withstand
How big is the bowl?
They probably can, but it still doesn't make it right...I read an old TFH artical that goldfish can be air shipped waterless, just moist cubicles with dry ice sedation to calm the fish, not sure if it is still going on. I have witnessed carps, goldfish ancestor, sold in Thailand farmer market in waterless containers, some hanging in the air by the dorsal fin wiggling to advertise sale.
Bird watchers will consider keeping any cage bird immoral, as birds are supposed to roam free. Likewise, reef divers will consider keeping coral fish in a glass cage immoral. Keeping dwarf shrimp in a gallon bowl is OK, but not nano fish of the same size. Keeping a 1 inch nano fish in a gal bowl has proportionally more water volume per unit mass than keeping a 2 inch betta in a quart jar. Mass is approximately proportional to the third power of the length and the math shows that betta in a quart jar has 32 times less water per unit mass than a 1 inch fish in a gal bowl.
One gallon.
"I like to maintain the bowl as a self sustaining microcosm. The sun provides external energy input, the dirt substrate and top off water provide the nutrients, and the plants, shrimp and micros complete the cycle. I post this thread in search of a nano fish to fill in the water column, ideally one that self sustains on plants and algae without feeding. I have no concern for a lonely fish in a tight space as fish are too primitive to have emotion."
That statement just beggars belief
I understand that total self sustenance is a fantasy
I have no concern for a lonely fish in a tight space as fish are too primitive to have emotion.
But since you sincerely believe fish are nothing but primitive emotionless and notionless buggers that only breath, eat and poop. Than i truely do not understand why you come here and ask the question which of those stupid buggers is most suitable