Fish Bowl #1: Blond Tiger Endlers in our Small Tank

The two small white fry that we added to this 5 gallon bowl are growing fast.  We now know that we have a pair of them.

The male is just starting to get his colors in.  It looks like he is going to be amazing.

At first appearance they look like they are albino however they have normal eyes.  The female is very light colored and she now has a gravid spot which pink rather than the usual dark grey or black.

The male is just starting to show the vertical stripes found in Tiger Endlers however they are much lighter and look like they will be well defined as the male ages.

The male is also starting to show signs of reflective metallic green coloration.  These look like they are going to grow up to be amazing!

As far as the tank goes it seems to be ideal for raising Endlers so far.

We were able to purchase a couple of 25 watt aquarium heaters for the tank and for the other one we have not set up yet.  

These heaters should help stabilize the water temperature as Endlers prefer warmer water.  These small aquarium heaters cost us less than $5 each with free shipping on eBay.

Fish Bowl #1: Moving the Albino Snakeskin Endlers to a New Home

We have moved our Albino Snakeskin Endlers back to the original tank they were born in because the have grown large enough that they should do well in their original tank.

We did this a little earlier than we had planned because we have been raising some beautiful Tiger Endlers that are much more colorful and have darker stripes than the regular Tiger Endlers that are available.

Recently we had two that look like Albinos except for their eyes.  We are hoping that these will turn out to be a blond form of this special Tiger Endler strain.

We moved the fry to the Fish Bowl #1 to see what they will grow up to look like and to prevent the female from breeding with the other Tiger Endlers.

So far we have found this 5 gallon fish bowl to work great with Endlers.

Fish Bowl #1: Partial Water Change

We did our first partial water change today.  Removed 2 gallons of water and replaced it with 2 gallons of dechlorinated tap water.

The fish seemed excited to have the change and continue to be very active and healthy.

We noticed today that it appears that one of the fry is a much needed male.

Looks like we will be moving these Endlers back to the main tank in a couple of weeks.  We are hoping to have more fry to replace them with.

When the new fry are added we will be switching to the small sponge filter to keep the fry from being sucked up into the filter.

Fish Bowl #1: Filter System Issue

The small filter that seems to have captured 3 of our Small fry.

3 Fry Missing

The small filter we used for this fish bowl seemed perfect for this small tank.

Unfortunately soon after we introduced our young fry to this small tank 3 of our fish quickly disappeared.

We can only assume that the filter was simply too powerful for our small fry and they got sucked up into the filter.

We intend on replacing the filter with a small sponge filter if we decide to introduce more fry to this fish bowl.

A small sponge filter currently being used in one of our Betta tanks.

Choosing the Fish for Fish Bowl #1

Finding a Home for Our Endler Fry

Our first choice for "the best fish for a fish bowl" came out of necessity more than anything.

We have been trying to perfect some rare Albino Hybrid Snake Endlers and have a need to monitor the fry closely to determine if they are male or female as well as isolate them from the larger Endlers so they can be fed a different diet.

This hybrid is not as hardy as some of our pure strain Endlers so we figured this would be an excellent choice for the largest of our fish bowls.

The Advantage of Choosing Fry

Another reason why we thought this would be a good choice is because the bowl would start with tiny fry.  These small fish are so small that they will do very little to add harmful ammonia to the bowl and their waste will contain some of the desirable bacteria that we are hoping to add to the fishbowl.

This will give the tank time to cycle as the fry grow.

About Hybrid Endlers

One of the things that makes hybrid Endlers a good choice is because they are small and relatively hardy.  One of our concerns is that they like their water fairly warm at 75-81°.  That's warmer than most tropical fish.

As it is summertime right now a heater was not critical for our little tank however we bid on 25 Watt heater on eBay for $5 with free shipping and we are awaiting the results.

The larger bowl size will help stabilize the temperature once we start using a heater.

Adding Bacteria to the Bowl

Since these fry came from an existing tank we were able to add a little bacteria to the new bowl by squeezing water out of one of the sponge filters that was in the existing tank into the new tank.

We also added a few small plants to the bowl that we took from another tank.  The plants should help to reduce the amount of Nitrates in the tank as well as give the fry a place to hide.

The finished tank

The finished tank turned out quite nice looking.  There are a few scratches on the used acrylic tank but they are not noticeable with the water added to it.  After letting the tank sit for a week we put a total of 7 fry to the small tank and we are eager to see how the little fry do in this small tank.

Our plan is to allow these fry to grow to a size where we can see which ones are males and which ones are female.

The Fry in the Bowl

After adding the fry to the bowl we noticed that the small filter we added to the bowl produced a little bit more water movement than Endlers really seem to like.  Because of this we turned the outlet pipe upward a little so the water did not have as much force when it hit the water.  We hope this should provide ideal water movement for the Endlers.

The Filtration System: Fish Bowl #1

Preparing the Water

After we finish cleaning the bowl we added water and let it sit for 24 hours.  This is to remove any chlorine that is in the municipal water supply.  As an extra precaution we also added a dechlorinator to our water.

Use caution however using tap water.  If your municipal water supply contains chloramine you will want to use a chloramine remover to prevent excess buildup of ammonia.

The chlorine that is added to tap water is there to prevent algae and bacteria that might make the water unsafe or unpleasant to drink.

If tap water is added directly to a fish bowl without water conditioner the chlorine is not generally harmful enough to kill your fish but it is however harmful to the beneficial bacteria that is needed in order to maintain a good nitrogen cycle.

Without maintaining a healthy nitrogen cycle ammonia and nitrites build up in the bowl poisoning the fish over time.

Choosing a filter

There are three basic types of filtration that can be used in a fish bowl or aquarium; mechanical, biological, and chemical.

Mechanical Filtration

Mechanical filtration is a process where particles in the water both large and small are filtered out of the water giving the water a clean, clear appearance.

While the water may appear clean ammonia and nitrites produced from the waste of the fish can still be present.  Ammonia and nitrites are highly toxic to fish therefor mechanical filtration alone is not enough to keep your fish healthy.

Biological Filtration

Biological filtration is a process where beneficial bacteria break down the ammonia produced by fish into nitrites.  Nitrites are further broken down into much less harmful nitrates.

Chemical Filtration

The most common chemical filtration used in fish bowls and aquariums is activated charcoal.  Activated charcoal helps to remove ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

Partial Water Changes

While a good filtration system goes a long way nitrates can still build up to a level that can be harmful or even fatal to fish.  The addition of live plants can help somewhat to control nitrate levels however it is a good idea to do a partial water change every week or two.

Another reason that partial water changes is important is due to evaporation.  Most water that is added to the aquarium contains some salts and minerals.  These salts and minerals are important to the health of the fish in the fishbowl.  As water evaporates the salts and minerals are left behind.

If you were to simply top off the bowl as the water evaporates the water that is added introduces additional salts & minerals to the water.  Over time these salts and minerals can concentrate and eventually can become harmful to your fish.

This effect is similar to what happens at the Great Salt Lake in the State of Utah.  Water goes in but can't go out leaving no place for the salts and minerals to go.

The water in The Great Salt Lake is so salty that the only aquatic life that thrives in it is Brine Shrimp.

The Danger of Full Water Changes!

Doing full water changes can be very harmful to your fish!  Not only does completely changing the water in the fish bowl or aquarium kill the beneficial bacteria that has been created in your tank, it also produces such an extreme water condition for your fish that they are likely to get sick.

One of the most common illnesses your fish may succumb to is Ick which is a small parasite that attaches itself to your fish when it is in a weakened condition.  Ick appears as small white spots on the body of the fish resembling salt.

The Filter We Chose

One of the problems with trying to set up a fish bowl properly  is that good filtration systems for such a small tank is difficult to come by or is too expensive.

We chose a tiny submersible filtration pump for our main filter for this fish bowl.

This tiny filter had a sponge inside it that helps filter the water both biologically and mechanically.  As an added bonus it has a small compartment that holds activated charcoal for chemical filtration.  This small compartment can be opened so that the activated charcoal can be changed periodically.

We also liked this filter because it could be configured to use a spray bar or allow air to be injected into the water outlet.  We chose the spray bar for now.

We found this filter on eBay for under $10.

Our Secondary Filter

Idealy our secondary filter would be a small air powered sponge filter often used in Betta tanks.  These small filters do a great job of both mechanical and biological filtration.  These efficient filters can be found on eBay for around $3.

This is combination of internal power filter and sponge filter is one of our favorites when used on a large aquarium.

We only have one of these at this time so we decided to save this filter for our next project.

Preparing Bowl #1

Cleaning the Tank

Removing the gummy residue from the tape that was on the tank.

One of the biggest is hurdles we had to face when cleaning the used tank was removing the gummy residue that was left from the packing tape.

We didn't want to scratch the used tank any more than it already was so scrubbing of the residue was not really an option.  We also didn't want to use harsh chemicals because we were afraid that anything strong enough to dissolve the residue might also damage the acrylic tank itself.

To prevent any damage we decided to use the gummy side of packing tape to pull the residue off the tank.  This was a long process but it worked well.

Cleaning the Glass (Acrylic)

Because the tank was made of acrylic and not glass we had to be careful not to scratch the surface.  Our first solution was to clean the tank with a dish cloth and a mild soap solution and then fill the tank with water and hydrogen peroxide to clean and sterilize it.

This may have been the best solution however we got a little lazy and decided to clean the tank with a fairly strong solution of water and bleach.

Cleaning the Gravel

Not knowing what diseases might be in the gravel we wanted to make sure it was clean and safe for our fish also.  We considered just throwing it out and replacing it but decided that would be wasteful.  Cleaning the gravel with bleach might work but we were afraid that it would be difficult to get rid of any bleach residue.

Eventually we decided to sterilize the gravel by placing it in a pan and baking it at 400 degrees F. for a half hour.  After that we rinsed the gravel just as we would if it were new gravel from the store.