Touch Tank

## About

The touch tank contains a variety of anemone, corals, and other critters that are generally safe to handle. The touch tank is pretty easy to care for and clean. It requires less maintenance than the coral tank, but still a little more than the other animals here.

## Feeding

The touch tank, like the Coral Tank, takes a bit more to feed than the other animals. It is easier if you prepare the food while also preparing the coral tank food. Please read how to prep the coral tank food first.

1. Locate a small beaker that holds at least 40 mL.
2. Pour half of each zooplankton and phytoplankton (that you already have out from the **Coral Tank**prep)  in to the beaker. It does not have to be exact.
3. Use the rest of the shrimp cube from the **Coral Tank**prep for the touch tank. Cut off one more small piece before doing so. This small piece will go in the tank next to the coral tank.
4. Your food is ready! Give the fish head left from the **Coral Tank** food prep to the large anenome near the ramp/filter in the coral tank.
5. Squirt the plankton mixture directly at the creatures, especially the mussels. Make sure to save a little bit (5-10 mL) for the small tank next to the coral tank.
6. Swish the shrimp cube piece around, giving a little bit to all the small critters. Let it slowly dissolve in to the tank.
7. You are done! Put the third piece of shrimp cube in to the dirt in the small tank by the coral tank, and squirt the remaining mixture of plankton in to there.
8. At this point, all 3 tanks should be fed! Hooray!

## Cleaning

* You can spot clean with the red turkey baster. Just suck up the gunk and squirt it out in to a container, then dump it. Spot cleaning daily will reduce the amount of water changes needed, and will make the tank look much nicer.
* Water changes should be done as needed.
* For water changes, focus on cleaning the bottom area of the tank; try to get as much gunk out as possible. Use a siphon to pull everything out. The one with the red squeezy on it tends to work the best for this tank.
* Make sure to keep the filter sponge clean. Clean it as needed.
* Occasionally clean the white plastic filter that sits over the filter intake. It gets clogged sometimes, and cleaning with a brush will fix that.
* Check the salt levels of the tank water and your replacement water before changing; make sure they are close to the same level.
* If a mussel dies (be sure to wear gloves for this)-
	+ Mussels produce a crazy bio-load when they die. Their insides leak out and decompose, ruining water chemistry potentially.
	+ Try to scoop the dead mussel out with something that will contain it and all its innards. A large beaker should work for this. It may or may not work successfully.
	+ If some (or all) of the insides do leak out in to the tank, do an immediate water change to get all the gunk out. Beware; it doesn't smell nice!
	+ Never just pull out the mussel with your bare hands (or even gloved hands); it will get gunk all over you and the touch tank.
	+ To tell if a mussel is dead, see if it is no longer anchored down, or if its sitting slightly open with some pink stuff hanging out of it. Make sure to ask someone to verify if it is actually dead first, too.

## Links & Resources

* Anemone Info
* More technical anemone info
* Basic mussel care (has both saltwater and freshwater; ours are saltwater!)