Here is an email I received.  I did check to verify this, and debated if I should include the phone number and address in this post.  I think I should since it may be convenient for anyone in the nearby neighborhood.  Anyway, before I jump on this I thought I would see if anyone here was interested in helping out....
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Adam,

Is this real? if this is i would like to donate all the fish for this aquarium.

That's cool Eric.

If we do help, I would hope we could check first to see if the tank is set up right so the items donated can live. MSM took over a tank set up by The Aquarium and had to redo some stuff that wasn't working right, including no snails, the lack of automatic water top-off and the lack of an RDP Refugium for a 180 gal tank!!

RISE Inc is an awsome establishment that I've worked for that includes working with people with disabilities. I don't have any fish to donate, but will gladly divy out a few $$$ into a pot for donations if someone wants to take charge of such a venture. Mark, there always seemed to be used stuff at MSM that would make great additions to an improperly or under equipped system... HINT HINT.

Eric- that would be very helpful, as I'm sure I have stuff to donate but not sure what they need yet.

Adam

Lynn- That sounds great and I'm sure they'll appreciate it.  I have no idea what kind of lights they have or anything else.  Hopefully Eric will let us know more.

Adam

What a great bunch of people.    Talk about stepping up to the plate..This will be the nicest tank in the valley after the members of this board are done with it....

I make my own mix that will keep the fish Eric donates fat & happy. Eric, let me know who to talk with & ill drop off a few months worth tomorrow..  Make sure they have a freezer also please...

Well i just got back from RISE and what a great bunch of people. There aquarium is a 46 gal tall with a magnum filter (which wasnt working) 2 t12 36" lights and one small power head and about 20lbs of live rock. The kids really want a Nemo and a few other small fish which is no problem.

I would like to see more live rock about 30lbs worth. If anyone has any live rock in there aquarium even a few pieces would be great. So lets talk corals everyone has a few rocks with alot of mushrooms and star polyps low light corals would be great. To me this is a very simple aquarium which will take very little money to get up and running and even less to take care of.

So here is a list of things we are looking for

30lbs of fully cured live rock the more things on it the better

2 small power heads (good condition)

2 new 36"t12 bulbs 1 white 1 blue

flake/frozen foods

mushroom/polyp rocks

I would like to change out the filter system to a small sump but after talking with them they dont have that much time to make sure it is allways full and the pure hassel with it so i think for now the filter will be fine.

If everyone who wishes to donate anything for them would bring there donations

to Marine Aquatics 8415 so 700 west #17

I will make sure it makes it to them.

I also think it would be a great idea to have someone after this is done take pics of each coral and fish and make a small book that the kids could look through and learn what they have in there aquarium. and also have the name of the person next to the picture of the piece they donated.

Connie bring it to the store i will be going back on wednesday

Just purchased 1 rio 800, and a 6lb piece of LR to add to the donation pot. 

Eric I talked to my wife and we are a go for donating my 30" corallife dual 65w PC fixture.  I will drop it off  tomorrow.  So save one of those 250w MH setups for me.

Hi Kelly,

This is Eric i hope everyone in the office is getting excited for whats to come....

Kelly

The Aquarium is going to go through a big change, it has alot cyano which is mostly due to poor water flow which will be changed, after i am done you will have everything for that system including a clean up crew...so sit back and hold on.

She was a very very cute little girl,

I am looking for some rocks with mushrooms and star polyps on them allready

I will buy them from you please im me asap thanks

Eric- I'm sure I have some low light corals, and food.  I'm stuck in one lab in the day and one lab at night this week.  I'll get stuff to you/Kelly next week.

Adam

FIRE SHRIMP wrote: I also think it would be a great idea to have someone after this is done take pics of each coral and fish and make a small book that the kids could look through and learn what they have in there aquarium. and also have the name of the person next to the picture of the piece they donated.

My wife is an scrapbooking istructor and I talked to her and she would love to help out and make a scrap book for them. Just let us know and if someone with good picture taking skills can get us pics we will start on the book

it will be in a few weeks after we get this up and running right

I will talk with Kelly from RISE and see if you can just donate that to them and they can put it toward this aquarium when needed

Thanks to everyone who have been bringing stuff by the store, We have some of the nicest people in this club you will ever meet.

Thanks Eric for pulling this together for everyone. It's nice to give everyone a chance to be a part of a worthy cause.

So what's left that's needed for the tank? (Updated List from page 1?)

we still need

1 rio 800

10lbs live rock

mushroom rocks

and Flake and frozen foods

Pat, that mushroom rock looks so good in there aquarium,

Update,

I spoke with Rick from the pet factory and they are going to donate the clean up crew  I also spoke with Cris from Fish 4 U and they are going to donate coral frags and stuff not only does this club have great members but also Great store Owners.

FIRE SHRIMP wrote: Pat, that mushroom rock looks so good in there aquarium,

Kewl! Be sure and send us all pics when it's done.

FIRE SHRIMP wrote: I spoke with Rick from the pet factory .... I also spoke with Cris from Fish 4 U

Is it just me or do all the other club members think that this makes Eric look like the greatest guy on the planet.  I can't believe he did that. 

Adam

Dear Adam and members:

We are just baffled as to why we can not keep fish alive in our tank.  It's been very difficult on the children.  At first, we would tell them that the fish were at the hospital and Eric would rush over another "Nemo", but I am sure we wore him out!  I put an emergency call into him on Monday AM, but as of yet, have not heard from him.  Matt, from The Aquarium, took off early from the BYU just to come and help us yesterday.  He cleaned the tank and re-arranged stuff so there would be more water circulation.  I had the water tested twice from two different people and they both state that everything is perfect.  But this week we lost "Nemo" twice and a beautiful yellow tang that I had watched in the store thrive for the past three months, but died within 24 hours in our tank.  We are running very low on food and I hate bugging Eric.  If anyone would still be willing to help out in any way, we sure could use it!  Matt is willing to accept any donations at The Aquarium to get over to us.  He works there on Thursdays and Saturdays.  His phone number is 255-3698.  Your help would be sincerely and gratefully appreciated.

Sorry kelly i have been very busy this week i called you back but just got voice mail if you can call me tomorrow.

Ps i have some frozen food here that i think connie donated,

Okay, so I called and found out that the YT was from Petco. It may have lived okay there for three months but that's no guarantee that it will do well in a different tank.

Nemo is still alive after four days.  According to Kelly, this is a very good sign.

The coral that was donated by everyone is extending and looking beautiful.

Kelly told me that two separate LFS said the water tests look fine but she didn't know what the numbers were. The water probably tests fine because hair algae is filtering it. The tank probably has 25 snails and 7 hermits, some just added yesterday. It needs more.

She would like to learn more about keeping things healthy. I will go by and check it out sometime soon.

OK, this is what we're good at peeps, let's dig in and figure out what is going on.

Kelly can you go into some detail as to how the fish look when they are found dead.

--Are they floating, sunk, or just completely missing?
--If you actually find them dead, do they look 'picked-at' or look healthy but still dead
  ---If 'Picked-at' are the 'cuts' (crabs,shrimp) or have the scales been frazzled or torn out (other fish)
  ---If scales look fine, is nemo's mouth pirched open like he was gasping for air (water quality)

This one is a mystery because I can't find Nemo anywhere...not even a body!  The only shrimp we have is a tiger shrimp...please help...we're desperate!

Kelly

Very common in salt water aquariums.  Fish are always dieing and they are consumed quickly.  Not the most encouraging response, I know.  But I'd bet that happened here.  Sorry.

Adam

Tomorrow, Tuesday, offers me the opportunity to visit RISE during the day. Of course I'll let y'all know what I discover.

Hi Everyone!

Hey Adam, how about a picture of this setup for us to see. It might be interesting and generate more interest from the club.

Jody

The tank looks okay, but with a few problems. Algae is out of control, the sand is not very live and it may be very old sand from another tank. There isn't enough sand to support the bioload of fish, and a mean Blue Devil Damsel thinks it owns the place. The water circulation is inadequate and pH is probably quite low at night causing stress. Alkalinity was at 9 dKH this afternoon but Nitrates are visibly high. The dual 55W PC light that was donated looks great and the mushrooms and Feather Duster look good, but other coral are suffering.

This tank needs an overhaul. I suggest adding an inch of clean Oolitic sand and a good portion of Oolitic and larger particle LS. More snails are needed. There is a "humoungous" bulldozer snail that needs to be removed before it knocks rock over. Caulerpa would add a dimension to the tank that is currently lacking, but I would only add it if Kelly is okay with the pruning that is required later on. A bit of the Caulerpa that pmpt is currently offering here on the MB would be good.

The LR looks good but could use more height in this tank. We could add more LR or use some LBTR. Comments?

Kelly is so grateful for the help offered. This aquarium quiets and calms the kids that come through the doors on their way to good foster homes. I'm thinking that if the current trend of dieing fish is not halted, she may not be happy with all our good intentions and the children will miss the calming influence of an aquarium. I'd like to turn good intentions into action by providing a nice looking, properly set up, active fish tank that will give troubled kids the comfort they need.

I'm busy tomorrow, but I don't mind missing out on the fun. Feel free to consider my recommendations and go tear that tank apart.

I was also considering removing the under tank canister filter and it's associated pipes and then permanently removing the blue background so that the salt mess behind can be cleaned up and not be so noticable in the future. I'd keep the HOB filter though, especially since there is no sump/refugia to handle particulate matter. If it seems better to remove the HOB and keep the canister for particulate filtration, that's good too.

More sand is the most important thing as far as I can see.

Okay I am trying to keep up with all your great people's postings.  Here's what I can add...many, many times I have tried to catch the Damsel, but it's a tricky devil so I wish you all the best!  I have no idea what Caulerpa is, but I am willing to prune or whatever it takes.  I am a very quick learner!  Again, let me thank you from the bottom of our hearts here at RISE.  I finally told one of the older children what really has happened to "Nemo", needless to say that didn't go too well and I don't want to have to do it again.  (She's in with the therapist right now!)  As I explained to Mark yesterday these children have had a very tough life involving abuse and at the very least, they get teased terribly at school.  If I can do anything to bring them some joy, I do, even if it means telling fibs and saying Nemo went to the hospital.  Please, if anyone has a clown fish, bring it asap!

Thank you again,

Kelly

I'm sorry, but Nemo the clownfish has gone to a good foster home, while this tank gets some necessary TLC and counseling.

We cannot place a new Nemo in the tank until the current dilema is resolved; namely the high nitrates and devil damsel. I believe I can make the necessary changes Thursday evening or Friday sometime during the day. Then we will add some snails, some Caulerpa and wait for a few days for nitrates to drop. Then it will be ready for a new Nemo and his friends.

Kelly, I'll call you today, Thursday.

The first phase was completed Thursday night. The tank now has a deeper sand bed to handle denitrification. (As the water started to clear, Kelly asked me if I had added more rock.  Nope, just repositioned.)

This morning, Kelly says that the Banded Coral Shrimp and Orange Linkia are alive and the Condylactis Anemone is more full than it has been for a while.

Next phase to be accomplished today, Friday: LS seeding, snails, hermits and Caulerpa. (pmpt & Suzy )

Final phase to be accomplished Saturday: Nemos and coral.

Soft Coral frags will be appreciated.

I am meeting Mark here tomorrow (Saturday) so as soon as we decide on a time to meet, I will post it so as to meet anyone here that can't come during the week before 5:00 PM.  Thank you again!  Sincerely, Kelly

Kelly Scott

RISE, Inc.

7575 S. 900 E.

Midvale, UT  84047

208-1031 X32

I've got some live sand for you.  I was going to come out there this afternoon with Mark.  He was going to call me when he was on his way.  If I don't hear from him soon (by 3:30), I will bring it out my self.

I look forward to meeting you, Kelly.

p.s.  The live sand was discounted by Pet Planet for you.

Mark says to call him if anyone wants to meet on Saturday and he will coordinate it. 

It was great meeting you Suzy!  Sorry about your timing on meeting any kids.  For the last hour since Mark's been here, we've had kids coming and going non-stop!

Thanks to Summertop and Bonnie and Suzy for their recent help with the RISE reef aquarium.

FYI, Mountain Shadow Marine donated snails, hermits, and LS. MSM owner, Randy Olsen offered to provide anything else needed. I told him that quite a few people here want to help. This is kind of a WMAS project so I want to be sure that everyone gets the chance to do their part.

See pic below.

Two healthy Maroon Clownfish were donated by MSM on Friday and by Monday morning the female of the pair was dead.

Several coral were also donated and added Friday. Thanks to Sandrider for the nice Xenia colony on a rock. Taking a risk, a Hammer Coral was also added.

We may have determined the cause of the fish deaths. A new finish was put on the stand and canopy when a new glass aquarium was traded out for the old acrylic tank a few months ago. This is something I have seen before. Something in the fumes from the finish inside the canopy seems to be deadly to fish, even goldfish.

On Monday evening the canopy was removed. Within the hour the male Maroon was looking better and two Tomato Clownfish were added. Thanks to Dave Tea for raising these fish. Kelly was excited to tell the office and the kids that these are locally bred and raised fish.

It's not safe to leave the canopy off. Kids may throw things into the tank. We need someone to take the canopy and either heat cure the finish, remove the inside finish or coat it with something non-toxic to fish. Who can help with this?

Call me Mark. Lets see if we can fix this. 641-3006

Thanks Kingsspot1, but I took the canopy with me that same day. Before I said anything, I wanted to wait a few days to see what it did to have the canopy removed.

I just called Kelly. She said it looks great and the three clowns are still swimming, looking good. Visitors keep asking if they got a new tank.

And I was hoping that Dion would volunteer.

That's right,

Will/wsinbad1 donated two well established good sized pieces of LR with Zoanthids, etc. on them. Will, please forgive me for not remembering to write it earlier.

The refurbished hood was placed back on the tank on Monday.

Thanks so very much to Dion/Holdencraft33.

Thanks to Connie for her donation of frozen food.

Everything looks wonderful according to Kelly. The feather duster worm has not come out today and she wonders if it's okay, but from the look and sound of it, I would say that she can now add more coral and fish.

Donations accepted.