Your kid wants their own tank!

[germs101]

I know there are plenty of other reefers out there like me that have rubbed off on their kids! For me, it started with my daughter when she fell in love with Lionfish. They couldn't go in my tank with the fish I had, so I justified my own tank upgrade to get her a Lionfish. Sneaky, I know[emoji6] Now as my other kids are getting older, they want tanks in their rooms too!

So, I'm curious what types of setups other people have started for their children's own reef? Some criteria I think should be mentioned are:

Price- these can't be the top of the line set ups. Practical and budget friendly. What equipment are you using?

Size- if it's in their room, I'd assume most people won't be putting 90 gallon tanks in there.

Fish only or reef- what do most people do?

Stocking- what fish are they wanting?

Maintenance- how much of the hands on care for the tank are they doing ( age plays a part here I'd imagine [emoji4] )?

Anyway, I've just been curious about this for awhile. Hopefully some of you will chime in so I don't feel alone in this!

 

[melypr1985]

Mine is 3 and he wanted an Eel so BAD! I got one for him but put it in my tank. Well that wasn't good enough of course. So I took him to work with me and showed him the bettas. he decided he wanted a pure white one. (3 weeks later I found one and he named it "eel" lol)
I'm glad got him to take the betta... he dumped a whole cup of milk into this 5 gallon tank and the betta survived! I dont' have a picture of the whole tank, but here is his fish. He loves it and it's a great primer. We are putting a 180 in the wall currently and he's telling us that his has to be in the wall too. It's an addiction and it spreads!

 

[germs101]

Milk! It never surprises me what these kids will put it there![emoji1]

 

[Neon Jungle]

I also chose a Betta that i had for over 2 years from a wedding that no one wanted for my Nephews but ended up missing Fred so much i replaced him with a pair of Super Red Rosetail Halfmoon that now have there own planted 40 breeder lol. Amazing fish and hardy !

 

[germs101]

Bettas may be a great idea! Both my boys are wanting tanks now, and I truly can't see mini reefs in every room! They are hardy and beautiful for sure!

 

[melypr1985]

Bettas may be a great idea! Both my boys are wanting tanks now, and I truly can't see mini reefs in every room! They are hardy and beautiful for sure!

Every time I get a parent in the store asking for "nemo" for their child I immediately direct them to the bettas. After I give them my 30 second commercial for why they don't want a clownfish in their kid's room, they usually go for it. Bettas can be very exciting and cool especially when you will be the one taking care of it! Mine is a planted tank simply because I like it better than the fake stuff (side product of having a reef tank)

 

[melypr1985]

I also chose a Betta that i had for over 2 years from a wedding that no one wanted for my Nephews but ended up missing Fred so much i replaced him with a pair of Super Red Rosetail Halfmoon that now have there own planted 40 breeder lol. Amazing fish and hardy !

That's gorgeous!!!

 

[Neon Jungle]

That's gorgeous!!!

Thank you. Your white male is beautiful !

 

[rayn]

Mine has a jbj six gallon. Macro algae and small gobies. Stock filteration, upgraded led light as there is no hood.

 

[germs101]

Every time I get a parent in the store asking for "nemo" for their child I immediately direct them to the bettas. After I give them my 30 second commercial for why they don't want a clownfish in their kid's room, they usually go for it. Bettas can be very exciting and cool especially when you will be the one taking care of it! Mine is a planted tank simply because I like it better than the fake stuff (side product of having a reef tank)

I've never had a planted tank. They are very pretty[emoji4] Are they much more difficult than a pond? Our pond takes care of itself, which I'm good with!

 

[melypr1985]

I've never had a planted tank. They are very pretty[emoji4] Are they much more difficult than a pond? Our pond takes care of itself, which I'm good with!

with something this small it's not too bad. I have problems with hair algae, but that's probably just my lack of maintenance. If you choose easy to care for plants then it's not too difficult. I have some harder plants and do some dosing, but it seems overly simple compared to a reef tank.

 

[jasonb87]

I have a 15g column in my daughters room. It started as a seahorse tank, after we moved we put 2 clowns in and i moved a split of my tequila sunrise anemone from my tank to hers.

15g column
Heater
Rio 50 power head
HOB filter
Chinese black box led

 

[germs101]

Love it! I do see seahorses in this house in the future. Are they dwarfs?

 

[jasonb87]

Love it! I do see seahorses in this house in the future. Are they dwarfs?

The seahorse didnt make the long move unfortanetly. But is wasnt a dwarf.

 

[Triggreef]

When we had my second kid I had to build a bedroom for my first one which was the dining room transformed into a bedroom so naturally I put a 125 gallon in the wall that I had to put up anyway with a 60 gallon basement sump and that's my kids tank. of course he's 4 so I do all the maintenance but he's picked out some of the fish and every now and then I catch him looking at the corals. I only put in fairly easy corals but there are few LPS and a few acro's too. It's a pretty self-sufficient tank on just water changes. He has no access to the water in any way.

 

[germs101]

When we had my second kid I had to build a bedroom for my first one which was the dining room transformed into a bedroom so naturally I put a 125 gallon in the wall that I had to put up anyway with a 60 gallon basement sump and that's my kids tank. of course he's 4 so I do all the maintenance but he's picked out some of the fish and every now and then I catch him looking at the corals. I only put in fairly easy corals but there are few LPS and a few acro's too. It's a pretty self-sufficient tank on just water changes. He has no access to the water in any way.

That's awesome! I think in-wall tanks look really sharp.