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If you have primary-aged school children, do you believe you should buy them an aquarium? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Thanks, dearies!!!

In my opinion, I would never let a child under 12 "own" an aquarium. That is simply because at this age, 99.9% of children are not responsible enough to perform regular water changes, gravel vacs, feed the fish every day, diagnose diseases, and medicate the tank if necessary. Ultimately, the child would end up "owning" a tank that is in fact completely cared for by the parents.

Also, children tend to want to decorate their tanks with blindingly fluorescent gravel, rainbow plastic plants, and cartoon character ornaments. Blecch...

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

If they're your children, get them a tank whatever the age. You can help them take care of it and as the years pass turn over more of the responsibility. Taking care of the tank would be something you do together.

I have a tank that my 11 year old and I are co-owners of. You get used to glow in the dark plants after a while.

Mike

i originally purchased my tanks prior to my children being born due to fond teenage attempts at the hobby. since then, both of my sons (4 and 7 yrs) are completely in awe of them (both can swim in my biggest tank). they help me feed, clean, stock, and watch the fish. the pleasure of the 3 of us going to the lfs to purchase fish is undescribable. they both know the common names and compatabilty of the most attainable fish.

true, they could not maintain a tank on their own.who cares? we all vacuum, feed, breed- you name it.

buy a tank and enjoy the experiance with your children.

Only if you're willing to take care of it yourself because kids tend to forget to do the things that need to be done after the thrill has worn off. Not all kids though, there are exceptions

Last edited by RustyBlade at 16-Feb-2005 23:57

Well, I guess I'm only a few years older than the kids you're talking about, so I should post.

I think that this is a great hobby, but only for someone truly committed to the tank. If the kids aren't, and you're just getting it for your own MTS reasons, I fear that the tank would fall into disrepair. The kids have to want the tank. They have to want to learn about how to take care of the fish, and all those lessons.

All that beside, fish are a good pet for kids. They make you learn about chemistry (water quality), biology (fish), and some philosophy. There really are some life lessons to be learned from these aquatic creatures. When one dies, when they breed, all these things can be projected to the greater scheme of things. This is, of course, assuming your kids are a little deep *shrug*. But sometimes I wonder if we aren't all a little deeper that we take each other for.

It really depends on the kids. Some are mature enough to handle the responsibility, some aren't.

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

You could always start off small.

Being a small tank and also some limited life span fish. EG Guppies. They are pretty hardy and if your kids get bored with it then the fish will only live for a year or 2 and that way they will have the experience.

I would also look at it from when you were a kid. Did you have the opportunity to have a fish tank. If so did you enjoy it or not. If you didn't did you want one.

I think it is more a life experience and responsibility as well.

My daughter got her first ten gallon at age 8. She does tank maintenance with me supervising but is totally responsible for feeding. It has to be the most colourful tank I have seen but it is in her room and all the neon stays out of my way. How are they going to learn if you don't teach them? Sure it is time I could be spending elsewhere but she is learning good aquaria habits and can help with my tanks.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

If your kid is interested in your fish and has expressed interest in having a tank, go for it. If the kid has no interest, having fish probably won't help.

Re: the fish - if the kid would happily change to one of your suggestions, definitely do take him/her to the store. If there would be a long grudge because an oscar wasn't in the cards, pick something fun and colorful (guppies, Cherry barbs, or my own personal suggestion, a 20 long with N. leleupi ) and make them a gift.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

I think that a fish tank for kids would be good if you treated it like every other pet ever bought for "the kids". In this I mean that you have to take the age and limitations of the child into consideration, and make sure if there are problems you are willing to step in and take responsibility until the child is older and/or better capable of doing it himself.

I think a better idea for smaller children (like mine who is now 5 and could care less about responsibility ) is to get a fish that can live in your own tank and be "their" fish. My daughter has an RTB shark that she absolutely loves. Because of this she is interested in learning to help in keeping her healthy and making sure she gets fed at dinnertime. Other than that, she just loves to tell all her friends that it is "her" fish. I figure over time she is either going to get very interested in the fish hobby or get very sick of it, but either way, she now has a great pet that I love too and it's no extra wortk for me.. BONUS!!
L.

Sure, why not... but like most pets, it's going to be more YOUR aquarium than theirs, insofar as you'll be responsible for overseeing the dirty work that needs to be done, i.e. cleaning, researching... everything that isn't "looking".

Though, it seems like it's a moot point asking in a learned place like FP.com...

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks for all of you help, guys!

This is part of some research for my english essay ... we have to do a perswasive (sp?) speech, and i'm going to do mine on why you should buy your primary-school aged children an aquarium!

Thanks again!

Just a tip, DON'T buy your kid an aquariam 4 a birthday, x-mas or halloween (& other holidays) unless your sure that your kid wants 1 & if u know that he/she wants 1 get a good sized tank, dont dissapoint them with a 5 gal,wich u cant put many fish in.I suggest a betta in a basketball sized bowl (thats the exeption 2 the small tank "rule"(on their bed side table)Hope I helped

Anthony:88)

(ps don't sugget getting 1 for them, have them suggest it 2 you, so that they actually want 1 beacase there interested in fish not just beacuse they're allowed 2 have 1)

Last edited by dude_dude at 19-Feb-2005 23:22

If I had children, I'd start them off helping out with Daddy's Panda Palace™ to begin with, then once the clamour became loud enough, I'd turn round and say that they could have one of their own, but only if they looked after it properly the way they'd learned while helping me out with mine. And I'd make them keep their promise too.

You don't know how effective I can be at exercising my will over kids *snicker* ....


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Ummm. Maybe I'm a scrooge... but I would never let a kid handle an aquarium (granted, I'm 16, but 16 year olds are a bit more mature than primary school kids). My reasons? Pink gravel, purple plants, castles and goldfish bowls.