Fish the Fish

Meet Fish.

 For Bryan's birthday, one of the things that we went back and forth about, was getting him a fish tank.  We ultimately went for it because Bryan is loving fish right now.  We have a documentary about fish in the ocean and he just loves watching it.

     After talking to a fish guy at the store, and reading up on it, we picked out a tank, then let Bryan pick out a few decorations.  We decided on a 2 gallon filtered tank.  It costs more than a just getting a fish bowl, but it is more low maintenance.  Which is what I'm all about.

    This is also the same reason we decided on a Beta fish, instead of a gold fish.  When I told the fish guy I was going to get a gold fish, his response basically came down to "gold fish are disgusting."  He didn't say those words exactly, but apparently gold fish are one of the dirtiest fish you could get.  Really hard on the filter.  Which means more work for me.  Remember, I'm going for low maintenance. 

     We grabbed a few extra decorations that way Bryan could pick and choose what he wanted in there.  Of course the arch was all him.  He calls it the "Panda"  Because it reminds him of the movie "Kung Fu Panda"

     After washing the Decorations in warm water (gravel too) we were ready to put our tank together.

Grimlock wanted to help

The closeset he would get.

     When you put the gravel in, try to do it gently.  Or when there are no kids around.  The gravel hitting the bottom of the tank was so loud, Bryan wouldn't go anywhere near it the entire day.  If I brought the decorations to him, he would pick the ones he wanted, but he refused to put any in. 

     A small part of me (the OCD/controlling part) liked to be able to put things in the right place, were they would look the best.  Though most of me (the excited/fun mom part)  Was disappointed he didn't enjoy setting up his tank.

     

     After I had it all set up, we put some water and conditioner in the tank to get filtered through.  They suggest filtering it all for 5-7 days before adding a fish, so it was perfect to set everything up before we left on our trip.

     Of course, when we came back, Bryan decided he was no longer scared of the fish tank and that it needed more stuff in it.  So long perfectly placed seashells.

     I was happy he was finally interested, but I did have to fight myself to not "fix" it when he was done.  I also had to try to forget about the big mess Bryan was making.  Since the tank was already full of water, there was a huge puddle on the counter...and the floor...and in a trail leading to the bathroom.

     The good news is, he was finally having fun with it.  The entire bottom is coated with shells, even the not so nice looking ones, and the arch is a little crooked, but he did it And it looks beautiful.

Fish seems to like it.