Small Aquarium Questions

Hi- I recently got a very small (1 gallon) aquarium with an air pump (Hawkeye 201).

Currently I'm 'cycling' it for a few days before I add fish as I was told to do.

The problem is that I live in a small dorm room and the sound of the bubbles from the water (and to some extent the pump itself) is just too loud at night.

My question is: Can I turn off the pump at night and run it during the day and still maintain sufficient oxygen levels in the water to sustain a couple of small fish? (I was thinking of getting a couple of white clouds)

Thanks a lot for any help!

With a bowl that small just do a 100% water change once a week don't bother cycling it. No more than 1 fish in it. Be sure the new water is the same temp as the old water you are replacing.

You've been sold a pup. It isn't possible to cycle & maintain a bowl that small & it is too small for even for a couple of white clouds if you want them to thrive. Turning of the airpump is not an option although a bacterial colony won't really have a chance.

Why didn't you buy one of the small ( 3 or 6g ) eclipse systems that are quiet & easy to maintain? Anyone could have told you that airpumps & bedrooms don't mix.

I have an Eclipse 6 where I replaced the default filter with an internal Duetto power filter. It's pretty quiet unless it gets an air bubble in it, then there's a little hiss of air as the bubble gets out. You could get a little 5.5g glass tank for cheaper than the Eclipse 6 though. This would give you a little more options on the fish to put in it without being too big.

If you want to stick with the 1g, about the only fish I could think of that would have a chance is a single betta that is accustomed to the tap water conditions. Keep the little cup he was bought in and once a week fill it with bowl water and put him in it. Then dump the bowl, rinse wastes out of the bowl and refill with treated tap water. To minimize temperature stresses, if you have a spare 1g water bottle, you could fill that the night before and add water treatments to it. Then set it nearby in the room so it can warm up to the same temperature. You'd have to do this every week to keep the ammonia from building up too much. Personally my betta has larger quarters (the aforementioned Eclipse 6), but one of my friends used to do the bowl thing with okay success as long as she kept up on the water changes.

You could also buy one of those NANO hang on back power filters. The are quite & would filter that tank great.

A one gallon tank is about only good for a betta which doesn't need any circulation. It's a labyrinth fish that can breathe from the

The above tank is completely silent. Sadly, it's only down to one betta now. Temperature at the office must have dipped over the MLK weekend causing one of the bettas to die. It was having some constipation problems and whatever happened over the weekend must have stressed it out too much. Anyway, in a unheated tank like that, make sure the room temperature is a constant 70F. Oh, and the anacharis has been replaced with java fern. The terrestrial plant is a peace lily. Devil's ivy works well if you can keep the leaves out of the

BTW, a paradise fish is better for unheated tanks. It can handle colder waters better. But, a one gallon may be too small.

I currently have, besides my many other critters, both aquatic or not, 14 Betta splendens, or Siamese Fighting fish, with all but two of them residing singularly, one per one gallon plastic 'shoe box type' containers. There are no filters et cetera hooked up to them, but I do have some Elodea plants in there with them. And I give them all a 100% water change at least twice a week. Why don't you take your time and look over the Bettas for sale in your area, for these fish come in many, many uniquely different and exotic colours and colour combinations. They also each have their very own unique personalities. Some are very, very shy, where others, like my 'Bennie da Betta' will actually jump up out of the water to try and grab the tiny red Betta Bio-Gold morsal. Good luck in what ever your choice, my friend. Pax Vobiscum,...~Dean.

eclipse tanks are totally silent with the filter running. A great tank if you want to cram one in a small place, especially where noise would be an

If you put an air stone on the end of the air line, it will make smaller bubbles and less noise. You could also add a valve to bleed off some of the air pressure; just be sure the valve is above the water level.