# 1 Gallon Planted Bowl



## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

i'd make sure the miracle grow won't leach any harmful chemicals. i've heard of people using MGOPS, but not that variant.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

CatB said:


> i'd make sure the miracle grow won't leach any harmful chemicals. i've heard of people using MGOPS, but not that variant.


Thanks for the heads up! I remember reading somewhere that it should be fine because it's mainly peat but I will do a bit more research before I add any fauna.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes make sure its safe for aquarium use. bowl looks cool though, lets see how it grows. i would give it until its lush and established


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Newman said:


> yes make sure its safe for aquarium use. bowl looks cool though, lets see how it grows. i would give it until its lush and established


Thank you! Watching your bowl thread is what inspired me to try one of my own. And definitely, I'm hoping that the microsword works out in the bowl as I've heard it can grow pretty slow with no co2.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

it should be ok! grassy plants like that can take a little while to get used to the bowl environment but once it does, and as long as it doesnt get beat by algae, it will start to spread nicely. the soil should guarantee a good carpeting behavior from the microsword.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

*Jmex's Planted Bowl*

Quick little photo update. 










Everything is growing quite nicely so far. Wisteria in the back is at the water surface, microsword is sending out runners, glosso is starting to take off, and salvinia is almost needing to be thinned out. The moss has also started to climb up the emergent wood which looks pretty neat. Have a bit of detritus and hair algae but not enough to be problematic. The bi-weekly water changes take care of it pretty good. I have seen little black things jumping around on the sand though. Too small to tell what they are, or get a picture of them, but look like little water gnats almost.


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## acejohn (Sep 4, 2010)

How did you manage to have a clear water from the start? I'm also starting a planted bowl but the water got cloudy.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

acejohn said:


> How did you manage to have a clear water from the start? I'm also starting a planted bowl but the water got cloudy.


It was a bit cloudy for the first 2 days. The first pictures I took were a week after it was set up. But it was just starting it off with the light on for only a couple hours a day, slowly increasing it after 1 week. I also did 90% water changes every day for the first week, 3 days a the second week, and now I do about 70% once a week. It's going to be a bit messy for the first while cause there is no filter to get rid of all the waste and the plants have to settle in to really be able to absorb anything but it will clear up.


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## bacon5 (Jul 25, 2011)

Looks great, I am probably going to start one soon but might just use only sunlight. Do you think that that will work?


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## compnerd7 (Feb 13, 2011)

What a dope present! 1g would drive me crazy to maintenance, but you kept it simple, and that would make an awesome addition to desk, night stand ect. I would not want to give it away, being afraid they would kill it, but since you said she had a tank it should be alright. Nano tanks are very cool, and yours is pretty fresh. Nice job.

If you put a few (1-2) small shrimp in there, ( Caridina breviata. Cambarellus patzcuarensis, or Sulawesi Starry Night Shrimp; I don't know the Genus / species ) you could maintain a some what of small ecosystem that would allow you to not have to add many neuts, or any at all. A snail or so would help too... Just a thought.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

compnerd7 said:


> What a dope present! 1g would drive me crazy to maintenance, but you kept it simple, and that would make an awesome addition to desk, night stand ect. I would not want to give it away, being afraid they would kill it, but since you said she had a tank it should be alright. Nano tanks are very cool, and yours is pretty fresh. Nice job.
> 
> If you put a few (1-2) small shrimp in there, ( Caridina breviata. Cambarellus patzcuarensis, or Sulawesi Starry Night Shrimp; I don't know the Genus / species ) you could maintain a some what of small ecosystem that would allow you to not have to add many neuts, or any at all. A snail or so would help too... Just a thought.


Thank you for the kind words. I've designed it with low maintenance in mind so all it needs is a water change once a week and it holds it's own pretty good. Snails tend to be a bit messy so I put 3 cherry shrimp in a bit ago. Haven't done a real update yet though cause I can't seem to get any good pictures of them. It's been a week and they seem quite happy though so I must be doing something right 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

bacon5 said:


> Looks great, I am probably going to start one soon but might just use only sunlight. Do you think that that will work?


I'm sure that sunlight would work for growing things, the only thing I would be worried about with that is temperature fluctuations and algae blooms since you can't really control the sun. What I do with mine is sit it across the room from my window so it gets a bit of sun in the morning and the rest of the day is just room ambience with the controlled light (my window faces directly east). It works well so far, temperature is stable and only minor algae which makes it so I dont have to feed the shrimp.

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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Quick little photo update I took while visiting. Bowl is doing quite well. No algae, plants are growing like crazy, microsword and moss growing so much some of it is growing emersed, and shrimps are happy.


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## plebe86 (Aug 25, 2012)

that looks real nice. i was thinking bout making one too but i wasnt sure, till i saw youres and now im gonna get one for sure. thanks for the motivation.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

microsword looks like a nice bowl plant.


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## acejohn (Sep 4, 2010)

JMex said:


> Quick little photo update I took while visiting. Bowl is doing quite well. No algae, plants are growing like crazy, microsword and moss growing so much some of it is growing emersed, and shrimps are happy.


Wow! Still looks great! Does shrimps don't jump off through the drift wood?


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

I love the microsword in there. It doesn't overtake much and is easy to thin out if needed. And the shrimp stay put! Usually the reason things try to get out is if the water parameters are bad

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## mosspearl (Jan 30, 2013)

What a beautiful planting! :red_mouth


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## greenman857 (Feb 25, 2012)

Yeah it does look great! I love "tanks" with emergent growth!
However what's growing in those other jars?


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## mosspearl (Jan 30, 2013)

I'm guessing, greenman, but those smaller jars look like candles to me. JMex can probably confirm when he gets a chance.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

greenman857 said:


> Yeah it does look great! I love "tanks" with emergent growth!
> However what's growing in those other jars?


Thank you! The other jars are just candles. My girlfriend isn't as into building nano tanks as I am 

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## Kinection (Dec 1, 2012)

That's one really good looking bowl. Keep it up!


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## shloken38 (Aug 17, 2012)

Very nice! I'm glad to see someone else is doing this. I have a one gallon bowl with a betta and some plants. I've had it up for about a month longer than you, and it is doing great. I've seen too many people wreck on this concept saying that this is not suitable for fish. I think the fact that people like you and me maintain the tank with live plants and water changes makes these small habitats more suitable than a cup on a shelf in the store. I know that betta is super happy, and I'm sure your shrimp are as well.

Nice work!! Keep us posted.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

I just took the bowl on the long trek back from the college as it's about time for everything to get out of the dorms. It has been around for one year now and the microsword has really taken over. I might end up trimming that big lump of it in the front. Also came to find out that the female shrimp is berried! Only thing off seems to be what looks like blue-green algae growing under the sand cap (still no algae anywhere else).


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