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Angie Mc
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 5:24pm | IP Logged
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MacBeth wrote:
Set up an aquarium at home and watch the fish.
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OK, MacBeth, you are going to walk me through this, right? My 7yo ds is really into fish. I've been dragging my heals because all I remember about the fish tank I grew up with is green slime! I found myself trying to talk ds into a beta fish, figuring even I could handle that. Then I thought, he really loves projects and follows through on them. So...
Any ideas on how to tackle this? I would prefer my assistance be minimized and his be maximized  .
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 6:13pm | IP Logged
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You have so many decisions to make! 
Do you want to have a tropical tank, or a native tank? How big? Fresh or salt water? Fish or amphibians, crustaceans, gastropods? Do you want a small tank with no filter (goldfish, bettas...) or a more elaborate tank that requires monitoring (not hard) and hums gently in the background 24/7?
I am a big enthusiast of local flora and fauna tanks. They are easy, and if the kids find something new in a pond or creek, they can feel free to add it to the tank. This is an amazing learning tool...you can add insect nymphs and larvae, fish, snails, sponges, shrimp, hydras, flatworms...whatever you find! You cannot do that with a tropical tank. Again, I wonder what you might find in AZ 
Tropical tanks tend to have prettier fish, but local fish are surprisingly beautiful when seen on the side (as opposed to looking down at their backs). If you need advice on Tropical fish, the best place to turn is probably Herbert Axelrod who wrote many books on tropical fish (and if you want a rabbit trail on violins and fraud, Google his name with music). Your library probably carries many of his books.
I like to advise folks to get the biggest tank they can afford, and use an under gravel filter. Some fish are easier to keep than others...some fish eat other fish. Pick the brains of your local pet seller, too. When you figure out what you'd like, we can brainstorm more.
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 7:06pm | IP Logged
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MacBeth wrote:
I am a big enthusiast of local flora and fauna tanks. They are easy, and if the kids find something new in a pond or creek, they can feel free to add it to the tank. This is an amazing learning tool...you can add insect nymphs and larvae, fish, snails, sponges, shrimp, hydras, flatworms...whatever you find! You cannot do that with a tropical tank.
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MacBeth, how would you set this up? With water, plants and dry ground? What do you use to build up the ground? This is very appealing to me.. Any pictures?
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 7:28pm | IP Logged
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I have used the natural substrate from a local pond. Just dig (carefully) into the bottom of a sandy area of a local pond (avoid areas with lots of leaf debris or detritus). Place this, plants and all, on the under-gravel filter (check the filter directions...some may require a gravely base), and fill with pond water. You may want to add extra plants, especially if you find something pretty or interesting.
Just a reminder...check with local authorities before taking anything that might be endangered...
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 7:41pm | IP Logged
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Just wanted to add...a gravelly bottom might be better for keeping crayfish and other river and creek dwellers. Here is a site with some good photos: http://www.exciton.cs.rice.edu/faculty/wong/swgallery/aquari um/. He also includes some good advice.
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 9:09pm | IP Logged
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I am not as adventurous as MacBeth, we just have Platys in my sons' tank. We bought it for him for his 6th bday. He loves it. We just have a 10 gallon with a filter. One secret we learned is to use distilled water only in the tank. My son really enjoys it and it is his responsiblity.
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mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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ALmom
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 11:42pm | IP Logged
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Aah, MacBeth, why didn't we think to ask you first.
One thing we were told by the better pet store (after we found out the first one did not have a resident expert and had erroneously told us that putting 10 goldfish in our tank would be fine and all we had to do was drop in the dechlorinator and then the fish): you need a gallon of water for every inch of fish. Be sure to account for the size the fish will become. We were trying to figure out why our goldfish were not making it and among other things - the goldfish we got grew to be 12" (we now have one that only grows to 6 inches)and we only had a 10 gallon tank.
We also found out that water must stand in the tank 4 days (after dechlorination and some sort of friendly bacteria that we had to add) and the fish should float in the water bag from the store for at least 15 minutes so water temps are the same.
Anyways - we did learn how delicate ecological systems are. We also learned not to use old buckets to fill our tank (evidently the kids grabbed an old bucket that was rinsed and we thought, soap free - but it was the one the littles had used to make bubbles and even though we thouroughly rinsed it numerous times, it still must have had some soap. We evidently wash with too much soap and always have residue which showed up as bubbles in our tank. To make a long story short - we refilled the tank about 5 times. We took water samples to the pet store and had it tested to make sure before we bought fish.
Now our to be 6 inch goldfish is doing quite well. My ds bought a thermometer for the tank to see water temp. and then came home from Wal-Mart with an African water frog. I really do not think these go together. The water temp is 74 so it is OK for both creatures and the frog is big enough now. I just don't think we should be feeding it goldfish food.
AArh - now what do I do. When the goldfish gets to be 6 inches, will it eat the water frog? I need another trip to the pet store to find out what to feed the African water frog. These two creatures probably never see each other in nature, right?
My 8 yo really plunges in feet first! They are all enjoying watching the fish - but when they caught a crawfish at the creek, they wanted to add it to the tank. Luckily I was with them in time to nix it - telling them we needed to release it, find out how much water it needs, what to feed it, etc. I don't think it would have mixed too well with the goldfish.
Now, it would be really fun to have local varieties in our tank - but it will have to wait until the boys can save their money for another tank.
Also don't leave the fish net out if you have a dog. Our dog had a feast - and was drinking the water we had set aside for the acquarium.
I somehow think we are a comedians side-show at times.
Also someone mentioned that they use distilled water. This is what we were told to use when we tried to rear tadpoles - only problem is that at some point we got de-salinated distilled water without realizing it  . Be sure to read the very tiny print on the water as they were packaged in identical bottles!
Janet
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stacykay
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| Posted: May 21 2006 at 6:14am | IP Logged
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We have a 10 gallon tank with 5 little fish (tetras.) They will only get to be about an inch or inch and half.
I am curious about the frog. We got 2 frogs for the tank, and thought they would all do okay together (the frogs and fish were together in the store.) Our problem arrived with feeding time. The fish ate their food and the frogs' food  . (We bought "frog" food from the pet store, in a container that looked like the fish food one.)
Anyhoo, we even tried feeding the fish first, and then the frogs, but those pesky fish still charged around and grabbed all the frog pellets.
Eventually both frogs died  . The boys were very sad (I was too!) The frogs were great fun to watch, and kinda cute .
Does anyone know if they should have been in separate tanks, or should the frogs have had different food, or both?
Made me think of the book, "Let's Get Turtles" (so glad my mum saved it from when I was little-my boys love it.) In it, the turtles don't eat the food from the pet store. They need "real" turtle food- worms, fish, etc. Thinking it may be the same for frogs?
Looking forward to any insight and knowledge about the froggies. We do plan on giving them a go, again.
God Bless,
Stacy
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: home aquarium help
