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.
