filtration, heat, and aeration for fish or no?

Question

so - i'm looking into getting some pet fish but i'm not sure how i want to go about doing it. when i was younger i kept a few fish without any big fanfare, in a normal tank, no special heating or filtration or aeration or anything and they all lasted for the *longest* time. just recently i bought a betta fish and put it in a tank with all that stuff - and it lasted about a week. granted, it could have come sick from the store but still...
if i just want one betta or maybe a few guppies do i need all that fanfare?

have you had better results with or without all that stuff?

thanks

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Fish are a living animal, they NEED oxygen, clean water and the correct temperature range. To keep those things right you basically need "all that stuff".

When you say your fish lasted for the *longest* time, common goldfish can easily live for 10-20 years, record is 43 YEARS. Thats with a large well filtered tank (they don't need heaters). Keeping a goldfish alive for only 6 or 12 months is basically a fish keeping fail.

Betta are a tropical fish, so they need warm water, and that usually means a heater. They are able to breath air to get oxygen, and are fairly tolerant of cruddy water. But poor conditions will stress them and make them vulnerable to all sorts of diseases or sudden mysterious death.

Set up the tank correctly and you will have MUCH more success at fish keeping. The secret is to set up and maintain the tank, not try and "care" for the fish. Get the tank system working correctly, and the fish will be fine. Wrong water conditions and they are in trouble no matter what you do.

As for success, well I have a 7 year old, foot long, catfish in the tank beside me. Nothing fancy about the setup, just a couple of powerful filters (450gal hour), a heater and plenty of water changes.

Ian

corey s · Answer

for both, you only need a filter and a heater.

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filtration, heat, and aeration for fish or no?

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