According to the NC State’s University Housing Agreement, “Except for fish (limit 10-gallon tank), no animals, birds or pets of any kind shall be permitted in the premises at any time. However, there is an exception for service animals.”
If the fish fits in a 10-gallon tank, you can keep it in your room. With the pet selection so slim, the only question that remains is, what fish should you keep?
“Ten gallons, that’s a tough call,” said Gregory Lewbart, a professor of aquatic medicine at NC State University. “I’ve been taking care of fish as a veterinarian for 28 years. So much depends on the size of the fish. Ten gallons may seem like a lot but it’s a pretty small volume for an animal to spend its whole life.”
Lewbart said he follows a general rule of two liters of water per every gram of fish.
“A 10-gallon tank is about 40 liters, allowing for around 75 to 100 grams of fish, or about 3 ounces,” Lewbart said. “If your filtration is good and your heating is good for the species, you’re talking about a biomass of fish that is about one good-sized goldfish.”
Lewbart said that he measures based off of grams instead of inches because the density of the fish matters more than the length when it comes to measuring the amount of resources needed. Lewbart said that several different types of fish could fit in the 10-gallon criteria.
“With a good filter [in a 10-gallon tank], you could keep one goldfish, a couple of bettas or some tetra,” Lewbart said. “These are schooling fish. They’re very small and I think it would be reasonable to keep five to 10 of these.”
Lewbart recommended that people considering the betta fish should only get two if the pair is one female and one male, because bettas of the same sex are prone to fighting. In addition to betta fish, goldfish and tetra, Lewbart offered other possibilities.
“Another option would be tiger barbs,” Lewbart said. “These are fish that won’t get bigger than about an inch. There’s a fish called a Kuhli Loach, those are very slim little fish. A few of those would do fine as well.”
Lewbart said that another option students could take is getting a mini reef tank. These are tanks of invertebrates that might not have any fish at all but, according to Lewbart, can be quite attractive and can even fit in tanks smaller than five gallons.
“Having a pet fish on campus can be very relaxing and soothing, especially when you are stressed out over work,” said Daniel Allen, a sophomore studying environmental sciences. “It can also give some much needed structure to the day.”
Once students pick the fish they want to keep, they need to know how to care for them. Lewbart said that there are several different things students need to know about caring for fish.
“If you could get this in the article I would be very happy,” Lewbart said. “Number one is always quarantine any new fish except for the first one you buy. If you’re going to add a fish you always want to try and isolate it for about a month to make sure it’s healthy when it comes from the pet store.”
Lewbart said another important action fish owners need to take is to periodically change the water in the fish’s tank.
“Definitely about 30 percent a month,” Lewbart said. “You can do that once a week, roughly 10 percent a week. What I like to do is 15 percent every two weeks.”
Lewbart said that it is also important to test the parameters of the water about once a month. These can be done with purchased test kits, but many pet stores will test tank water for free, according to Lewbart.
