Aquariums: Kid’s Bedroom Aquarium

I sometimes see posts requesting ideas for a smaller kid’s tank, like this standard 5.5 gallon in my 6-year-old’s bedroom. I have a few small tanks like this around the house, but I thought I’d focus on just one.

This tank has male guppies and one female betta. The initial plan was to have only male guppies in here – they’re bright and friendly and fun – but this betta needed someone to outcompete her for food (this tank fit the bill and she‘s much healthier already). 🙂

I used plain gravel and haven’t added any root tabs, but I fertilize lightly (just a few drops after water changes). I let my kid add rocks from his rock collection, as long as he asks first so I can make sure they’re safe for the fish. So far he’s only added two pieces of slate.

In a kid’s room you have to consider a few things, so here’s some unasked-for advice if it’s something you’re thinking about:

First, you – the adult – have to do testing and maintenance, either alone or with them until they’re competent. I just do it myself.

Second, there’s always a risk of the fish being overfed or something else falling into the tank. I combat this in a few ways:

1) The open top may seem counterintuitive, but it lets my kid see the food spreading out on the surface (so he doesn’t keep adding more), and helps me do testing and maintenance more quickly and easily. It’s also fun to watch the colourful fish from above. Note: this lamp has a very heavy base and if it falls against the tank it pulls itself upright again. Not all lamps like this will be safe for an open top tank in a kid’s room. I’d generally recommend one that bolts onto the back edge of the tank. I also keep the water level lowered a bit in case the dresser gets bumped – no splashes.

2) Easy stem plants help with any ammonia spikes or climbing nitrates. This tank has limnophila sessiliflora, which has been growing well but not ridiculously fast under only this lighting (note: limnophila sessiliflora isn’t legal in some places – some good alternatives are hornwort or guppy grass).

3) There is a “keep clear – no toys” label at the front of this dresser, because I set my testing equipment in front of the tank when I come in to do that. My kid knows he’ll be interrupted in the middle of what he’s doing if I can’t set my stuff down!

4) Oversized filtration. I believe this filter is intended for a ten gallon tank, but you can go as big as you like for insurance against feeding disasters. Any style works (I just used what was in the bucket of stuff I got with another secondhand tank), but I appreciate this one is inside the tank so it can’t get bumped/damaged easily.

5) The light is on a mechanical timer. This keeps the plants happy which in turn keeps parameters more stable. I have this one on for 12 hours per day because it’s not strong lighting. For plant lights I’d bring it down to 8 hours, but either way I schedule it so it turns off at bedtime.