The Coral Farm team have been working on the research poster and webpage for the NAMS Research Symposium and is now live. Click the link to view ours and many other research and project presentations. Our project is Presentation 15. The webpage includes the project poster, pictures as well as a video tour of the farm.  

This week the laboratory team officially announced the new coral farm/lab to the school and faculty after 6 new specimens were added. Specimens include Discosoma sp., Euphyllia sp., Rhodactius sp. etc. The team will continue to monitor the coral fragments and continue to add to the collection. The team will also be presenting the project at the 2021 Research Symposium. Our next goal is to start work on the two smaller tanks and get them ready to house mother colonies and specialty corals. 

As always we appreciate your support and seeing this project grow! 

This past Thursday the coral team went live as we introduced the first test coral into our main frag tank. The palythoa was donated by a club and coral team member. This coral is a easy to maintain species and is perfect to help make sure the system is running smoothly and the water chemistry is perfect. These corals can also release a palytoxin if under stress. We are working on an extensive handling  and safety protocol to make sure our team and anyone else who is handling this particular coral are safe. Within an hour of placing it in the tank the coral polyps began to open up which is a great sign! The coral will be monitored for at least two weeks after which more corals will be added. 

We had a issue with one of the LED lights but has now been replaced with a new one. The monitoring system is also currently having issues connecting to the main dashboard but the team will attempt to restart the system which should fix the issue. IT has also been notified and hopefully will be able to assist. All in all the project is moving forward perfectly and on schedule. Thank you to all who have continued to support this project and stay tuned for more updates!

Photo by Lana Mena 

(Club Treasurer & Team Member)

Join us this Thursday at 12 PM EST) as we go live on instagram @stocktonaac to showcase our first test coral being introduced to our system. We will also go over how the main frag tank is operating and will also answer any questions you might have about the project or club! Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you then!

On Nov. 12th, SAAC members gathered at the field station "cabin" lab to help the coral team build racks on which coral fragments will rest on. The racks were a DIY project using inexpensive materials such as egg crate (lighting diffusor), PVC pipe and zip ties. holes were drilled into the PVC pipe to allow zip ties to go through and attach to the egg create creating legs.

Locally collected invertebrates such as hermit crabs, shrimp and mud crabs have been added to the tank to help with cycling the tank. We are working hard to prepare the system for winter break hopefully being able to continue working during break and plan on having the first batch of corals in by the start of the spring 2021 semester. 

Stay tuned for more updates and we greatly appreciate the support! Feel free to follow our instagram @stocktonaac for more updates and informative posts! 

To help decrease evaporation, we have finally installed a auto top-off (ATO) system. A sensor monitors the water level in the sump and when the level goes down a pump feeds freshwater to the sump from a ~30 gal tank. This will reduce salinity swings which can have negative effects on our corals.

Thanks to your generous donations we are able to acquire equipment like this to help make our farm a success! Stay tuned for more updates!

We are back in the lab and working on the farm. Due to the current situation, our project had to be put on hold. However, after careful planning and making sure safety procedures are put in place for the coral team, we are now able to get the farm back up and running!

As of right now we are working hard to get the tank filled with water and system running by the end of this week. Our next plan of action is to build the racks on which coral frags will rest on as we wait for the system to fully cycle. Stay tuned for more updates!

After countless troubleshooting of our farm's life support system, we are pleased to announce the main frag tank is now running and cycling. Our next plan of action is to make sure the water chemistry is good for the first batch of corals which will be donated. We are also finalizing on the lighting unit as well as building the racks the coral fragments will be resting on. If you are local to the university and would like to donate coral frags or colonies for us to frag please feel free to contact us at saac.stockton@gmail.com! 

The replacement tank has been placed on its new home and re-plumbed. Now we will test to make sure the plumbing is secure and sealed and will begin filling the system up with mixed saltwater. Thank you to all who have continued to support our project. Stay tuned for more updates!   

The new Neptune Systems Apex monitoring system is now online. Minor repairs to some plumbing were made, and the tank was set for our first leak test. The tank was filled completely, the pump turned on and everything looked fine. However, a leak was detected from the tank's viewing window. After a few failed attempts to repair it, we are awaiting a replacement. While this has brought us behind schedule a bit, we are excited for the work underway and see our Coral Farm flourish. Stay tuned!!

We have begun working on plumbing for the drain and return. It consists of ball valves to help regulate flow of water to either completely stop it or to reduce the noise of the drain. It also helps with back siphoning. We are still waiting on a few components but are getting closer to having the system up and running by the start of October!

We have finally started working on the main frag tank! We started by drilling a hole for the water to go from the tank to the sump filter. We unpacked the RedFlex sump by Pro-Clear Aquatic Systems and put it in place. We then began working on the lighting system which comprises of T5 and LED lighting with the mounting unit by AquaticLife. We still have some work ahead so stay tuned for more updates! 

The ~120 gallon tank is now on its new home. Once we get the sump from Pro-Clear Aquatic Systems we will start working on plumbing. Thank you all for your continuing support! 

Thank you so much to AquaticLife for helping us with our project by donating a T5/LED Hybrid light mounting unit and a 4stage ro/di unit. All we need now are the T5 bulbs and the LED lights as well as a storage tank for the ro/di water which we will be getting in soon. Thank you for your help in getting us to this point! Keep an eye out for more updates and continue to spread the word! 

Thank you for your support and getting us to the halfway mark! Because of this we have decided to push back the last day of our crowdfunding event so that we can get even closer to our goal. Because of your support we are continuing to move forward on our project. We are currently waiting on our custom sump for our filtration from Pro-Clear Aquatics so stay tuned for that update. Thank you again and help spread the word!   

The Stockton Aquarium and Aquaculture Club has been nominated for the Program of the Year Award. The award ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 18th and will be attended by executive board members and faculty advisors of the many organizations here at Stockton University to celebrate their accomplishments for the 2018-2019 year. We hope our programs and projects such as our on-campus aquarium service and the coral farm will help our mission. Thank you to all who have supported us! Stay Tuned!   

It was very heavy and time consuming, but the ~120 gallon tank that will house the coral frags is nice and squeaky clean! Once it is dried and the space where the farm will be set up is cleared, the team will start on the construction of the stand. Thank you for your support in getting us here! Stay tuned!!

 In the meantime, while we are raising money for our Coral Farm....

The SAAC recently set up a 16 gallon biOrb classic aquarium that was donated by Oase. The aquarium will be housing the red neon blue-eye rainbowfish which are nearly threatened according to the CARES Preservation Program. Members of the SAAC will be maintaining the aquarium giving them hands on experience in freshwater aquaria from tank maintenance, water quality, to fish health and quarantining. This also gives a insight into public aquaria care of public exhibits. Feel free to check out our article for the full story!