Years ago I tried to keep fish with little success. It was hard to keep them alive. I tried the exquisite dwarf African frogs and they were, by far, my favorites and the most heartbreaking to me when they died, one by one, not long after I got them. Don’t know what I did wrong but I found all of these creatures to be very sensitive and I came to feel it was wrong to keep them.
Also, if you don’t keep the tank clean (but remember to retain some of the old water for bacterial and PH balance, which is tricky too) the tank will smell. And small dorm rooms tend to get smelly without any help from the fish!
Our daughter’s townhouse roommates found a fish tank and so they decided they wanted to keep a fish because they wanted see the water and to watch the fish swim.
No one volunteered to care or pay for fish food, filters, upkeep and what to do on breaks. So one of them got a plastic fish leftover from a Luau, stuck it in the tank and they named him Fred (Flintstones which they had to look up on the internet). Everyone who entered daily said “Hello” to Fred. They were supposed to find a companion Barney for Fred but no one ever brought in a Barney.
Wait until you get to the dorm and aren’t fighting over cleaning the tank, getting food, checking to see who fed him last, changing the room deodorizers, and arguing over what happens over the breaks.
You will be busy enough trying to do laundry, getting your meals, studying, submitting your papers, getting to class on time, going to the labs, meeting your professors’ office hours, and replenishing your toiletries, clothes, and supplies. College coursework will be tougher than you think. You may get C’s, D’s and F’s the first quarter/semester. It goes by really rapidly and your assigned readings will be longer and more difficult. You wont have a lot of time for you, let alone a pet.
get african dwarf frogs i love them so muchhh
guppies also do well for some people, provided you have a bubble stone to oxygenate the water. as do betta, but the bettas cannot live with the frogs.
snails are also awesome and they’ll keep the tank clean!
If you’re willing to invest in a small $50 or so tank filter, you can keep angelfish, a few tetras or guppies, and loaches! Loaches are so fun they look like miniature eels and they eat the food off the bottom of the tank that the other fish don’t touch to keep the tank clean
