# Fishy people



## Locket (Jun 21, 2009)

I really love fish, but don't have the space or time (or money) to dedicate to a tank. I have a 2 gallon fish bowl, and while I love betas and miss my red boy Sake, I was hoping to get 2-3 small fish. 

Are there any small fish that can live in a fish bowl? Guppies perhaps?


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Locket said:


> I really love fish, but don't have the space or time (or money) to dedicate to a tank. I have a 2 gallon fish bowl, and while I love betas and miss my red boy Sake, I was hoping to get 2-3 small fish.
> 
> Are there any small fish that can live in a fish bowl? Guppies perhaps?


There aren't a lot of good choices for a tank that size. The general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. That doesn't get you a lot of fish.

Guppies would almost work if you got two females and one male and paid close attention to water conditions. Endlers are a close relative of guppies, but they're slightly smaller than the modern fancy guppy. I wouldn't do all males because they can get aggressive, and two gallons really isn't enough space to keep them from chewing holes in each others fins. I definitely wouldn't do two males and one female; the poor girl will be harassed to death.

I wouldn't do zebra danios or white clouds. They are both very active schooling fish. Keeping two or three in a tank would be cruel. They wouldn't have the swimming room they enjoy, and they'd be unhappy without a group. Most tetras are schooling fish as well and want to be in a group larger than two or three fish. (Pet peeve - I really hate it when people treat fish like decorations instead of the social animals they are. Very disrespectful to a pet not to take its mental health into consideration, even if the pet is just a fish.)

A fish you may never have heard of, the Rocket Panchax, might be worth looking at. They are tiny and gentle. Google _Pseudepiplatys annulatus_ to find out more about them. My hesitation in recommending them is that they tend to be wild caught, and there is some concern that the pet trade is having an impact on the wild populations. 

I personally would stick with a single betta in your situation. They do fine in a two gallon bowl. They do fine living alone. They are bred for the pet trade, so you aren't encouraging irresponsible collection of wild fish stocks.


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## Harley_chik (Nov 7, 2008)

You really couldn't swing a ten gallon tank? They aren't that big, don't take a whole lot of maintenence (as long as you don't have too many fish) and are are relatively inexpensive. I think mine was $40 for a kit w/ the hood, power filter and some other equipment. You should be able to find a kit now for $50 -60. I've added little things over the years, I replaced the power filter and added an undergravel filter, but nothing too bad. There are some nicer, all inclusive smaller tanks now, but they cost the same or even more than a standard 10 gallon and take up about as much room. I've wanted a bigger (40-50 gal), bowfront aquarium for a while, but that really does seem like a hassle. Just getting it home from the store would be difficult. ( I have fancy goldfish and just brought home my very first oranda.)


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## Locket (Jun 21, 2009)

Ideally I would get a 10 gal tank. I can afford it and have the time to up keep it, but the space is the problem. 
My hamster is taking up most of my desk space, so I would have to keep the bowl/tank on my night table and I don't think a 10 gal would fit, or if it did, it would take up ALL the space. That's why I was hoping to just stick to my bowl, but it's not a good environment for what I would like. If I get a beta again, I would like to add a heater (with my last beta, I checked the temp in the bowl once or twice a day to make sure it was 78) and if I'm going to add a heater, I'd rather just get a tank. 
haha, so alas, I guess I'll hold off on the fish until I free up some space for a tank.


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## PonkiPoodles (Feb 25, 2009)

I would not recommend guppies... they are very sensitive fish and die real easily. They are usually best kept in a tank with the right ph, filtration and air etc.

I do agree with cowpony on danios, white clouds and tetras.

Bettas are best kept in a bowl... any other fish really needs a tank where you can set up proper filtration and have better control over water quality and O2. 
Also betas are very hardy fish, and they have the ability to breathe air so you don’t have to be as much concerned about ph etc. for them to be happy and healthy.


I love goldfish, but they should not be kept in a bowl. I use to breed telescopes and bettas... but have since traded in my goldfish obsession for a "less maintenance" platy etc. community.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Right now I've got a five gallon tank going with no fish at all, just plants. I started it out with a few fistfuls of peatmoss on the bottom, a handful of crushed coral to keep the peat from dropping the pH too low, a couple of fertilizer tabs, and pool filter sand on top. It's fun to watch the plants take hold and decide where they want to grow. It's also kind of nice knowing that I can let things get a little out of hand without any fish coming to harm. Right now I've got a big glob of algae I should probably remove. I keep trying to convince myself it will form itself into a marimo ball if I get the filter pointed correctly. I think I'm deluding myself.


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## Harley_chik (Nov 7, 2008)

PonkiPoodles said:


> ...
> 
> 
> I love goldfish, but they should not be kept in a bowl. I use to breed telescopes and bettas... but have since traded in my goldfish obsession for a "less maintenance" platy etc. community.


As in Telescope Goldfish? If so, I think I may have to start harrassing you, lol. I don't think I'm quite ready to breed fish yet, but I'm thinking about more and more. Ideally I would have at least one tank in every room, or 5. I love my Goldfish, they're just so easy. I even have a goldfish tattoo; a calico telescope goldfish with long flowing fins.

Oh, and as easy as I made it sound, tanks weight a lot and you need to keep them on a stand or heavy piece of furniture. I've read a 10g tank with water, gravel and decorations can weigh 100lbs. Mine is on a small book shelf I bought at Walmart for under $30. It has a strong slat of wood that supports the middle.


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## PonkiPoodles (Feb 25, 2009)

Harley_chik said:


> As in Telescope Goldfish? If so, I think I may have to start harrassing you, lol. I don't think I'm quite ready to breed fish yet, but I'm thinking about more and more. Ideally I would have at least one tank in every room, or 5. I love my Goldfish, they're just so easy. I even have a goldfish tattoo; a calico telescope goldfish with long flowing fins.
> 
> Oh, and as easy as I made it sound, tanks weight a lot and you need to keep them on a stand or heavy piece of furniture. I've read a 10g tank with water, gravel and decorations can weigh 100lbs. Mine is on a small book shelf I bought at Walmart for under $30. It has a strong slat of wood that supports the middle.


Yep, telescope goldfish :biggrin:
They are really easy to breed, the problems start with hatching eggs and caring for the fry... that is probably the most difficult part.
Your tattoo sounds really cool, please share a pic... I would love to see what it looks like.


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

hey locket since space is an issue maybe you should consider one of those hex tanks. They give you the gallons but tall not wide so you have a few more choices and have have filter and heater and the like which you really need unless you're doing cold water fish like goldies they don't need a heater. They come in all sorts of sizes, we had a 7 gallon eclipse tank which was neat. A five gallon might be a good one? It would give you more leeway with what fish you could get and still properly care for. 

Also what about frogs instead of fish? dwarf frogs are kind of neat and supposed to be somewhat easy to keep. I never had any luck with them for long periods of time, I think my longest lived frog was a little over a year? But then don't go by me, I can't keep liver bears of any kind alive and get them to breed ROFL. I can do anything other type of fish thus far but don't give me guppies or mollies. I am especialy hard on guppies which sucks because they are my favorite!


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## Keithsomething (Oct 31, 2009)

Guppies are my favourite too wonderpup xD
but I hate mollies and platys >.<
every single one we've put in our tank have been EVIL EVIL fish and they torment the living h*** out of our violet gobi v.v;

we just added 4 Cherry Barbs ((about a week ago)) and 3 zebra today
and they've already started to school together  
I love schooling fish xD
((thats why we have 3 cory cats and plan on getting 3-4 more ^_^))


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## Harley_chik (Nov 7, 2008)

I haven't seen the pygmy frogs in so long, they're cute and pretty easy to care for. I don't think they need as much room as most fish either. I remember have 4 or 5 for years in a 1 gallon fish bowl. You have to be careful mixing them with fish b/c they are so small. Has anyone kept them w/ Bettas? 

Ponki, I would love to share a pic of my tattoo, but I don't have a good one, lol. It's over my shoulder blade, so I can't take a picture myself. The artist took a pic but never emailed it to me like he promised. I need to get my brother to do it sometime.


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## Raiko (Aug 26, 2009)

if you can fit a fishbowl you can probably fit a 2 gallon tank. they arnt big at all. 

I usually go bare bottom with those and use javamoss. Eventually the java will cover the bottom of the tank, you can add gravel to let it secure itself or let it continue to grow untethered.

You can put pothos in there or float a few phylodendron vines over the surface for added filtration.

The other nice thing bout lil tanks is you can use a turkey baster instead of a gravel vac.


In my 5.5 gallon I have a phylodendron weeping over the tank, Javamoss growing over an old coconut shell. My crowntail betta. A big apple snail, a dojo loach and will be getting a few ghost shrimp. (the loach is just a temporary companion. hell be joining a larger tank later but hes a baby right now)


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## harpenter (Dec 4, 2021)

Look at this reference, they say you can have even a small flock of guppy in a fish bowl. Guppy fish can survive anything. You don't even need a filter or a heater. I recommend putting a lot of java moss and moss balls in your bowl. Also, cherry shrimp will peacefully coexist with your guppies.

It's ideal fish for you as they do not require a lot of maintenance.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Wow, this thread is a blast from the past. I think I'm the only original participant that's even active on the forum any more.

I do still have my own guppy tank going. In retrospect I don't think I would have encouraged guppies in a 2.5 gallon tank. While three guppies would probably do ok, putting three guppies together tends to mean that you soon have many many guppies, LOL.

I do love shrimp.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Locket?!  Wow!! Now THAT caught my eye. lol
And Keithsomething! Two we haven't heard from in years...
It was Locket that started that huge Faces to Names thread.
I'm happy you didn't kill this Cowpony.
Nothing wrong with a fish thread in here.


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