# 10GallonPlanted's Bowl.



## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Started this bowl about three weeks ago. Feel free to comment! Enjoy.








































































:bounce:


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

awesome, another bowl! going to be crazy nice in a few months, trust me!


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

The stargrass is going crazy! Its doubled in length in a week!

Also what should I do with this vase? As in what should I put in it?  I jsut need a light for it.. I found it in a swamp beside a lake.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

just noticed a guppy?
boooo lol


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

I like my little male guppy! He doesnt do any harm


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

he might eat the smallest shrimplets, but aside from that,

Are you trying to find out whether a 1 gal bowl can support a small fish without heater or filtration? because if you are, let me know the results. I'm interested in trying some tiny species of killifish in a bowl in the far future


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

for that vase you could put in one crypt and see what happens with it. it would be interesting if the crypt grew leaves out of that vase.

idk much in terms of inhabitants. was thinking a pair of apple snails but remembered that they are extreme waste producers, so it likely wouldn't work. nerites would just lay eggs everywhere and it wouldn't look good... you can try it as a shrimplet grow-out vase for w/e offspring you get out of that 1 gal bowl...
not much else to do...

BTW is that a red cherry shrimp male in your avatar? damn that sucker is red! i only have clearish males with up to moderate red speckles. is that one of your males?


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Oh I have kept three guppies in a two liter before for months without problems. Just had a ton of moss. They even bred...
I was thinking about putting some sort of sword in it and putting it in the window and see how that goes, with some shrimp of course. 
Oh that picture isn't mine just a photo off of google. I didn't feel like trying to take a picture of a shrimp lol. But it is a male, I do believe.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/137092-1-liter-shrimp-tank-new-berry.html
Thats the "tank" I kept some guppies in for a while, the journal is after I took them out.

I killed that tank though. I was somewhat tipsy and I decided I wouldn't measure the fertz out and see if i could just pour a couple drops in. So I tihnk i poured more that a couple drops and the next day and shrimp where all pale and dead.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

about killing that vessel . you had you guppies in that? o_o Breeding is a good sign. 
you probably shouldn't have dosed, just use organic soil lol. that could mean you wont have to dose anything in your new bowl either. mine's still running the same and i haven't dosed anything in it.

when you kept guppies in there without filtration, did you notice them trying to breathe from the surface?


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Yeah well I didn't have any soil, I think it had sand or something. It was doing fine until I overdosed. Im not going to dose my bowl either. 

And yah I had guppies in there lol. Kinda like torture but they grew up in it so I figured it wouldn't hurt until they had babies..


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

I wonder how large a bowl i'll need in order to keep some small species of killifish...


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Like least killis? They breed a good bit but probably a 2 or so. They are the tiniest live bearers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7mbyLEkuE4


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

yes that or _Leptolucania ommata_
it seems that the more colorful killis grow large and need big tanks


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Guppies or endlers.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

im not a fan of those. too many people have.
lol


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## jedimasterben (Aug 21, 2011)

10gallonplanted said:


>


What is this floating plant?


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Mann I used to know what it was called.. I don't know how I got the plant though, it just showed up in my 20gallon. I like it, stays a little bigger than duckweed but it is prickly.


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## jedimasterben (Aug 21, 2011)

10gallonplanted said:


> Mann I used to know what it was called.. I don't know how I got the plant though, it just showed up in my 20gallon. I like it, stays a little bigger than duckweed but it is prickly.


Poo. Is it prolific like duckweed? I love the look of it and want some for my two 55gals.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Yeah it spread from one little leaf to that in two weeks. But when I first found it it was brown with a little bit of green and it grew into that.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

its a really common fern type plant i think (doesn't look much like a fern really)

a Salvinia genus


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## jedimasterben (Aug 21, 2011)

10gallonplanted said:


> Yeah it spread from one little leaf to that in two weeks. But when I first found it it was brown with a little bit of green and it grew into that.


Very cool!


Newman said:


> its a really common fern type plant i think (doest look much like a fern really)
> 
> a Salvinia genus


Looks like _Salvinia auriculata_ to me, just saw some in SnS. Thanks for giving me the name, you rock!


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I know that this bowl is already established but I can't speak highly enough of using Miracle-Gro Organic Complete Potting Soil with a cap in these bowls. Great not having to worry about ferts or dosing or any of that stuff.

Coupled with floaters like you already have I have had great luck avoiding serious algae.

Nice looking bowl, BTW.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

yup, salvinia...I got it in my 40 gallon. Wasn't doing much till I started EI dosing and Excel and now it cover the surface in no time.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

I was thinking today and I almost like bowls more than tanks... Its so easy.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

Frequent top-offs (or even water changes if you are ambitious) are sure a whole heck of a lot easier with the small water volume.

Other than turning on the light in the morning and turning it off at night I don't even pay my bowls any attention most of the time. Nice and trouble free.



10gallonplanted said:


> I was thinking today and I almost like bowls more than tanks... Its so easy.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

I've only done two water changes since I set it up. It doesn't really seem to need it. I just do distilled water top offs frequently.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

i suggest doing the water changes once you get your shrimps breeding like mad. then after a while, you can test the water and see if you have anything to take out, so do less water changes or in smaller amounts.
eventually in an established bowl you may be able to get away with no changes at all. right now i havent seen anything in my bowl so i may be able to just leave it alone, but i still change about 25% of the water weekly because im paranoid about keeping it clean for my crystals haha.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Just some more photos.
























I hope the hairgrass stuff fills in, I think its chain hairgrass? Idk. Chain something lol.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Don't mind the tank beside it, that's just for breeding guppies to feed my snake.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

nice picotope.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Lol, it was nice when it was salty...


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

what did it look like when it was SW? I have a reef picotope right now.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Uhmm let me find a descent picture. This is about a month old, just imagine this but VERY overgrown. It had a few peppermint shimp and some blue legged crabs.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

a FEW peppermint shrimp lol?

also you don't have any pics of when it was looking its best before you took it down?
i like that background!


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Nope sadly. Yeah I had three in there! When I took it down and took all the macro algae to the LFS it came out to be one sandwich ziplock stuffed to the MAX full. So if you could imagine that haha.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

It sucks how when all my plants are pearling because they are getting some rays from the window that I don't have my camera...


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

3 peps in a 3 gal is a bit excessive. i questioned the validity of keeping my one pep in mine at one point (ended up moving him to my 10 gal)
Then again that's probably similar to keeping 6 porcelain crabs in that same tank lol (yes i do that.)

So your tank was primarily a macro picotope right? with some xenia and shroomz


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Yuup, I just got tired of trying to keep up with the top offs. I eventually just seram wrapped the whole top loll. I don't think it was too small for my peppemints, they lived good and are still living in my mom's reef.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

10gallonplanted said:


> I just got tired of trying to keep up with the top offs.


You didn't set up an ATO for your tank? o_o


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Sadly no.. I topped it off every morning though, so it was pretty stable.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

its much easier with the ATO; I have to just refill the reservoir once very two weeks for my picotope. really makes the thing less annoying to care for. Have you seen mine yet? Here is a teaser picture of it lol:


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Woow that looks amazing. How old is the tank? It must be older.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

it's 20 months old right now. 4 more months and it will be two years old!
Heres a recent vid if youre interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPaGicFnnFg

How long did you keep your SW picotope for?


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

I had it up for 10 months. I dont know, i just like freshwater more. 
Wow that is a stunning tank. What are those crabs that are fanning in the water?


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

those would be my green porcelain crabs. The species is actually a nuisance in the wild (these particular ones were collected in Florida), but for a small reef tank they are an awesome invertebrate choice.
They look like this(my pic):










I also have one white anemone porcelain crab in my 10 gallon who will get moved to this picotope soon (I'm taking down the 10 gal). So ill have 5 green porcelains and one white anemone porcelain. The white ones are the most common type seen in reef tanks. They look like this and they host coral as well as anemones:
(google pic)


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Oh man thats awesome, its like the bamboo shrimp of the saltwater world. I was going to put pompom crabs in my pico but decided not to.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

if you ever decided to to a smaller SW tank, pom pom crabs are good choices (though i hear they hide a bit)

Steering back on topic - any pics of your current FW picotope? and any updated pic of the bowl?


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## LucyLoofa (Jan 24, 2011)

Newman said:


> if you ever decided to to a smaller SW tank, pom pom crabs are good choices (though i hear they hide a bit)
> 
> Steering back on topic - any pics of your current FW picotope? and any updated pic of the bowl?


Cheers! Let's see the bowl! 
I hope your progress has been smooth!


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

It has been pretty smooth, ill go take some pictures right now. Ignore the little bit of algae on the glass, i need a tooth bush!


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

when you take water out for a water change, you can just wipe the algae on the glass away with a paper towel. its effective weekly maintenance


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Thanks for the tip! lol. Now for the photos. 
it next to my dry start.

















































I just did a big trim and replant yesterday so it isnt going to look its geatest. ;P


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

looks fine for the first month!


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

It looks better than it does on here, cleaning the glass would do these photos some good.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Racing stripe.


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## rikardob (Aug 13, 2011)

Sexy!


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

After the HUGE trim of star grass.

























All the trimmings


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

starting to take off!


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Like mad! Huh I just noticed you can't see any of the guppies in the pictures.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

No water changes = staghorn algae. I think its pretty cool looking though.


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## Newman (Jul 3, 2010)

not surprising that some sort of algae would start up. hopefully that wont take over though. i saw a little in my bowl too back when i started it but after a few months it was gone.


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## Polarshrey (Nov 15, 2011)

Never heard of planted bowls before or even people using bowls lol:icon_bigg.im going to copy because it's pretty cool.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Check out Newman's bowl! Way cooler than mine


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