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Originally Posted by Tommy Gun  ...Before anyone brings up the Betta idea, I would just say that yes, a one gallon tank is obviously an upgrade from the tiny cup which they are often kept in on a store shelf, however, because of the info and ideas I mentioned above (by the way, I added to my post while you were reading it and posting your reply) regarding how easy and/or quickly water quality can degrade in small bodies of water, I think even a Betta fish might become problematic or 'risky', so to speak... |
You've probably heard it all before...but I'll say it again (I guess). It was good that you moved your fish into a larger tank. Personally, I have a 46 gallon tank for goldfish (but I have more than one in there also). Other than congrats and thanks, I have a couple thoughts I'd like to share.
The Betta idea. Been there, done that. I had a gorgeous red Betta (named 'Sushi') in a 1 gallon tank. I changed the water weekly, etc. He got sick and died (just this week in fact). Bottom line...the tank was TOO COLD for a Betta. I had him on my desk at work and discovered (when I went to feed him) to my horror that during the weekends (when the office was closed), his tank was getting down to the mid-60's!! Bettas perfer a temp closer to 80 degrees--and, yes, I had a heater in the tank! The point is, 1 gallon is such a small volume of water, it's hard to control.
So I have a couple of ideas for your 1 gallon. First if you feel like you want to invest a LITTLE bit of time (and get a heater for it), you can use it as a brine shrimp hatchery and grow live fish food. It really only takes 1 quart of water or so to hatch brine shrimp so the 1 gal should work well. I've hatched them in 1 quart and in 5 gallons of water--so 1 gal should work just fine.
Secondly, you might be able to house a little fish like a White Cloud Mountain Minnow. White Clouds are schooling fish so that might not be ideal either (because you'd want to put about 3 in there to reduce stress on the fish). The point (and main idea) is that it's best to research aquarium fishes a little bit and see what's out there and what it requires.
Fish stores typically sell goldfish as 'starter' pets because they are cheap and are cold water fish (so room temperature water is supposed to be OK for them). Even with that, they don't like water warmer than the mid 70's so 'room temperature' is a relative term. Goldfish can tolerate water down to about 50 degrees, as I understand it, but they don't like it warmer than about 77. The LFS also sell Bettas as 'starter' pets because Bettas breath room air--so people are led to believe that water quality doesn't matter. However, in reality Bettas need very warm water upper 70's to mid 80's and goldfish need space (because they get large).
So try to learn HOW BIG a fish species is expected to get, what temperature range they need, and what water parameters they need. So, I mentioned the White Cloud Mountain Minnows because they are cold water fishes (so room temp is OK) and they don't get larger than around 1-1/2". However, they
don't breathe air and water cleanliness is more important. In any case, even with the Bettas, water quality is important! I have seen pictures of fish with ammonia burns on them! Freshwater fish absorb water through their skin (as opposed to drinking it like saltwater fish do)--so if the water is dirty, they'll be 'poisoned' by it and suffer.
You might even be able to put a Pygmy Frog in the 1 gallon (they breath room air) but you'll still need a heater for it. The frogs are a bit dirty so you'll need to keep up with the water changes. Also, they pretty much ONLY eat worms, IME. That's no problem as bloodworms are available at the pet store. They come freeze dried and frozen--and live. I feed my fish LIVE bloodworms.
Only a couple bucks for around an ounce of live bloodworms. You can keep the worms alive for WEEKS in the fridge. I keep mine in a plastic container (with a tight lid--or they WILL crawl out!!) in the fridge. The worms are submerge in water--and the key to keeping them alive--I put a small scrap of bread in the container and the worms feed on it. I'll put a 1" square piece of bread in there and they live off it for over 2 weeks! Easy, cheap, live food. Once a day stir up the worms and rinse them with cold water carefully pouring off the dead worms and the filth from the container. If you put bread in the container, you'll have almost NO dead worms! Mine used to die by a dozen a day! Once I put the bread in there, they stay alive for weeks. Petty cost effective food!
Well, those are my ideas for your 1 gallon. Let us know what you come up with.
