pet fish in the dorm room

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hey...

i'm thinking about getting some fish for a pet while i'm living in a dorm...
[ i love animals so i want some companions] and they are allowed

"Fish in small tanks are allowed; other pets are not!"

that is specifically what they say...

does any one have any suggestions...

like:

-how many would fit in a "small" tank [i don't know what they classify as a small tank]
-what species would be good?
-what is the best way of transporting the fish in the car?
-how far is too far for the fish to travel unharmed? [like say around 6 hours is how long it would have to be to get there]
-would it be fine on a desk...what about the vibrations?

in general...just suggestions/advice...
thanks!

i had a fish tank before when i lived with my parents; i loved it. now i move a lot, so i cannot have one, but once i settle down for a little longer i get one for sure.

i used to know about it everything from books, but the knowledge is gone by now

will have to re-read it again, this looks good:
http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazin ... ginner.htm

i admire the questions you ask, they are very good, the fish will have good lives with you

do fish have problems with long car-rides...i see every reason why they would

definitely, they get stressed. they usually survive but it might shorten their life span. it's always better if you buy them as near as possible, but if it has to be, keep them in darker place in a plastic bag filled with an air above the water and try to move with it as little as possible.

but then i have a question abot something else along the line...

if i get some fish, i'll go home for a few days, would i ask someone to take care of them for me?

but then during the summer when i go home...would i take them home with me or just keep them there...?
[i can't bear being away from my animals for more than a day]

i'm thinking about long school breaks..

are there fish that have a natural short life?
[because i wouldn't want to shorten their life because of my actions]

The general rule of thumb for fish is about 1in of fish per 1 gallon of tank. Some species it's a bit different, you can ask most of the people at something like a petco and they can help. Actually smart kids there...

Don't bother with neon tetras, as they die quick. Same with those 'baby sharks'. Mollies, Guppies and Goldfish are always awesome. And get a sucker fish if you don't want to have to clean the tank constantly.

Small tank probably means bowl. But, if you can get away with a 10 gal tank, thats a decent size to have. If you can only get the bowl, try a male Betta. ONLY ONE!! ! They kill each other if in the same tank. But they are very pretty. Get one who's fins aren't shredded to snot, as he's in better shape and not on the verge of death. Learned that one the hard way.

Also, if they don't allow a larger tank, save some money and go to the home decor section of a WalMart and grab one of those dorky vases you see there that you're supposed to put pretty rocks in. WAY cheaper than an actual fish bowl.

Don't over stuff the tank with loads of plants. Do try and get a plastic backdrop, fish seem to be less scared of their tank when you have one. And don't get a tank you caint lift, cause at some point you need to clean it, and dropping your nice glass tank is kinda a bummer. There are siphon kits sold next to the fish, get one with a screen so you can empty the tank from time to time, because no matter how clear the water is, it does become stale.

Don't bother with a bubbler unless you getting a tank bigger than ten gal, it's more of an annoyance to the fish than it helps. Filters are always a nice bet, they help keep the tank from smelling like sushi.

Fish really do hate long car rides, so unless you must, buy them close to their new home. They also hate bouncing in the waves for any length of time, as they are accustomed to the nice safe tank. So wrap them in a soft blanket and set them in the least bouncy spot in the car.

I hope I haven't been to babbly, I know loads about fish from mum and my old friend who works in a specialty shop. So if you have a question I didn't answer, as me, I ought know or can point you somewhere that does.

PS: As pretty as they are, if this is your first tank, DO NOT get saltwater fish. They are tricky buggers to keep alive. Once you get a better idea of how your enviroment is, then you can get them.

cool thanks alot!

would it be fine on a desk...what about the vibrations?

The thing about desks is that things tend to get knocked off them if they're also used for study (I committed sea-monkey genocide that way when I was 10 ). Windowsills would be ideal, unless the sunlight is too strong (maybe if you added a sunken ship/hidey-hole it would be okay).

Your best bet would be to put up a shelf or desk especially for the tank, or keep it well back on a counter (would your room-mates mind if you kept it in the kitchen?)

i'll probably have a single...
and they would think...mmmm...LUNCH...
just joking...

i wouldn't put it next to the kitchen...i am very protective of my animals.

what would you suggest for a semster-length fish?

because i would have to go home for the summer.

from time to time it's healthy for them to keep them on a diet, like for a week or so. most beginners usually overfeed them.


well, you cannot leave them alone for more than two weeks with no food. so you have no choice but to take them with you. unless you can find someone who will be feeding them with portions you prepared before yourself. fish will eat until they die, some people think that they are hungry because they still keep eating so they keep feeding them and then...


every kind of fish requires different conditions and lives different kind of life. i am sure you will find the best kind that will suit you. do the research.

Actually, Mum and I both had success with these 'feed stones' we got a pet marts. They last something like a month, and the fish don't gorge out on them.

cool, i never heard of it. it's been years since i was obsessed by it.
good to know.

Triops. They are not a fish, they are like a miniature horseshoe crab. You hatch them from dry packets of eggs. They live about 90 days. Then you siphon all the water out of the tank, let the sand at the bottom dry out for a certain length of time and hatch new Triops when you add water again.

Bowls won't do. Unless you want to change the water every other day or more, you really do need a filter. You should understand how the bacteria on the filter turn toxic (very, it hurts it burns) ammonia from fish waste into also toxic nitrite (very) and another kind of bacteria turn that to toxic (but not very) nitrate, which you must remove with live plants or by changing out water.

Goldfish get big and need large tanks.

Guppies are the shortest lived common aquarium fish I know of, at about 18 months.

If you're driving you can move fish long distances in coolers, with battery-powered bubblers and maybe a partial water-change along the way.

i'm assuming even in the coolers that the fish will experiance stress...and with harm the little guys...[i mean in life-lenght]

I wouldn't worry about a twice a year move with a six hour drive, so long as you're careful. The fish will hate it, but come out okay.

My opinion is that vitality and longevity of aquarium fish is all about water-quality. Constant stress of being shaken around in transport can't be good for fish, but you'll more than make up for a stressful day or two by keeping the water really perfect every day.

I'd get one of those 'Eclipse System Six' kit-tanks which has a filter (quite a good one) built into the lid. Six gallons is small on your desk, but nice for a single betta fish -- you won't have to do water-changes very often and he'll have room to swim around and do amusing little fish antics, bettas are pretty owner-interactive for such little fish if they have the space. They're anabantids, and those kinds of fishes are really tolerant of low-oxygen and dirty water in the short term, so when you move you can just siphon the little tank half-empty so it doesn't slosh and try to keep the temperature inside stable.