# 3g Bowl



## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

*Hardware*
3g glass bowl - Amazon link
Desk Lamp (with 6500k bulb)- HomeDepot link

*Substrate*
Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil - HomeDepot link
Play sand

*Flora*
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Cryptocoryne undulata
Valisneria natans **removed Feb 2018
Anubias nangi **removed Sept 2019
Eleocharis acicularis
Rotala sp. H'ra
Ceratophyllum demersum

*Fauna*
1x Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi (Black neon tetra)
4x Corydoras pygmaeus
2x Puntius titteya (Cherry barb)

*June 2018*
I started by sifting the potting soil with 1/4" wire screens to get any large debris out. I also washed the play sand to remove dust.



















*Late June 2018*


















*July 2018*









*August 2018*









*February 2019*









*March 2019*









*June 2019*

















*September 2019*









*January 2020*









*April 2020*
If anyone was interested, here are 4 pictures of the bowl with a 90 degree rotation between each picture. It's tough to pick a "front" to the bowl so we usually rotate it once and a while to give a different perspective.


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## zahtar (Sep 29, 2019)

Wow! Beautiful colors! Excellent growth and combination of sizes/placement etc. I really like the carpet! Thumbs up!!!=D>


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Fantastic Bowl! And beautiful presentation. Thank you so much for posting.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

zahtar said:


> Wow! Beautiful colors! Excellent growth and combination of sizes/placement etc. I really like the carpet! Thumbs up!!!=D>


Thanks! This was my first time trying a carpet of Eleocharis, and it was definitely a good choice. I mow it down once a month to keep it from getting too wild.



dwalstad said:


> Fantastic Bowl! And beautiful presentation. Thank you so much for posting.


Thanks Diana!


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## kemalturkoz (Oct 17, 2013)

It lökosit very beautiful. But I have a question. Isn’t it too heavily planted? No free space for the fish to swim freely...


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

kemalturkoz said:


> It lökosit very beautiful. But I have a question. Isn't it too heavily planted? No free space for the fish to swim freely...


The last pictures were taken before I trimmed everything, so yeah, a lot of plants. I took down all the crypts to about 2 leaves each and mowed the hairgrass to about 3/4" long.


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## Karen in San Jose (Jun 1, 2020)

What about water changes? Did you go through a cycle at first with high ammonia, etc.? Did you have to wait to add the fish? I just love this.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

Karen in San Jose said:


> What about water changes? Did you go through a cycle at first with high ammonia, etc.? Did you have to wait to add the fish? I just love this.


I waited 3 months before adding fish. I did weekly water changes but now I just top it off and water change once a month.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

Here's a video from this morning after a big water change. I added 6 cherry shrimp recently and they all seem pretty happy. A month ago I went in with a scissors and cut everything down to about 1" tall, including the crypts. The fish definitely enjoyed the extra swimming space.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)




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## mysiak (Jan 17, 2018)

A very nice tank, but isn't that a bit small for cherry barbs (and lone black neon tetra)? There is hardly any swimming space for them and they have no where to hide from strong light (they feel safer in dimmer parts of the tank). 

Also it's often being mentioned that they are schooling fish, so minimum number is about 5-6 specimen. 

I would really advise to reconsider what kind of fish you keep in such a small space. There are other more suitable "nano" species which will be actually happy in 3 gallons.


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## Karen in San Jose (Jun 1, 2020)

The video link didn't work for me. The grass is so pretty! I bet your shrimp love their new home


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

mysiak said:


> A very nice tank, but isn't that a bit small for cherry barbs (and lone black neon tetra)? There is hardly any swimming space for them and they have no where to hide from strong light (they feel safer in dimmer parts of the tank).
> 
> Also it's often being mentioned that they are schooling fish, so minimum number is about 5-6 specimen.
> 
> I would really advise to reconsider what kind of fish you keep in such a small space. There are other more suitable "nano" species which will be actually happy in 3 gallons.


The black neon was returned to the pet store. It's only 2 cherry barbs in there right now, one male and one female. I didn't update the list.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

Karen in San Jose said:


> The video link didn't work for me. The grass is so pretty! I bet your shrimp love their new home


Video link should be working.


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## FromReefs2Plants (Aug 14, 2017)

very nice little bowl. I will be setting up a npt 5g betta tank in a few months and I love the carpet.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Jun 9, 2020)

mysiak said:


> A very nice tank, but isn't that a bit small for cherry barbs (and lone black neon tetra)? There is hardly any swimming space for them and they have no where to hide from strong light (they feel safer in dimmer parts of the tank).
> 
> Also it's often being mentioned that they are schooling fish, so minimum number is about 5-6 specimen.
> 
> I would really advise to reconsider what kind of fish you keep in such a small space. There are other more suitable "nano" species which will be actually happy in 3 gallons.


I put the 2 cherry barbs and 3 pygmy cories in my 10g dutch scaped aquarium. The only thing in the bowl now is 5 cherry shrimp.


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## Joel Armstrong (May 14, 2021)

Looks awesome


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## Marooned (Apr 25, 2021)

Looks great -- and inspiring!


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