Teaching A Fish Keeping Class

[Betta_Shark5678]

Hi! I'm teaching an 8 week (once a week) class on proper fish keeping for 10-13 year olds, and I was wondering if you had any advice on my plans so far! 
 
Topics covered:
Week 1 – Equipment (Tanks, filters, heaters,
thermometers, notebook, test kit*, camera*, ammonia, gravel
vacuum, dechlorinator)

Week 2 – Cycling (Nitrogen cycle, keep cycling journal, share stats every week)

Week 3 – Stocking planning (Compatibility, requirements, size, etc)

Week 4 – Planting planning (What plants, lighting, fertilizers, etc), and decoration planning (cleaning/preparing natural décor, etc)
 
Week 5 – Fish diseases and how to treat them
(Ick, parasites, Fin rot, Columnaris, dropsy, incurable diseases
caused by too much inbreeding [dwarf gourami disease, neon tetra disease], and some less common problems [pop-eye, cloud-eye, fungus,
velvet])

Week 6 – Decorating and planting the tanks (hard-scape with rocks and wood and planting) - bring pictures the next week ; ).
 
Week 7 – Stocking (Acclimating and adding fish to the tank and water change)

Week 8 – Choosing healthy fish ^^

* = optional
^^ = requires trip to pet store

You can bring in water samples
every week for me to test your water, though your own test kit would be
better so you can test the water yourself every day. 

Camera is optional, but if possible I'd like students to bring in pictures of their tanks.
 
Those are the topics, I'm going to have a weekly plans ready by the time it starts (March 19th).  I have more details on each week, too.  I already have two students for it! I need at least three, and since I already have two, and I still have a month, I think I'll make that! Anyways, any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That's awesome... As a teacher, here's some advice for a weekly class... 
 
First, over prepare for each week... have EXTRA stuff you can go over, etc. in case things go faster than planned.
 
Second, have a "abridged" version of the topics so that you can pick up the pace, in case things go slower than planned.
 
Third, bring your passion for it!  Kids respond when you are passionate about what you are teaching.
 
Have fun!

 

[Chris0422]

Thats amazing! I'm a teacher and wish I was teaching fish keeping! Where are you teaching? What type of school.

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

Thanks! 
 
I'm actually only 16, but I'm homeschooled, and it's a homeschool class I'm teaching! 

 
The kids are going to each have their own tank, and we're also going to have a class tank (which means I get another tank out of this 

) that we're going to work on together.  My plans have been getting crazy long since I started planning, I've probably got more than an hour filled already for each week, and I haven't writting anything down yet! If we don't get everything done my plan was to give them little booklets every week that go along with what we're talking about, that way if it's not going as fast I can just give them the booklets to read over the week.  Though I'm pretty sure most of the weeks I'll just be going on and on about the topic, and the kids will be bored, but I'll be happy 

 

[DreamertK]

As for advice, realize the age group of your students. Give the students materials to share with their parents each week. Try to really push the 1 inch per gallon rule and discourage picking fish the kid fancies. I'm pretty sure in CA there's a law against the sale of NH3/NH4 in stores, because I can't find any in the multiple chain/small stores I searched. So make sure ammonia is available in your area for kids to cycle the tank, and remember to remind them to put a drop or so in to feed the bacteria. Or perhaps to get the parents to do it since it's a hazardous material. I wonder how big the tanks they're giving out are?? Actually the ultimate test for this class would be the survival of the fish, but I realize you're going to be getting the fish for the tanks the last week of class.
 
For week 6 I'd also go over things you shouldn't put in the tank (and how to test for it).
 
What if you grouped (fish stocking, diseases, acclimation) together for the later section of the course and had (plants and decorations) at the middle of the course? As in: equipment, cycling, decorations, plant planning, fish stocking, diseases, acclimation, choosing healthy fish. Because really you can put stuff in the tank while it's cycling, but then they've got to wait until halfway through the course until you cover it and possibly already have stuff in the tank or be staring at an empty tank for a month and a half which isn't encouraging. It might be better to do the plant requirements after the plant planting so that the kids know going into the plant requirements lecture what they have in mind for the tank and then going into the next lecture if it's feasible for them, but it's really either or.
 
You can give or take my suggestions, I wish you luck!

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

Thanks for those suggestions! I actually didn't think of starting decorating during the cycle.  I had plants in during my cycle, and they almost died, but I also had rocks in there, which, obviously, did fine.  I might switch those around then! 
 
I was planning on having the parents help the kids with the ammonia, and I was planning on getting the ammonia for them, just to make sure that they get the right stuff!
 
Since we know that the kid is going to have a fish they want I was thinking I was going to help them research the fish a little (even if I know about the fish), and then suggesting better fish if theirs just won't work.  The tank sizes I suggested was 5-20, since I doubt the parents are going to want to pay for more than that.  I did find a post on craigslist a 45 gallon, a 20 gallon long, and a 10 gallon with all the equipment for $100! So I am going to get those if they're still available and sell them to the parents for over half what a new one would cost.
 
I do have some plants I'll be giving them from my tanks, since I have extras That will off set the cost of plants for the parents, but limit what the kids can get.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far!

 

[CezzaXV]

I would personally remove week 5 or condense it down and include it in one of the other weeks. Not that I don't think it's good information to have, but I see the purpose of this course to be to get a bunch of kids to be enthusiastic about fishkeeping, and having a whole week dedicated to diseases and ways your fish can die might be a little offputting and perhaps a bore. I would mention it briefly in one of the other lessons, and perhaps make a handout listing the most common diseases (the signs to look out for, what causes them and how to fix them) so they have the information handy if they ever need it, but there's so much of it, they'd probably have forgotten by the time any of it became relevant anyway.

What I would do in its place is have a lesson on tank maintenance. All the things you need to do on a regular basis to keep your fish healthy. Once a week water change, less often testing the water, cleaning out the filter, that sort of thing.

Looks good though. Lucky you!

 

[Warehouse]

Totally agree with what CezzaXV said about week 5. Tank maintenance is a fantastic idea..
 
Also, in my own home experience with cycling the tank, by the time i actually got around to adding the fish the kids had lost all interest. If there's anyway you can have an actual finished setup in there so that the kids can see what they're aiming for, then it can only be a good thing to show them the goal. Even if it's something small like an edge tank.

 

[Chris0422]

Just keep it simple and take is slow.  Make sure they have a know what you have taught or else all will be lost and the fish will suffer.

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

Thanks for the suggestions! That is a good idea, tank maintenance instead of diseases.  We'll probably talk a little about diseases like DGD, and NTD on week 3 anyways, as a warning for the kids who might want those.  I'm going to give them as much choice as possible with that, that way it's more their tank, and not what I told them they can have.  I'll definitely do hand-outs either way, that way they have something to look at if their fish are sick, so they don't have to remember what we talked about.  I'll probably do a hand-out every week, that way they have it just in case, and so they don't have to remember 8 weeks worth of lessons after the class is over!
 
I can show the kids my tanks, since the class is going to be at my house.  I have my 55 gallon south american biotope, and my 6.6 gallon betta tank.  I'm hoping that since it's a class that they won't get bored of the cycling, I know if I weren't taking some classes that I take I would never do those things, hopefully that applies until they get the fish, and want to take care of their new pets lol.
 
The class tank will be about a week ahead of the rest so that I can teach them about stuff like acclimating the fish the week before they go and get their fish.  I'm actually thinking about getting the class fish the week before the acclimating lesson (after class!), that way I can show them how to do water changes, and for that one week I'll take the class fish (I think I'm going to get a 5 gallon with a betta, lol) out of the tank.  Then I can teach acclimating after the water change, and mention that you don't have to take the fish out of the tank to clean it, that was just to show them about acclimation! I'm either getting a 5 gallon, or a 45 gallon (I know big difference!) because I found a 45 gallon on craigslist, and I may keep that as the class tank (if I can convince my parents...), or I'll have to buy a tank, in that case I'll get a 5 gallon.
 
Thanks again for the suggestions everyone!

 

[MissLori]

I think it's great that the kids will be learning to be patient and to do things the right way rather than run out and buy a bunch of neat-looking fish like so many (adults included) do. 
 
My only suggestion is to contact local local pet stores who carry fish, explain what you are doing and definitely include the curriculum you detailed above, and ask them to donate any supplies, fish, or gift cards that the class can use.  It's best to call first and ask for the fish department manager or at lease obtain that person's name and send them a request letter.  Be sure and call each person 4-5 days after mailing the letter and follow-up (if you miss them ask what hours they work or the best day/time to reach them).  The big box stores (Petco, PetSmart, etc.) typically deal with all charitable donations at their corporate offices so ask for that contact information and send request letter to them as well.
 
It wouldn't hurt to ask the kids to write their names and ages on the back of each letter - it's more personal that way.
 
You will likely be surprised at the support you might receive!
 
Good luck!