children and fish

[Jbaygurl78745]

So for a living i baby sit n my hubby works for ups. Well 2 of the kids i watch are my hubbys god babies. I watch them 730-6 mon-fri. The little girl is 4 and she loves to help me with my tanks. I was on vaca last week and when i came back monda the little girl came down stairs and says to me "girlfriend i have been waiting for you to come back for days so i could help you clean your tank please tell me you waited for me to do it?" So since she likes it so much my hubby and i talked to her mom about getting her a tank and i told her id do all the cleaning and what not. She agreed to to nothing more than a 55. This little girl love to use the gravel vacumm and get the "yuckes" out. And she makes me only fill some bucket a lil so she can carry it. And she even knows they only get a little food. She has a 5g planted betta tank. But it dont hold her interest ever since the betta killed her shrimp. So we are thinking about getting her a 50g with 2 angels, 2 gbr, 2 br, and a sucker mouth (pleco) thinking a gold nugget but undecided yet. And a 150$ gift card so she can pick out her own gravel decor ex. I am so happy that she is not just wanting the fish but also wellig to do the work. She`s even picked up on "sickly fish" at the stores the one day she say girlfriend look at this tank they have them white dots u warned ali about dont buy them please. She has had a hand in stocking all my tank other than my kids tanks (they pick their own fish). She tell me everyday after lunch ok let go feed the fishys befor they starve. And her mom is extreamly excited that she loves animals and the resonsobility that they come with. Sorry for long story but i love when kids are willing to do the work n not just the fun part

 

[AquaRick]

Thanks so much for sharing! Love it when kids get involved in our fishy lifestyle!

 

[Jbaygurl78745]

Thanks so much for sharing! Love it when kids get involved in our fishy lifestyle!

Me to!! I do water changes wed and fri, and she knows when i do it by couting the days like on wed she'll go mommy went to work three times time to go clean tanks. I had worms once about 3 weeks ago and completly emptyed the tank. Put fish in a tot with tank water and filter, and bye bye rest of water got new sand and washed all decor for like an hr scrubbing. And kaci helped me she helped me net the fish and she goes girlfriend you gotta be sneaky to catch them and very carful not to hurt them like that mean guy did ( she says this because when she got her shrimp the guy at petsmart killed a fish tring to get the shrimp he was to rough and haad net against the tank with the fish squshed between metal part of net n tank )

 

[spoonman]

I love it! My daughters are 7 and 10 and they love to go on the internet with me and find out if the fish we want are compatible with the ones we have. They help me do water changes and all the yucky stuff too! It has definately brought us closer. Not to mention the sense of pride when someone comes to our house and says how beautiful our tanks are and I see them beeming because they know they had a part in it. Wonderful experience all around.

 

[scunnypaxo]

Great to see such commitment and knowledge from the little people. If only some adults would follow suit. I work in a store that sells fish and getting through to some adults is seriously hard.

 

[Musicfreak]

My 3 year old son loves to put his chair in front of the tank and watch the fish. Some of the things he comes up with to say are funny. He is always worried about my pleco because he likes to hide durring the day in Squidward's house. You can still see him but for some reason my son always thinks there is something wrong with him and that he needs to come out and swim like the other fish. I have to keep telling him that he is a shy fish.

He is a little to young to really help with anything yet I've tried when I had a smaller tank and he could not follow directions well enough. I'm sure the more he watches me do it he will see what needs to be done and can be a better helper.

 

[Jess1ca]

My kids love fishes too! My son helps me with wc's and I just found my 6 year olds journal and in there she wrote " I like fish because they are cool" while my daughter is at school we watch the fish and he points to them and I tell him the names and colors (he is 1) he calls the Pleco a taco haha!!!

 

[Ohsnapitscharity]

My kids love fishes too! My son helps me with wc's and I just found my 6 year olds journal and in there she wrote " I like fish because they are cool" while my daughter is at school we watch the fish and he points to them and I tell him the names and colors (he is 1) he calls the Pleco a taco haha!!!

Your kid is just adorable

 

[twoodrough]

My 4 year old can't wait till our tank is cycled and she can get "her" lyretail molly. My 7 seven year old isn't quite as interested but likes to keep track of the names of the fish.

 

[Lt.]

Lol, my brother (2) and sister (4) both love coming in my room to see my "fishees" once in a while. I'm think hour putting a 2.5 gallon in their room with a betta for Christmas or birthday. Sparse artificial plantings, and ofcourse some pink decor. I think she'll luv it.

 

[Jess1ca]

Your kid is just adorable

Thank you so much! =)

 

[twoodrough]

I had never thought to try to find things she can do to help me with the tank, other than feeding. Tomorrow is water change day and maybe I can find ways she can help.

This is funny: I am still a relative newbie with fish and they don't tend to live their full lives (I am working on this). Four year old says to me "Some parents make their kids happy by having their fish live longer." This after we had lost two fish in two weeks and I was already smarting. Ouch. Just what I needed for my fish keeping ego...additional guilt from my child.

 

[clearancepuppy]

This has renewed my hope for mankind.


Although I want to find that worker and squish HIM...

 

[Bettafanatic]

Great thread! It's great when kids love to help out. My 8-year-old cousin likes to help me too when she comes over. She likes to mix the saltwater for water changes and doesn't let me use a powerhead to mix it cause she likes to stir it herself. She had her own betta at home too but it died so now she's going to try and cycle the tank herself.

 

[Jbaygurl78745]

I love it.. i wanted to curse the guy out but that woulda been no example to set. Even when her mom has off she still asks to come over and feed the fishys. We are getting her a 55 tomorrow and use media from my filter to cycle it. How does 2 angels, 2 gbr, 2 br, and a gold nugget pleco sound maybe a silver dollar or 2? ( she love my angels and gbr)

 

[spoonman]

All but the silver dollars yes.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Isn't it a bit sad how all these little kids are more knowledgeable about fish than most pet store employees?

 

[Tetra1990]

Isn't it a bit sad how all these little kids are more knowledgeable about fish than most pet store employees?

Yes. But on the bright side, in like 20 years the pet shops may be staffed full of smart fish people.

 

[scunnypaxo]

Yes. But on the bright side, in like 20 years the pet shops may be staffed full of smart fish people.

Not all pet shop staff know nothing about fish. I like to think I have a good team at mine.

 

[scunnypaxo]

Originally Posted by Bettafanatic
Isn't it a bit sad how all these little kids are more knowledgeable about fish than most pet store employees?
Yes. But on the bright side, in like 20 years the pet shops may be staffed full of smart fish people.

Not all pet shop workers know nothing. I like to think my staff are knowledgable.