# Candle Bowl



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Hello,

I've been out of the hobby for 15+ years. So much has changed. I had a 40 gallon planted tank with kitty liter clay for fertilizer and playground sand with swords, crypts, and a little moss. I don't think wabi kusa was around in the aquarium world yet. But now I want to try it. My original plan was to get a wabi kusa ball in the middle and some anubias and moss around the island. But the lfs I went to back in the day that had moss is now closed, they also sold Amano shrimp. The other lfs which had ghost shrimp is now closed too. So I'll try the classifieds here to try and score some plants. 









The bowl is 4" tall. Lip is 8" and 9 3/4" at its widest. 

This will be on my office desk so no co2, filters, or lights. It'll only get the overhead light from the ceiling.

Anyone have advice on low light plants? Fish?


----------



## prasoonv (Jun 17, 2009)

You can go with plants like Glosso, Hydrocotyle, bacopa, ludwigas etc. Cover the clay ball in any moss. Do use sphagnum moss in/over the clay.
I just setup a wabikusa for my office 2 weeks ago this way.
BTW, I am in Orange County.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

prasoonv said:


> You can go with plants like Glosso, Hydrocotyle, bacopa, ludwigas etc. Cover the clay ball in any moss. Do use sphagnum moss in/over the clay.
> I just setup a wabikusa for my office 2 weeks ago this way.
> BTW, I am in Orange County.


How's your wabi kusa going? Any pics of your setup? Where'd you get your clay?

I have some anubias, java moss, and ceratopteris on the way.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Here it sits on my desk. Maybe get plants in there next week.


----------



## prasoonv (Jun 17, 2009)

Here is mine. Though I realize I made it a bit too small. Will need to get a bigger bowl and ball. Bacopa and red ludwiga is growing fine, glosso not as much.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

prasoonv said:


> Here is mine. Though I realize I made it a bit too small. Will need to get a bigger bowl and ball. Bacopa and red ludwiga is growing fine, glosso not as much.


That looks nice. Do you have a light source just for the bowl?


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Okay, I think this is the direction I want to go in http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=121025&highlight=Shrimp+bowl


----------



## prasoonv (Jun 17, 2009)

So you are not doing a wabi kusa then?
I use the LED lights from Aqueon evolve 4.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

prasoonv said:


> So you are not doing a wabi kusa then?
> I use the LED lights from Aqueon evolve 4.


Seems to change everyday! Everyday I go through the site I find something else I wanna try. 

Goodies going into the bowl tomorrow. 

















Also got a bag of black aquarium sand from petco and also got some potting soil.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Got the bowl set up today.

Started with a small layer of potting soil at the bottom


Then put About 1.5" to 2" of black petco sand on top


Anubias tied to some stones


After adding water, put the ceratopteris in to float around
Discovered there was some extra goodies in the bag of ceratopteris. Is this riccia?


And this guy. Not sure what it is


And as it sits right now.


Will go with a wabi kusa ball to fill in the middle. Have some java moss coming in this weekend. Will pick up a small bag of sphagnum moss and find some clay somewhere to make the ball with. Just gotta find something to use as the plant material for the ball.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

I picked up a bag of sphagnum moss today. Wrapped it around a rock with some fishing line. 









I was going to use some weeds from around the house for a natural feel, but while picking up the sphagnum moss saw the plant on the left. It's called a sidekick sweet potato vine. 









All ready to go. Java moss came today and I wrapped that around the sphagnum ball. Will have to wait until Monday to put it in the bowl. Had enough java moss to make a second wabi kusa ball. Will stick with regular aquarium plants for that one.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Got the plant in this morning. 









I may have made it too tall. Will see if the java moss survives. 









Also picked up 10 of these guys. Too fast to get a good phone pic.


----------



## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

Enjoying your thread. Great project for a desk. Keep posting


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Sajacobs said:


> Enjoying your thread. Great project for a desk. Keep posting


Thank you.

I need to get some plants to cover up the gravel. It's too dark at the moment.


----------



## snakeskin (Jul 28, 2005)

won't the emersed section of the java moss dry out?


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

snakeskin said:


> won't the emersed section of the java moss dry out?


I'm afraid it will. I can't get a spray bottle because it'll be too sloppy for my desk so I'll have to figure something out.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

The shrimp started slowing down this afternoon. Will see in a couple days if it was from acclimating or dying. But it did allow me to get a better picture. Color also appeared to be getting darker. 








Now all I need is to bring a better camera to get decenter? pics.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Lost one shrimp so not too bad. Shrimp food came today also. Some om nom nom from somewhatshocked. Shrimp'll be eating good tomorrow. The bowl is a bit crowded with the two wabi kusa balls. I'll dismantle the one with the sweet potato vine and just put that thing in a normal pot.


----------



## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

Sorry to hear about your shrimp.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Sajacobs said:


> Sorry to hear about your shrimp.


One's not bad. I was ready for more. Guess that's why they're considered hardy.

Threw shrimp food in there this morning. Had only one shrimp munching on it for a bit. Now there's two and a third one's just hanging back a bit just looking.

EDIT:

An hour later I see eight of em hanging around. Will see if a ninth one shows up or if I actually lost two shrimp.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Pic with eight of them. Seven around the food.


----------



## binbin9 (Jan 31, 2012)

That rotala looks great!


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

binbin9 said:


> That rotala looks great!


:icon_mrgr

Moved the potato vine over to a mug. 









Added some pygmy chain swords. Not so pygmy in the bowl. 









All remaining nine RCSs still there.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Moved everything over to a bigger bowl. Picked it up from Michael's. Looking for driftwood to put java moss on so for right now it's in the container next to the bowl.

Also doing diy co2


Everything's a little cooler here in the office so it took a while for the co2 to get rolling. I actually thought I killed the yeast on my first bottle so I did another batch. I was hearing this sound which I thought was my cpu, but it turns out it was the co2 coming out of the airstone. Gotta change the airstone setup. Bubbles coming out way too big. Don't smoke, so the cigarette filter thing's out the window so I'll have to try a chopstick.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Ends up we have a stash of chopsticks here in the office so I went ahead and replaced the airstone. Much better. I lucked out though with the bigger bubbles. The office was dark the whole weekend so I would've definitely gassed the shrimp if I had proper sized bubbles going. Guess I'll just have to take the tube out of the bowl for the weekends.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Unfortunately all the rcs died after I added the co2. I'm thinking of going with white cloud mountain minnows next. Maybe 2 or 3.

As the bowl stands now.


Got some duckweed in a raok.


I am waiting on a piece of wood from my plum tree to dry up and I'll put that in the middle to stick the anubias and java fern on.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

There's a fish store close to work. Only thing they had small enough was guppies. I picked up three. I put them in a small container and slowly added water from the bowl in there then put them in the bowl. They all instantly died. Time to get a test kit.


----------



## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

on fish and shrimp. 

Maybe it might be easier to keep it an only plant bowl?


----------



## PeterN1986 (Jun 15, 2011)

You should keep it plants only...any water parameter changes will be magnified since it's such a small volume of water in the bowl; hence the dead shrimp and fish up to this point. CO2 for a small bowl like this also seems like overkill - the bowl is nice and small and simple, no need to complicate things with CO2.


----------



## JeremyM (Feb 23, 2012)

Nice start, too bad you've had a few rough patches. I'd say you could def try for some fauna in here again, but take it much slower; you seem to be rushing things quite a bit. First have this bowl up and running WITHOUT changing anything around- moving bowls, adding co2 etc- so it has a chance to fully stabilize and the plants become well established. Aim for the bowl to have crystal clear water (it will happen) and for the plant growth to look like an overgrown jungle before you put any live animals in (should take at least a few months). Then when you do add livestock, go low and slow. I'm not surprised you lost the original two shrimp, adding 10 at once in 4" of water in an uncycled system is bound to create problems. Try adding about two or three shrimp at a time, then waiting a week before deciding to add more or not- or better yet, just let them breed on their own to get more. Don't plan on feeding anything you have too often; when it's established, the shrimp should get enough food from algae and other pickings that they need to sustain themselves, with maybe a very, VERY small supplemental feeding once a week or less, which should be gone in a matter of minutes; not only will the (smallest amounts of) uneaten food create major problems, but you must also take into consideration the waste the shrimp will produce when they pass the food, and whether your plants will be able to handle that. The objective is to add in as little outside organics into this system as possible which could cause water quality to become ill. Good move on the duckweed, that's great for sucking nitrates and other nasties that come with a new system, but make sure you remove it before it gets so overgrown that layers form and the bottom starts decomposing. I'd recommend that you steer away from fish unless you've had experience with this type of setup before, or you go for an air-breather (betta is your most likely solution), but be prepared to siphon detriusfrom the bottom with regular water changes if you do. (my fish recommendation otherwise would be a single Heterodon formosa). C02 is a no-no for this type of system, and you may want to consider setting a desk lamp on it (not one that will get too hot) to increase the plants' photosynthetic rates, which will result in higher oxygen output. But I totally agree; before this progresses any further, a test kit is the way to go! don't get discouraged and don't give up, the one thing that these things take is patience.


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

Sajacobs said:


> on fish and shrimp.
> 
> Maybe it might be easier to keep it an only plant bowl?


I'm thinking so too. Decision has been made for me because of the deaths. 



PeterN1986 said:


> You should keep it plants only...any water parameter changes will be magnified since it's such a small volume of water in the bowl; hence the dead shrimp and fish up to this point. CO2 for a small bowl like this also seems like overkill - the bowl is nice and small and simple, no need to complicate things with CO2.


I won't put any fish or shrimp for a while. I'll get a test kit and maybe leave the co2 on to help the plants and then cut it off when I plan to add shrimp or fish. 



JeremyM said:


> Nice start, too bad you've had a few rough patches. I'd say you could def try for some fauna in here again, but take it much slower; you seem to be rushing things quite a bit. First have this bowl up and running WITHOUT changing anything around- moving bowls, adding co2 etc- so it has a chance to fully stabilize and the plants become well established. Aim for the bowl to have crystal clear water (it will happen) and for the plant growth to look like an overgrown jungle before you put any live animals in (should take at least a few months). Then when you do add livestock, go low and slow. I'm not surprised you lost the original two shrimp, adding 10 at once in 4" of water in an uncycled system is bound to create problems. Try adding about two or three shrimp at a time, then waiting a week before deciding to add more or not- or better yet, just let them breed on their own to get more. Don't plan on feeding anything you have too often; when it's established, the shrimp should get enough food from algae and other pickings that they need to sustain themselves, with maybe a very, VERY small supplemental feeding once a week or less, which should be gone in a matter of minutes; not only will the (smallest amounts of) uneaten food create major problems, but you must also take into consideration the waste the shrimp will produce when they pass the food, and whether your plants will be able to handle that. The objective is to add in as little outside organics into this system as possible which could cause water quality to become ill. Good move on the duckweed, that's great for sucking nitrates and other nasties that come with a new system, but make sure you remove it before it gets so overgrown that layers form and the bottom starts decomposing. I'd recommend that you steer away from fish unless you've had experience with this type of setup before, or you go for an air-breather (betta is your most likely solution), but be prepared to siphon detriusfrom the bottom with regular water changes if you do. (my fish recommendation otherwise would be a single Heterodon formosa). C02 is a no-no for this type of system, and you may want to consider setting a desk lamp on it (not one that will get too hot) to increase the plants' photosynthetic rates, which will result in higher oxygen output. But I totally agree; before this progresses any further, a test kit is the way to go! don't get discouraged and don't give up, the one thing that these things take is patience.


Thanks for such a detailed reply. I'll do my best to keep it plants only for as long as possible. I'll monitor the duckweed. I think the batch I have in there is already close to being multiple layers. Now to just watch the plants grow.


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

+1 JeremyM. For that small I'd use excel if anything, easier to control how much you add. DIY co2 is hard. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

This is the same michaels bowl, its a topsoil substrate with a cap. And decent amount of plants. I check the water parameters every other day and do water changes as needed. Water was perfect before I did a rescape and added a couple root tabs. So now I have to do water changes as I did before. This bowl has 10 shrimp and 4 adult ramdhorn snails that lay eggs on everything. Which are now hatching. Its gonna be a snail invasion 
Here's a couple pictures. Sorry about the glare, its right by a window and its early morning. But I just started yesterday dosing excel and flourish. I bought an eye dropper and did 3 drops flourish and 2 drops excel. I'll keep it low for now so I don't kill anything. It sits under a 13w bulb in a desk light which will soon be a 3w led solarflare so my plants should really take off. I have to scoop the floaters out every couple of days as they thicken up quick. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


----------



## mckolit (May 13, 2013)

tattooedfool83 said:


> This is the same michaels bowl, its a topsoil substrate with a cap. And decent amount of plants. I check the water parameters every other day and do water changes as needed. Water was perfect before I did a rescape and added a couple root tabs. So now I have to do water changes as I did before. This bowl has 10 shrimp and 4 adult ramdhorn snails that lay eggs on everything. Which are now hatching. Its gonna be a snail invasion
> Here's a couple pictures. Sorry about the glare, its right by a window and its early morning. But I just started yesterday dosing excel and flourish. I bought an eye dropper and did 3 drops flourish and 2 drops excel. I'll keep it low for now so I don't kill anything. It sits under a 13w bulb in a desk light which will soon be a 3w led solarflare so my plants should really take off. I have to scoop the floaters out every couple of days as they thicken up quick.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


That'll look great when it fills up. How many gallons is the bowl? I did a calculation for a sphere but minus the space taken by the substrate and the top cut off, don't know how much is left.


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

I believe its 3. So probably 2.5 with the substrate. I'm only guessing though. I use a 1 quart bottle to do water changes and it takes like 3-4 to do a 50% water change. I just did a rescaoe and have some drift wood soaking. But I'm thinking about getting another one. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


----------



## Water7 (May 19, 2013)

Mckolit, I am sorry to hear about your fish and shrimp deaths. I hope that your plant bowl works out for you!


----------



## jfynyson (Apr 15, 2013)

prasoonv said:


> Here is mine. Though I realize I made it a bit too small. Will need to get a bigger bowl and ball. Bacopa and red ludwiga is growing fine, glosso not as much.
> View attachment 143514


How's this looking today ? Can you tell us the specs and how you keep it ? (i.e. water changes, ferts, lighting & photoperiod, etc...)

Thanks !


----------

