My 6 year old son wants to have pet fish?

Question

I know that goldfish are the norm for kids but my son does not even look twice at them and says he wants a 'Ghost Shrimp' and several other varieties.
I don't know what fish are good for kids to look after and what types of fish that don't go good together? I already know that Beta's cannot be with other fish and don't plan on letting my son have one of those yet.

(My son wants a aquarium and not a bowl)

Answer 1

Good for him! A tank will be much easier to keep than a bowl and goldfish don't go in bowls anyway. I would suggest you start him out with a 10-20 gallon tank. Of course, there are smaller, but they are harder to keep, the 10-20 gallon range is much more forgiving of mistakes.

You can put ghost shrimp with small peaceful fish such as tetras, Bettas, cory catfish and guppies.

Here are two links that will help you get your tank set up and going with a minimum of hassle and worry. Well worth the read as it will save you back at least as much time as it takes you to read and will save you lots of money and frustration.

Be sure to follow the links at the bottom of this page to the next few: http://www.firsttankguide.net/

A way to make your tank safe for fish without risk to his first few fish: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html

Hope this helps and welcome to the hobby! If you have questions about the info in these links feel free to email me

MM

Answer 2

just wanted to add one more -- the bigger the better -- especially since you will be doing the cleaning.

a 20 gallon is a lot easier to keep than a 10 gallon even so if you have the space then go for it.

there are lots of things that can live with ghost shrimp. often they end up shrimp dinner. you can get them for really cheap (2 bucks for a dozen) so its not that big of a deal. if you have some rocks and driftwood around then the shrimp will have a lot better chance at surviving a molt. you can put a betta with all kinds of fish -- i have one in a tank of assorted small gouramis and they get along great.

Answer 3

Even though it is for your soon, you will probably be the one keeping it up and cleaning it. I don't suggest you go smaller than a 10 gallon. Actually I recommend you get a 10 gallon starter kit from PetsMart or Petco. They are not that expensive and come with everything you need to start but the decorations.

A very tough, easy to keep fish I recommend is a Zebra Danio. You can even put a couple in your tank right away to get your tank cycled. You will want to learn a little about something called new tank syndrome and the nitrogen cycle.

Once your tank is cycled you can get more Zebra Danios and maybe a couple Otocinclus to keep algae growth down.

Answer 4

Six years old is not old enough to be responsible for all the work involved in maintaining an aquarium. You will end up doing it all yourself, so research it well before you take it on.

Children have no concept of feeding only enough that the fish will eat in 2-3 minutes, and only once a day. Many fish are killed by children just dumping food in and fouling the water. The decaying food produces ammonia, nitrites and nitrates which are all toxic to the fish. Partial water changes must be done every week to keep the water quality at a safe level even when feeding normally. The gravel must be siphoned once a month and the filter media changed every 3-4 weeks.

NO KNOCKING ON THE GLASS OF THE TANK!

Good luck with your aquarium!

Answer 5

Tropical fish are much more work and money than a goldfish bowl. But, there are tropical fish that are fairly easy to keep and quite hardy. Look into Mollies, Danios, and most species of Tetras. Ghost shrimp are not too tough either to care for.

You need to monitor how much your son feeds them as too much food can be lethal.

Owning an aquarium is very rewarding, but it can be expensive (compared to goldfish) and hard to maintain (again in comparison to goldfish).

Answer 6

Keep in mind, that at his age you may end up doing the work -- and probably will. So, get something easy to care for if you arent into fish yourself, and something cute. Ghost shrimp are cute and easy to care for. They dont live long and usually eat their babies so you may need to replace them, but they would be fun for your son to watch, and are inexpensive and don't take a ton of care from my experience a long time ago. You can put something small and cute like mollies in there also, or just have the shrimp if that's what he wants. Goldfish get wayy to big and are a lot of work, so don't do that. good luck!

Answer 7

The best thing to do is to talk to a local Petco or Petsmart employee. They'll be able to set you up and most aren't after your money. I worked at Petco for almost a year and we deffinately focused on making a good fit, not money.
From what I can tell you without being at the store, Tetras and Molleys are probably your best bet. Algea eaters are good too. I always recommend some kind of algea eater. Neons are good too. Deffinately don't do saltwater - way too complicated. Also stay away from anything that will get too large. Sharks are generally pretty hardy, but they tend to be larger too. Chiclids also tend to each any fish smaller than them and many will grow quite large. So I'd probably stick to Tetras and Molleys and neons to start with. They will need a heater and purifier, but any fish other than a betta or goldfish will. Best bet is to buy a kit.
Hope that helps!

Answer 8

Ok I don't know where this moron ^^^ gets this tropical fish are more expensive to keep than gold fish thing from. Most people get fish to keep them alive...to keep a gold fish in good condition will be MUCH more expensive and very different than keeping the everyday tropical fish alive and kicking.

Like others said go with a small freshwater tank and get some guppies. I would recomend a 10 gallon tank you can get them for like 8 bucks.

Also for a LOT of info go to www.aquariumadvice.com the people there are very good with fish and you won't be getting retarded advice like you will here.

Answer 9

Well im 10 and i have guppys for a pet fish there great there harder to take care of than gold fish but as long as u have all the things that u have to have like food de colrine stuff, filters, heaters fishys are very fun to watch but some of it can be expensive. u can buy a 10 gl tank at wal-mart with a lid filter and a little bit of food for about $60 but ya get him some fishys:)

Answer 10

like the person said under me just get him a small freshwater aquarium and if you dont know what kind of fish go good with each other ask the people at the store theyll know.. it will be good for him though it will teach him responsibility.