Advice on when to start tank for baby/kids

[PAXpress]

Hello, veteran parent here. I have 5 minions. How are you going to keep him out of it? Height isn't good enough. My fat little 18 month old can get on top of the fridge. She uses the drawers as stairs, pulls herself up with the upper cabinet knob, and uses her sticky little child/gecko hybrid feet to scramble up on top.

I wouldn't put a tank in a kid's room. Not until they are pre-teens at the earliest.

Our children must be related...

 

[SGT_York]

I had five kids under five and the fish tank was a lifesaver, I placed it in our family room and it became the timeout zone for the older kids, (they'd go there to calm themselves down)

I built it high so they couldn't hit the glass constantly, I also put a 2" lip on the base of the tank so the little kids would hit the lip rather than the glass, turned out to be very useful as a shelf during maintenance as well.

I also would not encourage you to put it into a young child's room it will become more of a hassle than a hobby. I'd also recommend a larger tank 100G + a smaller tank will present more of a stability risk (tipping over) whereas a larger tank will have too much weight also makes the maintenance much easier to not have to worry about top off every day.

Good luck and enjoy however you decide to run it.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

My 4 YO nephew loves to come over and feed my fish and is always reasonably good around the tank. I do have to remind him not to scare the fish, but he has a great memory and somehow instantly knows if I've added a snail or fish even if he hasn't seen the tank in a few weeks.

Not all kids will be well behaved though, and I think this will be worse if they have friends over. You'll be paranoid about the tank for sure. Even if each of the kids are great by themselves, when they get in groups, they seem to be more destructive, and may not adhere to the rules they normally do. Peer pressure from other kids that are not as well behaved can be very powerful. I have my own son coming any week now, so I will get to experience this first hand soon enough.

 

[chitown tom]

I have a 1 year old and a 4 year old.

I would not place the tank in the 4 year old's room. Too many worries. He already tries to climb the DLP TV in the living room.

I have 2 tanks at home and both in the basement. Perfect for both of them to view and help feed the fish but far enough away to be safe.

I also use a child gate to get to the basement.

 

[Clowning_Around]

My 4 YO nephew loves to come over and feed my fish and is always reasonably good around the tank. I do have to remind him not to scare the fish, but he has a great memory and somehow instantly knows if I've added a snail or fish even if he hasn't seen the tank in a few weeks.

Not all kids will be well behaved though, and I think this will be worse if they have friends over. You'll be paranoid about the tank for sure. Even if each of the kids are great by themselves, when they get in groups, they seem to be more destructive, and may not adhere to the rules they normally do. Peer pressure from other kids that are not as well behaved can be very powerful. I have my own son coming any week now, so I will get to experience this first hand soon enough.

Congrats

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