55 Gallon

[itiwhetu]

I doubt a student would be allowed in school, and certainly not a lab, nowadays without a member of staff present

It is a shame

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I like the idea of school aquariums, they can be educational and also something to sit and watch and take the stresses away with.

But....

The logistics of keeping a school aquarium are massively complicated. As has already been said...weekends and school breaks. Not just the day to day feeding or the weekly maintenance to consider here. Feeding blocks are an absolute definite no-no due to their ability to totally screw up the water chemistry and kill fish as a result.

What about fish illness or disease...a fish won't get sick only during term time, they can get sick at any time and if there is no-one there to first notice the issue and then deal with it, you are going to have a disease wildfire that potentially wipes out the entire stock.

What about the filtration, heating, lighting....lights can go on timer (but in a power failure that timer will be all over the place), same with filtration and heating...powercuts, equipment failure there is so much that can go wrong and if you do not have a caretaker with 24/7 access, 365 days a year the potential for disaster is limitless.

In this day and age I cannot see any school granting unsupervised access to a school. Too many things can go wrong, the potential for trouble and the fish suffering is far too great.

If the school wants an aquarium then you absolutely must get a written plan done outlining all eventualities, sorting out full access maybe a suggestion of a parent going with you to maintain and check the aquarium might be the answer but I honestly cannot see a school granting you the priviledge of a set of keys without some sort of adult supervision. It would be a huge statement of trust by the school and I do not believe that any school would consider taking the risk of allowing a student to have keys, there is just far too much at stake and not just the fish.

 

[itiwhetu]

I like the idea of school aquariums, they can be educational and also something to sit and watch and take the stresses away with.

But....

The logistics of keeping a school aquarium are massively complicated. As has already been said...weekends and school breaks. Not just the day to day feeding or the weekly maintenance to consider here. Feeding blocks are an absolute definite no-no due to their ability to totally screw up the water chemistry and kill fish as a result.

What about fish illness or disease...a fish won't get sick only during term time, they can get sick at any time and if there is no-one there to first notice the issue and then deal with it, you are going to have a disease wildfire that potentially wipes out the entire stock.

What about the filtration, heating, lighting....lights can go on timer (but in a power failure that timer will be all over the place), same with filtration and heating...powercuts, equipment failure there is so much that can go wrong and if you do not have a caretaker with 24/7 access, 365 days a year the potential for disaster is limitless.

In this day and age I cannot see any school granting unsupervised access to a school. Too many things can go wrong, the potential for trouble and the fish suffering is far too great.

If the school wants an aquarium then you absolutely must get a written plan done outlining all eventualities, sorting out full access maybe a suggestion of a parent going with you to maintain and check the aquarium might be the answer but I honestly cannot see a school granting you the priviledge of a set of keys without some sort of adult supervision. It would be a huge statement of trust by the school and I do not believe that any school would consider taking the risk of allowing a student to have keys, there is just far too much at stake and not just the fish.

This underlines what is sad about our societies today, we don't trust people to do the right thing. I was trusted and respected it, it helped me become the person I am today. Sometimes adults need to trust the youth of today to do the right thing. That will make them better people.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

This underlines what is sad about our societies today, we don't trust people to do the right thing. I was trusted and respected it, it helped me become the person I am today. Sometimes adults need to trust the youth of today to do the right thing. That will make them better people.

I agree but sadly times have changed and there are alot of youngsters who through poor upbringing, poor discipline and a lack of basic respect who would take advantage of having keys to their school in entirely the wrong way.

Currently being on the Easter holidays here, schools are closed. Yet one evening last week a student who was called trusted by the head teacher had access for the upkeep of school animals allowed their buddies to use those keys cos the student was unwell and unable to do the daily checks on the animals and it resulted in criminal damage and arson which in turn means that the school cannot reopen as planned.

You can have the most trusted student in the school but the temptation for it to all go horribly wrong will always be there and sadly teachers, board of govenors and local authority just cannot afford to take that chance anymore...least not without adult supervision.