Which Fish & invertebrates to Breed in a 15-Gallon Planted Fish Bowl Aquarium? How to setup a breeding bowl for small fish and snails?
There are many beginner plants that can be kept in aquariums. Every aquarium plant needs artificial light, carbon dioxide & nutrients for better growth. Also, it is possible to add plants that have low requirements. Many plants need low intensity of light for growth including Java Fern, Anubias, Java Moss & more. If you don’t want to add extra carbon dioxide then choose plants that need low need for carbon dioxide. CO2 exhaled by fish is absorbed by the live plants. In the availability of tank lights, live plants absorb CO2 that help the plants in photosynthesis. It is possible to attach plants to driftwood or structures.
If you want to setup a bowl aquarium that is heavily planted then have a look at the tutorial below:
Which Fish / Invertebrates I am keeping in a 15-Gallon Planted Fish Bowl:
After setting up a 15-gallon planted bowl aquarium, it is time to add fish. I have chosen 3 beautiful tank inhabitants that have similar requirements & can live peacefully in a community tank. It is easy to take care of them.
Kuhli Loach
Neon Tetra
Mystery Snail (Invertebrate)
Kuhli Loach:
Kuhli Loach seems gorgeous & can improve the look of your aquarium. They look like eel in appearance & they move in the tank like snakes. Many people think of them as snakes & at first sight, they get scared. Kuhli Loach has a stripe pattern on its body. They search for leftover food at the tank floor, & eat anything that fits in their mouth.
Kuhli Loaches are shoaling fish, & they swim in schools. They like to move in the group of other loaches. Keep at least 5 Kuhli Loaches in the aquarium because they like the company of loaches.
Kuhli Loaches originate from Indonesia & Malaysia, & they live in streams & rivers of these places. Kuhli Loaches are mostly caught from the wild, so it is very important to replicate their natural environment inside your aquarium.
Kuhli Loaches look like eels, but they are classified as fish, because of their fins. Maximum length of a Kuhli Loach is about 5 inches, but they can only grow up to 4 inches in an aquarium.
Kuhli Loach Fish Bowl Aquarium Setup & Water Conditions:
Kuhli Loach can survive in freshwater, & they should be kept in temperature from 75 to 85 F. Introduce a heater in the fish bowl aquarium to meet the specified temperature. Kuhli Loaches are scavengers because they like to discover the aquarium & mostly, they like exploring the dark regions of a fish tank. They like hiding in the dark regions of an aquarium. Cover your filter intake using a sponge because Kuhli Loaches are very slim & they might make an attempt to enter the filter.
Sand is a top substrate for Kuhli Loach because they like digging & will bury themselves beneath the substrate.
Adding live plants will offer hiding spots. Kuhli Loaches are shy fish & they like to hide in the plants. Add some rocks & caves too because they will help Loaches by offering dark areas where Loaches can hide. Driftwood will provide shelter for Kuhli Loaches. Also, Kuhli Loaches like hiding in plant roots so keep them in planted tanks.
Provide a stable temperature for Kuhli Loaches in the range of 75 to 85 F. pH of aquarium water should be in the range of 5.5 to 7.
Use bowl cover because Kuhli Loaches can escape the tank.
Kuhli Loach Food:
Kuhli Loaches are widely kept in aquariums because they will clean your fish tank water by eating the remaining food that sinks to the bottom of the aquarium. If leftover food is not eaten then overtime it will release toxins that will pollute the water. Offer food to the fish that have a variety of nutrition. Also, they like live foods. Offering vegetables, flakes & pellets will balance their diet.
Food such as flakes & pellets will sink to the tank bottom & Kuhli Loaches will have no problem in eating them.
Spawning Kuhli Loach:
Spawning Kuhli Loaches is hard, but it is possible to breed them in captivity. Introduce about 8 Kuhli Loaches in a fish tank.
Raise water temperature to about 83 F.
Offer live diets to your fish that are rich in protein including tubifex worms, brine shrimp etc.
Daily water change is very crucial in Kuhli Loach tank & it is suggested to change about 5 percent water every day. If you observe a pregnant female, then add 1 gallon of cool water in the evening. It will simulate evening showers of the rainy season inside your aquarium.
Females will lay eggs & male will start fertilizing them. These eggs will sink to the bottom of the tank & will stick to the plant’s roots.
Kuhli Loaches can eat the eggs so take out the plants & eggs attached to them, & add them to a new fish tank. When eggs hatch then take good care of the fries.
Neon Tetra:
Neon Tetra belongs to the characin family. Their vibrant colors & peaceful nature, makes them very famous among the freshwater species. They like to live in brackish & clean water.
Neon Tetra Fish Bowl Aquarium Setup & Water Conditions:
It is very simple to setup a fish tank for Neon Tetra. They need a simple care level & grow to a size of one & a half inch, so many aquarists keep them in small tanks. They are omnivores & can live up to 5 years in an aquarium. They like swimming freely in the aquarium so need more free-swimming space inside the fish tank.
Setup a heater in a neon tetra aquarium. They like lots of live plants in the aquarium & an abundance of hiding spots. Adding a driftwood & rocks in Neon Tetras tank will make them happy.
Keep temperature of aquarium water in the range of 20 to 26 C
Maintain pH level between 6.0 & 7.0
Water hardness should be kept in the range of 50 to 150 ppm
Neon Tetra needs subdued lighting so a low watt fluorescent lighting is enough for the tank
Neon Tetra Food:
Neon Tetras eat omnivorous diets & they are not fussy eaters. They will eat flake diets & pellets but I normally offer them flake diets. They will happily accept live diets. You can offer them worm, tubiflex, daphnia & brine shrimps in their frozen forms. Feed Neon Tetras only one time a day & remove the leftover food.
Spawning Neon Tetra:
Spawning Neon Tetra in a fish tank is very hard. But fish farms are expert in spawning Neon Tetras. Neon Tetras can reproduce in every 14 days period & babies normally get adult colors in just 4 weeks. Male Neon Tetras have slender bodies & the blue line is straighter. Female Neon Tetras have round bodies & the blue line is bent. If you want to spawn this fish then keep them in dark & gradually enhance the lights till breeding happens. You can simulate the wild habitat of Neon Tetras inside your tanks. It can happen with a rise in nitrates level & then a fifty percent water change will simulate the rain. Once Neon Tetra lays eggs then gently remove the eggs because adult Neon Tetras might eat them. Shift eggs to a new aquarium & fries will hatch the eggs in a day. Offer babies infusoria or egg yolk or any other baby diet before they are mature enough to eat normal diets. After a period of 4 weeks, babies will adopt colors of the adult.
Time to add Invertebrate to the Fish Bowl Aquarium:
One of the best invertebrates for a large fish bowl aquarium is Mystery Snail.
Mystery Snail:
Mystery snails are widely kept in aquariums, & they are very popular for their slow movement & peaceful nature that makes them a great addition to the community aquariums. The top thing that you will appreciate about them is that they will help clean your tank water.
Common Names of Mystery Snails are Apple Snail, Golden Snail, Miracle Snail, Inca Snail & Cherry Snail.
Spawning Mystery Snail:
It is simple to keep & spawn Mystery Snail.
It is crucial to select the color that you want the offspring to adopt. Apple Snails can offer different colors. Mating diverse colors can surprise you with different colors of offspring.
Mystery Snail Gender:
Adult Mystery Snails are round about a quarter or larger in size. They will reach maturity extremely fast.
It is hard to determine the gender of Mystery snail. It is important to purchase 5 or 6 apple snails so the chances are higher that you will obtain both male & female snails.
Enhance Temperature of Water:
Enhancing water temperature will assist the breeding process. It is important to slowly increase aquarium water temperature such as 1 degree rise in temperature after every couple of days until the temperature reaches b/w 73 to 78 F.
Mystery Snail Optimum PH:
pH for Cherry Snail should be kept in the range of 7.0 to 8.0 if you want optimum result.
Mystery Snail Food:
Feed healthy foods to Cherry Snail to help them in breeding & generating eggs.
Offer your apple snail calcium along with protein & veggies. Good food will produce more eggs.
Aquarium Maintenance for Mystery Snail:
Aquarium water should be kept clean with frequent maintenance such as changing partial water. If water quality is poor then your Golden Snail can get stressed & they might not breed.
Reduce water level to about 3 – 7 inches so there is enough place for Golden Snail to deposit clutches of eggs.
After breeding, Golden Snails will lay eggs above the level of water so that they have access to oxygen.
Using an aquarium cover will keep the eggs humid & they will not dry out.
Mystery Snail Mating & Depositing Eggs:
After the mating process is over, then it is time to move the female Golden Snail to a new tank so that she can lay eggs.
Female Golden Snail will lay eggs depending on the water temperature. If you offer warm aquarium temperature then eggs will be laid quickly.
Female Snail will crawl from the water & deposit eggs on the tank wall. Eggs will need a time period from 15 – 24 days to hatch.
Baby Mystery Snails:
After hatching of the eggs, you will see Golden Snail babies. Little snails will fall to the tank’s bottom to begin surviving in the same tank & eat the same food like their parents.
Breeding can generate hundreds of small snails.
Make sure you setup a bigger tank to accommodate them in the future.
Food for Baby Mystery Snails:
Baby apple snails usually feed on algae after hatching.
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