Two Naperville North High School students with a passion for fish and reefs are hoping their Aquarium and Reefing Club promotes an interest in marine ecosystems and increased environmental awareness. Bremen Dinh and Nathan Mendoza, both 17-year-old seniors, started the club last year to share their love of marine biology with fellow students and teachers. They helped care for two small fishtanks — a 30-gallon tank that contained freshwater fish and an 8-gallon tank with saltwater fish — in their school and have ambitious plans beyond that.
They’d like to set up a 60-gallon reef tank at Naperville North’s library if they can raise the money to buy supplies, acquire fish and marine life and pay for a certified caretaker who can maintain the tank during the summer months at a cost of about $1,600 per year, they said. The club has set up a GoFundMe page, www.gofundme.
com/f/help-naperville-north-students-build-reef-tanks?cdn-cache=0 , to help pay for the endeavor. Donations to the fund go to the Aqua Reef Co., which in turn funds the Aquarium and Reefing Club.
The two teens say the club offers both educational opportunities and therapeutic benefits. “It’s so crazy how much potential this club has for education,” Nathan said. “Textbooks can (only) do so much.
But with the fish tank, there is so many angles, whether it’s biology or chemistry of the water. Getting hands-on is very important, especially with live creatures like fish that are very delicate. It can rea.