These are my river bowls. I made them so that the looked as if they were cut out from a river bed or pond by using very natural looking gravel with a simple driftwood and plant grown on top. Placed in a sunny area, these add a natural feel to any room and with the right animals inside, is surprisingly low maintenance. You just need to give the animals the occasional feed and top up with fresh filtered water.

The big bowl fits one goldfish comfortably. It’s currently a bit overgrown by a stringy weed that found its way in with the driftwood, but it’s just a matter of me sticking my hand in and pulling it out.

As there is no mechanical filtration in these bowls, I added duckweed to both bowls to absorb any extra nitrates that may be in the water. It also adds to the effect of a pond.

The smaller bowl has Cherry Shrimp that love it in here. These current shrimp are actually the offspring of some past shrimp so they breed readily. I don’t feed them very often. One sinking pellet every two weeks has been sufficient. They eat the algae other microscopic stuff that may be found in the tank.

I also have Ramshorn snails that eat the algae from the glass.