Fishbowl community? You might be surprised!

[tyrel]

I have just found a series of videos on youtube that shows a fishbowl community that has been running for 2 years with no deaths. It just looks like a little 1 or 1.5 gallon bowl without filtration or airation, yet it appears have a guppy, a dwarf frog, 3 white cloud tetras, and a couple of ghost shrimp! How on earth can you keep a setup like that healthy? It's obviously possible, but what kind of upkeep would that require?

The idea of tiny, inexpensive tanks is really interesting me right now, so these videos definately perked my intrest:

 

[theotheragentm]

Just because a fish survives doesn't mean it is healthy. If he changes water daily, it is possible for the water to be in okay condition as it would be removing waste and aerating this water. I would like to know what measurements he has on his water.

Really, in the end, you can't convince someone that doesn't want to be convinced that there is a better way to keep fish. Some fish are hardier than others and he seemst o have them.

 

[Mosaic]

You would need hardy fish that can tolerate cooler temps. Frequent water changes. If those plants are real, I imagine they contribute significantly to the water quality. The water does look pretty clean. but the fish are spending a lot of time up at the surface, which either means it's feeding time, or there's low oxygen in there.
The bowl looks a little cramped. Take out the white clouds and it'd be better.

I have a small, inexpensive tank, tyrel, but that doesn't mean it's easy. I spend more time on it than any of my other FW tanks.

 

[tyrel]

I have a small, inexpensive tank, tyrel, but that doesn't mean it's easy. I spend more time on it than any of my other FW tanks.

I don't mind a little more time working on smaller tanks. It would be offset by the smaller amount of water I have to lug around.

(I don't plan to stock as heavily as the one in the video if I do attempt a small community. If not I'll just stick to bettas and other small air breathers for now.)

 

[Zagz]

I agree with just because the fish are surviving doesn't mean they are healthy or happy. Without a heater there could be substantial temp swings depending on climate this is tried in. Larger tanks are more stable and easier to care for. As for water changes, you can purchase a python or even DIY one quite cheaply to make water changes easier and lug no water.

 

[7Enigma]

I went to visit my uncle for the first time in Phoenix Arizona last spring. My aunt had (notice the tense) a male betta kept in a small vase that couldn't have held more than 3/4 gallon (probably closer to 1/2 gallon). There was no heater (remember this is Arizona, I bet the house could fluctuate at least 20F during the day and the vase probably at least 1/2 that due to the small size), no filter, and I could see a good bit of detritus on the substrate (a couple pebbles). I wanted to be polite so I asked what maintenance was done on the vase.

To my horror the answer was topping off the vase with distilled water. That's it. No removing of the water, no gravel vacs, nothing. And this was a beautiful full-grown colorful betta. My uncle recently came to visit and I asked about the fish. He said it had died. It was ~3 years old.

So fish, like most creatures, can adapt to their surroundings and survive. It doesn't mean its healthy, it certainly doesn't mean its "happy", but it might look fine to the untrained eye....

 

[Mosaic]

Yeah, hauling water shouldn't be the reason you go to a smaller tank.

I would do some research on plants if you want to try something similar. Plant heavily, stock lightly, and you'll be ok without a filter. If your house doesn't stay at a constant temp there are nano heaters available. You might get some resistence here, but I think if you're smart about it your fish can be happy. PM me if you want to talk more. I got lots to say

 

[tropicfishman]

keeping a samll 10 gallons water parameters in order is hard enough, let alone a small 1 or 2 gallon. seems like way too much time involved

 

[theotheragentm]

I went to visit my uncle for the first time in Phoenix Arizona last spring. My aunt had (notice the tense) a male betta kept in a small vase that couldn't have held more than 3/4 gallon (probably closer to 1/2 gallon). There was no heater (remember this is Arizona, I bet the house could fluctuate at least 20F during the day and the vase probably at least 1/2 that due to the small size), no filter, and I could see a good bit of detritus on the substrate (a couple pebbles). I wanted to be polite so I asked what maintenance was done on the vase.

To my horror the answer was topping off the vase with distilled water. That's it. No removing of the water, no gravel vacs, nothing. And this was a beautiful full-grown colorful betta. My uncle recently came to visit and I asked about the fish. He said it had died. It was ~3 years old.

So fish, like most creatures, can adapt to their surroundings and survive. It doesn't mean its healthy, it certainly doesn't mean its "happy", but it might look fine to the untrained eye....

Phoenix normally has pretty stable winters, but this past fall/winter got really cold. Still a heater would have stabilized the temperature.

 

[squeekness]

When I was looking up some info on java moss, it was brought up that the moss can be very helpful in stabilizing water conditions in unfiltered betta bowls. Bettas love it and the moss feeds off of waste. If I was to have a betta in unfiltered water, I would try dumping some of that moss in there. Even so, it certainly wouldn't replace the need for water changes, maybe you could do fewer of them...

 

[Regen311]

My thing with that, just because you CAN torture a fish and keep it alive, should you? I mean... they have no room to swim! They may be physically healthy, but is it fair to keep a fish in those conditions? I don't think so.

 

[SlayerBarb]

my friend's dad did this experiment where he put 15 guppies in a 10 gallon tank that had a tube to another 10 gallon tank. the tube allowed the fish to go from one tank to another. anyway, the only thing he did for about 5 years was feed the fish daily...it's still going and he's had to give away about 200 or so fish...they flourished and just kept breeding. he never even cleaned it...pretty ridiculous and quite interesting, i thought.

 

[hc8719]

theres always the possbility he's lying.

wonder if he knows were talking about his tank...

 

[Jarred Darque]

I have to say that he is lying. Two things that lead me to this conclusion

1) the video is just over a minute long, and there is TONS of aggresion from the whitecloud. Over any length of time, it will have killed those guppies.

2) The tail on the guppy. As most people have seen, the size and brightness ofa fantail guppy, as with a beta, is dependant on water quality, and water movement. even with clean water, a betas tail and fins do not grow as long as one in the same sized tank when filtered. Look at the guppies tail, it is pretty nice, nto perfect, but nice. It jsut came out of a decent tank.

As another note, look at how active that frog is, it looks like he just went in there and is tryin to figure out his new home.

 

[Regen311]

I have to say that he is lying. Two things that lead me to this conclusion

1) the video is just over a minute long, and there is TONS of aggresion from the whitecloud. Over any length of time, it will have killed those guppies.

2) The tail on the guppy. As most people have seen, the size and brightness ofa fantail guppy, as with a beta, is dependant on water quality, and water movement. even with clean water, a betas tail and fins do not grow as long as one in the same sized tank when filtered. Look at the guppies tail, it is pretty nice, nto perfect, but nice. It jsut came out of a decent tank.

As another note, look at how active that frog is, it looks like he just went in there and is tryin to figure out his new home.

Good eye! I noticed something too...

Same bowl, different gupppy, and a few ghost shrimp. I'd say it's a lie, or this guy has a lot of bowls that look the same.