I am totally amazed at the ages of some of the younger people getting into this hobby and how great their tanks look!
I am almost to the point I can do the aquascape, design my lighting bracketry, finish up the plumbing, then start filling my 144 halfmoon. My neighbor has a 16 year old son that is quite interested and asking a ton of questions. He has mentioned that he would love to have a saltwater tank some day. This got me thinking...this would be a perfect opportunity to get someone new involved. I am far from being an expert, but I do know from my experience there are 3 things that if you don't have now you will soon aquire or pay the consequences at some point in time.
1) Patience
2) Dedication
3) Responsiblity
I plan to sit down with him and see if he wants to help with everything including the build, stocking plan, learning how to test, qt and treat fish (the qt and treating will be a learning together item). I plan to make this "his" baby, giving him a sense of ownership. I'm not sure how long he will show interest if he does jump on board, but I'm sure he will walk away with some knowledge that will help him in the future if and when he jumps into the hobby. If he does decide to try this I will create a new build thread introducing him, if not...well I tried.
What do you folks think? Does this sound like a good plan?
Have you done this and how did it turn out?
Are you currently doing a new build where you can get a kid involved?
Is there a thread started for getting a kid involved?
I am almost to the point I can do the aquascape, design my lighting bracketry, finish up the plumbing, then start filling my 144 halfmoon. My neighbor has a 16 year old son that is quite interested and asking a ton of questions. He has mentioned that he would love to have a saltwater tank some day. This got me thinking...this would be a perfect opportunity to get someone new involved. I am far from being an expert, but I do know from my experience there are 3 things that if you don't have now you will soon aquire or pay the consequences at some point in time.
1) Patience
2) Dedication
3) Responsiblity
I plan to sit down with him and see if he wants to help with everything including the build, stocking plan, learning how to test, qt and treat fish (the qt and treating will be a learning together item). I plan to make this "his" baby, giving him a sense of ownership. I'm not sure how long he will show interest if he does jump on board, but I'm sure he will walk away with some knowledge that will help him in the future if and when he jumps into the hobby. If he does decide to try this I will create a new build thread introducing him, if not...well I tried.
What do you folks think? Does this sound like a good plan?
Have you done this and how did it turn out?
Are you currently doing a new build where you can get a kid involved?
Is there a thread started for getting a kid involved?
