Setting up a new fish tank: My son's latest obsession. :D (Meet CandyCane, Squishington, Todd, and the Shadow Clan!)
Lately my 8 year old Squid has been thoroughly obsessed with aquariums!
He's been reading long aquarium books and doing all the studying he can to learn everything there is to know about the topic.
Anyone who homeschools, or who has kids for that matter, knows that when a child is intensely interested in a topic, they soak up that information like a SPONGE. It is best to encourage them and assist them in finding as much information as they can handle about said topic.
We have a 10 gallon tank set up now. I had an empty tank and lid on hand, along with a couple of items he needed. He had to save up money though, for all the other equipment he needed.
The first inhabitant was the betta, CandyCane, shown in the picture. (Excuse my lack of aquarium photography skills; I'm working on it.)
After the tank had a chance to cycle, (the process of letting the beneficial bacteria grow that is responsible for keeping the water parameters safe for fish to live in), he added in an African Dwarf frog:
This is Squishington:
After waiting yet another week, and doing some research on African Dwarf frogs, we went back to the pet shop for another frog to keep Squishington company, (Todd), and a few ghost shrimp! (He calls them the Shadow Clan!)
This kind of frog is quite social and shouldn't be kept alone. Ghost shrimp are super cool! They keep the tank clean by eating leftover food and algae! They are also very entertaining to watch as they zoom around inside the tank.
It was SUPER difficult to get a decent picture of this guy! These things never stop moving!!!
We are giving the tank some time to stabilize and the bacteria time to adjust, and then we will be back to the pet store for the last inhabitants for this tank: upside down catfish.
This is the fish that started the obsession. This is the most amazing fish in the world! At least, it is to him... He loves the idea of the fish swimming upside down, and has researched in books and online everything he can about this crazy fish. He knows they like company, so he is planning on buying two of these crazy little guys.
I'm very proud of him. This boy has saved up money and researched intensely and is taking wonderful care of these critters. Each type has it's own kind of food to eat, and he is very careful to feed the correct amount to the correct creature at the right time of day for the individual.
So far so good. He's had it set up with actual fish in it for four weeks now, and all the inhabitants are healthy, happy and active. Project 'Fish Tank' is a great success! He has a fabulous tank in his room that looks beautiful, and without even realizing it, he's made lots of progress practicing reading skills, researching, and learning to take proper care of living creatures. Definitely worth it as far as I'm concerned! I'll update with a post about his tank in a few weeks, hopefully with a couple more inhabitants.
Frog butt, cause, why not?
Thanks for checking out the littlest Squid's new pets! Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Have a lovely day, Steemians! ♥
In case anyone is concerned about the potential bioload on the tank as the animals mature; don't worry, I am all over that. As things progress, if we find that the tank is just too crowded for healthy animals, I have other tanks that we can move critters to. I am quite experienced with keeping fish and won't let this tank become toxic and have the animals' health suffer. :)
This work by @SquishySquid is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
That is so pretty and colourful! And I love the frog butt shot too, because it has such beautiful webbed feet!
My neighbour is obsessed with aquariums. I've only been in his flat once, and his entire living room wall is a huge aquarium. He constructed a fantastic fish pond in our shared back garden. It has a small waterfall feature to keep the pH balance of the water right, and he bought about 15 coy carp and goldfish to put in it. It's such a lovely thing to have in the back garden. I love to go and look at the fish. I think it's a nice obsession for someone to have.
Thanks!! Haha, I like the frog butt too. :D Their little webbed feet are so delicate and pretty.
Ive also loved aquariums and have had at least one ever since I was a child. They are relaxing to watch... Ive got a large 100gallon one in my living room now that needs a new resident. Im thinking about a ghost knife fish...
Thanks for stopping by!
A ghost knife fish! Sounds scary. I'll have to google it.
Not my photo, but here is a picture of one:
Very interesting fish!
Ah - it looks harmless and quite beautiful (though I think I might find it a bit scary if I was a fish!)
Good job to you and your son. I loved having fish tanks all my life. They are awesome. I love your choices and the Beta is beautiful
Thank you very much! Ive been surprised with out intense his interest is and how he is continuing to be interested. He is only 8, after all, haha. :D
I also love fish tanks, Ive had at least one since I was small, and don't want to be without one. :D
I think I was 10 when I got my first one. The whole family enjoyed them. We were always upgrading and getting bigger ones. I had a 36 gallon for years and used to raise Betta babies. That was very tricking and hard, Managed though. Enjoy his enthusiasm it sounds precious.
Oh wow! Ive read about how to breed bettas and It is kind of complicated. Something I have never attempted haha.
I hope his enthusiasm continues! It would be nice to have someone else in the family who is excited about aquariums as I am. ;)
Wow, that's amazing!! I have always wanted to get into salt water, but it is a little intimidating to me!
Maybe my son and I can venture to give it a try when he gets older, haha!
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Thanks!
That fish tank looks really good and that is a very nice obsession he has. A Frog but for the end is perfect!
Haha, thank you very much! ♥
The squidlet's tank looks awesome :D Glad it's been going well so far! My youngest has been kind of vaguely interested in axlotls but the ones I've had experience with are escape artists x_x and also I haven't had much luck with anything past goldfish so I'm a bit wary at the moment, said anything in a tank should wait til we've moved (whenever that ends up happening!).
The ghost shrimp won't eat the betta? Last time my parents had a fish tank they put some kind of shrimpy thing in there to clean up and it ate the fish x_x
I love how much can be covered from simply following an interest. I'm currently failing at convincing my son's psych that he does learn how to deal with things he's not interested in when it's on the path to things he is interested in, the psych is a bit oldschool as far as education goes and is quite insistent that I need to force him to do things you couldn't pay him to care about XD
Thank you very much!
Nope, the shrimp are much too small to harm anything, they just clean up leftovers. Your parents probably had some kind of crayfish/freshwater lobster, which look quite similar to shrimp, but get larger and definitely will catch and eat fish.
That's funny you should mention the axolotl! My daughter has been interested in getting one, (but I dont know if she actually will). Good to know they are escapey, Ill have to let her know if she does get one, to make sure the lid is super secure!!
Sorry your son's phych doesnt understand that! How frustrating! Yes, it is SO much better to let them learn at their own pace, and through doing things THEY are interested in. Ive found when you try and force them to learn a topic, it actually does more harm than good, and both the child and teacher are frustrated by this. People say, well what about college? What if he needs to learn (topic hes not interested in) in order to get a degree in (whatever). Well, when he is that age, he will be more mature, and he will decide for himself to learn (topic hes not interested in) because he sees the point and decides for himself. The things you force them to learn just get forgotten as soon as you drop the subject anyway because the child just could not care less.
He's a really good psych other than that, we just present problems for him XD (or opportunities to come up with new ideas depending on how you want to look at things I guess? :D)
Yeh that's pretty much my thoughts as well but seems people simpy fixate on "if you don't force them to do things they don't want to do they will be spoilt and entitled thinking they should never have to do anything that they don't want to do and will refuse" and I'm not sure how that's a bad thing in some cases? I guess I'm just ignorant and naive ;D
I dont know, but I have tried both ways, and not forcing things just works better all around. My oldest is 15 now, and he is as smart as a whip, so speaking long term, it works. I think it's important to teach children how to think, not what to think. I always tell the kids, if they have a problem with what I am asking them to do, then respectfully ask me to explain it to them. We can talk about it, and I also LISTEN to their concerns. Sometimes they have a valid point, and Ill rethink what Im asking of them, and sometimes they see that I have a valid point, and they go ahead and do the thing. I think it basically boils down to just treating them like fellow people, not underlings. ;)
Haha... love the name "Squishington"! It's a bright and colourful tank that you have set up there!
I love also all the other names for all the inhabitants! Great imagination...
Haha, he sure is creative in coming up with names!
Thanks! :D
The tank looks great, and I love your pictures. It is so important to nurture our children's interests, especially when they are homeschooled.
My daughter became fascinated with the violin, we didn't have money for classes but she saved up for a starter violin and has taught herself watching videos. She can even play a few songs on her own.
Wow! That sounds like my daughter! She became interested in learning the guitar. A friend has one laying around she didnt need anymore, so she gave it to my daughter and now she is learning by watching online videos. :D
That's amazing! Homeschooling gives our kids the chance to branch out and explore new things. The things kids can do when they put their mind to it!
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