When most families think about getting a pet, owning a dog or cat usually comes to mind. But how about fish? With 13% of all households owning fish, they are clearly a popular choice. While there are some drawbacks – they don’t play fetch and you can’t pet them, there are many benefits to having fish as pets.

Children

If your child is begging for a pet, consider setting up an aquarium. Let your child help make the decisions when setting up the aquarium and guide them while they choose the following:

• The type, size, and style of aquarium
• Where to put the aquarium in your home
• The decorations for the aquarium – plants, objects, etc.
• Choosing the types of fish
• Fish food

Of course, you will have to do a little reading ahead of time so you can "guide" your child into choosing the right size aquarium, the number of fish, the type of fish, and the proper food for the fish species, but this can be done relatively quickly.

By including your child in these decisions and letting them take responsibility for feeding and care of the fish, they have a sense of ownership and are usually satisfied with fish as a "pet."

Attractive Addition to Your Décor

The choice of aquariums for your home is seemingly endless. They range in size, color, and style and it is very easy to find one that fits in with your home’s décor.

Many aquariums are so unique in style that you can even make them the main focus of a room and decorate around them. Consider getting an aquarium and making it the focal point of your room instead of the TV. It is much more attractive and makes a great conversation piece.

Relaxing to Watch

Studies have shown that aquariums are great stress relievers. If you have a lot of stress in your life, an aquarium may be beneficial to your health.

Relaxing in front of an aquarium is much like relaxing in front of a fireplace. It has a very soothing and calming effect. There’s nothing like coming home after a hard day’s work and sitting down in a quiet room and watching beautiful fish swim in the calming water.

Low Maintenance

After the initial set-up of the aquarium, maintenance is pretty simple making pet ownership easy on you. You’ll need to follow some basic rules for getting an aquarium started, but after that feeding the fish once per day and changing the water once per month is about all that’s required.

Pet Ownership With Less Responsibility

While you can’t pet fish or take them for a walk, there are many good points about fish you need to consider when choosing a new pet.

• You don’t have to take them for a walk after a long day’s work
• You don’t have to take them out to use the bathroom
• You don’t have to clean up after them
• You can go on vacation without having to board your pet or getting someone to come into your home to care for them
• It’s less expensive after initial set-up
• They don’t get lonely while you’re at work
• They aren’t destructive to your home
• They don’t get your home dirty

Weigh all your options and consider your lifestyle before you choose your next pet. While fish may not have been the first pet that came to mind, as you can see, having fish as pets has many good points.

Jason Ladock

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