how do you

[ofblong]

tell a 5 yr old they arent old enough yet to have their own sw tank? I love my son to death but other than letting him help me with my tank he just isnt responsible enough to handle his own yet.

 

[oceanparadise1]

Make him think he has his own! My buddy josh, baught his son a nano tank. Josh keeps it up while his son still thinks it his. Just start off small, and only add a fish and some low maintance corals. If that doesn suit your needs, tell him the fish store wont sell it to kids under the age of 13 or sumthing like that.

 

[ofblong]

lol good idea. Actually maybe I will let him pick out a fish (with my help of course) and have him pay for it (with my $$$ of course) and then tell him its his .

 

[oceanparadise1]

There ya go! Im glad to help you out! I mean you could just do a small ten gallon system! But let us know how it works out and what you picked to do!

 

[revhtree]

Yea let the him think it's his tank as well as yours and let him name all the fish!

 

[ahayes13]

i would say make him feel like your tank is his. i would take him to the lfs and let him pick out a fish (with your help of course) and let him name it. and that it can be his fish. and then when he thinks about it let him help you feed "his" fish.

 

[ahayes13]

guess someone was posting at the same time as me. i do think thats the best idea though

 

[oceanparadise1]

I third that,letting him name the fish would make him feel like they are "His".

 

[ofblong]

hehe well I have an extra 29g tank with a hole drilled in the back. just no stand or canopy or lighting or well anything for that matter lol. I am trying to decide what to do with it. I was thinking of putting it in my michigan basement (basement is mostly dirt but I would put it where the cement area is) and using it has a huge fuge but not sure what I want to do yet.

The problem stems from Hayden (my 6.5 yr old) has his own FW tank. But Skyler (the 5 yr old) doesnt want a fw tank he wants a sw one. He thinks the fish are "cooler" lol. I do have a red sea prizm 1 gallon tank as well.... hmmm decisions decisions.

I just wonder how long before my 3 yr old son (soon to be 4) and my 2 yr old daughter will want one of there own lol.

 

[robharold]

I had the same issue. My daughter kept telling us she wanted a tank. So I finally took the 29G I had and put it in her room. She is only 4 so can't do anything but feed the fish but it is her tank and she loves it. As she gets older I will start to teach her more about the care of the tank and corals. SHE GOES NUTS when I get in a new coral and put a frag in her tank.

I am trying to get her tank done the way I want it and then it will double as my propagation tank. More work for me but it really does make her happy.

 

[reefsandrotts]

Well
My 5 yo son and 7 yo daughter have there own 75 rr set up that is for them.The tank was set up when my daughter was 4 and after cycleing her fish was a TINY emperor about 1-1.5" now he is about 4" and changing to adult colors.His tank mates are 2 hippo tangs,a regal angel (they get along great) 2 fairy wrasse and a few clowns and numerous LPS and softies.They clean the glass,feed the tank and even help with water changes.I think it's never too young to get them hooked.

 

[fittiger]

Get him a small tank (or use the 29) and place it next to yours and hook it up to your system. If it is integrated in to yours, it would require less maintenance, i.e. one water change for the whole system.

That way, all it would require is new plumbing, a stand and lights.

 

[oceanparadise1]

Man getting them hooked might be a bad thing on your wallet LOL