I think most people will agree that one of the best ways to teach a child responsibility is by getting him or her, a pet of their own. I have had the pleasure of giving my daughter a kitten, a puppy, and an aquarium of her very own, since she liked my aquariums so much. And from my experience of giving her things, she was much happier the times she was presented with a pet than the times it was with some candy or a new toy. Little does she know, these acts contain a secret lesson within them; learning responsibility!

Of the pets my daughter has acquired over the years I would have to say she has learned the most from her aquarium. Since her Dad is an experienced aquarium keeper I was able to teach her how to properly care for her fishy friends; and if you have no experience with aquariums there is a lot more to it than you would think!

We started by selecting the type of fish that she wanted to keep. This should always be the first step so that you can be sure to purchase an aquarium large enough to house the chosen fish. Contrary to popular belief a small bowl or jar is simply not large enough to house any fish and in my opinion borders on animal cruelty.

After deciding on the fish, we purchased an aquarium kit which contained the aquarium itself, a filter to keep the water clean, a heater to keep the water at the proper temperature for the selected fish, a canopy and light, as well as a bag of substrate to layer over the bottom.

After setting the aquarium all up we were now at the most difficult point, waiting one to three weeks for the water to cycle so that we could add the fish. Though it seemed like a lifetime to her, the time passed rather quickly and we finally had the fish she picked out swimming happily in her tank.

Sadly most new people to the hobby there, but at this point the work and responsibility learning is just beginning. She is now responsible for cleaning the tank and changing the water once a week, remembering to change the media in the filter once every one to three months, as well as feeding her fish on a daily basis. Sure this may seem like a big choir for a little girl her age, but she loves her little water-bound friends and keeps them happy and healthy with a smile on her face.

As an added benefit, by going through the process of selecting the fish first, and then building everything around that to properly house that species of fish she learned a lot about, and gained a great respect for nature and intricate systems.

Written by Mike Barton for The Home Aquarium

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