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?

Cat TV! Grins.

IME fish are an absolute pain in the arse. We had some last year because my daughter was going through some stuff and thought they’d be calming in her bedroom. I think she had a couple of conversations with them about difficulties she was having at school and then found the pump too noisy to sleep so I had to move them out of her room, and that was that, everyone lost interest but I still had to look after them. Hard avoid :)

I have kept fish for years OP, both aquarium fish and pond fish, and I can honestly say fish are very difficult to keep well. There is a science to fish keeping, and if you want to do it right it involves significant time and costs to set up and maintain. And I say this as someone who has had cats, rabbits, hamsters and an exotic!

Fish are a wonderful addition to the family, get your child interested in fish keeping as soon as possible - not sure why you are getting all the negativity. I’ve been into fish keeping for years and now my children are interested too. We also have cats, birds, snakes and leopard geckos with no issues and they’re all indoors animals.

i would start with guppies, mollies, platies or a pair of swordtails. Be prepared for a lot of fry as they do breed like rabbits and give birth to live young but a LFS or local fish keeper will take them off your hands.

Good luck!