# Low tech lily bowl



## Tresbling (27 Sep 2009)

Thought you might like to see this bedside 'pond'. It is my favourite tank due to extremely low maintenance/success ratio! Inhabitants are 6 crystal reds, 4 amanos and 1 small plec (not an intentional resident, rehomed). There are also small populations of snails and planktonic calanoid copepods that live around the roots of the _Lemna_.

I never used to feed the shrimps but have started giving them spinach, and they have started to breed in response. They certainly go nuts for it. No dosing, CO2 or heating, just small internal filter with flow diffuser. 12v halogen desk lamp. Occasional small water changes, filter media rinses and plant trims. It has been around for over 2 years and the substrate has not been disturbed in that time (except by the plec!). The original gravel is well covered in a natural layer of shrimp poop and plant matter, with many unidentified tiny beasties moving around in it. I'm sure this is key to the success of the tank.

As a biology student its rewarding to have a balanced 'picosystem' on my bedside table. Just waiting for the moss to cover the filter completely, and baby CRS to crawl out of the moss. I would be interested to know if this is El natural/low tech/Walstead etc?


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## mr. luke (27 Sep 2009)

Cool =]
What sort of plec is the plec?
And what is the volume of the bowl?


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## Tresbling (27 Sep 2009)

Im pretty sure its a clown plec- fully grown at <2inches.
Tank volume is ~7 litres.
I know its not a great idea to have fish in such a small tank, but I think this is more of a plec biotope (wood, moss, dark places) than my larger, 100% planted tanks. It seems pretty happy, I hear it making rasping noises at night   

Cheers


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## aaronnorth (27 Sep 2009)

nice tank


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## Superman (27 Sep 2009)

Thats lovely, although could you resize your photos in the future as it took an age to download!


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## Themuleous (27 Sep 2009)

Thats pretty cool 

Sam


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## hydrophyte (29 Sep 2009)

That is so pleasing--very nice and simple. The lotus goes really well with the moss.


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## tropic_john (11 Oct 2009)

very nice, now I wanna do the same


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## Tresbling (11 Oct 2009)

Thanks for the comments!

I have done a bit of pruning and rearranging, and poked a 'cave' in the moss which I think looks cool   

The moss is covering the filter quickly too...

Here are a few recent pics with a black background (makes all the difference), should be resized too. Apologies for the poor photography - I blame the lens effect of the bowl over my own lack of skill   









A couple of my driftwood pieces had been held together by cable tie for about 2 years. I took it off the other day, and this raised ridge of was left underneath...





Just shows how much your aquarium wood shrinks over time! I wonder if this is bacterial degradation or direct grazing by shrimps and plec? Weird eh?


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## elanmak (11 Oct 2009)

Lovely.
I really like it too.


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## Rainbow Tank (21 Nov 2009)

Thats brilliant have to try that got a small light in the garage and a vase


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## aquaticmaniac (21 Nov 2009)

The shrimp, red and green contrast, natural looking; to me, this is heaven   

Where did you get the container?


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## Tresbling (24 Nov 2009)

Thanks for the comments-

Can't remember exactly where the bowl came from, Ive had it for years. I think it was just a goldfish bowl from a garden centre or aquarium shop.

The plants have grown so much in the last two weeks, its unbelievable how good the desk lamp is for growing (some) plants! Here are some recent overgrown photos, i'll put some more up after the next trim.


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## Wraithio (24 Nov 2009)

thats really effective! cant let my mum see it or she will want one for her front room... then again


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## aaronnorth (24 Nov 2009)

i like the overgorwn look


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## Tresbling (25 Nov 2009)

Show your mum! I reckon you could set up the whole thing from new for under Â£100 if you shop carefully, you get a good effect with mimimal maintenance. I also just left it for a week while I was away and it was fine when I came back!

I like the overgrown look too, Im delaying the next pruning session...


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## Wraithio (25 Nov 2009)

haha i might have too! then again another tank on the list of 5 while im away at uni... i think she may want to put bleach in them some time


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## joanne (28 Nov 2009)

Really like the look of that might try it myself sometime.


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## arty (13 Jun 2010)

I like it


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## nayr88 (13 Jun 2010)

i see this on aquarist classifieds a week ago. :C


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## David.Earl (13 Jun 2010)

I saw it too, but i swear it said it was 30 litres and this isnt 30 litres?

I think it looks amazing


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## bumcrumb (14 Jun 2010)

ohh, mate that is fantastic! right, im now going to look on ebay for a classic glass fish bowl and get one set up like this for my bedroom.
i think i might be allowed to have another tank in the house lol, (only the bathroom left now lol)


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## akwarybka (28 Oct 2010)

It looks great! It's also the best looking fish bowl I've ever seen


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## sanj (30 Oct 2010)

Ive never seen this before, its is really lovely. Better still that it is low maintenance. What kind of filter is in there, i cant see any cable?


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## StevenA (30 Jan 2011)

Looks lovely mate, very natural feel to it. Is it still going?


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## akwarybka (11 May 2011)

This is absolutely awesome!


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## Bahrah (15 May 2011)

I like it, :idea: think I might have a go!


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## Tresbling (16 May 2011)

Hi,

Thanks for all the comments, I hope it inspired some people to set up their own!

Sorry I neglected the thread for so long, I now live in Australia and the bowl is no longer set up   

I did put it on AQ briefly to see if anyone wanted to take it over, but ran out of time so I gave the fish and shrimps to a friend and left the tank with my mum. She kept it going for a while, but not being an aquarist she gave up after a while and cleaned it out!

A couple of people asked what the filter was, I can't remember the exact one but it was a small internal sponge filter (fluval 1 perhaps) with a loop of rubber over the output to diffuse the flow. The main moss bank is actually growing off the filter itself, thats how its hidden   
I tied java moss onto the filter with black thread, and within a month it was covered - this arrangement means you can lift out the filter and the main body of moss at once, handy for cleaning and pruning.

I'm now planning my new aquarium here in Oz, i've found a large elliptical bowl and thinking about LED spotlight and maybe an unfiltered setup... Lots of reading UKAPS topics for research!


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## Gill (16 May 2011)

Loved this Bowl and had been wondering what had happened to it. 
I guessed it was in Internal and an Ingenious way of covering it up. 

I have one started aswell with my daphnia, Using the Plants from A1matts meet. Have not added a filter as yet, but might


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