Fish tank for Autistic Child

bradlgt21

bradlgt21

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May 9, 2009
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Brad
So the word has been getting around to my friends that I am good with fish. I have been getting some requests for fish help. I have been put in charge of designing a tank for a friend of ours who have 4 kids the youngest has autism.

They read that water is calming to autistic children so they want to have a fish tank. The colors he responds to best are Red, Orange, and Yellow. With Yellow being his favorite.

I was thinking of doing a 20 gallon long tank. It's a good footprint without being so big it's a pain for them to maintain.

The only stock I liked so far is a school of Harliqiun Rasboras because of the redish color, being hardy and the calming schooling swim patters. Then a yellow fish probably something small like a yellow molly or platy or something but don't know what else to get.

What else should I stock it with, my mind is really coming to a blank when I think of Red, Yellow, and Orange fish? I guess they all don't have to be those colors but it would be nice.
 
Well, I would probably go with lemon tetras, harlequin rasboras, and maybe a honey sunset gourami as a centerpiece fish. That kind of covers your yellow, red and orange quotient...you could also use sand with a little yellow gravel sprinkled over the top. I know it sounds hideous, but I saw a blackwater tank that had the accents of yellow gravel, and it actually looked very nice!

He might like one of those bubble wands that has the color changing LED lights....a number of manufacturers make them these days.
 
First I would like to say that this is a WONDERFUL idea. I am studying to become a special ed teacher with a special interest in autism and I think this is brilliant! Red wag platies would be a good idea, with how bright they are and slower swimmers so the child could more easily watch also golden panchax killies for the top of the tank are gorgeous yellow and orange colors. So maybe some platies for the middle, golden killies (there are also red gouramis that are really pretty) for the top, and as for bottom, not sure. Also they have really pretty colored snails he might enjoy. Just a very quick thought.. may be back with more, I love this idea!
 
For sheer intensity of those particular colors Livebearers are very hard to beat.
 
Never thought about doing a couple seperate schools for the two colors.

I am leaning towards just a school of rasboras then a whole bunch of livebears. Like a red swordtail, yellow molly, guppies. Also because they said it would be nice to have a fish for each kid. Not really something a school does for you.

I like the idea of killies I will have to make sure they won't eat the rasboras.

I am really torn with the gourami I like it and it came to mind, but I had a dwarf gourami that was just mean to anything that moved.

These are good suggestions though, I am going to look into them more.
 
As the father of a son on the spectrum, might I offer some advice?

Depending on the severity that the child has ASD, I would recommend working with the child on picking something he likes. My son gravitated to glolight tetras, so the initial stocking worked around including them. Now, admittedly, my son does not have ASD as severely as some other children I have met and his attention for the tank is not as intense as his attention for all things bugs and snakes, but he does often come and watch for his "lil glowies".

So, I would first ask the parents, how much "effort" are they wanting to put towards a tank in terms of maintenance and such. I know that with my boy, between school and running to various therapies, there never seems to be all that much time in the day even for water changes. Keeping stocking light and with hardy fish might be in order so that if water changes slip a day or two, things won't be too bad. This will go along way for tank size as well. In my mind, as large as possible with fairly light stocking will help water quality.

Second. I would, if possible, sit down with the child with a laptop or fish book and look at photos, see what he likes. If possible and he's able maybe go into one of the big boxes or the LFS where the parents are likely to shop. Let him view the fish to find something he gravitates to. While we might appreciate rasboras, he might get excited about yellow glowfish.

Third, I would include some level of clean up crew in the stocking plans. Kids can and will overfeed, and parents might as well. MTS, a handful of ghost shrimp, and maybe an apple snail could help that out.

As to filtration, I would work that into the calming effect of water. Keep the water level a bit lower than normal so I get a decent sound from the HOB return. Possibly even go with one of those gaudy bubblers (my boy picked out the Trex with the opening mouth). Auditory is something that people don't always think about with fish tanks, other than "too loud", but it can be a good trigger for a Spectrum child.

Above all, remember, this is for the kids. Your friends will be needing your help on the details and making it as buletproof as possible and to be the voice of reason on stocking. Other than that though, Spongebob should not be thrown out and neither should clown puke gravel. It is all about engagement and involvement of the ASD child, and the best way to do that is include him in the planning.

Feel free to PM me for questions.
 
Glowlight tetras are a great suggestion. I think most kids would like them, they're cool looking.
 
I think that glolights would be a decent choice. They are very colorful and active in the warm colors he likes and it would be easy for them to find a blacklight bulb to use in a fixture for a 20L.

Livebearers are another good choice. I have a very orange female guppy and I have seen some very red/orange swords. It may help to keep him interested to be able to watch baby fish growing up.

Forktail rainbows are very active and very pretty. They have interesting behavior and once you get them into a decently planted tank, they color up to a very pretty salmon pink color with yellow fins and bright blue eyes. I love them and they leave my adult cherry shrimp alone. Never put baby cherries in there, so not sure if they snack on the little ones, but they tend to stick to the top of the tank.

For inverts, nerite or gold inca snails would help keep the tank clean and come in bright yellows. You might be able to add some cherry shrimp for the bottom depending on the fish you choose (I wouldnt put them in with swords), and they come in a yellow color too.

I think the more variety, the better the learning opportunity and more options to pique his interest, which is the most important part. I would also recommend getting a bubble curtain or using a HOB filter that makes a waterfall noise. I dont have direct experience with autistic kids, but I did take an entire class on autism and related disorders during my undergrad for my psych major. I cant say for sure if it would work, but I do have a friend who works with autistic kids for his job. I will ask him if he has any other input.
 
red ramshorns

CPO

yellow shrimp

yellow tylo snails

neon or cardinal tetras

red cherry shrimp

some other options for peaceful, small and in those colors...
 
I think this is the exact reason I feel so lost. My sister asked me to build a tank for her office, I thought about it for a day and had it done because she is a adult and wanted something natural and nice looking. But we are adults this tank is for kids. They told me to build it with these things in mind but it's still hard because of all the things you referenced. Pink gravel, sunken pirate ships, dinosours, neon glow wands, all that stuff is ugly to me but I know it's a staple to a little kids tank.

I know what fish go well with other fish, how to not overstock a tank, and what fish are to aggressive or grow to big. Really beyond that the child should be the main input person.

tolawdjk said:
As the father of a son on the spectrum, might I offer some advice?

Depending on the severity that the child has ASD, I would recommend working with the child on picking something he likes. My son gravitated to glolight tetras, so the initial stocking worked around including them. Now, admittedly, my son does not have ASD as severely as some other children I have met and his attention for the tank is not as intense as his attention for all things bugs and snakes, but he does often come and watch for his "lil glowies".

So, I would first ask the parents, how much "effort" are they wanting to put towards a tank in terms of maintenance and such. I know that with my boy, between school and running to various therapies, there never seems to be all that much time in the day even for water changes. Keeping stocking light and with hardy fish might be in order so that if water changes slip a day or two, things won't be too bad. This will go along way for tank size as well. In my mind, as large as possible with fairly light stocking will help water quality.

Second. I would, if possible, sit down with the child with a laptop or fish book and look at photos, see what he likes. If possible and he's able maybe go into one of the big boxes or the LFS where the parents are likely to shop. Let him view the fish to find something he gravitates to. While we might appreciate rasboras, he might get excited about yellow glowfish.

Third, I would include some level of clean up crew in the stocking plans. Kids can and will overfeed, and parents might as well. MTS, a handful of ghost shrimp, and maybe an apple snail could help that out.

As to filtration, I would work that into the calming effect of water. Keep the water level a bit lower than normal so I get a decent sound from the HOB return. Possibly even go with one of those gaudy bubblers (my boy picked out the Trex with the opening mouth). Auditory is something that people don't always think about with fish tanks, other than "too loud", but it can be a good trigger for a Spectrum child.

Above all, remember, this is for the kids. Your friends will be needing your help on the details and making it as buletproof as possible and to be the voice of reason on stocking. Other than that though, Spongebob should not be thrown out and neither should clown puke gravel. It is all about engagement and involvement of the ASD child, and the best way to do that is include him in the planning.

Feel free to PM me for questions.
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