So this is what i always thought but i also read a lot of times now that this is a debunked myth. Are bowls frowned upon because they are usually too small, uncycled, wrongly decorated and maintained or is the round glass itself a problem? This one is 9 gal and i use for cull shrimps and raising pygmy cory, danio and rasbora fry. No tech (except lights) because its not necessary but would ofcourse add a heater and sponge filter if i should add a betta, and remove the babies ofcourse.
https://i.redd.it/ar0shzokrvmg1.jpeg
Posted by Jheister95
7 Comments
I’ve done a little bit of research on this, but there was a really interesting article I read about basically saying that the vision distortion was a rumor started by the Nazi party that were trying to breed smarter fish. If I can find it I’ll post the link, but the article explained how it makes effectively no difference.
Like you, I’ve heard both. I think the most recent reports are that the vision thing is bunk. Personally, I like a nice bowl! You can’t really get good sized ones in the US, so maybe that’s where some of the hate and misinformation comes from. 3G and smaller are about as big as it gets here except for Biorb company, which is really expensive. I agree with adding a small sponge filter or at least an air stone for surface agitation and heater. You might not need the air stone/sponge, but that’s my preference in tanks. You could look at the walstad method and see if you want one for your setup. I know it upsets the look a bit. You’ll also want to add a lid if you don’t have one. I use polycarbonate sheets for lids because they’re cheap and let in all the light. Bettas sometimes jump. I’ve not had a jumper yet, but if you search on the sub, it definitely happens.
There is absolutely no way to prove or disprove this. Unless you are Aquaman and talk to fish.
People don’t like bowls because they are usually tiny (like a gallon or less) and people who use them don’t know about cycling and don’t add filters or heaters.
Your display is kind of like the exception to every typical bowl owner. It’s really beautiful and sounds and looks very healthy.
If you do decide to put a betta in it, i recommend giving him a tiny pair of anti-distortion spectacles which will help him to see properly.
I’m going to go with no. At least not to any significant degree that impacts their natural behaviors. I think it’s just people going overboard on hating little fish bowls and applying that to other sized bowls.
I doubt it. The issue with bowls is less the shape and more the size. I think having and scaping a 15-20g bowl would be sick though.
There really isn’t any real evidence. Also if you take an underwater camera and film from inside the bowl it is not distorted at all.