IMPORTANT Venue change for Spring Fest this weekend

Sounds good! Thought I'd ask before I put an order in. Cool shirts!

 

Thanks cman5. I tried to put together things so everyone could find something that appealed to them. Do check the cafepress main site before making your order. I think they have coupon codes for shipping etc. on there. I have not used any codes before so I don't know if they apply to our site. Enjoy the swag!

 

I posted the venue change on newagereef.com a local forum for me. Just figured I would try to help spread the word! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif

 

Thanks for your help. We appreciate it!

 

ANYBODY who can lend a hand to get the word out please do so! Thank you!

 

Shared on Peoria Area Reef Club, Springfield Illinois Reef and Saltwater Fanatics, and West Central Illinois Reefers Facebook pages.

 

Funny thing about this... For once, there will actually be something at the IA State fairgrounds that I find entertaining! Made me think though, since a lot of animal lovers compete with their cows, pigs, goats, chickens, you name it.. Wonder if there has ever been anything for aquariums!? Maybe we should create entries for who can grow the largest corals, I would show off that ribbon with pride!

 

I have a colony that would give everybody a run for their money!

 

I don't think there has been for a long time but they used to do it with fresh water fish there is a very large aquariums under they stadium all the way to the west end

 

And then after displaying our fish we choose some to be prepared by Mildred, Agnes, Betty, and Bertha in a "Chopped" like competition for the bakery goods. "Ok ladies, you have 30 minutes to use your four mystery ingredients and create a dessert. Sea Cucumber, Mandarin Dragonet, Cherry Pie Filling, and Yams. Annnnnd begin!"

 

I've never even knew what the campus place until all this. How big is it?

 

Central Campus Marine Biology Program is a fantastic program that started with just one 29 gallon aquarium in the Des Moines Public School System. It is designed for High School students and can come from almost any school district around Des Moines. There are Marine Biology programs at High Schools but none like this. This is the only Aquarium Science and Marine Biology program that I know of. It has since been moved to many different locations! At the peak tank amount, there where 78 aquariums.

In the state of the art room there are 118 tanks! There are more than 14,000 Gallons of Saltwater Tanks! The room is located on the third floor with an amazing water room on the 4th floor. We can hold about 3,000 gallons of mixed saltwater for water changes! We mix saltwater at 500 gallons a batch! We could mix 900 at a time but have found a great mix of bags to water ratio at 500 gallons. This allows the student to quickly mix and verify salinity. All water changes are gravity fed down to the 14,000 gallons. We can make about 2,000 gallons of RO each day so if we mix 2,000 gallons we will have another 2,000 the next day!

The students are currently breeding clownfish in the room and prorogating coral. The kids also have a mating pair of Epaulette Sharks and Jelly Fish they are breeding.

The high school students work very hard to make sure that the room is taken care of. They also do fundraising all year around to get equipment and livestock for the room. They also fund raise for their annual Florida trip.

I think this is an amazing program and a God send to GIRS and the community. Its getting students involved in our hobby and educating them. This program is the reason why I belong to the club.

 

So after you have breed the clowns what do you do with them? Also where do the coral go? How long has it been going?

 

Central Campus is working close with multiple stores to get them distributed back into the trade. They are not for sale, but the stores help provide valuable resources needed in order to maintain the facility.

 

I wonder if we could set up a forum for them that they could post things on like photos,fund raisers,that would be just for central campus

 

That's a great idea! I don't frequent the DsMs schools or FaceBook sites often so getting info about the students activities, fundraisers, etc would be nice! (They do have information posted on the Des Moines Public School website and a FaceBook page/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif)