New to all things fish

Hello, I'm a 19 year old animation major, living in a dorm.
I would love to have a fish for I find them fascinating and wonderful to draw and I would like to animate one eventually, actually. The thing is, most of the people I know(including my room mate) who own fish, don't seem to take good care of them. They have dirty tanks and all the poor beta I see have clamped fins and don't move much. SO I want to have a tank that will home a fish and keep said fish happy and healthy.

I'm joining this forum for said reason. I've already started to make a one gallon tank into what I hope will be a nice habitat. I've got a plant currently growing in it(sadly I don't really know what kind), some algae spreading and soon I'll be getting a snail. I still don't know what kind of fish I want, but I do want some kind that won't suffer being in such a small tank. I hope to learn how to choose a fish properly, how to take care of it properly and how to keep it from dying in a few weeks(like the ones my friends have had), from this site.

So...haha, my intro feels long, ah well, I guess it's time to search through the forums then.

odinthejd said:

Welcome....I would suggest that you only have snails and inverts in the tank because the is still pretty small for even a betta. I would suggest a 3-5gallon tank for a betta because it gives them more room and will make them happier. I am guessing the plant is a java fern or something. Do you have any pics?

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no, the plant is still growing, since I only started this tank a short while ago, so it's only in bulb form, tho' the pack I bought it in says it would produce pink flowers, I believe, and green leaves.
And sadly I would have gotten a larger tank, but honestly, with all the books I have and my limited desk space I only have room for a one gallon(I really wish I could fit a larger tank in my room).