Introduction to aquariums course

[JuiceBox52]

Hi guys! I’ve been less active on tff lately with planning my wedding and ramping up my art business.

Now is the time to decide on if I want to teach classes 1-2x a week in the 2024-2025 school year at the school I grew up taking classes at.

I am already going to be submitting a few different art classes for approval, but I thought it would be so cool to do an introduction to aquariums kind of class. Obviously the supply fee would be a bit higher but it would be so cool to set all the kids up with a 20 or 29g aquarium, and teach them about responsible fishkeeping. Could teach about cycling, plants, stocking, water chemistry, hardness and softness and how they affect the fish, etc.
teach about biotopes, common fish diseases, aquarium problem solving etc. depending on age of students how deep and in depth we go would vary

Now I don’t know that they would necessarily approve this class as I don’t have a degree in biology etc, but I think with a properly written class syllabus and good info I could pull it off. Even if I don’t get approved to do it there, I feel like it could be interesting to find somewhere else to host it.

Ideas? Suggestions?

 

[Rocky998]

Hi guys! I’ve been less active on tff lately with planning my wedding and ramping up my art business.

Now is the time to decide on if I want to teach classes 1-2x a week in the 2024-2025 school year at the school I grew up taking classes at.

I am already going to be submitting a few different art classes for approval, but I thought it would be so cool to do an introduction to aquariums kind of class. Obviously the supply fee would be a bit higher but it would be so cool to set all the kids up with a 20 or 29g aquarium, and teach them about responsible fishkeeping. Could teach about cycling, plants, stocking, water chemistry, hardness and softness and how they affect the fish, etc.
teach about biotopes, common fish diseases, aquarium problem solving etc. depending on age of students how deep and in depth we go would vary

Now I don’t know that they would necessarily approve this class as I don’t have a degree in biology etc, but I think with a properly written class syllabus and good info I could pull it off. Even if I don’t get approved to do it there, I feel like it could be interesting to find somewhere else to host it.

Ideas? Suggestions?

That sounds awesome!
They sadly probably wouldn't approve it, but that's an awesome idea...
I think though, if you were to do something like that, I'd lower the tank size to a 10g or so...

 

[JuiceBox52]

That sounds awesome!
They sadly probably wouldn't approve it, but that's an awesome idea...
I think though, if you were to do something like that, I'd lower the tank size to a 10g or so...

They have had other people come teach without the degrees so long as they can prove they know their stuff so I’m hopeful.

I had thought ten, but I want to allow for more than a betta, and for beginners starting with a micro community in a 10g can he risky

 

[Fishmanic]

would it be just one 29 gallon tank for all people in the class or would it be a tank for each student? Would all tanks stay at the school or would students take the tanks home? Is this like a night class or during daytime school schedule?

 

[Rocky998]

would it be just one 29 gallon tank for all people in the class or would it be a tank for each student? Would all tanks stay at the school or would students take the tanks home? Is this like a night class or during daytime school schedule?

I think she said "set up ALL the kids with a 20-29g aquarium" and something about supply fees... So I'm going to assume that ALL the students get to set up their own, but I could be wrong...

 

[JuiceBox52]

would it be just one 29 gallon tank for all people in the class or would it be a tank for each student? Would all tanks stay at the school or would students take the tanks home? Is this like a night class or during daytime school schedule?

The school is actually hosted on multiple rented campuses each week, so Monday is a different location than Wednesday etc. so a tank at the school isn’t a possibility.

It would be daytime school schedule, each student would have a tank in their home.
It would up the tuition/supply cost more, but students who want to take it would be okay with that.

Homework would be things like water changes, photos of how the tank is coming along, water test results and explaining the meanings of it etc

 

[Rocky998]

The school is actually hosted on multiple rented campuses each week, so Monday is a different location than Wednesday etc. so a tank at the school isn’t a possibility.

It would be daytime school schedule, each student would have a tank in their home.
It would up the tuition/supply cost more, but students who want to take it would be okay with that.

Homework would be things like water changes, photos of how the tank is coming along, water test results and explaining the meanings of it etc

How about keeping a record journal. Especially in the stages of cycling. Its what I did with mine. That could be a good amount of work, recording all the changes you make to the tank, what you add and when, changes in the water parameters (daily when cycling), and really anything new you do to the tank that may be of importance. Have them record it in a journal, so if issues arise you and the student can look back into the journal to see if you can find where things went wrong and how to fix it

 

[emeraldking]

In our country it would be impossible to give classes at schools without being certified. But giving workshops without being certified within the field of aquatics is possible. I did that in the past.

 

[sharkweek178]

The big variable here is the cycling. There's no way to make sure that everyone's tank cycles on the same schedule. Otherwise, I think this could be a great idea. You could help bust some myths and misconceptions out there about fishkeeping.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Juice- my aquarium club did something like this a couple of summers back. It involved a 4H club and a groups of kids 10-12 years old. Here is what we did.

We invited the local 4H club to participate and they sent us about a dozen kids and their parents. Because we are a club, we have members who breed fish and have lots of plants etc. and who have some good connections to suppliers of all thing aquarium which helped.

Each child was given the following at no charge:
1. A 10 gal. tank with a lid.
2. An air pump and airline.
3. A 20 ppi 3x3x3 in. Poret cube filter fully cycled. I asked Dr. Stephan Tanner of Swiss Tropicals to donate the 12 cubefilters which he generously did. Then I got them all well cycled and provided to the kids along with mulm in the bag with the filter.
4. A heater.
5. A group of appropriate sized fish for the tank.
6. An assortment of live plants.

There were a number of educational sessions where parents were also invited and then came the big day where all of the supplies were given to the kids. From there they we helped to get their tanks up and going in a good way. At the end of the summer we had 2 kids who dropped out, but the rest did a big presentation at the big regional 4H fair.

If I am remembering right we created not only a group of young potential hobbyists, but some of the parents also got interested.

Now in a school type setting you would have to alter the specific methodology. But, if you have a local fish club in your area, I think if you approach them and they would be interested in helping. Everything we gave the kids was donated either by club members or vendors club members bought from regularly. They were smart enough to understand that a lot of hobbyists get started when young and this means they will be buying things for their hobby perhaps for their entire lives.

The biggest difference in what you want to do and what my club did was that all the kids had their tanks at home and not in a school space. But I think you can adapt you program to allow for this. Your "classes" would be educational and a great help but tanks would not be left alone on weekends or holidays. It also means parental supervision is going to help.

Because a semester or a summer is only a few months I considered my contribution of procuring filters and getting them cycled to be one of the more important factors that made the project possible. If you have a 3 or 4 month window and the kids have to spend 5-6 weeks cycling a tank, things get very complicated. And not every cycle goes off without a hitch. While we provided cycled filters to the kids, we also explained what cycling is and how to do it in the future themselves.

Perhaps You could have a sample tank you manage and use as a live teaching example. You can create all the material needed to guide the kids and parents and the kids maybe could participate in some of the example tank decisions?

Since you choose not to provide your location, I cannot let you know where the nearest fish club might be or if you live in a place where there are no clubs nearby. I can also say that when members here choose not to divulge at least the country where they live, I do not offer help with medications and illnesses as the cures available are different from country to country. It is not as if we need to know your address to help with this sort of thing. But if you want to find a nearby club, I would need to know nearby to where.

Therefore, you will need to Google "Aquarium Clubs near 'where you are' ". Not all the answers may be current, so some clubs may be defunct and there may be newer ones not included. If you happen to be in the NE USA then go here to find a big list of clubs and links to them: https://northeastcouncil.org/clubs/ (I am a member of the NEC and my club is DAAS--> the Danbury Area Aquarium Society.)

 

[Rocky998]

Also, if you can get an "education discount" and/or a bulk deal on the aquariums and supplies, make sure you can! Anything to cut the costs down!

 

[JuiceBox52]

In our country it would be impossible to give classes at schools without being certified. But giving workshops without being certified within the field of aquatics is possible. I did that in the past.

It’s not a school technically, but a co op, so there is some leniency

 

[JuiceBox52]

The big variable here is the cycling. There's no way to make sure that everyone's tank cycles on the same schedule. Otherwise, I think this could be a great idea. You could help bust some myths and misconceptions out there about fishkeeping.

Agreed. I would probably start them all off with some used media from established tables, and live plants to help with that though it would not be the same pace

 

[JuiceBox52]

Juice- my aquarium club did something like this a couple of summers back. It involved a 4H club and a groups of kids 10-12 years old. Here is what we did.

We invited the local 4H club to participate and they sent us about a dozen kids and their parents. Because we are a club, we have members who breed fish and have lots of plants etc. and who have some good connections to suppliers of all thing aquarium which helped.

Each child was given the following at no charge:
1. A 10 gal. tank with a lid.
2. An air pump and airline.
3. A 20 ppi 3x3x3 in. Poret cube filter fully cycled. I asked Dr. Stephan Tanner of Swiss Tropicals to donate the 12 cubefilters which he generously did. Then I got them all well cycled and provided to the kids along with mulm in the bag with the filter.
4. A heater.
5. A group of appropriate sized fish for the tank.
6. An assortment of live plants.

There were a number of educational sessions where parents were also invited and then came the big day where all of the supplies were given to the kids. From there they we helped to get their tanks up and going in a good way. At the end of the summer we had 2 kids who dropped out, but the rest did a big presentation at the big regional 4H fair.

If I am remembering right we created not only a group of young potential hobbyists, but some of the parents also got interested.

Now in a school type setting you would have to alter the specific methodology. But, if you have a local fish club in your area, I think if you approach them and they would be interested in helping. Everything we gave the kids was donated either by club members or vendors club members bought from regularly. They were smart enough to understand that a lot of hobbyists get started when young and this means they will be buying things for their hobby perhaps for their entire lives.

The biggest difference in what you want to do and what my club did was that all the kids had their tanks at home and not in a school space. But I think you can adapt you program to allow for this. Your "classes" would be educational and a great help but tanks would not be left alone on weekends or holidays. It also means parental supervision is going to help.

Because a semester or a summer is only a few months I considered my contribution of procuring filters and getting them cycled to be one of the more important factors that made the project possible. If you have a 3 or 4 month window and the kids have to spend 5-6 weeks cycling a tank, things get very complicated. And not every cycle goes off without a hitch. While we provided cycled filters to the kids, we also explained what cycling is and how to do it in the future themselves.

Perhaps You could have a sample tank you manage and use as a live teaching example. You can create all the material needed to guide the kids and parents and the kids maybe could participate in some of the example tank decisions?

Since you choose not to provide your location, I cannot let you know where the nearest fish club might be or if you live in a place where there are no clubs nearby. I can also say that when members here choose not to divulge at least the country where they live, I do not offer help with medications and illnesses as the cures available are different from country to country. It is not as if we need to know your address to help with this sort of thing. But if you want to find a nearby club, I would need to know nearby to where.

Therefore, you will need to Google "Aquarium Clubs near 'where you are' ". Not all the answers may be current, so some clubs may be defunct and there may be newer ones not included. If you happen to be in the NE USA then go here to find a big list of clubs and links to them: https://northeastcouncil.org/clubs/ (I am a member of the NEC and my club is DAAS--> the Danbury Area Aquarium Society.)

I would be having the kids have their aquariums in their own homes since the “school” group rents the buildings only a few days a week

Thank you!

 

[Fishmanic]

What other classes are held in this ”co-op?” Are regular type subjects taught?