a geographical area for each tank and fill it with fish etc from that are.

You could set up a closed message board where students post questions and others research and answer those questions.

You could do some lessons with proportions with the test kits during water changes. Students could test before the water change, change a certain percent of water and then test after.

Such a cool idea....

 

Do you specifically teach biology, or is it a you teach everything situation. You could do some fun art projects with them drawing fish, or coloring them. Have them "build" a fish tank (i.e. blue paper and they cut out fish and put them up), or have them build stuff for the tank that would be safe like lego decorations. You could also use the tank as a starting point for looking at different cultures and how water and fish have played a role in their societies for history lessons. Being in Maine, it could definitely be used for some local history. Studying and learning about the different habitats from which the fish originate could also be interesting.

 

Nice looking tanks! Good job! (^_^)-b My wife's a teacher with the same age as your kids! What we did was this: 1. Maybe NOT an explantory of the nitrogen cycle, as that's a concept usually reserved for grades 6-high school. 2. Perhaps explore the base fundamentals: Fish, and how they breathe for example...oxygen...water, (type of water--the difference between salt and fresh etc.) CO2. 3. Their standard physiology (gills, as in contrast to why people and non-aquatic organisms have lungs, and why fish have gills, no eyelids, fins, etc.) 4. Foods. 5. Reproduction, (egg layers, livebearers, etc. because if you have guppies for example, and one day they suddenly have babies, which they usually almost do, the fry will suddenly appear--thus, as will your students questions will also appear, regarding just HOW the heck they got there! lol) 6. Other animals that can harmoniously live along with fish. (snails, shrimp,) 7. Perhaps acquiring some different species with different of different swimming levels. (my 5 year old niece's class has guppies, tadpoles, African underwater frogs, goldfish, Kids aren't stupid and most of 'em will likely already have unpresumably visited a local pet store already. 8. Fish in the wild. 9. Food/feeding regimen/dinner time for the fish! As that has the very high potential to be very entertaining and fun! Just don't allow anyone to over feed any of the animals of course! 10. I completely agree with bitseriously. In the future, likely about 75% of the students will likely have pets, dogs, cats fish, etc. and this perhaps has the high potential to instill a sense of duty, and especially responsibility for other living things. An ice-breaker for responsibility's sake, or words to that effect. And also remember, as like the fish keeping hobby: Be patient. It's an absolute mandatory fundamental with kids and establishing their learning curve and process. Hope my meager suggestions will be taken into consideration. Thanks -Ross

 

I think this a great project.

Most everything I could think of has been said. I really like the reproduction plan with livebearers, teaching to raise fry as well.

I would lock up the fish food though.

 

I think this a great project.

Most everything I could think of has been said. I really like the reproduction plan with livebearers, teaching to raise fry as well.

I would lock up the fish food though.

Agreed. My old science teacher kept guppies and a student purposefully overfed one. It blew up.

 

I think the favorite fish time is when they are eating. But we all know that requires moderation, students may not honor that.

Depending on the class, an assignment could be to come up with a stocking list. May be boring for some, or too complex but with the right level of students, it could be a great research project.

 

What if you group the students off and research about biotopes and come up wi5 a stocking list based on them.

The kids will learn about fish from all over the world and they can se heir projects come to life.

 

Yeah put the fish food in the drawer or something! lol Maybe not "teach them to raise fry", (as that's sometimes difficult even for us seasoned veterans to achieve!) but more like...they will likely be shocked and surpised that if they were aware--or not, that fish could ever bear live young/fry. Moreover, seeing fry is an amazing thing, to kids, most anyone or expert fish keepers! And also perhaps get some other food besides the standard flake food as well, which in turn, will likely disuade them from embracing the idea that ALL fish and their friends that live in water eat ONLY flake food! lol Maybe some bloodworms, or tubifex worms or whatever. Or live daphnia. In 6th grade, we raised live daphnia and then fed 'em to the guppies! >

Additional ideas: You could also have each student rotate feeding time. Or perhaps name the fish. Heh, we also used to have several plastic, mini-tanks with crawdads/crayfish in my 6th grade class. But one week they were fine and dandy, and after the weekend, we all returned to school that Monday and over 4 janitors were in the room, because in everyone's absence over the said weekend, almost ALL of the crayfish (over 20 at least) had successfully crawled OUT of their tanks (mostly due to low water content and evaporation as well) and DIED. It really stunk up the place...BADLY! Pretty bad up eh?!

 

Teach the importance of research! My daughter's crayfish tank is off to a great start because we did research. She's the same age as your students. I went out of my way to avoid the mistakes I made by explaining the reasons for each step or decision. Maybe include Venn diagrams on the needs of different species. Now we're planning a neon tetra tank for my 6 year old. The explanations are simpler but he's learning a lot from the process. He was very disappointed that sharks were not an option, though. Lol

 

Maybe teach on how important the filtration system is for any tank and breed of fish.

 

Teach them different fish from each region of the world. SA/CA, Asians, Africans and salt water. You could also teach about the ugly fish that live in the deepest parts of the ocean.

 

Awesome idea! This could really show them great responsibility in setting up routines, and most importantly, appreciation for life, even at some of its smallest forms. bitseriously said it well, aquariums solely rely on humans to set up a perfect ecosystem. Great project for the students to dedicate themselves to and have something they can be proud of. I would love to see updates on your progress! We need more knowledgeable fishkeepers out there and this would be a great opportunity to influence many more!

 

Thank you all for the amazing ideas! I have saved them all. The kids are so excited to be hands on with tanks. Actually, I’ve had a lot of interest from other teachers too. I’m pretty sure my whole class has multi-tank syndrome! Lol. One of the things I had the kids do was create their own account on Fishlore. Again, thank you all. The knowledge on this forum is amazing.

 

Thank you all for the amazing ideas! I have saved them all. The kids are so excited to be hands on with tanks. Actually, I’ve had a lot of interest from other teachers too. I’m pretty sure my whole class has multi-tank syndrome! Lol. One of the things I had the kids do was create their own account on Fishlore. Again, thank you all. The knowledge on this forum is amazing.

Oh I think that's great that you had your students create accounts on Fishlore!! This is such a great place to learn about fish keeping!! Love all the great suggestions you're getting!!

 

If you go with the stocking assignment, block them from TexasDomer or she will be doing their assignment for them.

 

One of the things I had the kids do was create their own account on Fishlore. Again, thank you all. The knowledge on this forum is amazing.

HI - 5th grade is 10 or 11 year olds? Coppa laws require them to be 13 before signing up for internet forums.

I do think it is a great project and great idea with good potential to get them interested in science, nature, biology, etc!

 

HI - 5th grade is 10 or 11 year olds? Coppa laws require them to be 13 before signing up for internet forums.

I was going to say that as well!

 

Cool! Back in preschool, we had a 80 gal for just two goldfish in our classroom.

 

Last year, I set up a 10 gallon tank in my classroom (8th grade, 13-14 yo) and it was a hit. I picked up a 20 gallon at Petco's dollar a gallon sale, and am getting it set up this week. I've been thinking about stocking, and here's what I'm leaning towards:

6x longfin zebra danios
3-4x kuhlI loaches
1 bnp

I'd like to add one or two slightly larger, interesting fish. Here's the options I'm considering:
honey gourami
paradise fish
German blue ram
kribinsis

I could also put 2-3 young angelfish in (from my pairs' spawn) and let them grow out in the 20. The tank will be taken down in June, and I don't think they'd get too big by then.

 

KhulI loaches probably wouldn’t work in a twenty . Three paradise fish would do well

 

You could do:
6 Khulis
6 Danios
1 Bnp IF this is a 20 long (30 inches long)
1 Dwarf Gourami or one Bolivian Ram (different than Blue Ram)

-No to Blue Rams, they require warmer temps
-paradise fish make poor community fish, and so do Kribs.
-this just isn’t big enough for Angels

 

My paradise fish get along great with all my fish . But they are all also female and grew up around them when they were smaller than everything else in the tank

 

My paradise fish get along great with all my fish . But they are all also female and grew up around them when they were smaller than everything else in the tank

Precisely