Children & Our Tanks

The other day I was having a conversation with someone about how his child ruined his reef tank. The story he explained to me was that the coral in the tank continued to die one by one. He tried everything he could think of but nothing helped and finally everything in his tank perished. Disgusted with the thousands of dollars in livestock he lost he decided to take a break from the hobby. When he broke down his system he discovered a handful of coins that his four year old son had thrown into the sump thinking he had his very own wishing well. Obviously this had led to the demise of his reef tank.

After hearing this story I was reminded of my own folly when I was a child. My father placed a 40 breeder in my room when I was three years old. He stocked it with African Cichlids and took care of it since I obviously was far too young to do so properly on my own. I can still remember the little UFO diving ornament in the aquarium that would rise and fall periodically. I would stare intently for hours as the tank was next to my bed. I loved that tank and its inhabitants. I think I had named every fish inside and felt like they were a part of the Korner family.

One day when I was five, I was staring at the aquarium and the thought occurred to me that the fish may in fact be very dirty since they eat and do other business in the aquarium water. I thought that they would be very appreciative if I were to help them get clean. Inspired by the power of my positive thinking I ran to the bathroom to retrieve my liquid bath soap and poured a generous amount into the tank. I just knew that the fish would enjoy taking a bath and getting clean. Shortly afterwards my parents called me into the other room and informed me that we were going out to dinner. Being five years old and easily distracted I quickly forgot my tank and the African Cichlids inside.

Hours later and full from a tasty meal at a Chinese restaurant, we arrived back home. I will never forget my mother yelling out my father’s name from my bedroom. We both ran in and were greatly surprised by the giant columns of foam rising out from the tank and billowing down to surround the stand. I don’t recall my father’s exact words but I do know that they contained some choice explicative’s. Needless to say none of the animals inside survived.

Now years later my wife and I are expecting our first child. I am very excited about the prospect of sitting in front of our reef tank and sharing the bright colors and movement with our baby when he arrives. I just have to hope that my son won’t try and “clean” our fish as he gets older.

If you have any similar stories with your children please feel free to share them in the comments below.