Babies & Aquariums

scottdwh · #1 12/20/2007, 09:24 AM

I am getting married in June and plan on having kids within a year or 2 of that. I also am getting ready to set up a 125 gallon reef tank and plan on having that up & running within a year. What worries me is that I see tons of people breaking down their tank and selling everything b/c they had a kid. Being only 25 and have no experience with kids, is this inevitable? I dont want to start this big project to only have to take it down a year later.

tipi · #2 12/20/2007, 09:34 AM

We havent have any problems. (kids now 2, 4, 6y) Of course there is lot of little fingers pictures on the tank clas, but its only life

killagoby · #3 12/20/2007, 09:40 AM

My twins are 7 months old. We just bought a house and I set up a 70 gallon reef (should have done a 90. Ug!) They love it. Every night before they go to bed I sit them in front of it so they can watch the fish swim. Sometimes it is the only thing that will stop them from crying.

corals b 4 bills · #4 12/20/2007, 09:43 AM

I have a 21 month old and as long as everything is contained in the stand and canopy there shouldn't be a problem.

Fiziksgeek · #5 12/20/2007, 09:48 AM

The 2 reason why people shut down tanks when they have kids are :

1. Cost
2. Time

Kids aren't free, and lets face it, this can be an expensive hobby. On a 125, if your going full reef, expect to spend on average $100-$200 per month. This is for electrical costs, salt, filters, bulbs etc. averaged over the year.

It may not seem like much now, but when you start paying $1000/month or more for daycare, every little bit of savings helps...

The time thing is really just an excuse to cover up the cost issues IMO. haha

My little girl is 3 months old today!

Sk8r · #6 12/20/2007, 09:52 AM

And put all food and chemicals into a LOCKED cabinet. Depending on the youngster, you may want to egg-crate your top: sending your tv remote for a swim is an unaccountably popular trick for toddlers.
If I had a toddler near a tank I'd also invest in a Vortech diatom filter and have media handy. It can clean a tank of Cheerios in an hour.

tipi · #7 12/20/2007, 09:56 AM

Huh, how expensive day care! In Finland, when baby born, mother is having 10 month maternity leave, it is 80% of mothers salary. After that, if family want have day care for them kid, in maximum it cost 200dollars, but if parents having low income, day care is free.

Fiziksgeek · #8 12/20/2007, 09:59 AM

Finland huh...maybe i should move...

Around here, its $200-$300 per week for daycare...

Fiziksgeek · #9 12/20/2007, 10:02 AM

double post

corals b 4 bills · #10 12/20/2007, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tipi
Huh, how expensive day care! In Finland, when baby born, mother is having 10 month maternity leave, it is 80% of mothers salary. After that, if family want have day care for them kid, in maximum it cost 200dollars, but if parents having low income, day care is free.

Whoa! that must be nice, day care here in Ca. cost us $1,450.00 a month for just our son (but then again the teachers must have a degree in child developement and I can monitor him on the internet and again it's the place that all the parents from Genentec take there kids), what else is inexpensive in Finland?

Fiziksgeek: Very cute baby!

McTeague · #11 12/20/2007, 10:06 AM

I put a baby safety latch on the door to my stand while I was doing all the other cabinets. I also removed all chemicals and hazards from the stand just in case. Those are the only changes I made when we had the baby.

Fiziksgeek · #12 12/20/2007, 10:08 AM

I guess safety is easy for me, my tank is in wall, i'll just put a lock on the door....

Corals b 4 bills--thanks!

I want to put some floaties on her and drop her in the 210...but the wife says no :-(

tgunn · #13 12/20/2007, 10:09 AM

I'm 29, I've got a 140g tank, and I have a 6 month old girl. If anything, my daughter has encouraged me even further to keep up with the hobby. She has sat up to 2 hours just starting at the tank, watching the fish and corals. She absolutely loves the tank.

I figure everyone needs a hobby of some kind, and what better hobby than one that can be enjoyed so much by everyone in the family! If I was into performance cars or something like that, I can guarantee it'd cost quite a bit too and my daughter certainly wouldn't hold interest in the same way.

Tyler

tipi · #14 12/20/2007, 10:35 AM

Healthcare is free and same everyone, or people pay some nominal cost (10-20 dollars in day) example gallstone surgery.

School and university studying is free. State giving for each student money about 300 dollars/month that everyone can study , so this system will compensate that there is no matter what kind of family you are from (same possibility for everyone). Rest depending youself, what you wanna be. (sorry my english, this is third language for me)

guppychao · #15 12/20/2007, 10:39 AM

I have a 3 and a 1 year old, and they simple love it, luckily i have an in wall set up and all the equipment and stuff is "out of there reach" for now

here is an article of benefits of an aquarium. better for the kids to watch the aquarium than to watch TV!!!!

guppychao · #16 12/20/2007, 10:39 AM

I have a 3 and a 1 year old, and they simple love it, luckily i have an in wall set up and all the equipment and stuff is "out of there reach" for now

here is an article of benefits of an aquarium. better for the kids to watch the aquarium than to watch TV!!!!

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/te...riumhealth.htm

hermitage · #17 12/20/2007, 10:53 AM

Nah...nothing to worry about! As long as you don't put it on the floor! Aquariums are great for kids!

Here's my 14 month old...double fisting!

TammyLiz · #18 12/20/2007, 11:10 AM

Time and money are surely the limiting factors for me in my hobby. I had stopped keeping tanks for a while when I started my family but I started back up when my daughter was 2 because I was going nuts with stress and needed an outlet. It turned out to be a great decision. I'm a stay at home mom and now that I have 2 kids its hard to find time to do anything at all. I think keeping the kids at home is more work than working would be! But everyone needs to do something they enjoy or they just get resentful. Just make sure you're not selfish about it and that you give your spouse a chance to do the something with her interests, too. It'll be no big deal before kids but once they're around you'll probably have to plan on giving her some free time purposefully to do what she wants.

bassetbros · #19 12/20/2007, 12:05 PM

My girls love the tank. My 2 year old loves to feed the fish and my 3 month old will oogle at it for as long as you let her.

I have the child locked the doors to the stand, ensured no little fingers can get to plugs, outlets, etc, and place all my supplements on the top shelf out of her reach.

Believe me, when you have kids, hazards really jump out at you but they can definatey be mitigated with a little common sense.

God bless,
Basset

TKByrnes · #20 12/20/2007, 12:13 PM

My now 5 year old always loved to sit in front of my tank. Sometimes that was the only thing that would calm him down. and he would sit there for hours!!! now we have another boy and once again he loves to watch the fish!!

scottdwh · #21 12/20/2007, 12:43 PM

Glad to hear all positve responses to this thread. I wasnt sure if I was going to have the time to do both, but I figure if it is already set-up and running, it shouldnt be too hard. Plus, like mentioned earlier, the kids get to watch the aquarium instead of the television all day. Thanks for all the input so far.

Zestay · #22 12/20/2007, 12:53 PM

im suprised no one has shown pix of thier kids in thier aquariums when they are dry,

Fiziksgeek · #23 12/20/2007, 12:57 PM

Think of it this way also. My wife loves the fact that this is my hobby. She knows where I am and what I am doing with my free time :-p

And I am home to help with the little one if needed. There are only a few maintenance items that I can't stop in the middle of to change a diaper...

Fiziksgeek · #24 12/20/2007, 01:05 PM

I have some on the camera at home :-) hahaha

Quote:

Originally posted by Zestay
im suprised no one has shown pix of thier kids in thier aquariums when they are dry,

LargeAngels · #25 12/20/2007, 01:26 PM

Kids love to watch the fish. My one year old wants to go in the basement all the time to watch the fish.

Just kid proof it. Locked doors, fasten the stand to the wall so in case they grab on or try to climb they won't tip it, GFI outlet etc. Buy acrylic if possible. Kids trip and thrown things. When I was six I ran and tripped putting my head through one of my dads tanks.

I have all tanks in the fish room with the main tank built into the wall. This way I can lock the door if needed.

Get the tank setup way before the baby. That way the tank is mature and you have a routine already. Once the baby comes there isn't as much free time, or time for sleep.