"the bigger the better" or "less is more"

[v3x10e8]

20gal, 29gal, 50gal, 100gal???  *laughingcryingsmiley*
for a college student living in a double room, this could be a nightmare.  (just think about it, how disproportionated this might seem)
on the other hand,
for a college student living in a double room which no pets other than fish are allowed, it is also a nightmare not to have any fish.
So the dilemma goes.
But is having a 5 gal tank with a solitary fish really a good idea? (miniBow5 or eclipse 6)

 

[fishboy]

WOW! jeese! U could make a self and put a five for a solitary fish in it such as a  betta

 

[WonderFish]

Do you have a limit on how many gallons you can keep?  I live in a dorm room, but we aren't allowed to have more than 10 gallons.  So, that's what I keep in my dorm room.  

 

[catfishmike]

why can you keep only one fish,both can keep a couple fish.i have 3 corys and 2 yoyo loaches in a 5gal planted tank.the tank is a regent galaxy5.it's the same as an eclipse6 minus one gallon.you could get these tanks at wal-mart,where i also seen a 5gal.hex sold under the name aqua-tech,which is also the same company.check the manufacture marks on the box.

 

[v3x10e8]

seriously, even a 10 gal tank would look ridiculous in my room.
but my real question is: is it better to have a 5 gal tank or no tank at all (for the potential fish, betta or any other fish)
also:
 does anyone have a miniBow? how is the lighting? since i will be keeping plants.

wonderfish,
since you have experience in keeping fish in a dorm, has moving ever been a problem?
                      thanks  

 

[WonderFish]

No it's not a problem, but I live within 20 minutes of my school.  It may be different if you lived farther away.  And if you were flying or driving. My roommate next semester has fish too and she gave her's too someone to keep over the summer cause she didn't want to take it on the plane with her. She lives in Montana, school is in California.  I'm summer babysitting my former roommate's fish.  She went on a mission trip so she left it with me.    A good thing about the smaller tank, is that you have less to move, especially if you have to fly to school.  

I have a smaller 2 gallon that I use to put the fish in when moving.  I cover the top with a plastic bag. Plus I keep a betta.  I cover the top of it too so no water splashes out.  There was one time though that moving the fish didn't work out so good.  I was making a u-turn to go home and I heard my fish beginging to fall over so I turned and looked and tried to stop them.  Well, I ended up on the divider just inches from a tree.  Not fun. :-[  The fish were ok though.

Just wondering, but why would even a 10 gallon look rediculous in your room?  Is it that small?  If you really want some fish to keep and look at while at school then go for it.  You can keep fish in a 5 gallon.   Just stay small and few in number. How about a few zebra danios, or white clouds? Any other fish 2 inches and under? And a few cories maybe?  

 

[catfishmike]

yea i have a mini-bow there ok,but the wisper filter is a little weak if you want more than a betta.mini-bow comes with an incandesent bulb.i did try to grow plants in my mini-bow but plants will only live not grow in incandesent light.a five is fine for a dorm.once again check out wal-mart,all the tanks i talked about before are beter than the min-bow5 IMO.but if that's all you can get that will work fine

 

[colesea]

When I lived in my dorm we weren't allowed to have any pets at all.

But since I was the RA, I said, screw that, and got myself a two gallon tank and had one betta and one cory in it. Nothing fancy, no live plants, and it fit right on my dest hidden behind the bookshelf.

That betta and cory lived for four years and three states.

It was better than having no fish at all.
~~Colesea

 

[Medic6666]

I have a 5.5gal bow front tank, and I have 6 plastic plants a little castle thing and 5 neons 5 zebra dinos and 2 corys.

I have up'ed the filter to a better one and the fish are fine.

You are only restricted with the size of the fish really. You could get smaller fish and then have more of them.

Good luck

Medic6666

 

[v3x10e8]

hi, thanks for all the feedback  *thumbsupsmiley*
i live 2 hr (driving time) away from school, and will have to move at least once every year, so i guess a smaller tank would be easier to take care of.
I went to the lfs the check out the minibow today, the clerk told me the incandicent light is 25w, which "plants will not grow"
i have also read the spec of eclipse 6, which has a 8w fuorescent light, which has been said to be good, but not greaat.
assuming my infomation is correct, does fuorscent light really make so much difference? and would such system be upgradable?
thankz.  *twirlysmiley*

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

I have a little 5 gallon aquarium with a mated pair of killifish, a few rathbuna tetras and one or two algae shrimp. Just provide good filtration, keep up on the water changes and you're golden. Pour all your efforts into one aquarium if you cannot have many, and have the best 5 gallon ever (except mine mwa ha ha!)

 

[Medic6666]

from what I understand the lighting issue is only a problem if you are going to use real plants.

I got some plastic ones the other day and have now thrown my real plants out. the plastic ones I have look real enough and are much easier to look after.

Some people just prefer real plants. I prefer a easy to look after tank and have now got that.

good luck

Medic6666

 

[colesea]

I have the Eclipse System Six now, and for the two years it has been running, I think it is awsome.

But then again, I've never grown live plants in it. From what I've read of other people posting, there has been various success rates. The light is good (flourscent blubs are better than incandecent ones because incandecents product too much heat and can throw your temps off) enough for some low-light plants, but you're not going to get the lush jungle growth of bigger tanks with major light investments. You'll have growth, it will just be very slow, and you'll need to use some form of ferts.

The hood of the Eclipse Six also doesn't make upgrades easy (I believe next to impossible). There might be a compact bulb you can fit in there, but I haven't tried it personally.

I love my system six and hope to try some java moss in there in the near future (I killed the Anachris I tried in there once. Me and live plants don't mix<G&gt.
~~Colesea

 

[Fishiebusiness]

Keeping tanks i small rooms at college is smth i'm familiar with. Keeping small tanks is a good idea as they are easy to move around. I have the tiniest dorm room (8'x15'). Described as a dead end hall with a door by some who have seen it. Yet i mage to keep 3 tanks. A 10G a 6G and a 5G. Small tanks can be made just as beautiful and interesting as bigger tanks. I suggest a planted 5 gallon as a nice high light to any dorm room. I started with my 6 gallon eclipse, then i had to add a 10 gallon reef, then i just HAD to add a 5 gallon refugium to the reef. The good part is, the more lighting I add, the more i've saving from the flat rate utilities, heh heh heh. Heres a pic:

 

[Fishiebusiness]

Concerning the Eclipse 6. It is quite possible to keep it lushly planted just on the standard lighting. Before i upgraded my eclipse 6, i had java fern, anubias, javamoss, saggitaria all growing nicely. Of course being the plant freak that i am now, i had to upgrade. Regarding how I upgraded, i removed the biowheel filter (not so great when you want to add co2) and in its place i put a 18 watt Power compact (35 or so dollars on ebay, 13 watts are pretty cheap ~$18 and almost as good). For filtering, i got a fluval internal for 20 bucks at the LFS and use it to inject some CO2 as well. So if you find that you're really liking plants, a eclipse 6 can be upgraded to allow for even very high light plants for about 60 dollars, and mostly cheaper if you shop around more than I.  
Now that i think more about it, i actually think it would be a better idea to get a All-Glass 7 gallon bowfront. Its priced about the same as the Eclipse, and a 32 watt PC retrokit fits right into its stock fixture, meaning no need to replace any filters. Also the eclipse is easily scratched (i scratched mine with a plastic spoon, yes a cheap plastic spoon).