Williamsport Area High School

The Hub of our Tanks in Schools Program

Read about our Tanks in Schools program in the July/August 2013 edition of Coral Magazine. Main article (3.5 MB .pdf) | Article about Lake-Lehman's program | Article about Walnut Street School program

 

In May, 2015 we successfully had our anemone propagation system funded with $2324 in support from DonorsChoose.org. All of our donors will be individually recognized on our information display at our main display. Read about our project here.

In August, 2015 we had our second project, a clownfish breeding room, funded with over $2000 in support from DonorsChoose.org. All of our donors will be individually recognized on our information display at our main display. Read about our project here.

 

We received a $3000 PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Grant to cover the cost of expanding our Neptune Systems Apex monitoring and control system. We added a data collection and display computer system that allows us to feed data to a web site and to two 24" and one 46" LED/LCD monitors above two of the tanks so math and science students can monitor and study trends in water quality. This grant was secured by Larry Flint, a teacher at the school. See the press release (.pdf file).

Monitor our aquarium system here and here.

 

Hub tanks

Our 500,000 square foot school building is arranged with a hub-and-spoke floor plan. The first floor hub of the school is home to all of the tanks. Over 2000 students, faculty, staff and visitors pass through the hub each day and our school hosts many regional and statewide events each year when people visit the aquariums.

The Williamsport Area High School has a number of aquaria supported by Larry and Jennifer Flint. A 125 gallon reef tank is located in the library lobby and a 55 gallon clownfish tank is in the main hallway of the school. The other four display tanks are in the school's central hub. Regular maintenance is done by Larry, Jen and a the school's Aquarium Club.

The main hub tanks include a 650 gallon predator tank, two 300 gallon Marineland Deep Dimension reefs and a 125 gallon reef. We also have two 90 gallon frag tanks, a 180 gallon soft coral grow out tank and six 40 gallon breeder tanks along with our three 40 gallon quarantine system.

125 gallon reef

Our 125 gallon reef is the original tank in our system and houses a mix of soft and hard coral. We started this tank in 2007 and it is by far the most mature tank in our system. Circulation is provided by two Tunze powerheads. Tank is lit with two 175W Iwaski 15000K bulbs and one custom LED fixture with 24 Cree 3W LEDs.

 

300 gallon reef #1

We received this tank as a gift from the Class of 2010. It was originally purchased for use at the 2010 Senior Prom. We moved it from the high school to the prom site on a Thursday, had the prom on a Saturday and moved it back to the school on that Sunday. Three locations in four days - probably the most traveled 300 gallon aquarium in such a short time. It is home to a mix of soft and hard coral. Lighting is provided by one 250W Radium 20000K bulb and an array of custom built LED fixturse. Circulation is provided by a Reeflo Dart pump and three Tunze powerheads.

300 gallon reef #2

This 300 gallon Marineland Deep Dimension tank was installed in the fall of 2011. It is dedicated to growing our SPS coral colonies. We light the tank with three Ecoxotic Cannon 100W white LEDs and three Rapid LED fixtures with a total of 48 Royal Blue CREE 3W LEDs and 36 Cool White CREE 3W LEDs. Circulation is provided with one EcoTech Vortech MP60 and three Sicce Voyager HP4000 pumps.

Frag tanks

We built two shallow, large surface area coral fragment tanks in 2010 to enable an expansion of our coral growth project. Each tank has a volume of 60 gallons and a surface area of 15 square feet. We provide coral to other school tanks and trade for new coral samples. Lighting includes a 250W 20000K Radium with IceCap ballast, a custom LED fixture and an Ecoxotic Cannon 100W fixture.

 

Breeding System

Our newest addition to the room is a breeding system consisting of six 40 gallon breeder tanks. We received a $1500 grant from the Williampsort Area School District Education Foundation in the fall of 2012 to start our clownfish and cardinal fish breeding program.

 

Other components

We use Reef Crystals salt for water changes, start with good RO water, reduce phosphate with Bulk Reef Supply GFO and have a new Kaldness filter. Our 120 gallon quarantine system prepares new specimens for display.