# No Tech Bowl



## jasa73 (Jun 3, 2007)

I like it! What kind of substrate are you using?


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Nice start! 

Apparently you have to teach the computer/smart phone which way is UP for the photo. Either rotate it or crop. Even if you have to rotate all the way to the original orientation lol. Then it's likely safe to load to this forum after that.


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

Substrate consists of mineralized soil, of course organic, I believe its EB stone. It was sifted and mineralized, then I added a small amount of sand mixed then capped with pool filter sand. Pretty cheap and its fairly clean too its about $10 for a 50lb bag. Might have to retire my 15g with all the extra and I have left over. 

Thanks Daisy Mae I figured there had to be a way to fix that, the updated pictures will all be free of neck breaking. 

Thanks for looking! 

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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

Not too much growth so far plants are still adjusting but I think they should begin to take off rather soon. S Repens is actually growing in the bowl. I do dose about two drops. Are drops universal? Hahaha. Anyways I added two very small pieces of needle leaf java fern. They are starting to send out new leaves so it should start to get a little denser. Only thing in the bowl are trumpet snails and a lone pond snail that somehow got in my other tank. 

Right now I'm just experimenting with what's growing in here. The moss will definitely stay in the bowl. Once I propagate more rotala I'll add some rotala indica.

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## TheDoofWarrior (Oct 11, 2015)

That is super sweet!


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

Besides being hard to photograph I like this bowl. Not much maintenance besides top offs. I do usually dose a drop or two of Excel for the s repens which is actually growing. I wasn't sure how it would do but I think it might be doing better in this bowl then my old tank. Besides getting light from my t5 fixture, it's mostly just light spill actually lighting the bowl, afternoon sun hits the bowl for a short amount of time. 

The narrow leaf Ludwigia sent out tons of side shoots that you can see they are all still small but you can see all the vibrant green leaves. None of that was there when I planted it so I'm happy to see the plants are doing good. 

Edit: I put I tiny survivor of AR that I got from petco into the bowl. My yoyo loaches just kept floating it. Also added a variegated pothos, once some roots grow I can plant it into the substrate. For now its just chilling on the top dipping its feet in the water haha. 

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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Isn't it nice when you can just sit back and enjoy? I love these no-tech, low-tech bowls for that reason.

This one is looking pretty darn good. 

And yes, they're a PITA to photograph. 

Oh, most droppers tend to give the same amount, just about 0.05 ml, or 20 drops per ml. Easy enough to check if there's a one or 2 ml line on your dropper/pipette. 

My drugstore-bought medicine droppers are more like 15-16 drops per ml.


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

The water has being pretty clear besides minimal tannins from the dirt. It's nice not having to clean the filter out anything just sit back enjoy and eventually trim.

I'll have to check hope many drops a ml is. With what I'm dosing I'm seeing good growth all around so if I can actually dose a little more maybe I'll be able to get some even faster growth. 

My Moss continues to collect bubbles I'm not sure if it's actually the moss pearling but there's really no other way besides it coming from the substrate. But I did see one fond that had multiple small bubbles over it. The slightly cooler temp might be helping the moss coming from a 78 degree tank. 

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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

Very pretty bowl!

I wonder if I can set up a nano tank as a no-tech shrimp "bowl." Easier to photograph, just as easy to maintain. ;-)

I have a trifle bowl that I'm using as a grow out tank of sorts. Plants grow well, never any algae. Except the Marimo ball I put in there. It pearls whenever the light is on. Never done that in any of my other tanks.


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

I think the only hard part about no tech is deciding the plants and the light source. Light source is definitely more of an issue just because you don't want too much where you are dealing with algae. I'm really liking the no tech approach. I could go on vacation and come back to almost the same thing, maybe a bit more growth. That's the real turn off for high tech for me, you have to stay on top of every aspect or it'll turn into a disaster. Low tech is definitely more forgiving. 

Randym once the tank is well established I'm probably gonna try and start a small shrimp colony in the bowl with red cherries. Right now its kind of boring with just plants and Malaysian trumpet snails. Need something that makes the tank alive. 

For now its time to sit back and see how the plants do on their own. 

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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

Short update on the bowl. To my surprise this little 1g bubble bowl has been coming along great. I'm stoked that the plants have actually pearled once getting afternoon sunlight, the moss even pearls. The Ludwigia took off, including the wisteria. The S. Repens has actually grown a few more nodes faster than in my other tank. I decided to cut it down the wisteria but I did notice one problem before doing so. 

Look at the wisteria in the second photo and you can see what I'm talking about. It's only on the new leaves. I feel like it's a nutrient deficiency but I'm not quite sure on what nutrient that would be. I dose a two drops of Excel and every other day potassium included. I've only dosed micros once, which I guess might be the problem or just one issue. Could it be the warmer temperature bulb in the fixture ? I've had it and barely used it so I figured I might as well get more light into my 15 gallon, mainly because the hygrophila corymbosa seems to love it. AnywaysLight is like a foot and a half from the substrate would be my guess as I'm not by the bowl right now.


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

Well there's been a long time with no updates and I changed it up a little bit so I figured I'd share. I stopped dosing, though every so often I do to try to maintain some balance. Anyways heres a few photos from yesterday.

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## DluxeShrimps (Dec 26, 2015)

I would throw a RCS in there. Will make it even better.
IDK. looks very nice. I like it


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

That's the plan PuffPuff. I've been letting it mature as much as possible before adding shrimp since this bowl is so small I want to make sure it has stable growth and plenty of food for shrimp. Moss is all from an established tank so it might be time to find a local with some RCS. 

Anyone know the name of the stem in the middle that has oval shaped leaves? I totally forgot the name. Thanks for looking!

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## Tiptop (Apr 15, 2013)

Really love the way this looks, might have to do something similar!


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

I'm very pleased with it Tiptop. It's fun having a tank I don't have to do maintenance and it still gets great growth. Looking back at the first picture of the tank startup this bowl has become what a wanted, a jungle.

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