Child proofing

[gone fishin]

I saw a thread today and the poster had an issue due to his/her child. I am sure they are not the only reefers with kids. Maybe we can collectively post some tips that you have done to help childproof your tank. Maybe we can help prevent something terrible from happening.

Many years ago I was into freshwater then, but I do remember putting a lock on the stand door and adding some shelving to keep things up high and out of reach.

 

[hotelbravo]

I am interested in what everyone can come up with i have a 6 month old girl who is very curious and quite the explorer..

 

[ericarenee]

I am interested in what everyone can come up with i have a 6 month old girl who is very curious and quite the explorer..

We have a 6 month old Grand son . Who is taking a liking to the Saltwater pond ..
The tank itself poses no issues because its kinda up high 40 inches off the floor. and there are book shelves below it. Sump is in the basement..

But the POND However. We are going to have to build some type of Plexiglas partition around it in the NEAR Future.

I Was thinking getting some stainless tubing and use as stand offs to raise a piece of Acrylic like 3 inches above the tank so it would have a solid top maybe... Not sure i want a shield around it... When our son was growing up at that age I Put a lock on the cabinet doors..
You can see the pond in my profile pic ... to the left... its 6x3 feet

 

[Frantz]

When our daughter was a newborn she loved being sat in front of the tank. We keep out tank in a room that can be separated from the main "play room" with doors. If that's not an option, perhaps find some decorative boxes to use as covers for any "extra" side of tank stuff, or partitions on the rear sides to prevent access. Make sure the tank is secured to the wall. Kid locks on the doors.

 

[gone fishin]

Yeah I can definitely see the pond being an issue. maybe you could put some plexi angled outwards, may not have to be as high then.

 

[gone fishin]

I also had to get rid of my little trashcan by my tank. It always had dirty paper towels, maybe an empty test bottle in it.

 

[ericarenee]

Yeah I can definitely see the pond being an issue. maybe you could put some plexi angled outwards, may not have to be as high then.

Yea maybe something like that would be best. I WANT it to be able to remove And just put it on when he is here.. We are going to get a new couch that will not be so close to the tank... Thou Mrs Mingi Likes to watch me watch her.. I cAN SIT Here and hand feed her nori all day

This thing is like 28 inches deep. put in JUST For the Rescued Vlamingi tang.

 

[Irishman360]

My daughter can't reach into my DT because it's to high up. She likes to open the door to where the sump is and we just ask her to close it. Maybe a cabinet lock if you're paranoid about it, we did that to my wife FW cabinet. On my QT I just have a lid on it and she opens it every now and then but that's about it.

 

[Flippers4pups]

This was posted by me on the other op's thread:

"Once long ago, my tank back then had Taco Bell for lunch! Grand kids and the daughter came over after picking up lunch and the youngest "fed the fishies " a borrito into the sump!

Removal of said borrito, water changes and carbon corrected the Mexican lunch for the fishies!

Child proof locks went on the stand ASAP!"

Also remember hide and secure any wires!

Also back then, I caught one of the grand kids "rock climbing " the outside of the stand!

No throwing of toys allowed in the house. (Hot wheel thrown cracked a small FW tank I once had!

Now anyone that brings kids over to our house, I watch like a hawk!

 

[billdogg]

Having no kids of my own, I figured I was immune to any problems from kids. Imagine my dismay when a friend's small one went up to my brand new acrylic tank and gouged it all the way across the front with his toy. Dad and son left shortly afterwards without so much as a "Oops"

 

[Chuckd76]

Here's a tip I learned from experience:
Don't let your small kids "help" with maintanance/setup.
I let my 2yo boy help once and since then have had to fish paper towels, bamboo skewers, random bits of plastic and toys out of my sump. No big deal but have also had him drop extra dry rock (BIG pieces)into my sump because I let him help with putting in some rubble.

 

[ca1ore]

My kids both grew up with a reef tank .....

1. Keep all chemicals out of reach
2. Make sure they cannot look directly into the lights
3. I anchor all my stands to the wall so that they cannot be toppled over (not an issue with a big tank though)
4. Child locks on cabinet doors to prevent them from fiddling with the power strips.

 

[ca1ore]

Now anyone that brings kids over to our house, I watch like a hawk!

Ain't that the truth! Hosted a cub scout meeting at my house last year to complete the handyman badge. all scouts to bring a hammer and coping saw ...... you can see where this going. Came into my family room to see the one of two 'problematic' kids swinging their hammers. Eeeeeeek! No disaster, fortunately, but OY ......

 

[jchassie6312]

A hammer to the glass would have made a mess!

 

[Sk8r]

Former teacher here. One of the more valuable things is to tankproof the child, ie, get the child to understand the tank is 'mine'---if the child is at or just past the 'mine' stage (the time in which the child naturally learns that word and begins applying it aggressively.) The food is 'mine'. The tank and gear are 'mine', and only mama or papa feeds the fishes, and if something is wrong 'run tell me.' Putting the child in the position of protecting the tank can work...where it comes to the kid's friends. If younger sibs---not so much. If you have a range of ages some of which are too young to understand 'mine,' you are up to fortifying the tank. In that case, a childproof lock on the undercabinet, and on any cabinet, plus, possibly, a meaningful canopy that puts the rim out of reach----and remove ANY moveable chairs from the room that contains the tank. The usual route is floor to chair to tank rim to trouble. If there's nothing to use to get up to tank level, youngsters will usually not have the idea in the first place. At that stage of brain development, the usual mental path is 'see-it, do-it' and if an object is not sitting there giving the kid the idea, the idea does not come. THe imagination to go get a chair from another room is not there unless the child has been in the habit of moving and using said chair---which is generally not a good idea.

 

[Cymonous]

Having no kids of my own, I figured I was immune to any problems from kids. Imagine my dismay when a friend's small one went up to my brand new acrylic tank and gouged it all the way across the front with his toy. Dad and son left shortly afterwards without so much as a "Oops"

:eek1: Oh lord, I would have been livid.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

I would tell my 3yr old daughter every time she got remotly close to the tank not to touch the tank. It took a while but she learned, no finger smudge prints on my glass in over a year.She is about as good a a child can be. I keep the cabinets child proof. Its funny when my wife gest close to the tank my daughter will tell my wife "don't touch the tank mommy".
I have no problem telling any visitors not to touch the tank. It offends some parents but I don't care.
if a kid is going to mess up my tank its going to be my kid.

 

[Isaacs55]

I have a 2 1/2 year old and he's a hand full! If he is out of my site for 5 seconds he's on the counters!! I have to watch him like a hawk. Good thing my tank is up high but he still tries to climb up it. In the cabinet that I call "Daddys Lab Area" I have all my fish food, test kits, additives in there. He tries to open it but I have those latch things I put on it so he can't open it.


It works...to him it's like if he can't open it then he knows he's not supposed to be in there...and like Sk8r said we try and let him know it's Daddys and Mommy's tank and only we can get into there. It works. The latches work because it's more of mind thing. If he can't open it he'll just leave it alone. Most kids at this age try to get into things fast when your not looking so if they can't get into it fast without trying so hard then they'll move onto the next thing. By the time he can open it I'm sure he'll be able to understand why he can't open it and won't bother.

 

[nuxx]

Having kids scares me about the tanks...

UGH...

 

[Sk8r]

I had my own first fish tank (a Metaframe five gallon) at about age 6, a simple planted freshwater, and I was responsible for water changes and all of it. Near killed myself finding out that you cannot carry a 'nearly' empty tank down steps...[water sloshes] but I survived that lesson and so did the tank. [In those days they had a killer frame and tar for water tightness, with a slate bottom that was heavy as sin.] And the fish. I cleaned the glass, I cleaned the sand, I took care of the demises (rare) and I kept it clean. If your kid, aged 6, is keenly interested, satisfy the interest and give him/her the chance and don't intervene. For me, it was a hobby that's had gaps, but never an end. From college I brought back angels, a piranha, and a colony of guppies. Not to mention the iguana.