So I am in college, and want to start up a small aquarium to keep in my dorm. We have a 20gal limit for dorm policy, and my funds are also limited. I have a betta in a small bowl with rocks, a fake plant, and a little castle. He is content, but it is so boring. My mother is going to give me her old 10 gallon tank from her old freshwater setup, which includes a filter, heater, light, etc. I'm a newb and don't know too much about fish and what I can keep. From doing some online research, I heard its better to do freshwater than saltwater. i just want something interesting to watch with alot of movement, colors, and life. I want it to look natural kind of like a lake bottom or something. Any ideas what to do?
College Kid Starting an Aquarium
- Thread starter alexrjohnson
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Not if your funds are limited. You also need to learn a lot and put a lot of work into it. Not too much you can do with a SW 10-gal tank either.alexrjohnson said:
Stick with freshwater it's much easier.
Hiya alexrjohnson, welcome to boards..
Fresh water is far easier to setup and maintain than salt. If you have no experience with keeping fish, i would recommend running a freshwater tank to start with to give you some basic understanding of fish needs, habitats, getting used to equiptment and routines..While you are running a freshwater tank, start doing research on keeping marine fish and when you start that, you will realise its a different world when you join the dark side..
I Kept fresh water fish for a good few years before branching to marines and it really helped to give me some basics to help me with salt..
Also, in a 10 Gal marine, you would not be able to keep much stock in there when you have the equiptment, sand, rock etc..prob 1 or 2 fish average sized fish....
Hope this helps you out
Fresh water is far easier to setup and maintain than salt. If you have no experience with keeping fish, i would recommend running a freshwater tank to start with to give you some basic understanding of fish needs, habitats, getting used to equiptment and routines..While you are running a freshwater tank, start doing research on keeping marine fish and when you start that, you will realise its a different world when you join the dark side..
I Kept fresh water fish for a good few years before branching to marines and it really helped to give me some basics to help me with salt..
Also, in a 10 Gal marine, you would not be able to keep much stock in there when you have the equiptment, sand, rock etc..prob 1 or 2 fish average sized fish....
Hope this helps you out
learn the basics of water chemistry, quality, cycling and the use of the equipment with FW first. The fish are hardier (i.e. harder to kill) and you need less initial investment, both money and time, to get it running. The enjoyment/cost ratio is much friendlier in FW. Once you're confident and when money and time allow then you can make the jump to SW. Nothing like spending $1000+ on a small 10g SW tank only to realize it's more work than you expected and you really don't have the time or other funds to support it.
I find saltwater more rewarding, but you'd probably be better off sticking with freshwater for now. Buy a saltwater tank after you finish college and start making the big money. 