# Betta in bowls!



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

I have been browsing this forum for a few weeks, and am interested to know how many of you have your betta kept in bowls? I have my two VT males in 2.5 gallon heated bowls with java moss and river stones. I would post a pic but my camera is playing up :/

I know many people on this forum seem to HATE bowls, but I personally think they can be lovely if done correctly (heated, regular water changes, plenty of room)

I'd _love_ to see some pics if you have any too- :lol:
I'll post a pic of mine when I get a working camera.


----------



## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

I wouldn't consider 2.5 gallons as a bowl, but rather a small tank. To me, anything under 1 gallon is a bowl. Many people view 2.5 gallons as an acceptable minimum tank size. Here is a picture of one of my 2.5 gallon tanks that currently houses Skye. He's got Java Moss as well. Love that stuff! I also recently switched out the fake driftwood for a real one.


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

I have one - well, it's not really a bowl - it's a giant wine glass and holds about 2 gallons. I don't really like anything ina circle shape as it distorts everything.










I think this would look better with sand - still not a fan of circles though


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

LionCalie said:


> I wouldn't consider 2.5 gallons as a bowl, but rather a small tank. To me, anything under 1 gallon is a bowl. Many people view 2.5 gallons as an acceptable minimum tank size. Here is a picture of one of my 2.5 gallon tanks that currently houses Skye. He's got Java Moss as well. Love that stuff! I also recently switched out the fake driftwood for a real one.


I love your drift wood by the way! And I see what you mean by 2.5 gallons being more 'tanks'...However my 2.5 gallons _are_ bowls. 

And Tikibird, it does distort the fish abit, especially when they swim round the back...they look giant:shock: I like your wine glass by the way- very unique


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

to give an example of what I mean, my bowls are quite similar to this one (without the poor white cloud minnow of course)http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/105504-2-gallon-fish-bowl-w-java.html


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

I bought it a few years ago from walmart- it was just collecting dust so I figured - why not use it for a fish. There is a tetra heater in there too but it really does not do much - maybe heats it to 72 and its a 50 watt heater - no way it could heat up 10 gallons


----------



## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

I don't have anything special in the bowl I'm using now with my baby betta. It's a 1/2 gallon bowl that I used as my quarantine tank. With all the water changes I didn't want to decorate it much.

So far I threw in a sprig of green hedge to float on the surface and put in a chunk of driftwood with some java fern on it for the bottom. The java fern has little white bugs that hatched on it and the baby is eating them so I may throw in the rest of the effected fern so he can clean it up. I will probably throw in some java moss if he does a good job with the white bugs.

BTW thank you, I learned something from the link you posted. I saw the caption under the picture about not true pearling from a water change. I googled pearling and found out my plants must be happy if they are doing it. 

I threw a bowl of java moss, a moss ball, and a few assorted pieces of that lace java fern that were not doing well under the light from an Aerogarden. Within a couple days the moss ball, and everything else started making those bubbles. Learn something new every day.


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

Twilight Storm said:


> So far I threw in a sprig of green hedge to float on the surface and put in a chunk of driftwood with some java fern on it for the bottom. The java fern has little white bugs that hatched on it and the baby is eating them so I may throw in the rest of the effected fern so he can clean it up. I will probably throw in some java moss if he does a good job with the white bugs.


I think I may add some java fern to my bowls too- do you find it needs good lighting? Your bowl is probably great for a small betta with all those live plants


----------



## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

I used to, I had my oldest fish Psych (avvie pic) when I first got him in a tiny goldfish bowl (shown in the picture below) when I first got him. He was in there for about 2 weeks with a little tiny silk grassy plant. Then I upgraded him to a tank very similar to the one Tikibirds has- that one looks like one a friend uses for her baby Betta, which was bought from WalMart, mine was from PetSmart and I think was a little bit smaller. He got really super sick after about 4 months of living in there, so much so that I thought he was going to die and he almost did. I got him a MiniBow and used it as a hospital tank and once he got better I upgraded him to a 2.5 BettaBow.. After another 4 months or so I eventually put him in a 5 gallon where he lives now, which is shown in the picture below as well. He's gone from that tiny little bowl to a big heated, filtered tank lol. 

I personally know several fish who do not like larger tanks and who do not like any type of filter, some are best left in small bowls. I call them "Puddle Fish", as they seem to thrive best in tiny amounts of water.


Side note, the little goldfish bowl looks dirty because I had some water and plant food in it for a piece of bamboo which just got put into a different vase lol.. just thought i'de let you know.


----------



## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I do! my juvie's in a planted 1/2 gallon. (oh those water changes!)
 who said half gallons are impossible to plant? I'm lookin to upgrade to one of those bigger almost 1 gals when she gets bigger


----------



## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

*kinda long post lol*

Java moss is especially good for any container you keep a betta in. It doesn't need much light and is a magical plant in my opinion.... in so many ways. Algae can do a good job of smothering it though.... I threw out a lot of my moss because it was in a tank that got a bad algae problem, and now it's impossible to find more to replace it.

Here is a test a few people did, which makes me wish ALL bettas sold in pet stores came with a small glob of java moss in each cup. So many more bettas would probably have just a slightly better chance at sticking out some of the bad conditions until someone takes them home and gets them out of their little torture chamber.
http://www.bettatalk.com/java_moss.htm 
(Again I stress it doesn't replace the _*NEED*_ to do proper water changes.... but it's magical imo.) 

O.K.! Now that you all know I belong to the Java Moss Fan Club..... LOL

Java fern I am not so sure about yet. I am getting new growth on my ferns both free floating and tied to driftwood. I *do* have brown spots on my leaves. I don't know if that is being caused by the bugs or if it is my lack of knowledge on how to keep it healthy. It's a new plant to me. The plants I have tied to driftwood are doing slightly better then my free floating pieces. The java fern I got was one of those plant tubes in the pet store. It was a mass of baby plant rhizomes tied tightly with black thread. I removed the thread carefully and got 16 plants out of 1. 

If you get java fern in a tube, check for thread. If it is there you might want to take it off. Be really careful doing so though. The way they tied my plants pretty much left no room for any of the new growth to come up out of the thread glob. It also seemed like it was tied too tightly, making it a delicate surgical procedure to remove the thread! LOL !

*I love your baby's planted tank aokashi! Would you share what kind of plants you have in there and what kind of light you are using? *

I was thinking about getting one of those tanks but I figured the babies grow so fast and then what would I do with it? 

Seeing yours makes me want to try to make a better home for my few common pond snails I wish were trumpet snails because people say the snails I have are bad. I'm attached to them though.

Note: Keep in mind I still believe in housing adult bettas in at LEAST 1 gallon containers long term... Hopefully 2 gallons to 5 gallons..... Just saying...


----------



## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

aokashi... omg.. It took me some time before I realized exactly what tank that was- your little Betta made the tank look huge lol. It's so pretty.


----------



## Bettachazie (May 18, 2012)

where do you get java moss?


----------



## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

Bettachazie said:


> where do you get java moss?


I found mine at local pet stores. They don't have any now, and they are all telling me "Their supplier doesn't carry it anymore."

Other then that I am not sure. I saw some on ebay for an arm and a leg for a really tiny amount of it. I really would like to get more myself.

TheCheese- I didn't see your picture in this post at first. I see it now though. At first glance it looks like you were making a bloodworm soup in that little bowl in front of your tank lol


----------



## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

LOL yes she will definitely be in a 1 gallon when she grows up  I play with her a lot, and she isn't shy at all (usually tries to eat my finger with her pellets), Still need to name...

But when I upgrade, I'll throw some of my excess cherry shrimps in there and use it as a holding tank before I sell them or something  I have come to realize that the bioload of shrimps are amazingly negligibly tiny...


Anyway...
In the "bowl" is... 
An anubias nana petitite. 
A java fern Trident (unlike normal java ferns these stay small)
Brazillian pennywort
Some Java moss at the back
An unidentified plant I am hoping to identify soon... LOL
Water wisteria
Guppy grass
Water Sprite
Four leaf water clover
Salvinia
Duckweed

As you can imagine I used about 1 strand of most plants 

The light is a 100w equivilant cfl from my table lamp. I love plants and have a few indoor plants I keep this light on. They all share the same light.

I have a spare "plants tank" on my window sill and I usually salvage from there. Any thin I throw in there seems to grow... including a banana lily leaf I pruned off. It is now a whole new banana lily plant. Lol

I added a mini ramshorn snail to help fertilize the plants...ever since adding it I've been paranoid about spikes and tested the water everyday that I didn't change it, but nothing happened and it's all good  

I'm still trying to figure out whether I want to do my next tank with a Süsswassertang as my centerpiece attached to driftwood >.>

EDIT:
oh and brown spots on java ferns? never throw those out, wait a bit, and you will have many little java fern plantlets. That's how I got my first java ferns, believe it or not - this hitch hiker diseased looking leaf that came with my shrimps.


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I don't have a bowl, but I would love one one day, a big 5 gal one for a coffee table, with lots of plants.


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

I always like the look of those marina cubes - I would get one it they made them in bigger sizes - like 3-5 gallons. 

The planted 1/2 gallon looks awsome. How do you keep it warm though?


----------



## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

she's usually in the heating room where the water boiler is. Temperature there is around 82-85
Her water is usually around 80  though its getting warmer so I took her out recently and its been a constant 78


----------



## Alcemistnv (Jan 29, 2012)

This is Buddha's 2 gallon bowl


----------



## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

> she's usually in the heating room where the water boiler is. Temperature there is around 82-85
> Her water is usually around 80  though its getting warmer so I took her out recently and its been a constant 78


That's a neat idea actually.


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Alcemistnv said:


> This is Buddha's 2 gallon bowl


How do you keep this one warm?  You may also want to raise the waterline, because right now I'm guessing it only holds a gallon, maybe a gallon and a half, and that's half a gallon less of ammonia dilution.


----------



## Alcemistnv (Jan 29, 2012)

Oh, the water is low because I was preparing to move out of my dorm, so I kept it low so it didn't slosh around when in the car xD

And I do regular cleanings to keep the water moderate, and the room he is in now is climate controlled, so his tank's temperature doesn't go down too low ^^

I'm planning on getting a 10 gallon before I move back, so I'm getting an official heater then xD


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

Bombalurina said:


> I don't have a bowl, but I would love one one day, a big 5 gal one for a coffee table, with lots of plants.


That would look _awesome_. I'd love to find a 5 gallon bowl! I think well planted bowls look great- I'm planning on adding more to my two- maybe some java fern (My lights not that great however). I think interestingly shaped tanks can look amazing if done well.


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

Some kind of live plant would look great in this bowl 



Alcemistnv said:


> This is Buddha's 2 gallon bowl


----------



## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

I agree with Emmalee01 about Alcemistnv's bowl. My PetCo sells these weird moss balls that float at the surface of the water, I think you would want to tie them down with some fishing wire so they are completely submerged but I think they would probably look neat floating around near the top of the water somewhere.. My friend has 2 with one of her CTs and he loves to push them around and play with them lol


----------



## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

I think that bowls are better when heated and cleaned properly.. But I still dislike bowls...


For me- at least, I couldnt have a bowl due to having cats.. Also when I was little (4 years old) I picked up my betta's bowl and dropped it.. Made a huge mess and could have killed my fish.. (I have 4 younger siblings so that would be a worry)


But I also think of it as if I were in a swimming pool- I would love to swim in a really big, long pool versus a backyard above ground pool. I wouldn't put a betta in anything under 5 gallons... Just my opinion... Everyone has their own. ;-)

Here is my betta in her 10 gallon tank (not done decorating it yet)


----------



## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Emmalee01 said:


> I think I may add some java fern to my bowls too- do you find it needs good lighting? Your bowl is probably great for a small betta with all those live plants


Java ferns are actually low light plants... But they still need some light (obviously) I'm not so sure how it would do in a bowl, since there would be no overhead light, and you cant put the bowl in direct sunlight :/


----------



## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

LionCalie said:


> I wouldn't consider 2.5 gallons as a bowl, but rather a small tank. To me, anything under 1 gallon is a bowl. Many people view 2.5 gallons as an acceptable minimum tank size. Here is a picture of one of my 2.5 gallon tanks that currently houses Skye. He's got Java Moss as well. Love that stuff! I also recently switched out the fake driftwood for a real one.


Your tank looks so beautiful! What plant is the one on the right hand side? I'm soon going to make my tank natural themed and I just love that plant!


----------



## Alcemistnv (Jan 29, 2012)

I actually have a plant that I did use to put in there, but it was taller than the actual tank so it looked really awkward. 

But a live plant does sound great


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Java fern should grow with an indirect light source. You don't need an overhead light.


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

Bombalurina said:


> Java fern should grow with an indirect light source. You don't need an overhead light.


Cool thanks, I have just purchased a nice bunch so that is good to know 

In case you were wondering why I keep my Betta in bowls:

My first Betta hated his 5 gal (I still have it spare) He would hide in his cave and began to fin bite. I placed him in the bowl for healing purposes as I was worried he'd get fin rot (like many of you I don't like anything too small so chose a 2.5 gal bowl as a hospital tank) He seemed to thrive in it, he stopped hiding and became much more active (guess it shows you how different Betta's can be from one another!)

Long story short, I decided I quite like him in this bowl. When his fins recovered I added java moss and pebbles to make it look nice (would love to show a pic!) 

I then bought another Betta (Godric) and placed this one in a matching bowl- he seems happy too- I may try seeing if he prefers the 5 gal, but will always keep my first Betta (Odin) in his bowl!


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)




----------



## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I approve! lol preett tanks you have  I presumw thwy're not jumpers?


----------



## TheCheese909 (Aug 11, 2011)

Emmalee01, i've never been a fan of any type of Goldfish bowls, but those spheres you have are beautiful! I love them <3


----------



## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

Cheese I think you can still get them at Home Goods. They have/had a ton of different sizes from a half gallon to probably 10 gallons. (The big ones are huge, but I don't know exactly how much they hold.) The prices on them aren't too bad either.


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

TheCheese909 said:


> Emmalee01, i've never been a fan of any type of Goldfish bowls, but those spheres you have are beautiful! I love them <3


Thanks! I feel like these give them enough room to swim etc. I still might eventually move them to my empty 5 gallon...but I am loving this set up for now


----------



## Emmalee01 (Apr 16, 2012)

aokashi said:


> I approve! lol preett tanks you have  I presumw thwy're not jumpers?


 \Good point! I do hope the water level is low enough for them not to jump:shock:, however I think I should probably get lids made for these !


----------



## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I was scared to click this thread... Now I'm not =D Those bowls look VERY nice! I have a goldfish bowl, and I hate it. It distorts the view of my fish and dare they be at the bottom, it makes me panic thinking they got out somehow :roll: I am currently, NOT using it


----------



## Ianthe (Jun 1, 2011)

We recently moved my daughter's VT from his ten gallon into a 1 gallon bowl to treat him for an eye fungus, and he seems to be loving it in there so we may just leave him put LOL. I'll try to get a pic later, it's nothing fancy, just a drum bowl.


----------



## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I have Dally who for the longest time only liked his 1 gallon. I moved him to a 3 gallon, he sulked, wouldn't eat, and hid. I put him back and immediately he was happy :roll: Now he is in 3 gallons just fine.


----------

