10g stocking

A

appaloosatb

Took the road less taken
May 24, 2002
55
0
0
40
Byron, MN
appaloosatb.bookcrossing.com
I do tank maintenance for a local nursery school, and the 10g in room three recently had an entire can of fish food dumped in. The teachers couldn't figure out why all the fish died. :rolleyes: Anyway, I'm taking down my 35g community tank, so I'm just going to restock their tank with what I have. What do you think of this?

2 cory cats
3 swordtail fry (currently about 1/2" each)
1 betta (the only survivor from the food experience)
4 zebra or leopard danios

I know that's pushing it just a bit when everything grows up, but the tank is kept really clean and I think the kids will enjoy the active fish. If the danios get too nippy with the betta, the betta can be removed.
 
It sounds really great to me! You've got all the swimming zones covered, bottom, top, and middle too. I think your tank will be great! Just don't let the food incident happen again ;) The Danios should keep to themselves, the Betta, well I've never kept one before, but it shouldn't cause problems, And the swordtails will be great! Good luck!
 
I got there, and the tank was awful. From what the teachers had described I thought all the fish but the betta were dead, but there were still two cory cats and one swordtail hanging out barely alive on the bottom. I'm still not sure they'll make it. The tank had a 90% water change and I got most of the food out. I'll do another 30% water change tomorrow and a 30-50% one next Saturday, depending on how everything's going. Keep your fingers crossed for the poor little survivors! :(
 
I dont think you can mix ANY live animal with a child that young. Its just going to be a matter of time when a child wants to give the tank a drink of fruit punch. Obviously the teacher does not have the kids in control. So the inevitable will happen. If you give your fish to them, then you are sending them to their death. If this happens, then you would be held responsible for the fishes death in my eyes. You are NOT a true fishkeeper. RESPECT your fish as if it were your kids. NURSERY age kids does NOT understand much about life at that age.
The BEST thing you can suggest is provide them with some computer games that involve fish.. or even a screensaver (many good ones out there).
Do something wise and dont send your fish to imminent death. Trusting a child that young with a life form=Irresponsible.
 
I don't think the kids maintain the tanks, I think they just look at them Jamison ;) There's a childrens hospital that I visit sometimes that has lots of fish tanks too! The kids obviously don't maintain them, but they do look at them, and they really enjoy looking at the tanks! Why shouldn't children be able to enjoy fish tanks as well? They really help calm roudy kids down!
 
Obviously they dont take care of the tanks. Its just that the tanks are in a dangerous area where the kids can cause trouble such as feeding a whole can of food.... I am sure for insurance reasons in the hospitals and various other places, the fish tanks are in areas COMPLETLY SAFE and CHILD PROOF. Appals class is NOT prepared to handle this tank! If they make certain modifications of the tanks location and CHILD PROOF it.. then maybe...


The kids in this class does not have supervision 100 percent of the time. That means trouble can be had easily had.. poor poor fish..
 
Last edited:
Er ... JamesB ... do you have kids?

Extrapolating logically from what you're saying, no one with a family of kids should have a fish tank. I speak as a parent. I think you're being pretty hard on appaloosatb, who obviously cares about the fish and cares about the kids.

Appaloosatb, a serious word to the wise (the teachers) should prevent a recurrence, especially if you include an explanation about why the fish died. I think you are sweet to give them another chance, and it will be a learning experience for all. And the fish can still watch (and learn from) the fish.

By the way, are you going to have any tanks left for yourself after you tear down your 35-gal community tank?

-- Pat
 
Having a tank at home and at school are 2 seperate issues. At home, kids know the rules and mostly, respects them. They can be punished and will learn that the "tank" is not a cesspool.
AT SCHOOL, there are many other kids. This brings misbehavior and with a large class that is unsupervised (like apals) could only cause downfall for ANY TANK. If he adds more fish without making any changes, then I hold him responsible for the death of his fish. Just another step down into...:)
 
Last edited:
For the sake of argument, I think a realistic scenario (from one who is used to recreating scenario's) would be:

It was the eager child's turn to feed the fish.
The teacher was most likely there to assist.
The teacher opened the tank lid.
The eager child had the cap off the food.
The eager child accidently "dumped" too much food in.
The teacher says "oh no"
The eager child now starts to cry.
Appaloosatb to the rescue.

Give me a break Jamison. I suggest you never have children or if you do to never let them out of the house in case "god forbid" someone "loses control of the rowdy child" and an accident occurs. Even a preschool is a learning institution. I am sure the offending child has learned.

DrD
 
JamesB, how do we know it's a large class? How do we know it's unsupervised? How do we know the teacher didn't accidentally up-end a can of fish food into the tank (as has happened to at least one recent poster on these forums)?

I'm not ready to assume that this classroom is the mayhem-ridden chaos that you suggest it is, or that the kids can't be taught at school about these things as well as at home, and that the teachers can't be taught as well. It's a good thing to expose kids today to anything wholesome and wondrous whenever possible, and a tropical tank would surely be included on that list, as I'm sure you'll agree.

As far as holding appaloosa "responsible," you're laying a lot on a guy who's just trying to help out a local daycare enjoy the benefits of a tropical fish tank, which are many. With respect, I'm not sure you have the authority to do that.

-- Pat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom