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Hey guys,

After a long while I'm finally back on the web. I moved to Belgium to study leaving my goldfish and guppys behind for my parents to care for.
Though they are not as obsessive about fish as I am, they do love them, and I'm sure they will be in good hands. Though they will probably miss being pampered with treats. XD
Well, now that I've settled into my new home I stand for a new challange. To me, no home is complete without the treasure of a waterworld. I stand for a few problems though. The 1st is my budget; especially in the first year, I'm going to have to watch my expenses, since I have no income appart from my student loan, I might get a job later, but my school comes 1st.
The other part is space, I have quite a small room to live in. The amount of times I bumped into cubbords and such is testimony to that. So any aquarium I'll take has to be small. I've never had any aquarium under 10 gallons though, and the 10 gallon aquarium was way back when I got into the hobby as a kid. That aquarium broke a long time ago.
The other is that I am completely new to keeping aquaria in a colder climate. Living in the tropics, where the water temperature was 28°C on average was ideal for keeping tropical fish. My concern was actually how to keep the water cool for the goldfish. I have no idea how to use or even chose a heater, if one is even needed for a small aquarium. My room temperature is 20-22°C on average (not using the heater yet), and I'll be damned if I let it go lower then that, but then again, now we're still on summers edge, and I have never experienced winter, and I don't know how that works with an aquarium.

The species I was concidering were the Betta, because I know it could be quite content in an aquarium under 10 gallons, or a or a pair of salamanders. Though I've never seen the water salamander in real life, I do think they could be pretty cold resillient. Or maybe a pair of gouramis, I do love labyrinthfish, but I hear they are quite suspectable to pheumonia.
So I'm asking for all the advice I can get, cause I think I just reached beginner phase again. Basicly I'm just looking for a low budget tank, but I'm not sure what species I should look for and what items I do and don't need.
So um, help please?

edit: Oh yes, I also brought almond leaves with me for the betta, if I do take one, based on this article: http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=41676
I do believe it atually works, because back home we had a pond with goldfish. First the fish suffered quite some fatalities from a herron that would pick at them from time to time through the netting covering the pond.
Later we dug a larger pond near an almond tree. The fish still got attacked, but instead of dying, they healed. They did get some nasty scars, a memorable one being one of the larger goldfish having a large gash behind it's skull, but all wounds healed compleatly and left no fish handicaped. So I think the almond leafs might not be a fable, and usefull on most, if not any species.
Or my fish were just lucky and hardy sweatdrop

Minows!
Now good golly, why didn't I think of that? lol
Awesome idea.

I'm think I might still go for a betta or gourami species though. They have always been my favorite, and I got an adress for a fishspecialty shop in Gent, so I'll check that out.

I've also gone to the pet market and there is a stand that sells aquariums there for pretty cheep prices. I don't know if it's actually a good idea, since some things like filters and electronics sold there look really dusty, but if I can check the tank for leaks before buying it I think I could get some of my material from there, and buy the 'electronics' at a proper shop.

I also saw freshwater molusks for sale there, meant for pond use. I tried reading up a bit on them, but it's hard to find information. What I did read though was that many of them tend to die from starvation in aquariums and that because of that it's not advisable to filter the aquarium, beacause the filter takes away the food source.
Now I'm thinking, can I use a molusk as a filter substitute? What effects would that have on the nitrate level? How much room and light does a molusk need? And what are it's temperature requierments? Do they want current or not?
I hope someone knows more about these little beasties.

But the fish choice is set, it's eighter minows or gouramis. It all depends on what kind of heater I can find and for what price biggrin

betta betta betta betta <3 <3 <3 get your self a 5g hex, cycle it, heat it, and get your self a betta. they are most defiantly the most interactive fish smile

a 5g is to small for white clouds, they like a lot of swimming room like danios.

Yeah it could melt the plastic, i would find a lower wattage heater it'd be better. 3nodding