Aquarium + toddler = ok?

[lovemybarbs]

Even now I catch my son with his toy great white shark pressed against the glass. Oh, and sometimes dinosaurs. I discourage him of course.

 

[TCTFish]

Even now I catch my son with his toy great white shark pressed against the glass. Oh, and sometimes dinosaurs. I discourage him of course.

That's not so bad. It's when they run hot wheels cars across the front...LOL. This is where acrylic tanks and kids don't mix.

 

[mart242]

Thanks a lot for all the help folks. I'm in Canada so a bunch of the kits that you guys mentionned might not be available. I'll visit my LFS this week-end to see what they have. I'm not really in a hurry to buy so I'll still do lots of reading before I buy (yeah right. watch me come back from the store with a tank! )

 

[Guest]

I have 3 kids 1 girl,2 boys ages 10,9,6. We have had a tank from the time my Daughter was born now 10. All three of them have tanks of there own in there bed rooms. From day one we showed them how to care for them and to feed. My daughter now does all water changes feds nd has even bred her betta and kribs. Then the two boys they both do the same weekly water changes and care for there tanks. All on there own. They use the fish as class projects showing the class pictures, wirting book reports anything they can find as a reason to tell there class mtes about there tanks.
My daughter has even sold some of her teachers fry from her kribs and bettas. She has raised own her own. Now I know that most kids will look for anything to put in the tank or something. But thats never been mine. They have always taking the up most care of there tanks and fish. By your kid being so young he to could learn to do the same thing and even so his tank off to his friends.

 

[mart242]

Quick update for you guys.

My wife and I stopped by Big Al's to see the small fish tanks. As you might suspect, we're now interested by a 75 gallon tank. She knows that we'll want a bigger one if we buy a small one and the sedona red oak stand / canopy for the 75 gallon tank is super nice!!!

Sooooo... we now have to decide what we do. We either buy the tank in the next few weeks and enjoy it / learn from it until we move 8 months from now or buy once we move in the new house. If it was only the two of us we'd wait but our son is now 18 months and everyday he's amazed by new things and would surely be interested by the little fishies! While the move might be a PITA, our new house is only 10 minutes away so that's a plus... moving a 75 must be a pain though, but waiting for an empty tank to cycle for 8 weeks in the new house doesn't please us too much...

Oh well, we still have some time to decide, I'm still in the reserach phase...

 

[TCTFish]

but waiting for an empty tank to cycle for 8 weeks in the new house doesn't please us too much...

What would be worse? Waiting 8 weeks in a new house or risking death of some of your fish?

There are a lot of potential deadly hazards with moving a tank with fish...especially a large one. They could make it through ok taking steps to ensure their safety. Better chances that the new place is local, but the tank will have re establish it's bio anyway. Even if most of the bio and water are preserved, there is still a disruption of bio which can create ammonia spikes. Are you really into babying the fish when it comes time to move? Cause you'll have to if you don't wait. It's only 8 months away. Besides...you may want a different color or a different size or shape...maybe custom in the new house. Take advantage of the wait. Do a lot of reading. Accumilate the equipment. Get good books!! Plan it out. By the time you move, you'll have some more knowledge and be more prepared. And hey...maybe you do want to go marine. It's not that hard. Honestly...in my two decades of keeping aquatic systems, reef has been the easiest to maintain.

The call is yours. If you choose to wait great. If not, we're still here to help you

 

[PsiPro]

I have 3 kids 1 girl,2 boys ages 10,9,6. We have had a tank from the time my Daughter was born now 10. All three of them have tanks of there own in there bed rooms. From day one we showed them how to care for them and to feed. My daughter now does all water changes feds nd has even bred her betta and kribs. Then the two boys they both do the same weekly water changes and care for there tanks. All on there own. They use the fish as class projects showing the class pictures, wirting book reports anything they can find as a reason to tell there class mtes about there tanks.
My daughter has even sold some of her teachers fry from her kribs and bettas. She has raised own her own. Now I know that most kids will look for anything to put in the tank or something. But thats never been mine. They have always taking the up most care of there tanks and fish. By your kid being so young he to could learn to do the same thing and even so his tank off to his friends.

Ohhh I like the idea of training kids from birth to do your water changes.... I'll have to remember that when I have a kid..

I know for me, the 8 months would kill me. I would suggest the $10 10-gallon tank for startup / practice, you could always use it as a SUMP later on when you get the biggun. And transporting the 10gal is a peace of cake.

 

[mart242]

There are a lot of potential deadly hazards with moving a tank with fish...especially a large one....

...It's only 8 months away. Besides...you may want a different color or a different size or shape...maybe custom in the new house. Take advantage of the wait. Do a lot of reading. Accumilate the equipment.

Get good books!! Plan it out. By the time you move, you'll have some more knowledge and be more prepared. And hey...maybe you do want to go marine. It's not that hard. Honestly...in my two decades of keeping aquatic systems, reef has been the easiest to maintain.

Wow. I never thought that moving a tank was so risky. I guess that I'll wait in that case. The new house is custom built and we choose everything in it so we know what fits and what would look nice.

Are books that useful? Can't we find everything on this forum?

I'm sure that I could handle a marine tank but the main issue is $$$: a reef tank is soooooo expensive!

I might do like PsiPro says.. grab a small 10g in the meantime to play with it and use it as QT later... or sump but I thought that sump was only for marine... (more reading for me I see..)

edit: damn you for mentionning "maybe you do want to go marine", now I'm thinking about it.

 

[tropicfishman]

just put a latchable hood or weigh it down so he can't open it if thast what your afraid of

 

[TCTFish]

kids n tanks

Ohhh I like the idea of training kids from birth to do your water changes

OMG!! ROFLMAO!!

 

[TCTFish]

Are books that useful? Can't we find everything on this forum?

Books are valuable references and are immediately available.

Books open the doors to other areas of the hobby that you may not come across while seeking answers to your questions online. For example...without books, I may not have ever known about the different styles of reef systems and now I am very interested in creating a deep reef from what I learned by reading books. I never would have thought of asking about deep reefs online because I never knew about it to begin with to ask until I read a book about it. Without books, I may not have known that black capped basslets can live together. Because of reading books, I know my deep reef plan can include a small group of black capped basslets.

There is a ton of info. available online, yes, but books are still the number one source of information. They are documented publications on paper and if you get the ones written by true professionals in the field, you'll have a wealth of information immediately available at your finger tips. And hey...it doesn't need to be plugged in to view...LOL.

Marine tanks can be costly, but so can freshwater. There are ways to cut costs such as instead of buying all live rock which can be one of the most expensive investments in a marine system, you can buy some live rock and plant them between pieces of lace or lava rock for the natural growth to spread to create more live rock. Lace and lava rock costs what? Two buck a pound? Live rock can go for as much as $7 a pound. Average cost is about $5 a pound. BIG difference especially for a big tank.

Another way of cutting costs for FW or marine is to invest more money on a better filtering system (like a sump system). The cost itself is a lot up front, but overall in the long run, it will save you hundreds on filter media replacements, chemicals, and food.

My little 18 gallon mini reef has a retail value of about $1500. It was stocked with all live rock and all live sand, but that value includes absolutely everything in, on, and around the tank....lights, refugium, pumps, rock, fish, inverts, coral, sand, tank, heater, etc. Great thing is...once that's spent, the cost of maintaining is low and with less physical effort by the aquarist. The tank is more enjoyable rather than a pain to deal with.

You can create freshwater environments that are just as simple and the same basic rules apply. Sumps can be used for any type of aquatic environment...FW, marine, or brackish. It's so much easier to maintain and the heating elements can go in the sump instead of directly in the tank. Sumps have a larger filtering capacity and that is always good. The first chamber is your mechanical filtering with a filter bag or floss. Next chamber belongs to any chemical filtering like carbon, zeolite, peat, nitrate absorbers, etc. The last chamber houses the bio other than any rock or wood in the main tank. Some use rock. Some use mud and plants. Mud and plants refers to a refugium. The only difference between FW and marine or brackish are the types of mud and plants used and of course the salt levels in the water.

 

[Guest]

I agree you still have time. I wouldn't beable to wait thou. LOL I'm not a patance man either. I'd go a head and get it and get it set up. Then By the time the move came. It'd be already set and ready to go in the new home. but thats just MO

 

[mart242]

Guys, I think that I'll wait to be in the new house to buy a big tank and might even wait a bit more to go with a SW reef since that's my ultimate goal. I'd skip the 75 gallon FW tank. I'd buy a small one in the mean time. That way, my son could enjoy looking at fishes right away, it would be easy to move and would give me some practice.

There's this kit on sale here, what's your thought on it? (not available in the US)
http://www.geosystemaquarium.com/geoeng/products/kits.php?link=4
It's the geosystem 80 from Hagen and includes:
• 31 U.S. Gal. (118 L) all-glass aquarium (80 x 35 x 45 cm) (31.5 X 13.8 x 17.7 in.)
• Black Aquarium Cabinet
• Double Fluorescent Canopy
• 2 x Life Glo 24", 20 Watt Fluorescent Bulbs
• Fluval 204 External Power Filter
• AquaClear Submersible Aquarium Heater, 150 Watt
• Marina Digital Thermometer
• Nutrafin Max Complete Flake Food, 26 g (0.92 oz)
• Nutrafin Cycle, 30 ml (1 fl oz)
• Nutrafin Aqua Plus, 30 ml (1 fl oz)
• Nutrafin Waste Control, 30 ml (1 fl oz)
• GEOsystem Aquarium Guide

Sale price of 300$ CDN instead of 400$. I'd rather go with a 20 tank since it's just a small one but I think that the 20 gallon kit would be pretty much the same price...

Should I just buy a cheaper 20 gallon kit with an HOB filter instead? Or go with a cheap 10 gallon eclipse to cut my expenses even more until I move then wait to have the $$$ for a reef if such a kit (20 / 30 gallon like the geosystem above) becomes useless once I make the switch to a reef?

 

[TCTFish]

This part is up to you. Either of those tanks would be suitable as a QT for when the big tank is set up. Just depends on how much you want to spend now However, I'll say the canister wouldn't be useful for the QT.

A QT should be simple and easy to sanitize after each use. Bare bottom with just a heater, thermometer, a simple HOB or sponge filter, and a hide out for the fish (non porous preferred).