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

[Fisharefriendsnotfood1]

I'm considering getting my 5yo some fish for in their bedroom (higher up on top of their drawers) as they have been asking for a while.

I'm not under any illusions that it'll be anyone but me who actually cares for said fish. But I just wondered people's experiences?

We do have pets already, some of which that do require regular clean outs and maintenance so I'm not adverse to that sort of thing but ideally I'd like it to be as stress free and as simple as possible to not add anything considerable onto my weekly chores 😅

Am I totally deluded that this could be a simple enough pet for our household? Google tells me to steer clear of the typical gold fish as they produce a lot of waste and to go with something like a small group of minnow instead?

Why My DGC has had an aquarium full of fish in his room since a toddler. He likes to watch them when going to sleep. No food on there and only feeds under dads supervision. Never hunted for ones to replace what have died though. He's fully away things die

Cold water fish are much dirtier than tropical 🐠

But all the heaters and stuff, I find cold water less faff overall

Not a good idea OP for bedrooms. Tanks get dirty very quickly, and don’t forget goldfish carry bacteria like live salmonella in their tank water and waste.

Watch a few YouTube videos of kids throwing stuff and breaking aquariums by accident....

I think it would be safer elsewhere. Also the humming of the pumps/heaters and the lights might be annoying at night.

We have tonnes of pets and a large fishtank in the lounge. If my 4 year old wanted one in the bedroom I would just be a bit wary of electrics and water. You would need a few plugs for lighting and a timer. Honestly when I was a student I just had a goldfish in a plastic tank with no filter or electrics but I'm not up to date on goldfish welfare as we have a large tropical tank now with all the gear. Id look into cold water fish. In terms of feeding, my 4 year old feeds the cat and dog and chickens so I don't think it's a bad idea if they want their own pet.

I wouldn’t advise in child’s bedroom as the filter etc can make noise.

definitely steer clear of goldfish unless you want a 20 year commitment & a pond.

look for hardy temperate species such as Platys. They come in different colours only grown to be around 5-6cm & are a sturdy fish. Snail & shrimp will also help keep the tank clean so deffo some of them,

Id keep the tank in the living room and make sure it's on a sturdy stand. Bigger tanks are easier to maintain than smaller ones and don't overheat as easily in hot weather. Personally I wouldn't go any smaller than the 90lnyouve suggested unless it's for shrimp. My 100l and 125l are far easier to maintain than my 30l frog tank.
Avoid goldfish, they're best suited for a pond. If he likes golden fish get mollies or platys, they look similar but stay small. Don't get bright coloured gravel or pineapple houses etc, the paint comes off and can be toxic.
Read up on filters and the nitrogen cycle and invest in a good liquid water testing kit a d with nitrico goop or Dr timms ammonia... API and NT labs are both very popular and give the reliable results that you need to be able to cycle the tank. Failing to do that will kill your fish...

My cat loves watching my fish

I'd be a bit wary, I'm a life long pet owner of fairly complex pets (ponies, dog, cat, rabbit etc) and fish really stumped us. Our son was 8 when we got them and he did a super good job of setting it up, with the heater and the filter and we cycled the tank to get the chemistry right etx etc, he is very responsible and i know he wasnt doing anything dodgy (he is autistic and follows rules super carefully). After 2 lots of fish died within 15 months (one time the heater broke and we didn't realise, another time we had no idea what happened) we gave up and hit pause on it. We were cleaning them out, changing the filter, checking the water balance on test strips, everything seemed fine but they can't really show you what they're feeling unlike a dog (our dog basically limps around like he is dying at any opportunity), and you can't get a vet check etc, so you're on your own with the Internet for help! It was more complicated than I'd thought and it turned into a bit of a pain in the arse and very sad for my son (and the poor fish) when it went wrong.

Ive had fish for over 20 years. I currently have a 350l and 100l. Starting as a young teenager in my bedroom. you get used to the noise.

Theyre more hard work than people think, weekly water changes, filter maintenance, sorting over grown plants, algea, keeping things stable, diseases. I nearly lost all my fish because I used a medication that crashed my cycle, was a lot of work to stabilise things again.

Id also worry about the weight on top of a set of drawers. Theyre very heavy with water.

1. Consider the weight of 90L of water and will the unit you are planning to put the tank on be strong enough.

1. Is your child likely to push the tank off? That's a lot of water and the filter will need to be plugged in, so the water could go all over the plugs.

1. My friend said fish are more trouble than you expect.

90L is a lot of weight. Your unit would need to be able to handle that.

Also “high up” is a nightmare for water changes.

Get a tank with a stand and have it in the living room.

Also don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s cheap. My fist tank was a 34l and I ended up spending over £200 on substrate, hardscape and plants.

I’m currently upgrading to a 120l and so far I’ve spent £500 on just the tank, Airstone, substrate and a new piece of wood.

I’ll need to plant it and cycle it before I even think about adding fish. Then there the ongoing cost of water conditioner, filter media, food and liquid fertiliser

I didnt even think of price. When I set my 100l up I spent a fortune on plants. Some just wouldnt take, others I decided i didnt like the look and moved them to my bigger tank.

I bought a piece of driftwood, no bigger than my hand and that was £10

hmmmm it's workable if you are willing to put in the effort and the kids can sleep through the noise of the water filter some can hum quite loud. my 4 year old nephew did stick his hand into my sister's tank last year and squeezed a fish to death thinking it needed a cuddle so keep it out of reach . also you need change water regularly otherwise it will smell

The pump & filter can be noisy when rest of house is very quiet at night so maybe not the bedroom.

I found fish far harder than any cat or dog I had. We had a large tank, we had filters etc. but I was constantly having to clean out the tank, which was a ball ache job, making sure the temperature was exactly the same. The glass always seemed to go green because of the sunlight, no matter where we put this tank. One fish killed another, one developed some weird growth, one kept trying to fly out the tank… honestly they were the most stressful pet I’ve ever owned 😂

My six year old has 3 goldfish in his room and has done for a year or so. Minimum effort required. There has occasionally been the odd
toy ‘given’ to the puzzled fish but nothing sinister. He helps me change the water once a week and feeds them daily when he goes to bed (I remind him.) the sound of the water going through the filter is very relaxing I find.

i can’t imagine you will be setting yourself ul
for any huge disasters, OP!

oh, I also have cats and though they may occasionally watch the fish they have not at a go a t fishing!

We had a lovely aquarium for almost a decade, we just had neon tetras that used to swim about in a mini shoal and some dannios It was a big tank for very few fish. Also a few prawns and snails to help to naturally clean the tank. DH checked the PH often and it was cleaned and partial water change often. Those fish are supposed to live about 5 years, but in those conditions they lived for ages. The prawns and snails for the decade, prawns had babies a few times.

it was actually a lot of work because they had a lot of attention. The cat did like to watch them but never had an issue with her. When the last prawn standing met its maker we decided to not have any more fish and we gave the tank away.

My sisters DH had huge tropical fish tanks for decades, he reached the zenith of fish keeping as had a marine tank. We had a whole cupboard for fish stuff.

We got our son fish when he was 10, after a 5 year campaign. It was ghastly, they died a lot, despite meticulous care( by me) . Unless he’s clearly destined to be David Attenborough get him on3 of these fake aquarium instead.

Image didn’t post -under £11.00 on Amazon

My 30 yr old son decided he wanted goldfish around a similar age.One of of the original goldfish and another around 15 yrs old are still alive and extremely large.They've outlived my husband, father, numerous cats and dogs.
They're very low maintenance as about 30% of the water is replaced every few weeks and they jump to be fed.The largest fish has lost most of his colour and is quite white.I did have a crisis one night when the filter got blocked during warm weather but they're quite maintenance free.

We had a tank in DCs bedroom.

Aside from the noise from the filter that I could hear through two walls, the smell of it being cleaned was revolting.

I had no involvement, it was made clear that DH had to take full responsibility as he had said yes.

On the flip side it made autistic DC v happy.

How miserable for the fish, cooped up in a tiny tank. Sad.

I had cold water fish in a tank in my bedroom as a young teen. The idea was they would be stress relieving while I did my homework! Quite the opposite - it was so stressful keeping the tank clean and the fish alive and I always felt sad and very guilty if one died. It did teach me responsibilty though...