I have no experience in regards to babies and reef tanks, BUT, my niece (4) loves to come over and play with our catfish in the big tank. She loves to stand on a stool, and hold the pieces of fish and pellet and wait for one of the two to come up and slurp her fingers while searching for the hidden chunk, inside a clamped little fist. Neither of the catfish have the capability to actually bite her, (one not mentally, and the other physically deformed) and she loves when the RTC's whiskers come out of the water touch her face, and the giggles break out. I don't have kids toys at my house, aside from the random stuffed animals from claw machines (boring), and our 360 which she plays for a while... so she gets hours of fun with them and I too, have a blast. I bet our new niece would love our salt tank.