Protect Our Reef Tanks

Over the last year my class and I have started a coral reef project in our school. What began as a classroom fish tank has turned into a student led project that is now the pride and joy of hundreds of kids in my school.

Through hard work and generous donations we have built three 120 gallon coral reef tanks in three third grade classrooms and have been using them as a platform to learn everything from science to social studies.

Students collectively make decisions on how to best care for the multitude of coral, invertebrates and fish. We have huge anemones, starfish, lobsters, all manner of crabs, and over a dozen different kinds of fish and coral.

And now all of the life that we support is in danger.

My school district has announced that they will be shutting off the air conditioning for the summer and the classrooms will reach temperatures of over 90 degrees. We need water chillers for all three tanks to ensure that all of our beloved creatures survive.

Our project is totally supported by myself and the generosity of the reefing community. Please help us raise $1800 dollars to purchase 3 Trade Wind chillers from Champion Lighting. We can’t do it without you.

If you want more information, please check out more pictures of our project on our website and our dedicated thread at Reef Central.


Thanks so much for your time and support! Brandon Rutherford


Students do water changes and/or water testing daily.  It's very important that the water chemistry and temperature be kept stable.


 We have many different kinds of crabs and shrimp in this tank that are very sensative to change.


Coral, sea fans and sponges are all alive and very beautiful.


Our purple seafan is difficult to keep but doing very well in our tank thanks to the daily care the kids give it.


Students do all of the water testing 


Students Frag Coral