how can i keep fish in my dorm?

[fishykid9212]

Im aloud to keep fish in my dorm and i wanted to have a couple saltwater fish, maybe a clownfish and a damsel or two, whats the minimum tank size I can use? thanks

[balmiesgirl]

you could get a little "nano cube" if its only for a few SMALL fish

[rickh]

You could but you would never be able to have any friends in your room or go away for the weekend. I'm kidding--sort of

[balmiesgirl]

A fish only tank is fairly easy. My daughter has a 12 gal nano cube and she loves it. You would have to keep friends from putting hands, etc....into it. But tell them "you play you pay" and that should help. For the weekends or holidays you might want an automatic feeder. But most important you'll have to remember to take the time to DO YOUR WATER CHANGES! So if you'll be too busy with studies you might want to think about it!

[m2434]

you could do what I did, rent the top floor of a house for 4 years and set up a 55g (cheap rent area)...

[seastar12]

A simple 10 gallon FOWLR should be easy to keep.

[ACBlinky]

I agree with everyone here, it can be done. There are lots of ways you can go about having a tank in your dorm, depending on the rules, your budget, and how much time/effort you can spare from your studies to look after the tank.

The larger the tank, generally speaking, the easier it will be to care for. With tiny tanks, things can go wrong very quickly if you don't keep up with maintenance. If your dorm and budget permit, you might want to go for something in the 20g range - maybe a 24g NanoCube, which is basically plug-n-play, would work well.

If, like my uni dorm, there's a size limit, you might have to go smaller. For me it was 10g. I wasn't experienced enough then for SW and kept 3 tiny goldfish in my 10g, but even a simple goldfish tank was enough to attract everyone to my room. Keep that in mind - you're going to be pretty popular for a while, whether you like it or not. If you're cycling with LR, you'll get a LOT of people asking you where the fish are. Do what I did while my tank was empty the first week - smile and say 'they're in there, just keep looking!'

If your budget is that of a typical uni student, you might want to pick up a 10g or 20g tank, a couple Maxi-Jet powerheads, a 50W heater, some base rock, some live rock, lighting of your choice and a little sand. Let the rock sit for a few weeks until levels show that it's cycled, and purchase a small fish - you mentioned damsels and clowns, IMO both are good choices. Wait a while for things to settle, and get another (unless you're getting clowns, in which case you may want to get two together). Then call it good, and enjoy! Remember to top the tank up daily with FW, and do a water change every week or so, and you should have a successful 'KISS' system.

If you want to go reef, it might be easiest (and more affordable) to stock the tank with softies, mushrooms, zoas etc. - you could get by with fluorescent lighting (2 T8s, PCs, or even a couple PC spiral bulbs in an incandescent fixture) and the tank will be more forgiving of lapses in maintenance.

One piece of advice - read up first. Check out the nano forum for info specific to smaller tanks, research lighting if you're not sure what you'll need for the animals you want to keep, decide on tank size, fish and corals and, if you like, post to ask people's opinions on your shopping list before you buy.

Have fun! And good luck in school

[Absint Reefer]

nano or bio cubes are geat modern and self contained but you may just have to check out the classifieds and get a small tank set up cheap

[wheresalbany]

I agree, keep it simple and follow the rules of the dorms. I got evicted once for having a 55 FW when the rules were under a gallon. oops. Now i have limited seating in my studio apartment because of 125 reef. I guess we all have to make sacrifices.

[loosbrew]

a nano or non at all. Anything bigger than a nano is an unwise idea due to the inevitability of having to move it every few months...


Luis