Banning ADFs/ACFs and Possibly ALL Fish in College

[littlefishie]

I know that a lot of other universities have limits on the size of tank you can have in residence, but mine does not. In the handbook we were mailed over the summer, the residence rule was that we were allowed to have pets, as long as they did not breathe air. (I realize that fish breathe air, and I have told my don that, but he said that as far as administration is concerned, they breathe the water and take the oxygen out of that. True, but that still means they breathe air.) Now the online residence guide states we are not allowed to have pets at all.
I was wondering what everyone else's universities do about fish. I currently have a 5gal, 2.5gal, and various betta tanks that in total, my water amount equals 10 gallons. I've heard some universities permit anywhere from 5 gallons to 20 gallons, and even someone who had room for a 55 gallon in their dorm.
Another thing in relation to this -- frogs are not allowed. Regular frogs (such as fire-bellied frogs, etc) I can understand, but when I checked with 2 dons, they both told me that aquatic frogs like ADFs and ACFs are included in the ban on amphibians. Despite my explaining that both can not live out of water (and linking them to the ADF sticky at the top of this forum, among other articles), they continue to insist that they need land to survive.
That made me sad, as I'd just purchased an ADF as a tankmate for one of my bettas. (Sadly, he died within 15 minutes of purchase -- I guess the 50 foot walk from the pet store to the bus stop was just too much for him.) When I mentioned the story to my boyfriend's don, and how the ADF had died, his reaction was "Oh, that's good!" ..When I asked why, he said "You're not allowed to have frogs." ..even though I'd clearly explained several times that an ADF is aquatic and does not need land.
What are everyone's thoughts on this? Not only fish tanks in dorms, but the ban on ADFs and ACFs. I'm currently thinking of putting together a petition to allow ADFs/ACFs in rez, but I wanted to get some more opinions before I did this. I figure that, if I can show the dons and residence committee a thread of experienced fishkeepers and their opinions on the matter, it may help the situation.
So basically, here are the questions I am asking, and hoping to get answers for:


What are your thoughts on fishkeeping in university/college dorms? Any experiences?

What about tank size limits? For example, if they ban a 20 gallon because of the size of it's footprint, is the smaller 20 high gallon okay? And what would a reasonable limit be?

African Dwarf and African Clawed frogs -- good rez pets or not? Should they be banned?

Any responses are greatly appreciated!

PS -- sorry for cross-posting this to ********* but I really need as many responses as possible to get something done about this. Don't let them take our little finned friends away!

 

[MXPX4318]

I, living in a college dorm at the moment, enjoy my 20 gallon reg. tank; I find fish a very soothing get away, they're quite relaxing, I think that the only limit to fish (or any animal able to be kept in a cage) is that the floors should be able to support the weight, if the floor cannot support the weight it shouldn't be allowed obvisously, and anything that made distracting noise should not be allowed (birds, etc.) but anything that can be caged and kept out of the way I don't think should be a problem, my college however does have an "AQUARIUMS ONLY" rule, so if it goes into an aquarium (note not terrarium) and the aquarium has a room limit of 20 gallons (though don't tell anyone (not like they check) I do have a 20 gallon tank and a 10 gallon tank so I'm 10 gallons over the limit)

 

[bunjiweb]

If I go to college or uni I will almost deffinatly try to get a fish tank in my room, even if it is only a 5G I will have one

Its sad that they have to encompass fish in the same kind of risk catagory as a cat, dog, bird or reptile.... A fish cant exactly do any damage, and the only possible risk is water spillage.

Ben

 

[littlefishie]

MXPX: How the hell do you fit 30 gallons into your dorm? lol If it's anything like the size of mine, that's pretty impressive.
So for the aquarium only rule, you could keep a tank with exotic frogs/lizards that require land and water? That'd be so awesome. One of the girls here got written up cos she was keeping exotic frogs and a green anole. It sucks.
I agree that they're a very soothing getaway, which is why I love having them so much. It's a nice, temporary distraction from work. And we all know how soothing the sound of moving water can be.
bunjiweb: I <3 my 5 gallon. It may be small, and I don't have a lot of stocking options, but it's better than not having anything. And with all my other mini-tanks, it evens out. Definitely aim for something at school, but if your school has strict rules and inspections, try to get something easily hideable. If you get, say, a 5 gallon hex and know that inspections are going to be coming up, remove your fish into a safe container until the inspection is over. Before inspection: buy those cheap glass fish with the glass bubble at the top so they float. Put these in the tank, and tell the inspectors that it's your night light.. kinda like a lava lamp.
I can't even come CLOSE to claiming that with all of my tanks. lol
And it is sad that they classify fish in that manner.. Now, if someone were keeping a piranah I might understand (drunken people deciding to see if the fish are tame, etc.), but to be considering outlawing bettas simply because they have a labyrinth organ and can breathe from the surface?! It's stupid.
But yes. Definitely aim for a tank in university.

 

[ddm18]

littlefishie, I think you're probably taking the rules a little too precisely there. I'm British, so have no idea how American universities work, but my halls of residence here (or rather the people who inspected them - which only happened once) wouldn't have known (a) how many gallons a fish tank was or (b ) whether a betta, frog or anything else breathed air, water or mercury(!). If you say frog to someone, they immediately assume that they are like normal frogs, which do need land, but if they see a frog in a fish tank, they'll more than likely take your word for it that it doesn't need land (after all they can see it in a fish tank, with no land, alive...).

Also, I'm sorry to be pedantic, but fish don't breathe air, they 'breathe' water. Air is a mixture of stuff, including oxygen, but water is just water, with oxygen disolved in it, they take OXYGEN out of the water, not air.

 

[beblondie]

And there are many species that take oxygen from the atmosphere. Figured I'd say it before somebody else does lol-Anne

 

[Mizuro Ami]

my college only allows one tank, 10g max. i have a 2.5g tank and 2 kritter keepers. the RA's don't really care as long as no one complains. my roommate has turtles and the RA saw them but just 'ignored' them. the advisors are pretty lenient on what you can have, as long as they don't hear about it. i know some girls who have kittens in their dorms.

i used to have an adf in my 2.5g with my betta, but it died of some type of fungus. i have a couple of ghost shrimp now. pretty much the rule is any fully aquatic animal that can live in a 10g tank would be okay in our dorms

 

[MXPX4318]

yes little fishie I do have 30 gallons in my dorm room, and soon will have 30 gallons and a love seat. my dorm room is about 12'x16' or so the 20g is on a stand and the 10g is on my desk (desk is about 4'x2.5' so there's plenty of room for my alarm clock and laptop too) the only thing is the beds are bunked, but even without the fish tank and soon to be love seat (I hope) the beds would have to be bunked or else it'd be really cramped. yeah we're kinda like Mizuro in the fact that if no one complains, no one cares, but the pet limits are as I stated, you could just have more (if you could fit it, like me) as long as no one complained. mmm but only one more semester of dealing with dorm rules, I'm moving off campus next fall semester, getting my own apartment (well sharing with some friends but you know what I mean...)

 

[littlefishie]

ddm18: When I said "I realize that fish breathe air, and I have told my don that, but he said that as far as administration is concerned, they breathe the water and take the oxygen out of that. True, but that still means they breathe air." it didn't quite come out right. I know how fish breathe, but when I was explaining it to my don, his reaction was "Well, since they do take the oxygen in, that means they breathe air." ..sorry it came out wrong. As for taking the rules too seriously, I'm just worried because the girl who has frogs lives on my boyfriend's floor. I'd discussed ADFs with my boyfriend's don (I see him more than mine) as to whether or not they were allowed, and he started freaking out because of the other girl's frogs. Then he said he'd be calling my don to tell him that he suspects I'm keeping frogs. At which point my don asked me about it on MSN, so now I'm just trying to cover all the bases. I really don't want to get written up for following the rules exactly, when they don't understand the classification of an aquatic frog.
beblondie: Just don't let the dons find out about that one.
Mizuro Ami: There are girls with kittens?! How do they get away with that? lol I heard of one girl keeping a bunny in her house, but her housemates are mad so they might be informing their don soon. It's good to hear that your uni lets you know exactly what the rules are, but it's even better how lenient the RAs are.. I wish mine were like that, but he's pretty anal retentive.. he'd have a heart attack if he knew the things that went on behind closed doors.
MXPX4318: I could see fitting the 10g, but the 20 was where I got confused.. the way rooms are designed here, we would have no room for a stand. Since my roommate moved out in September I have an extra desk I could put tanks on, but it's possible that I could get a roommate at any time. So I don't want to go set up a tank there and later find out that I will get a roommate and have no room for it. I want to move offcampus next year too, into a one bedroom apartment with my boyfriend. I've gotten him addicted to fish too, so he wants to invest in anything from a 20g-55g [depending on apartment size and available money] to keep in the apartment. ..Mmm.. giant tank.

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's really helping!

 

[shrimpster97]

at my brothers girl friends universitie, they have a limit of 20 gallons, its mostly because the floors are really thin. they can her the people above them, walking, she said it sounds like elaphants. but they're dorm could hold some tanks definetly, i mean theres a kitchen and living room and stuf, and they have two cats, so its not that they cant have pets. its just the constriction of the building. pretty crappy huh?

 

[littlefishie]

They're allowed to have cats? Damn, I want to go to that school. lol
I'd love to have a 20 gallon in a dorm. I wouldn't trust putting a tank in the kitchen or living room.. I barely liked having my TV there. Who knows what drunk people may try to do. Like perhaps pour vodka in the water so the fish can get drunk? LoL It almost happened to my housemate.
Yeah, the construction would definitely make it suck, but still, 20 gallons is more than enough to work with for dorm living. A good chunk of the year would be spent cycling!

 

[William]

At uni i'm not allowed any pets, or fish. I took my small betta tank anyway.

 

[Danno]

I can understand the Uni's, or Colleges concern but 5 or less gallon tank in a dorm is perfect and if anything, from a phycologists perspective, it's calming and eases the mind of all stress while working under harsh conditions.

 

[Fiori]

well guys - you are going to shoot me down in flames

I work in residences at a UK university and the rule is - no pets, of any kind! Although you may argue that fish do not cause damage or noise etc. we have had many cases where students do not care for pets properly or leave them behind when they go ( honestly). I have had to deal with escaped snakes, causing absolute panic amongst other students, pet rats loose in rooms that porters refuse to deal with, tarantulas that are starving in 6 inch containers and 40 gallon fish tanks left behind, with nowhere to put them or the inhabitants! Most people are responsible ( I like to think, as an animal lover myself) but some are not and it is those few who spoil it for everyone else. I have had horrendous times trying to deal with fallout from irresponsible pet owners and it breaks my heart every time!


many people keep pets of one kind or another and there can be no problems and uni staff know nothing about it but there are always some real numpties who don't care for their pets properly and it is left for the uni to deal with - a problem for someone like me who cannot bear to see any animal suffer because of a human's callousness.

 

[Sorrell]

When my husband was a student you were allowed 20 gallons of water When we started dating he had a 55 with a school of red bellies and a mouse in a ten gal aquarium that he fed muffins

I kept bringing him bettas, but then one day we got in a fight and I took them back!

There was lots of fish in all the rooms, and many people broke the rules and had reptiles and mammels as well