First Aquarium for a 7 Yo

We had a 20ish gallon tank and I was SO glad when I could get rid of that thing. It takes a good bit of upkeep and work. We regretted getting a fish tank.

We have 3 dogs and I will stick to my dogs anyday vs caring for a fish tank.

If you are set on a fish, don't get a tank, just get a bowl and have a beta fish.

That is just my experience.

I say at least 10 gallons. Do a fresh water tropical tank with community fish. mollies, barbs, danios, scarlet tetras are nice, a pleco and a few snails too. none of these are expensive. schooling fish are fun. each of these start and stay small, most don't soil too much.

since you have experience with fish, just a reminder, you can experience a lot of fish loss when you are starting up/ cycling a tank. Any chance you can do that b/f the tank gets into your home?

good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

My kids both won goldfish in a cup from school when they were in elementary school. I bought a glass fishbowl (less than $10, not a "tank" with filter, etc). One died within a few days. One lasted several months. But goldfish are not known to be very hardy. LOL

Put the fish bowl away in the attic. Then, at age 11, daughter visited a friend at her house and her friend had a beta fish. Daughter fell in love and wanted one. I did a lot of reading, and found that they are pretty hardy fish if you keep the tank clean. Various websites give differing information, but I have found that once a week total bowl changes work fine. The fish is a year and a half old now. Still looks beautiful. Just bought a moss ball to add the bowl. :)

The males are the ones with the flowing fins.. the females are a bit plainer. Do not get one of those small plastic "beta tanks" that they sell. They are often smaller than a gallon and really are not suited to the fish. They need a minimum of 1 gallon. Which is approx what our bowl is... it might be slightly larger. They don't even need gravel. Though we put a small amount of natural looking rocks/gravel in the bottom, to secure a live plant in.

Fish food is minimal cost. You simply buy the little bottles of chlorine treatment to make the water habitable for them and change the water once a week. That's about it. No big deal. The fish cost about $7 at a pet store (not Walmart). The only issue we've encountered is that the bowl is too small to put a heater in, (it would overheat the water due to the size) so in winter we have to be careful to keep it in a warm room. They don't like it or do well when the water temp drops below around 75 degrees. And our house stays around 68 or 70 in winter unless it is a room with windows and sun coming in, or the kitchen where the tea kettle and stove/oven keep it warmer than other spaces.
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oh, and the water changes aren't to keep algae from growing as much as to keep the ammonia at a level the fish can tolerate. Without a filter, the ammonia levels build up quickly in the water.

I have a 16 gallon fish tank and I LOVE it. If this is just for your son and not something you are into, I'd just go pick out a pretty, tallish fish bowl, one plant, one snail, one beta fish, beta food, pretty rocks and one decoration. Beta are pretty and fun to look at. Our friend's 7 year old son has this set up and loves his beta and snail. It gets lively at feeding time and loves to eat. They have had it 3 years already, so it has lived a long time! Talk to your son about how fish don't live long and when the fish dies he can get a new one. I found that sometimes fish from the pet store mostly all die...and only a few survive. But once you get a survivor I have found that then they live a long time. PS - If you also want a fish tank I have learned that the bigger the tank, the less often you have to clean it. If you want a tank and not a fish bowl I would go with 10 gallons or up...don't get one of those teeny ones bc you will have to clean more often.

I would say a beda fish. They are pretty and you only put one in a tank and they don't even have to be fed everyday.

I recall my son comong home from school and finding a fish floating (dead) almost every other day. The saddness was h*** o* him and hard for me to see. With that I do recommend guppies. They multiply so fast that the death will probably go unnoticed as much as when he only has 5 goldfish or whatever other kind. Good luck

I would either do a 20 gallon tank or a small 2.5 gallon tank. Know that if you have a larger tank you will need to clean it every week. EVERY week.
If you put a Betta fish in the small one, you will probably still want to clean it once a week, but if you miss by a few days the fish will likely be fine as long as it is not overfed.

We have 4 tanks. One is mine, a 29 gallon tank full of community fish. Both of my kids have Bettas in their own tanks. And my daughter has a fancy goldfish in a 20 gallon tank. We clean all of them one time a week. You can do a goldfish in a larger tank with a good filter and it doesn't get dirty, and the fancy ones are entertaining to watch.

But if I had to recommend, I would say go with a Betta. They are surprisingly social and fun to watch, and with so many colors and types to choose from, so beautiful. I would not recommend having your son feed it though, unless you are nearby. Overfeeding is the number one cause of fish fatalities.

Good luck

My other recommendations would be an adult leopard gecko or a corn snake. Both of these are really low maintenance pets. They can be held and not just looked at and if the novelty wears off they are ok not to be held a lot/often.

For a seven year old I would get a one gallon with a Betta (Siamese Fighting Fish).

We had a gold fish for years until he got too big to care for and then we gave him to a pet store and he ended up being bigger than all the other pond carp he had in his pool.
I cleaned the tank once per week (I think it was a 10 gallon tank).
I scooped him into the biggest pot we had (filled with tap water), drained his tank, rinsed through his gravel, washed off his castle and treasure chest and put in some new tank plants every once in awhile, then fill it back up with tap water, put everything back in, let it settle a bit then put Big Al back into his tank.
I didn't think it was a big deal to do once per week but to each his own.
He was a very happy healthy fish and not at all difficult to care for.

Pet stores, commonly sell aquarium sets.
Everything you need in a box except for the fish and fish food.
It is usually a cute table top sized tank and decorations and pump/filter and a cover and light.
That is what I would get.

As for fish, I would get guppies. Why? They are easy.
They can even live in a tank without a pump.
And, with a smallish table top sized tank, it will be MUCH easier to clean and to change out the water.

So, Guppies (all male so that you don't end up with endless guppies being born), or a Beta fish. ONE beta, in a tank.
Betas are also, very easy.
My kids have had those when younger than 7.

ALSO: as an alternative, a Parakeet is a good pet. We have one. It is easy. Ours does not make much "noise." And they can be tamed... which is easy if you interact with it a lot and pet it and carry it and you'd need to clip its wings in case it gets out of its cage. My kids love our Parakeet and we do too. Its easy to clean the cage and feed it. And they come in all kinds of colors.

I had multiple fish tanks growing up (I'm kinda science-geeky) and I love that hobby. Lots of good education in caring for fish, and the constant movement of the fish is beautiful and relaxing! As others have said, larger tanks need less frequent cleaning. There are some smaller plastic all-in-one tanks with very good filtration, but when algae grows on the walls (which happens to some degree in almost all aquariums) the plastic is really hard to clean without scratching.

Be careful not to overfeed, which is one of the commonest causes of foul or cloudy water. Fish should be able to finish their food in just a few minutes, ideally twice a day for most types.

Some easy and inexpensive starter fish are guppies, zebra fish, neon tetras, mollies and other small fish. (Live-bearers like guppies and mollies will usually have babies; if enough escape being eaten by larger fish, you could end up with a crowded tank. But it's fun to watch the babies grow up, and a few replacements are good because most tropical fish have fairly short life spans.)

A small how-to book would be a good part of the Christmas gift. Be sure to ask for specific tips when you buy a tank or fish. A good pet seller will be able to tell you which tanks will best meet your space and budget needs, how to acclimatize your fish to their new home, and which fish are too aggressive for a community tank.

Can't imagine having a fish aquarium in a 7 year olds room since they play there and things get tossed or bumped. I'd put an aquarium in the main part of the house so everyone can enjoy them. I'd not put a tank in a kids area where they play and stuff could happen to get it broken.

Too bad he can't have a pet he can actually play with. That stinks for him...

We're allergic to cats too but have them. Hubby's reaction to cats is actually off the chart. The numbers don't go that high.

Cats are really the perfect pets for a first pet experience. You only have to clean the litter box and feed/water them. They only come around when they want attention and then they go off and do their own thing.