AIBU to think fish in my five-year-old’s room could be manageable?

Also agree about pump and bubbler noises. I reckon put them in a kitchen or conservatory then that gives another good reason for him to sit nicely eating ans looking at them!

Sounds fine, just keep in mind who will feed it if you’re away. Dogs can travel. My chickens can survive for several days to a week with enough food and water (and neighbours collect the eggs). The gecko only eats once a week. Fish need a bit more looking after.

The noise of the filter could be a
problem for sleep

I think 90l is very big to start with, especially if it's not in a kitchen or room close to the water. 90l means you personally will be carrying 2-5 full buckets of water, some full.of fish poop, from the nearest tap to the tank every single week!!

I'd go for 40-60 litres, not super smaller than that as the chemistry goes weird. Start by cycling the tank loads longer than you think you need to, before adding fish, a new tank takes weeks to settle.

you could do the clould minnows, need about 8 of them at least. I might go for platys instead as they go happily in a nice mixed sex group as long as you have about 3 x girls to boys, they can be chosen to have individually quite distinctive different colours and patterns (whereas many fish of the same breed all look the same).

They are pretty tolerant of ranges of temperature though 3 of mine did die in the heat recently and the others got white spot- worth considering if you can put the tank somewhere cooler than a high bookcase upstairs, given that the 35-40 degree summer heat will be the norm next year too.

If you do get fish make sure you don’t get ones that eat each other.

Would the noise of the filter pump keep them awake?

Why do you need more pets?

Get the 5 year old more involved in caring for the pets you have.

Also depending on the tank you usually need a oxygenating bubbling thing on 24-7 and the constant sound of that can be irritating.
(Posted at the exact same time as the comment above!)

The filters/ air pumps are noisy so it depends partly on whether that would keep her awake. We got a lock down goldfish. It was a lot of work and I was pretty fed up with it by the time it passed on last year.

They're quite sensitive and die easily - to look after them properly you can't just add tap water in, you have to let water stand so the chlorine evaporates, put it in a bag submerged so the water comes up to the same temp... if you don't keep it perfectly ph balanced and clean then you get planaria worms, and then after doing your best the fish might die anyway.

They're quite hard work. And it's upsetting when they die.

In terms of maintenance a 90l with a good filter and not a huge stocking density should be easy to keep well-maintained. I'd be more worried if wherever you're planning to put it would be able to hold the weight of the tank and the water. And I wouldn't want a tank in a carpeted room myself (spillages etc) but that's total preference and probably more a reflection on my clumsiness (I've currently got a 120l on a stand in a hard floor room, for context!)

Yeah. They're a bit difficult to cuddle...slippery fuckers. 🐟

Mine had an aquarium for a few years at around the same age. Honestly it was a ballache all the cleaning and maintenance and obviously I did it all. We now no longer have fish!

he can have them again when he’s old enough to be fully responsible!

we are an experienced animal family so I’m well versed in all of the care and management side of things but I just didn’t want the faff of having fish anymore

Not meaning to sound snarky but it seems unnecessary to me to have glass, water and living creatures in a 5 year olds bedroom.

I think with 90 litres you do a small water change weekly, like 10%. Its just big enough to not be lot of hassle keeping the levels right, especially with a good filter

I don’t think they will care beyond the first day or two… novelty wears off with things you can’t really interact with.

The bigger the tank, the bigger the goldfish grows.

We me and my dad looked after a neighbours goldfish while they were away (admittedly a few decades ago). It kept trying to escape leaping out of the water so my dad put an old oven shelf over the top...
When the neighbours returned, they explained that Moby Dick had chucked himself out of the tank a couple of times previously...
How that thing didn't end up as food for the neighbours 😺 hungry feline, I'll never know!

Be prepared for a burial if there's anything left.

Fine.

Because it will be you.

And you'l be the one trying to track down a matching one to the one that died one afternoon before DC comes home (my cousin did this).

I think it's something they'll grow out of.

You will need to do the maintenance, but an aquarium is perfect for a child’s bedroom. Just supervise feeding.

@Fisharefriendsnotfood1 Yes. Totally deluded.
Your DC is 5. They're not old enough to care for a fish/some fish.
Also...
If you have cats you really are just asking for trouble.😺😺

OK. X posted re the cats.
Don't you think at the age of 5, your child has enough animals in their life?

The big issue is overfeeding so dont leave food in there if you go with it.

I have found with fish the bigger the tank the lesser the work.

I cant comment if 5 year olds. Mine would have dont things like decide there fish wanted a toy and just put the toy in there. But others are very sensible.