Disabled child's aquarium? Need fish suggestions

[Hillbilly nomad]

My nabours have a son who was in a horrible accident when he was four, he is now ten, little guy can't do anything without assistance. He is basically bed ridden or wheelchair bound, he doesn't speak but is aware of the things around him. He has a spot in his room for a twenty gallon long aquarium and I'm  buying him one and going to set it up for him and his family. I got my shipment from the Co-op the other day so the aquarium is going to get a sponge filter and usb air pump. I've still yet to figure out exactly what plants but I'm going to stick to low light plant's. After 30 years of being in the hobby I'm currently stumped on what fish to get. I was going to set it up with my cull male guppies but I think more types of fish( a couple of small groups) would be more visually stimulating for the little feller. Any ideas on active, colorful, small fish of more than one species or do y'all think just a species only tank. It'll be a twenty gallon long aquarium I just don't want it to be boring for the little man. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. 

[yannachka]

guppy skittles tank! lots of color, very active, and he will get the joy of lots of babies. you can throw a betta in there as well as a centerpiece fish, take a trip with him (if you can with his parents of course) to the pet store and let him pick one out. 

[Cory]

I've done a lot of tanks like this in the past. I think focus on what you think he might react to. Some people have a big problem with a dead fish. So when a guppy dies of old age as 2 years old will that be a big deal? If so, maybe try tetras and such. On the flip side, would seeing babies be a big deal? 

 

When setting up aquariums for other people, I focus on hardy fish, sometimes something like serpae tetras , albino corydoras, and something else will be wonderful, maybe not what I'd setup in my house, but white clouds are every bit as magical as neon tetras to those who haven't seen the other.

[Kat_Rigel]

Oh yes, white clouds are a great idea. You could avoid a heater that way, which is always one less thing to worry about.

[Hillbilly nomad]

The short life span of guppies is the main reason why I wasn't wanting to use my cull guppies. I'll probably go with white clouds and some of my green corydoras. Any ideas on one more group of fish? Cherry barbs, maybe?

[yannachka]

1 hour ago, Hillbilly nomad said:

The short life span of guppies is the main reason why I wasn't wanting to use my cull guppies. I'll probably go with white clouds and some of my green corydoras. Any ideas on one more group of fish? Cherry barbs, maybe?

the short lifespan is a good point. do you think he would find joy in babies? if so you could do a pair of apistos and a school of tetras, the apistos should breed for him at some point and he can turn the babies in at a lfs for store credit. it would give him a project and a hobby to enjoy vs just a pretty tank to look at. if you’re going cold water though id do the minnows and something like a paradise gourami which is colorful and likes cooler temps.

[Hillbilly nomad]

1 minute ago, yannachka said:

the short lifespan is a good point. do you think he would find joy in babies? if so you could do a pair of apistos and a school of tetras, the apistos should breed for him at some point and he can turn the babies in at a lfs for store credit. it would give him a project and a hobby to enjoy vs just a pretty tank to look at. if you’re going cold water though id do the minnows and something like a paradise gourami which is colorful and likes cooler temps.

I just ordered some white clouds from aqua huna for his aquarium but I really like the idea of the Paradise fish with the white clouds. Both in my opinion would be great especially with all the plants I also order from the co-op, just now.  Like I mentioned he's getting a twenty long so fifteen white clouds, a few green corydoras, and a paradise gourami seems like a good aquarium. 

[Nataku]

My concern with guppies is both the short life span, and the breeding aspect. If the young gentleman is incapable of maintaining the tank on his own, putting a species in there that can quickly overpopulate the tank without human intervention may be a poor choice.

Something which is active, colorful, but not as likely to breed/overpopulate a tank seems like a better idea. To that end, white clouds, corydoras and a paradise fish seem like a good plan. Paradise fish can be extremely personable, just like bettas. 

[Streetwise]

I think White Clouds would be a resilient fish choice for this this resilient kiddo.

[Alesha]

As a mama of a special needs kiddo (who's 20 now, but still a "kiddo" - he's non-mobile and non-verbal), I'd suggest to be sure you include something that bubbles! All children love bubbles, and they are eye catching. Often, those with brain damage have trouble with eye tracking, so the bubble will catch their eye sometimes, even if the fish don't.  Maybe a bubble bar or something similar.

Our tanks were started for our son, too, but unfortunately, he just isn't interested in them. LoL! I know! How rude, right?! 😆 But we discovered how soothing and interesting and relaxing they are to US and so we continue. You may find that the parents also enjoy the tank very much.  I know for sure they are so appreciative of this blessing you are giving to their family. ❤️ 

[Ken Burke]

4 minutes ago, akconklin said:

As a mama of a special needs kiddo (who's 20 now, but still a "kiddo" - he's non-mobile and non-verbal), I'd suggest to be sure you include something that bubbles! All children love bubbles, and they are eye catching. Often, those with brain damage have trouble with eye tracking, so the bubble will catch their eye sometimes, even if the fish don't.  Maybe a bubble bar or something similar.

Our tanks were started for our son, too, but unfortunately, he just isn't interested in them. LoL! I know! How rude, right?! 😆 But we discovered how soothing and interesting and relaxing they are to US and so we continue. You may find that the parents also enjoy the tank very much.  I know for sure they are so appreciative of this blessing you are giving to their family. ❤️ 

What a great encouragement!

[Ken Burke]

6 hours ago, Hillbilly nomad said:

My nabours have a son who was in a horrible accident when he was four, he is now ten, little guy can't do anything without assistance. He is basically bed ridden or wheelchair bound, he doesn't speak but is aware of the things around him. He has a spot in his room for a twenty gallon long aquarium and I'm  buying him one and going to set it up for him and his family. I got my shipment from the Co-op the other day so the aquarium is going to get a sponge filter and usb air pump. I've still yet to figure out exactly what plants but I'm going to stick to low light plant's. After 30 years of being in the hobby I'm currently stumped on what fish to get. I was going to set it up with my cull male guppies but I think more types of fish( a couple of small groups) would be more visually stimulating for the little feller. Any ideas on active, colorful, small fish of more than one species or do y'all think just a species only tank. It'll be a twenty gallon long aquarium I just don't want it to be boring for the little man. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. 

I think your looking for easy maintenance, so hardy fish that don’t hide all day.  Suggest under-stocking it as well.  (Just a touch under-stocked ). The only concern with live bearers is a lightly stocked tank can get pretty crowded left unchecked.

[Dandy Pearl]

Maybe some glow light or rummy nose tetra's? They have color and motion. The glow light may 'catch the light' depending on conditions which may be beneficial.

Good luck with the setup, and thank you for helping pay it forward!

[Kat_Rigel]

Zebra danios are super active and dart around a lot, that could be a good one as well.

[LeeLee]

I got some Endlers 6 months ago. Simply because I’ve never had them. They are brightly colored and always playful. Playing in the bubbler water column. They are definitely not skittish because they were eating out of my hand the first week I had them. I think they would be good. 

[GardenStateGoldfish]

On 11/1/2020 at 1:56 PM, Cory said:

I've done a lot of tanks like this in the past. I think focus on what you think he might react to. Some people have a big problem with a dead fish. So when a guppy dies of old age as 2 years old will that be a big deal? If so, maybe try tetras and such. On the flip side, would seeing babies be a big deal? 

 

When setting up aquariums for other people, I focus on hardy fish, sometimes something like serpae tetras , albino corydoras, and something else will be wonderful, maybe not what I'd setup in my house, but white clouds are every bit as magical as neon tetras to those who haven't seen the other.

To corys point, short lifespans can cause a problem when building a tank for emotional support, guppies can colonize which can help, I would put in two black more goldfish or telescope goldfish, they can live a very long time and can be quite active and will constantly be looking for food and moving around which would be nice to look at.

[yannachka]

28 minutes ago, GardenStateGoldfish said:

To corys point, short lifespans can cause a problem when building a tank for emotional support, guppies can colonize which can help, I would put in two black more goldfish or telescope goldfish, they can live a very long time and can be quite active and will constantly be looking for food and moving around which would be nice to look at.

i dont think the child will be able to maintain a goldfish in a 20g long term though, we wanna give him something that’s low maintenance. i really like the idea of room temp and keeping white clouds or danios with a paradise fish. 

[GardenStateGoldfish]

12 minutes ago, yannachka said:

i dont think the child will be able to maintain a goldfish in a 20g long term though, we wanna give him something that’s low maintenance. i really like the idea of room temp and keeping white clouds or danios with a paradise fish. 

White clouds would also make a great choice but not as personable IMO. Telescope Goldfish are not difficult to take care of in a 20g to be honest, different fancy types have different care requirements just like German Shepards and French bulldogs

[yannachka]

35 minutes ago, GardenStateGoldfish said:

White clouds would also make a great choice but not as personable IMO. Telescope Goldfish are not difficult to take care of in a 20g to be honest, different fancy types have different care requirements just like German Shepards and French bulldogs

while telescopes stay smaller than other fancies, they still get large. me and you can care for one in a 20 long term but a disabled child is not going to be able to do those water changes 2x a week when that goldfish is 7”. i think they should stick to less maintenance fish, paradise gourami are very similar to bettas in personality and are pretty personable. the danios or white clouds would add movement and action to the tank while the gourami is the centerpiece fish. 

[Andy's Fish Den]

First of all, kudos to you for setting up the tank for this youngster! 

I've worked with disabled people quite a bit in a residential home setting, and we had a fish tank along with an aviary with finches in it. Anyways, I know the people there were always fascinated by movement, so fish that swim around a lot, and as someone suggested above, bubbles in there. even if you get one of those old school bubbler ornaments would be cool for them, I like the white cloud suggestion or maybe even some of the rice fish that are available. Some corydoras swimming around the bottom and how they occasionally dart up to the surface will fascinate them. Maybe even a super red or albino bristlenose, they will like to watch it when it sucks onto the front glass.

 

[Grapevine89]

Another option could be a Betta with African dart frogs maybe corydoras. You could get about 4 frogs and they are a hoot the sprint to the top for air and they live peaceful with a Betta so you could be very low fuss and see how a tank would go before making a huge investment add like 10 pygmy corys and see the fun man. I would also say get plants! if you make a planted aquarium you will have way less and then he can watch the movement of the plants as well. Another good point is the diet is very similar so if you fed some frozen bloodworms and the betta doesnt eat them all the frog will and so on.. Just cycle your tank with the plants a good month then add your frogs for a few weeks then your Betta and give it a few months. Make sure your using the test kit and get a preset thermometer Good luck!

[Maggie]

I would suggest small, colorful schooling/shoaling fish, and cory cats for the bottom. No matter what you choose, I bet he will be very happy!

[Hillbilly nomad]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I just received 30 white clouds, I figured I'd put ten or twelve in the little guy's aquarium. Along with five black coolie loaches that I have on hold at my local fish store. Along with a sunset gourami for a center peice fish. 

[RovingGinger]

That will be an awesome, movement filled aquarium with some great variety.