JP21 Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 :D So I have bought my girls their tank ( 4 foot). Filter (yes I went with the Eheim 2217) heater, T5 lights..Eco complete substrate, some mopani driftwood etc..now have to wait for it all to arrive (about the 2nd of Dec). Will have to then order in the live plants. As I have to freight in absolutely everything this has resulted in costing me a small fortune.!!So I sit down with my daughters and ask them to start thinking about some types of fish to go in their tank.They said they have already chosen and want lots of colourful Guppies!!!...Mind you we have 4 other small tanks with a mix of guppies , platys etc...I had to leave the room and do the silent scream!!...Talk about no imagination..I think I am going to leave some books lying around with othe pages open at other options..I had visions of some wonderful tropical fish tank etc...and they want guppies. Nothing against guppies but we have so many already.Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 You should just say, "You know what? I paid for it. I'm going to have to clean it. This is my tank now. I get to choose the fish." Not sure how old your kids are but perhaps they simply need their creativity to be encouraged along a bit. How about putting some boundaries on their choices, maybe show them some pictures. You could decide in broad terms what you want the tank to look like and then make up 3 or 4 groups of fish and say they can only choose one type of fish from each group. So just as an example, let's say you decide you want 2 groups of schooling fish and a feature fish or something for the bottom Group 1 - Congo tetras, hatchet fish, hockey stick tetras, pencil fish Group 2 - rummy nose tetras, neons, cardinal tetras, harlequins Group 3 - corydoras, dwarf cichlids, flying foxes Or something along those lines, I'm sure you get my drift. So regardless of what they choose it will still work out as a nice display tank with fish that will get along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canfeleq Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Whats wrong with Guppies? Are you planning on your kids looking after them or are they too young? If you want your girls to look after them and the tank, LFS Guppies (or ones you have bred yourself) are a good place to start them in the hobby, they are cheap, relatively hardy, active and colourful. I started my aquarium 'habit' as a child with goldfish. From there I progressed to guppies, then cichlids, then marines (which I started keeping back in the '80's and lasted through to this millenium) Now I keep Bettas, Cory's and....you guessed it..Guppies! Some of the greatest aquarium keepers started their lifelong fish addiction thanks to the humble Guppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP21 Posted November 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Nope nothiing wrong with Guppies. But as I have said we have 4 other tanks.(I have 5 children!). With a large mix of guppies and platys. I was just kinda hoping they would want something a bit different. The girls are 13 and 14. They have been doing the water changes etc..in the other tanks for a while now.I wanted to make them realise what is involved. Made them study cycling and learn all about it before I went out and ordered everything. Thanks Bettarazzi. You have given me some greatr ideas...Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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