ideas for one gallon mini aquarium

[Pooky125]

Josh, im tired of arguing with you. its quite obvious your never going to see this anyway but one. as for charlie, id say spring for the 2 gallon and get a heater for it, and put a few white clouds in it, if thats what you really want.

 

[ChazECJr]

Why don't we just close this topic, I don't want to perpetuate an argument either.  But for the record, if you read the link I posted, the person who wrote it said his fish "thrived", not "survived."

But nevermind, I see everyone here has their mind made up on this one.  Thank you all for your comments.

 

[JWright]

Very well, we'll drop it. I do ask that you please consider the fact that 6 posters have reccomended against this idea, only one has agreed with you, and that one seems to have a very non-chalant attitude towards fish.

Why not buy a 10g? The difference in price would be almost nothing, and the benefits for your fish would be more than worth it.

Josh

 

[ryanp15]

I'm not trying to jump in or keep this argument going on but let me say this to you charlie, don't put more than 1 fish in a 1 gallon mini bowl thing. It's horrible to keep fish in a tank that's to little for them, it's like putting you into a 3'X3' room and expecting you to be happy. Would you be? I don't think so, so why should your fish? Just something to think about.

Another thing that 2nd website guy can't even use simple English so how serious are you going to take him??? 8)

 

[colesea]

I am the one who has happily kept three white clouds (1m/2f) and a single male betta quite happy in a 2 gallon UGF aquarium kit. These fish are still living there, are apparently quite happy to me, I say they're thriving if they're still alive by now after two years of life. Sure, the white clouds won't breed under these conditions, but I don't want them to anyway. Thriving doesn't always include breeding, or else by that standard since I have no children after ten years of sexual maturity, I should be stressed out. So it does stand to reason that perhaps two white clouds and a betta could be happy in a one gallon UGF tank, provided their nutrional needs and water quality are maintained. White clouds and bettas don't have large metabolic outputs the way a goldfish would. They're not going to pollute the water with their waste that drasticly provided they are fed the appropriate moderation and no left over food is going to rot in the tank.  People are worried about water quality in small tanks stressing the fish, do water changes more often. Small volume changes more frequently are better than large volume changes occassionally for any tank, although theroretically water changes are a stress to fish as well, so in order not to stress fish out, aquarist shouldn't do water changes right? Oh what a world of paradox! According to purist the only optimal requirements are the natural ones. Unless you plan to have a full scale rice patty or moutain stream in your house, you'll never achieve optimal habitat in any size tank. Both bettas and white clouds are very undemanding fish that do quite well in a wide assortment of habitat conditions provided they have proper nutrition and water quality. White clouds that are not stressed out are rather peaceful fish that don't dart about a tank like mad. The ones in my 2g seem more relaxed then the school of 24 I have in the display tank that dart about like mad all the time. Hell, I've read sites that say betta's shouldn't even go into those one gallon UGF tanks because bettas want still water surfaces, and the bubbles created by the air stone, and an agitated surface is a disturbing stress to them. And in defense of Charlie. He and I have been in communication about this topic for at least three months now. He is definately an above average aquarist, has researched the topic quite extensively, weighed all pros and cons, and does sincerely care about the well being of his fish. I wouldn't reccommend someone attempt what he has proposed had they just walked off the street and decided they just had to have a fish. Charlie is very intelligent, and I feel confident in his aquatic experience to think he'd have success with what he wants to do. Nor would I give advice about something I have not sucessfully achieved and maintained. While there is a big differance between one and two gallons, the formulas are the same, so the only way to truely know if it would work is to try it. What most "professional" aquarist don't understand is that not everyone has the money or time to invest in large aquatic set up with all the do-dads and work that goes along with them. While yes, advising to get a larger tank of at least ten gallons is wise, not everyone can afford, or even wants, a ten gallon tank. Sure, the quick and easy way to get out of helping these folk is to say "then just don't have fish" but this doesn't accomplish anything since by that standard, many people just shouldn't have children. The better approach is to help people understand the limitations of small volume tanks, and to help them figure out what is right for them regarding what they wish to achieve and gain from aquarium keeping.  Many conventions of fishkeeping can be broken provided the aquarist is well informed, knows what they're doing, and has the best interest of the fish at heart. To say "it can't be done" deprives the Wright Brothers of flight.  
Life is something very precious. We should all want the best for our fishies and provide for them the best care within our means. Just because I can't afford the koi pond of my dreams doesn't mean I should let my six fantails suffer from lack of care in their twenty gallon tank. They get the best I can provide, and have now been thriving with me for over a year dispite all the conventional goldfish keeping rules I'm breaking. If anybody wants to dig me and maintain the koi pond of my dreams because they feel my goldfish need better care, please, I'll have the shovel waiting for you. I can't afford to pay you, but you don't need the money anyway, right?
If it wasn't for our forefathers experimenting in fish keeping, we wouldn't have the thriving hobby we do today.
Thank you, ~~Colesea *not a member of PETA, although I'm begining to suspect that some of our members most certainly are*

 

[JWright]

First off, if you're gonna launch on a diatribe like that again, use paragraph breaks...

Are you trying to make a fool of yourself by comparing yourself to a fish? You make a concious choice to reproduce or not, fish naturally reproduce if the conditions lend themselves to it. If you can't tell the difference between the sexual habit of you and your fish, then perhaps there are some issues that run deeper than overstocking...

Properly done, partial water changes won't stress fish. There is no such thing as too much fresh water.

True, a tank isn't natural. But a tank also lacks predetors, pollution, and a whole mess of other things that occur in their natural habitat.

Active mountain stream fish are supposed to "dart around like mad," you don't tend to look "relaxed" in rushing water.

No one ever made any negative comments about Charlie's skills as a fish-keeper.

So, I'm the PETA wacko, and yet you're comparing a hobby that involves keeping fish in a glass box to a great first step in the development of powered flight?

You keep 6 goldfish in a 20 gallon? You plan on keeping them in there for any length of time? If so, I'm afriad I have lost a great deal of respect for you as an aquariust.

Josh

P.S. Arcab, I'll understand completely if you delete this post.

 

[arcab4]

ummm. i don't think i will delete your post. that's what messageboards are for anyways..expressing individual opinions. i would just say tone it down on the personal attacks to each other.   i'm sure you guys can express your opinions w/o attacking each other personally.

i'm sure everyone's got their opinion in so i'm going to close this topic. if you have any questions, please email me.