About Christy Expertise I can answer some questions regarding freshwater fish ranging from their care to diagnosing common diseases or problems with the fish. I can also answer questions regarding the care and maintenance of an aquarium. I haven't had much luck with live plants, so can't help in that area very much. Not real good with explaining salt water or brackish set ups too well either. Also regarding goldfish, I have some comets, and have a little experience with them but mostly just general info on them. I AM NOT THAT FAMILIAR WITH ANY OF THE FANCY VARIETIES OF GOLDFISH. YOU MIGHT BE BETTER DIRECTING THOSE QUERIES TO AN EXPERT MORE FAMILIAR WITH THEM. If I can't answer or don't know something, I'll let you know, so don't be upset if I reject your question, I'll always explain why. I would just rather not answer then give an answer I'm not confident about.
Experience All personal, first hand, general fishkeeping experience. I've had fresh water aquariums now for about 7 years. I've had tropical/community fish tanks, African cichlids, South American cichlids, brackish water puffer fish, and a lot of other varieties in between.
Education/Credentials None, all personal experience
Question Would it be okay for me to keep a small fish in a glass tank with a circumference of 18nches and a height of 5 inches? Also, would I need to have a real filtration system and heating system, etc, to keep the fish healthy? What kind offish, if any, could I keep?
Answer Hi Emili
I'm of the opinion that no fish should be kept in anything less then a 5 gallon filtered tank. That's just me.....other's will say a 1 or 2 gallon tank with or without a filter is ok for a betta. Then you've got your betta breeders and such that will commonly keep their bettas in small cups or containers and say that's fine. You can research the topic and you'll find a wide variety of answers on it :)
But my reasoning is, all fish will do best in a filtered tank. And, it's easier to maintain the fish tank with a filter in it. A tank that has a filter, you only need to do water changes once a week, changing 25% each week-and that's on average for a normal stocked tank. If you have a tank with no filter, then you're looking at having to do water changes every other day or so depending on the size. Plus, having a filtered tank that's fully cycled, you generally won't need to worry about the ammonia building up in the tank, because the beneficial bacteria will take care of it. See link:
Bettas, paradise fish, and gouramis are all known as labrynth(sp) fish, and are known to take in most of their oxygen from the surface. So, they "technically" don't need a filter on the tank, but it is better for them for the reasons I listed above.
The other problem with smaller tanks, it's nearly impossible to keep them heated to the proper temperature. I have a 10 gallon tank, and a proper sized heater for it(50 watts), and that thing heats up almost too much in the winter time, at the lowest setting. They do make mini heaters for smaller tanks, but they'll generally only heat up the water another 4° from where it's at. Bettas-the more commonly kept fish in smaller tanks, really should have a temp at least 78°F to survive and do well. Paradise fish can tolerate cooler temps into the mid 60-low 70°F range, but really should be in a larger tank.
So, to answer your question, again my opinion, I wouldn't suggest using that as a tank for any type of fish. Again, if you want a smallish tank like that, I would suggest looking for at least a 5 gallon, and you could go with a betta easily in that. If you're in the US, try looking on craigslist or LSN -local shopping network, I've seen and gotten quite a few good deals on tanks that site.
