The fish tank

This will be the final product of all your work. Hope you have fun doing it!

Step 1 What you need

First you start out with one plastic bottle, scissors, super glue, and things to design your tank.

Comments

[sithlil]

superglue might poison the fish

[superMacaroni]

Most fish need certain amounts of water - Plus they cannot stand having super glue in their tank. Who wants to swim, live, play, and breathe in poison? A tad bit small as well, It might be a strange atmosphere for the little fish.. I'm not saying it is abuse, it just might feel strange living in a small area like how people can be. It would be good for sea monkeys - Just without the super glue.

[manlyfish]

well first thats tiny and second super glue will kill any fish in it so dont try this
lol i have a 20 gallon tank and im afraid to even stick my hands in it without washing them for a few mins (without soap of course) so do some research before you come up with an idea that might cause someone to have a dead fish in like 10 mins

[workshopangela]

Toooooooooo small for a fish. is not fair for an animal, live in this conditions. ;(
:(

[chester32]

Don't listen to these people Seth, it was a good idea.

[MakerBreaker]

why dont you do some research first?

[Wolfbird]

I should think that an animal's welfare is more important than an individual's feelings. It's a horrid idea. Most species of fish require X amount of water volume and water surface to keep them healthy. For those that are more tolerant of low oxygen levels (lungfish, labyrinth fish-- including bettas and gouramis) and/or dirty water still does not justify putting them in tiny living spaces on the sole reason that it is "whimsical" or "cute". These are living creatures, not decorations or last-minute presents. Get these instead http://www.zerotoys.com/newsite/products/images/Triops_Image2.jpg if you cannot afford the money or the space required for proper housing.

[Seth Thomas]

Thanks I know

[sibiria]

No person in the right mind would even thing of making something like this... Do a little research, read a book or two on fish and how to properly care for them....

[enygmamind]

Is this design for a REAL or FAKE fish? I'n not trying to be mean but, there are too many problems with this: 1- no filtration. 2- its TOO small for any fish even a betta. 3- superglue is TOXIC to fish. If you really want to make this for a REAL fish, I would use clear SILICON caulk, after its cured it is completely safe for any fish, even the fake ones. :)

[Notus Incognitus]

I mean no offense, but keeping any fish in a container that small is animal cruelty. i know there are many myths regarding keeping fish in small, unfiltered, unheated spaces. these myths are wrong, there is not a single fish i am aware of that can be kept in these conditions. please read the following article:

This relates to Filtration and why it is needed:
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article34.html

For more information please peruse the site and forum, even the poor Betta you will come to find needs an absolute minimum of 2.5 gallons, a heater, and a filter to survive his lifetime. that is assuming we are talking about survival, i prefer to let my fish thrive, i will not keep a Betta in anything less than a 10 gallon tank for example.

Unfortunately the Aquaria Hobby is Rife with myths, misconceptions and rumors from the olden days. some people are trying to correct these but it is hard to do so when people find articles like yours here basically giving the ok to put a fish in such a space. badmans tropical fish is one of the best places to see these myths debunked and to learn about true fish keeping.

one last example (i can really run on about this stuff, sorry) is the common goldfish (comet goldfish). People keep them in bowls all the time, not realizing the damage they are causing. there is not a single species of goldfish that grows under 8" long naturally. however when kept in such small spaces they "grow only to the size of the space". while that is true for the outside of the fish, on the inside horrible things happen, the organs keep growing, eventually crushing each other leading to the early demise of the fish(gold fish naturally live 15+ years). this is called stunting, and is often occurred by new people keeping fish and not researching what their fish grow to naturally!

before i get some witty comment about 'PETA'. i am not a member of, affiliated with, or even in support of their actions (or of any other animal protection agency for that matter). i have only ever known a single member, and i cannot say i agreed with his views much if at all.

[Bellmaster4]

Completely agree with you,

[MakerBreaker]

I totally agree with you 100% fish should have at least 1 gallon. lols but i kinda eat fish, is that cruelty?

[Muzzy Slink]

That's strange. Back when I kept goldfish, they didn't anywhere near 8 inches. Of course they weren't in an enormous tank, but there was certainly room for them to grow. Of course, my dad told me that when he was growing up, they used to put goldfish in the holding tank that they used to water their cows. Those ones got to be enormous.

[Seth Thomas]

I'm sorry I didn't know that people would really be mad about my project. I wouldn't want to harm the fish. If I would put a fish in the tank; then I would put it in a new tank after a couple of weeks.

[ironsmiter]

that's an interesting thought, about the goldfish.... any PROOF?

When I was younger, I kept my goldfish in a 15 gallon tank. It had heaters, waterfall filters, lights, plants, the works. They stayed there, with the other tropicals for a few years. Their size stabilized. After an Ichk outbreak, only the goldfish, and the Placostimus survived, so they got transfered to a 30 gallon tank. There, they once again grew to "fit the tank" and grew to eatin' size.(but bleh! carp!) Finally, after 7 or 8 years, a busted heater took them out.

While in college(first time round) I kept a "bowl" of goldfish, and frogs.
After 5 years, It was time to move on, so I gave them to a friend(freshman). The last time I talked with him, they were still small(frogs had been replaced with snails), seemed as happy as fish can seem, and were healthy. And that was 5 years later... (ok, so ten years+ is only 2/3rds of the predicted 15 year lifespan, so i dunno for sure, but AVERAGE goldfish lifespans from other people I know is closer to 5-6 years. So I say they did OK)

As to betas... The last one I had, lived it's entire 4 year life in a 1 gallon tank. From what I've READ, their lifespan is usually less than 3 years... Again, simple air powered carbon filter, no heater(though water never dropped below 68 or so) and only ambient room lighting/daylight.

Now, I'm NOT SAYING that they wouldn't enjoy a bigger tank, or grow bigger in a bigger tank, just that fish can be healthy and flourish in proper "minimal housing"
And YES I do think this project, done on anything less than a 3L bottle is too small for anything but brine schrimp and snails. It may be ideal though, for plants in a larger aquarium. By punching some holes in the bottom, for water circulation, and leaving the top open, a plant could thrive in there, while being protected from becoming fishfood(at least from the larger fish)

[Notus Incognitus]

I can't provide exactly the information you are asking for, i don't understand the details myself, but the people i have heard this from include ichthyologists, and Fish Keepers of 40+ years (on the badman's forum). i asked them if they would please come give the information you would like :). the gold-fish doing fine in a 30 gallon is normal :) that's the minimum recommended tank size per goldfish at badmans (keep in mind we are slightly more conservative in this sense than most)

on the betta, i know it can be done the way you describe, and yes that is a longer than average lifetime for the species, there are always exceptions to the rules, especially regarding very hardy/used to bad conditions fish, like the betta (if you look up how they are commercially bred you will see most breeders use 1g containers) i prefer to have my fish thrive versus survive however :).

i dont know about the experience you had with the goldfish in a bowl, either it was an exception or he was stunted to a degree before you moved him out, but not enough for lethal damage, to be honest i do not have enough info to tell you, and as i said there are always exceptions.

again, i am more conservative than most (as are the badmans bunch) but we feel this is best for the fish. for me i would never house any fish in anything less than 5gallons :). however some members who breed bettas do keep them in a 'betta barrack' type system, afaik though this is a temporary till sold set-up.

and there i went writing a novel again lol sorry "" especially as i did nto include much real/solid info/fact. hopefully the more knowledgeable members will be by to expand on what i have said and give you more info. i may be posting it for them too if they do not want to register :)

[spiffytessa]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Horrible thing to do to your fish... Make sure you do your research before taking on any tank projects.

[RedneckAsian]

SO MANY PETA MEMBERS ON INSTRUCTABLES

[steed1172]

very good idea but for this scale don't expect more then one fish....this will work well with large pop bottles though .

[bassmonkey]

ya, too small, but in 5 th grade we got a 2 liter bottle, cut the top off, and we had a mosquito fish, so thanks for bringing back memories!

[alexk3303]

Overall, good idea. But I have to agree with the others, too small. I do like the sea monkey idea. I have a 3L bottle that I might use to keep snails. Looking at it it might hold a guppy, but not more then 1. Tehjigsawkiller, they are not peta members (Ithink) but that is anything you'd hear from somebody who has fish..

[goatgirly]

That is too small for anything but a baby except a baby would need a heater so, yeah!

[MattSwan]

wait, that doesn't look very stable. I mean, if one of the plastic legs bent, the whole thing could topple over, fish and water included. I think it would be better off w/o the legs.

[Seth Thomas]

You just don't make them that tall so it is more stable.

[King_Banana]

doent seem to be big enuf for fish. sea monkeys though...

[Seth Thomas]

Thats a good suggestion maybe I could put sea monkeys in the tank.

[macy23]

seth, im glad you got it finished.....nice job :]

[kim_puckett]

Loved the idea - you certainly prompted some interesting comments!