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Low tech bowl of joy

aec34

Member
Joined
10 Oct 2020
Messages
552
Location
Gloucestershire
Here’s my low tech bowl. Late night purchase of clay spawning dome installed today - I just really like the shape and I’m unbelievably pleased with how it looks. (Lockdown, eh?!)

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Garden soil + building sand mix, capped with proper aquarium gravel. Hygrophilia polysperma in the back + hydrocotyle trimming been in for about 3 weeks, plus mini hairgrass added today (thanks @castle!) Bunged some salvinia in too since it’s coming out my ears.
Weekly big water change, half coming from my older tank.
Planning on moving some shrimp in at some point. Well chuffed so far :)
 
Bowl and light both from eBay - I’ve been trying to buy used stuff where possible.
Bowl holds about 4 litres, probably a bit under that with thick substrate. The glass is pretty thin but does the job.
Light is a usb flexible neck reading lamp, with a clip (hence the little wooden thing to the right just out of shot). Think the light was about £15.
 
Thanks, will do 👍 Noticed my first shrimp babies in my cube earlier today, so hopeful it’ll have some guests soon
 
Bowl still quietly doing its thing. Little algae on a few of the hygrophila leaves, but nothing too untoward. Slightly brown colour from the tannins from my bogwood-heavy 20l cube water, which I’m using as part of 80% weekly WC. 7A7EB478-03C5-4C77-ADCD-F0EB7F8FBADB.jpeg
Hoping to move some shrimp in soon.
 
Second soil + light only tank experiment, set up for about 10 days. Plastic cube and light both secondhand from eBay, cube is about 20cm and holds about 6 litres.
Treated myself to a beautiful - but turns out quite big! - echinodorus ozelot (thanks Aquarium Gardens!), but otherwise trimmings from my other tanks plus donations from @dcurzon.

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Twig came off the apple tree in the garden, boiled and scraped. Going a bit sticky, but getting rid of it with water changes.
Hopefully taking it to work in a fortnight.
 
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A couple of weeks in, the twig has Gone Badly. Bit oozy, so I fished it out and my fingers sunk into it way more than they should 🤢
Twig put in compost. Still, glad I tried. Otherwise, plants are taking.
 
Big WC every couple of days for the dinky cube - and echinodorus leaves poking out the top are still looking ok. Cube needs a clean, but is starting to look more settled. Really pleased with the overall effect.
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Bowl now has a few more shrimp from my main tank - and first couple of molts spotted last week :)
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Keep sticking trimmings in both bowls...
 
Dinky cube now closed down - it was too near the window and with no cleaning crew kept going really green. I suspect the remains of the oozy twig, and no filter, didn’t help. Plants rehomed to other tanks - fingers crossed echinodorus makes it in a jar on the windowsill. I’m running out of tank real estate atm.
 
Bowl just over 4 months old.
Had a radical sort out and removed a few sad trimmings, and moved in some mossy bogwood bits.
Still doing weekly 50% WC, now with remin-ed rain water.
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Original 7 shrimp still alive, though not as active as in my other tank. I tell myself they are happier now they have some moss.
Experimenting with no flow/filter is interesting, and I do love the simplicity of the whole thing, but I do think this bowl would be happier with some kind of movement.
 
Emotional day in the bowl.
We lost The Big Shrimp (christened ‘King Prawn’), whom the other shrimp then started eating as they do. But then a few hours later also noticed some babies! Proper circle of life.
Last day of term too, and bowl has now survived the drive home. Looking a bit tatty with its funny emersed growth but must be an adequate habitat for the breeding to take place :) Wonder if the warmer temperatures are responsible- there’s no heating in the bowl.
 
Do you think water movement would be beneficial?


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I’m pretty sure it would. I’m toying with the idea of finding a v small and quiet USB pump and just running it during the day. At the moment I could get away with it as a bowl of plants if the work health and safety police get wind of it, but adding a permanently-running pump makes it into An Aquarium which I’m less sure would be tolerated...
 
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