Tropical Fish For Bowl?

Question

I have a large, pretty glass bowl I bought for a Beta Fish. Are there any other type of tropical fish you can keep in a bowl without an air bubble?

Answer 1

No, and really, a betta should not go in a bowl, either.
Unfortunately, petstores spread the myth that bettas can live in bowls because they can survive in bowls for a short period of time because they can breathe air. But they can't thrive in a bowl or live out their full lifespan. It's like being at in a cold bus stop shelter: you can handle it for a little while, but you wouldn't want to live there.

The only way you can get away with it is if your room is very warm (in the wild, bettas come from 80F waters) and you do daily 50% water changes (you can use a clean turkey baster to suck out half the water and uneaten food, and poop, and replace with fresh water - takes 2 minutes :))
But even then, your only option is a betta fish because they are not highly active as are many other small fish like tetras, and they can breathe from the air.

Goldfish are definitely out of the question, because they are poop machines and will easily outgrow a bowl.

Answer 2

Others will tell you nothing at all can do well in a bowl, but as long as the bowl is about a gallon or larger, a betta will do ok....IF and a very big IF, you take care of the water correctly.

To keep a betta healthy in a bowl you must change the water every 2-3 days at the least (daily is better) and be very careful not to over feed the fish. That's not easy with only one small betta. It's not a simple task and not something I would say you should do,but it is something you can do.

Other than a betta, I wouldn't try to keep any fish in there without some type of filtration.

Answer 3

Nope. It's about more then air bubblers. It's about small bowls being harder to keep stable in terms of water quality and temerature, and it's about the fish not having any space to anything but float around and merely exist, at which point it's best to question why you're keeping the fish at all.

My suggestion if you do have an interest in fish is to get a real aquarium. You can purchase a 15 or 20 gallon tank with a power filter and heater and cover for quite cheap.

Answer 4

The only tropical fish I know that can do well in a bowl are bettas. I had a betta in a small bowl, and he lived for nearly 4 years. I just changed his water 1-2 times a month, and he even traveled all over the place with me, since I moved several times in those 4 years. So don't worry about keeping your betta in that bowl, he can do just fine.

Answer 5

while you can get away with keeping bettas in bowls, you really shouldn't keep them in anything under 2.5 gallons. this is also the smallest they really make haters for, which tropical fish need. I assume you're keeping the temps where they need to be for the betta (78°F -80°F). however, you cna't really keep any other fisdh with bettas in under 10gallons.

bettas are territorial and need space to themselves, in the wild they have their own large territory, not a puddle. they live in huge bodies o water that only get small during the dry season, but still aren't puddles (this is why you shouldn't keep them in under 5 gallons really, it's untrue that they don't like big spaces). also most tropical fish are schoolers and will need at least 3 more of thewir own kind, so you need enough space to handle them all. so 10gallons is reallth e smallest ou should go.