Practically speaking, keeping fish in a fish bowl isn't typically a good environment for most fish. But the truth is, for many people and children, keeping fish in a fish bowl is the natural first step to keeping fish as a hobby. So you can't say we didn't warn you. However, if you're bound and determined to keep a fish in a fishbowl, here's how to do it.
This article will first give you an overview of keeping fish in a fish bowl. After that, we'll share a brief history as well as go over common sizes that you can find for fish bowls. After that we'll discuss pros and cons for keeping a fish bowl. Then we'll go over things to keep in mind with fish bowls. After that, we'll provide you with some tips on keeping fish in fish bowls. We'll finish this article with online sources for you.
Overview of keeping fish in fish bowl
Keeping fish in a fish bowl is probably the simplest way you could keep a pet fish in your house. As its simplest form, all you would need is the bowl, fish, water, and food. For as many critics of the fish bowl, there are probably thousands of people around the world who for them, their first introduction to keeping a fish in their home was with a fish bowl. For the right conditions and right fish, life in a fish bowl isn't terrible. It isn't terribly exciting either!
History
The history of keeping fish for either food or as pets goes back at least 4,000 years. The Chinese have a long history of keeping fish inside in containers. Supposedly Madame Dubarry, Mistress to King Louis XV invented the glass fish bowl sometime in the mid 18th century.
Common shapes and sizes
Fish bowls come in a couple different styles:
- Classic drum style (this is wider from left to right than it is deep, from front to back). For the same size, you'll find more water volume in a round style.
- Round style. This type fish bowl is completely round. Has a larger water volume capacity than a classic drum style of the same size.
- New Bio-orb styles. These are new set-ups that include filtration systems and are usually much larger than your traditional fish bowl.
- Marineland sells fish bowls set in frames that include a little light. They're marketing this bowl to house Bettas.
Fish bowls come in the following sizes:
- The 1/2 gallon fish bowl is probably the smallest size bowl you're going to find readily available. An acrylic model costs about $6 and weighs about 3 pounds when full.
- The 1 gallon fish bowl is readily available. An acrylic model costs about $12. It will weigh about 6 pounds when filled with water.
- The 1.5 gallon fish bowl is a very popular size fish bowl. An acrylic model costs about $15. It will weigh about 8 pounds when filled with water.
- A 2 gallon fish bowl can also be found. It weighs about 12 pounds when filled with water.
- The 3 gallon fish bowl is another common size. It is typically about 11 inches high and 10 inches wide. This is probably the largest in a traditional style fish bowl that you're going to find. It will weigh about 20 pounds when filled with water.
Fish bowls come in both glass and acrylic. You won't find that much difference in cost with these size bowls. Glass might be a little cheaper but they'll more crack-prone and weigh more. Acrylic might cost a little bit more, but they're more crack-resistant and weigh less. Acrylic bowls are much more susceptible to scratches than glass bowls. You could buy a scratch remover kit but truthfully, the kit would probably cost more than a new Acrylic bowl would cost.
Pros & Cons for Keeping a Fish Bowl
The advantages to keeping your fish in a fish bowl are:
- Fish bowls are cheap!
- Fish bowls are small, enabling you to fit a fish into cramped quarters.
- Because they are small, fish bowls don't weigh a lot, even when they're filled, so you can move them around as you see fit. This also makes changing the water easier as you could bring the bowl to your water source.
- Fish bowls are simple. For children or first time owners, there isn't a lot that you have to coordinate with a fish bowl.
The disadvantages to keeping fish in a fish bowl include:
- Fish bowls are too small for most fish as they grow to adult size.
- Fish bowls are too small for most filtration systems to fit into so you're not going to get a lot of help with filtration in a fish bowl. This limits how many fish, no matter how small, you could keep in a fish bowl. You also have to keep up on frequent changes to keep the water clean.
- Forget about keeping saltwater fish in a fish bowl. You weren't seriously thinking about this, right? Most people wouldn't even use a fish bowl to house their fish temporarily while they cleaned their tanks!
Even with these disadvantages, many people manage to keep fish successfully in a fish bowl for years (or at least until they decide to upgrade their fish's home to a tank).
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