TankGirl
Aquarium Advice Addict
Click Here for the photo diary of my nano planted bowl.
The bowl is about 2 gallons and has no mechanical filtration and no heater. I decided to use more than just low light plants, and found a cheap light fixture in the garage. The fixture was not quite right for the setup but so far I had not spent any money on this little tank, and I was determined to find a way to make it work. I enlisted some help in the DIY forum and was able to modify the fixture with pretty decent results.
I did purchase some Anubias nana petite from Off-Ice at Plantgeeks, and he threw in some pygmy cryptocoryne when he found out it was a nano tank (thanks, Curt!) but those plants, the replacement globe for the light and some machine screws are all I have purchased.
The lamp keeps the water reasonably warm but both varieties of crypts melted while I was getting my lamp situation sorted out, and I am hopeful they will come back. Temperature is the limiting factor in this tank so it is something of an experiment. There are 3-4 common snails in there now that are about 5mm in size, and if you have any doubts what snails contribute to your bioload you should see the amount of poo scattered all around this bowl. 8O Once I start getting some plant growth I will put a "tequila sunrise" guppy in there, and perhaps a ghost shrimp. I will continue to add photos to the diary to document the success or failure of the setup and see which plants make it and which did not. Wish me luck!
The bowl is about 2 gallons and has no mechanical filtration and no heater. I decided to use more than just low light plants, and found a cheap light fixture in the garage. The fixture was not quite right for the setup but so far I had not spent any money on this little tank, and I was determined to find a way to make it work. I enlisted some help in the DIY forum and was able to modify the fixture with pretty decent results.
I did purchase some Anubias nana petite from Off-Ice at Plantgeeks, and he threw in some pygmy cryptocoryne when he found out it was a nano tank (thanks, Curt!) but those plants, the replacement globe for the light and some machine screws are all I have purchased.
The lamp keeps the water reasonably warm but both varieties of crypts melted while I was getting my lamp situation sorted out, and I am hopeful they will come back. Temperature is the limiting factor in this tank so it is something of an experiment. There are 3-4 common snails in there now that are about 5mm in size, and if you have any doubts what snails contribute to your bioload you should see the amount of poo scattered all around this bowl. 8O Once I start getting some plant growth I will put a "tequila sunrise" guppy in there, and perhaps a ghost shrimp. I will continue to add photos to the diary to document the success or failure of the setup and see which plants make it and which did not. Wish me luck!