A tank for my son

[Gaines69]

My son will be turning 12 this summer and he really wants a tank of his own. He helps me take care of my tank and really loves the hobby. I know smaller tanks are harder to take care of but we both are willing to put in the time and effort to maintain one. He wants live sand and live rock. I was thinking a couple of fish and maybe a Pom Pom crab. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks

Ps here is the tank I was thinking about.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Good choice on a tank for him. I suggest a soft coral tank to start, they are much more forgiving. Leather, mushrooms, palythoas, zoa's and the like.

Pom pom would work.

 

[WV Reefer]

My son will be turning 12 this summer and he really wants a tank of his own. He helps me take care of my tank and really loves the hobby. I know smaller tanks are harder to take care of but we both are willing to put in the time and effort to maintain one. He wants live sand and live rock. I was thinking a couple of fish and maybe a Pom Pom crab. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks

Ps here is the tank I was thinking about.

Hi!

I think it’s a great idea. Those are popular tanks for nano reefers.

It is also not true about small tanks being difficult. They are actually easier because most issues can be solved by a water change.

Hope he likes it. :)

 

[Gaines69]

He loves the idea. I discussed it with him because it will be in his room and mainly his responsibility. ( I will closely supervise). In a tank this small I will start out with the premixed ocean water and use distilled for top off and water changes. He really wants a clown fish but would this tank be to small?? Would maybe a goby or maybe a couple of fire fish be better? He will love the idea of a couple of soft corals. I was even thinking of adding a few to my tank. We both like the idea of target feeding corals and watching them eat. Thanks again for all replies.

 

[infinite0180]

I love my Innovative Marine Fusion 20 gallon. The only thing i would say is almost a necessity on these little tanks in an auto top off unit. I was loosing a ton of water through evaporation. It was before i had fish in the tank so it was ok but before i added fish i got the Autoaqua Smart ATO micro. No sense in having salinity swings all day and stressing the fish when you can spend $100 and not ever really have to worry about it... that is unless you can add fresh water multiple times a day everyday...

 

[larryl]

Waterbox has some nice smaller cubes as well. Nice choice with the Evo.

 

[Flippers4pups]

If he's not done it or limited time, buy him his own test kits and provide a log for him to keep. His own refractometer as well. The husbandry side of reef keeping is a huge part, sounds like he's willing to help, but doing it on his own.

@coralfish12g is a inspiration to youngsters starting out in the hobby. George started out very young, started his own YouTube channel and is highly respected in the reefing community.

If your son isn't aware of George and his coralfish 12g channel, look him up and share with him.

 

[Gaines69]

I was planning on teaching him how to test and how to keep a log book. We both enjoy this hobby and I’m sure eventually he will be doing it on his own. I myself watch George and he is the reason I decided to get my son started in the hobby. We watch YouTube videos together all the time. He’s like me and loves to do research and learn new things. I will have him get his own membership here on R2R too. That way he can learn from others just like I have.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Get a biocube as he can upgrade it more over time like I have to sps, my biocube is top the line 2016 apex with dos dosing pump, radion xr15 gen4, tunze 3155 ato snd much mlre

 

[sjeff35]

Hey, if you want to adopt me and buy me a tank I promise I'll be good!!!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

That's great that you are getting your son involved in the hobby, I guarantee you this will be a life time memory between father and son. Definitely let us know when he starts his build thread, all of us will be excited to follow along!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Hey, if you want to adopt me and buy me a tank I promise I'll be good!!!

If I buy a hat like yours we can tell him we are twins, then we both can get a new tank!:D

 

[Gaines69]

That's great that you are getting your son involved in the hobby, I guarantee you this will be a life time memory between father and son. Definitely let us know when he starts his build thread, all of us will be excited to follow along!

Well it’s mother and son actually. Maybe I should change my user name to Virginia. Lol. I will have him keep everyone updated.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Well it’s mother and sun actually. Lol. I will have him keep everyone updated.

Oh, my apologies! That's even better!