College fish keepers?

[wednesday13]

step one: get an apartment lol... even if they tell u its "mandatory" to live in a dorm the first year that's bogus. All you have to do is get and apartment/townhouse and say ur a commuter. problem solved and its a lot cheaper also.

 

[dani_starr]

Check the rules for the college you plan to go too. Most allow a 10 gallon max unfortunately. If you can get an apartment (and make sure they allow large tanks, my old place had NO limit for gallons- I really don't think they know how large aquariums get), the one I'm at allows 10 gallons max.

However, when I stayed at the first apartment that had no aquarium gallon limit, it was my first year as a college freshmen. Technically, I should of lived on campus, but I just *lied* on my paper work and said I was living at home with parents. I just made sure that I had my address for all school stuff to be my parents address, and same with any school related insurance, etc. so that way it would all check out. They never looked into it or asked for proof like they said online they would. It was quite easy peasy. My parent's were aware of the situation, and in fact were the ones who to suggest I get an apartment so I would be able to cook my own vegan meals, rather than paying for food I couldn't eat. So just make sure that if they do check to make sure it's true, your parents are aware that you say you're living at home.

Now I'm not encouraging you to lie, but that's what I did, and it worked quite well. I was worried that they'd look up my name and see I had a lease on an apartment, but nope never did.

Just keep in mind, with college, you get to be busy super quick, and broke fairly quick as well. Especially if you work too, or actually have a social life and join clubs and stuff. You definitely don't want to overwhelm yourself and go overboard. A couple tanks is a good limit in my opinion.

 

[Oscar Mike]

step one: get an apartment lol... even if they tell u its "mandatory" to live in a dorm the first year that's bogus. All you have to do is get and apartment/townhouse and say ur a commuter. problem solved and its a lot cheaper also.

A lot cheaper is an understatement lol, we had a 3 bedroom dorm with 2 people to a room and paid $9k for the 9 month school year... that's $1k a month per person, or $6k a month for basically a 3 bedroom apartment!!!! It used to drive me crazy thinking we could be renting a mansion down the street for half the price (which a group of guys a year ahead of us did and there were girls in the house nonstop). We wound up renting a brand new 5 bedroom house our sophomore year and it was only $1200 a month, so the 5 of us only paid like $240 each.

Wednesday is 100% right tho, living on campus the first year isn't actually mandatory and an apartment would be way more relaxed. One of my friends got kicked out of the dorms for smoking and we were all pretty jealous when we saw his apartment. But living in the dorms was an awesome experience and a good way to meet friends/girls outside of the lecture hall (not to mention less responsibilty living on your own the first year). I wouldn't have missed out on that for an oscar, but u can probably get away with a 55-90 as long as u dont have any parties cuz as soon as an RA sees it ur screwed lol. A nano would be a lot safer and easier/faster to hide when necessary

 

[MN_Rebel]

The dorms at my college usually allowed aquariums as long as its 10gal. Of course I try to get some bad-*** fish as a display centerpiece.

 

[letstalkfish]

My dorm limited tank sizes to 20 gallons. That was freshmen year. Now I'm in a house though, and I can have whatever I want fish wise (so long as the wallet permits...)

 

[seedubs1]

Other than the social aspect, dorms sucked. They were cramped, super expensive, and the bathrooms/showers were gross.

My friends and I rented a house once we were out of the dorms, and it was a lot cheaper, and WAY nicer.

FYI, no dorm is going to allow you to have a 75 gallon or larger tank to properly house an oscar. They just assume it's going to break and there's going to be water damage...and considering the stupid stuff I saw when I lived in the dorms, they are right to assume this.

Although, in my case, we never had dorm inspections, and legally, they couldn't come into our dorm room uninvited without police/warrant. So technically, in my case, I could have brought a 75 gallon up the back stair case at night when nobody was around and kept it hidden.

Also, dorms are super small and cramped. I'm sure you and your roomate won't want to deal with a 4'x18" minimum footprint taking up valuable space.

 

[squidyboy0]

That's for all the feed back guys, I will try to get an apartment, but I don't know if they really are any cheaper (then again I haven't done research yet because I'm only going into junior year). So probably no Oscar, but I could still probably do a sick salt nano, even if I got stuck in a dorm. Some people mentioned hiding tanks or animals if dorm moderators came in, How precisely did/do you guys do that?

 

[7napoleon]

I am a full time college student with one 125 gallon 75 gallon 20 gallon and 10 gallon tank. I really like fish! I know that 90%of chance college student live in dorm or rented apartment, don't have a relatively stable living condition. But I still choose to have a lot of fishes. Every time I need to give up a fish, I always give it to a friend that I know he will take good care of or I will post ads online and ask qualified fish keeper to have it for free....


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[squidyboy0]

Sorry, *Thanks for the feed back.

 

[Glen Pinard]

Where I went to school it was dependent upon your major. I was an Environmental Science major with and emphasis in Aquatic Ecology. So I was allowed to keep a 20g tank in my dorm! GMU!!