[genevie]

I'm getting my 6-year-old brother a 30 US Gallon tank soon as a late birthday present. My mum says no more rodents, he's scared of snakes, and he doesn't want newts or frogs, so we've decided on fish I will be doing the main care-taking.

What fish - that would do well in this size tank, of course - do you think a child would be interested in owning/observing? I guess suggestions interesting, colourful and generally "cool" fish would be good. Bearing in mind that I haven't had fish since I was his age, so we're beginnger owners!

 

[Purple-Hops]

Sasami. She and Toirtis have the best experience here with fish.

 

[Sasami]

Hmm, well, it depends a bit on what he thinks of as "cool" but some good fish for kid tanks are zebra danios (and if you want colorful fish look into the genetically modified ones sold as "Glofish"...they aren't too natural looking but they're very brightly colored), platies, and cory cats. All come in different varieties, some colorful or interestingly patterned, and are active and easy to care for. Cherry barbs, pristella tetras, white cloud minnows, kuhli loaches, bettas (a single male in a peaceful community or a group of females alone), and pearl danios are some other ideas but platies are my favorites for kids . Platies are tolerant of different temperatures, hardy, inexpensive, colorful (they come in red, orange, yellow...even blue), active, social, and will breed readily if you're interested in raising some babies. They're also peaceful so could be kept with some cory cats or loaches, making for a fun community tank.

 

[genevie]

Ooh thank you! Awesome recommendations, I really like the idea of platies, they look so cute I think my brother would like them too. How many would you said would be ideal for a tank that size?

 

[Sasami]

Ooh thank you! Awesome recommendations, I really like the idea of platies, they look so cute I think my brother would like them too. How many would you said would be ideal for a tank that size?

If you're just doing platies than maybe 8 to start (not added all at once)? That leaves room for some babies which you will get if you have mixed sexes :lol:. If you have all females (all males can lead to fighting although I personally never had that happen with mine), maybe like 12?

It depends a bit on filtration, if you have live plants, the water change schedule, if you want any other fish, etc.

By the way, there's a sticky I wrote in this section that gives information on aquarium cycling. It might help you if you're fuzzy on the details .

 

[wishbone]

For better variety, you can separate that tank into two and put turtle on one side and some colorful bettas or minnows..

 

[genevie]

For better variety, you can separate that tank into two and put turtle on one side and some colorful bettas or minnows..

Wouldn't two smaller tanks be harder to maintain than one large one though..?

 

[genevie]

If you're just doing platies than maybe 8 to start (not added all at once)? That leaves room for some babies which you will get if you have mixed sexes :lol:. If you have all females (all males can lead to fighting although I personally never had that happen with mine), maybe like 12?

It depends a bit on filtration, if you have live plants, the water change schedule, if you want any other fish, etc.

By the way, there's a sticky I wrote in this section that gives information on aquarium cycling. It might help you if you're fuzzy on the details .

Well that sounds good to me

I'll take a look at the aquarium cycling thread too, thank you!

 

[Toirtis]

For better variety, you can separate that tank into two and put turtle on one side and some colorful bettas or minnows..

No...any semi-aquatic or aquatic chelonian is going to need far more room than that.

 

[Toirtis]

Wouldn't two smaller tanks be harder to maintain than one large one though..?

Not more difficult, just a bit more time....but...smaller tanks tend to be less stable than a larger tank, and are more quickly affected by fluctuations in chemistry and temperature.

 

[genevie]

Ah I see I'm happy to stick with just one larger space anyway, going to run the idea of platies by my brother when he's home from school. Livebearers are so cool.

 

[Jess]

Have you ever thought about African Clawed frogs? They are really cool aquatic pets, and I bet your brother would love them. My 5 year old cousin really like mine! You could easily fit 2 or 3 of them in a 30 gal, and they are very interactive compared to fish: The males croak, they will take food from your fingers, and you can "hold" them underwater!
They will eat other fish if they can catch them, but I've kept feeder guppies and ghost shrimp with my ACF.

 

[genevie]

My first thought was frogs, but for some reason he really doesn't like them

 

[WookieePups]

Look into different types of freshwater fish, such as tetras. Not only are they small but most of them live well with each other and other types of fish and they're relatively easy to care for. Black Neon Tetras are pretty cool because of their iridescent coloring as well as Bloodfin Tetras and Neon Tetras. Maybe you can start out with a small variety of small, community (non-aggressive) freshwater fish and he see how your brother likes them... Good luck!

 

[Purple-Hops]

Get the idea out of your heads at once at the thought of putting a turtle in 15gals!! It's simply not enough room, nor an ideal set up given that they need basking pads, uva/b lights and will probably kill anything fancy in the way of fish bc they're so dirty and hard to maintain. It wouldn't work.