1 Gallon planted Canister Shaped Jar (now with pics)

[Bannik]

I'm planning this out in my mind.

I've already trimmed the manzanita to fit the jar, it bisects it perfectly. One side I am going to have deeper substrate and set up a miniature rock scape in the corner and plant Marsilea quadrifolia packed closely together in a dry start.

On the other side the substrate level is going to be quite a bit lower to give more depth and I am going to cut two pieces of mesh and grow mini-christmas moss for a carpet (it'll grow into a bush if I'm lucky)

Lighting is going to just be a 13 watt desk lamp. Substrate is Fluval Shrimp Stratum that I don't want to use for anything else. No filter just 75% weekly water change with R/O and daily top ups with tap water.

For livestock I plan on getting one of the neocardina's. Preferably Fire Yellow or Orange varieties.

Here are drawings of the layout in my mind. The image on the left is top down, the image on the right is side view.

Please give me feedback on what you think. Anybody have experience with Marsilea quadrifolia in a nano tank?

[acitydweller]

My bowl is currently designed as such. its half filed with java moss and the other with Rotala, which is trimmed back every 3rd week and replanted. These stem plants have kept the moss on their side of the tank while giving the shrimp variety in their environment.

I have left open a small 3" diameter hole for a feeding bowl where i concentrate the food deposits. this also curbs the amount of detris vacuuming during my WC.

I have only used the fluval substrate once and probably will never use it again in any other tanks. its light, easily disturbed and difficult to plant anything without having more than an inch depth. the shrimp seem happy with it but they arent ensuring things look pretty

I thought of leaving in a branch of driftwood but it only makes maintenance a pain so i decided against it. hope it works for you.

[mdreher]

I don't have Marsilea quadrifolia , but from what I've read it's transition from emersed to submersed isn't the prettiest. It is supposed to make a nice carpet. Be sure to post pics. I've been debating on whether or not I want to rescape my bowl and the layout you're doing is similar to something I had in my mind. I just haven't been able to figure out what plants would carpet well in a bowl.

[Bannik]

Originally Posted by acitydweller

My bowl is currently designed as such. its half filed with java moss and the other with Rotala, which is trimmed back every 3rd week and replanted. These stem plants have kept the moss on their side of the tank while giving the shrimp variety in their environment.

I have left open a small 3" diameter hole for a feeding bowl where i concentrate the food deposits. this also curbs the amount of detris vacuuming during my WC.

I have only used the fluval substrate once and probably will never use it again in any other tanks. its light, easily disturbed and difficult to plant anything without having more than an inch depth. the shrimp seem happy with it but they arent ensuring things look pretty

I thought of leaving in a branch of driftwood but it only makes maintenance a pain so i decided against it. hope it works for you.

I dislike the Fluval Substrate too for the same reasons you mentioned. However, I've found that it works well in bowls. This is the 3rd one I've set up with it. I'll be getting pictures pretty soon of the bowl I have set up at work.

My goal with bowls is to have a high CEC Substrate so tank parameters don't fluctuate as quickly. And have plants that feed mostly from the water column to keep the nitrates low.

I have one bowl that is all trident ferns that I'm keeping CRS in, it was my first and not very pretty.

The one I have at work Is one flat stone with round pellia on one side and weeping moss on the other. I'll post pics of that later.

[Bannik]

Originally Posted by mdreher

I don't have Marsilea quadrifolia , but from what I've read it's transition from emersed to submersed isn't the prettiest. It is supposed to make a nice carpet. Be sure to post pics. I've been debating on whether or not I want to rescape my bowl and the layout you're doing is similar to something I had in my mind. I just haven't been able to figure out what plants would carpet well in a bowl.

My plan on the Marsilea Quadrifolia was to plant a half dozen nodes around and wait for them to get a nice network of runners going then pinch off the tops before I fill the tank. Those plans were shot to hell because the nursery I was going to buy them from tossed them away due to an ant infestation (which is why they were priced so low when I looked a few weeks back)

We do have an a store that has Marsilea minutea that has been submersed grown, but I'm worried it will come uprooted too easily when I'm doing the tri-weekly water changes the first month.

Also, instead of X-mas Moss, I've gone with flame moss since I got a nice size portion for free on the condition I grow it out and return some to the LFS in the future. It has already attached pretty well to my substrate so I'm pleased with that.

I also purchased several small seiyru stones, however I have less room to work with than I planned so I've just picked the most interesting one and placed it in a "corner" of the bowl that wasn't as interesting as the rest.

My favorite part of such tiny bowls is that you have to take great care to make sure it is interesting from every angle you look at it.

Any suggestions on other plants to use? I'm looking for something that doesn't get taller than 3 inches, does well in low light and will feed primarily from the water column, and will help distort the scale a little.

i was thinking Downoii, but the substrate isn't really deep enough for it to thrive.
My other thought was microsword, but then I'm looking at a LONG dry start and potentially needing to dose in the future.

I can also get baby tears and dwarf baby tears pretty easy, but I don't think they look that nice in small tanks unless used for full carpet.

I really want this beautiful piece of manzanita to be the centerpiece otherwise I guess I could get a few rhizomes of anubias nana petite. Or a nice lotus.

I'd appreciate any help or ideas. I'll have a friend take pictures of my work bowl next week and upload it.

[mdreher]

I also purchased several small seiyru stones, however I have less room to work with than I planned so I've just picked the most interesting one and placed it in a "corner" of the bowl that wasn't as interesting as the rest.

I know how that feels. My bowl had way more room in my head than it actually did in real life. So how exactly did you find a corner in your bowl?

[Bannik]

Originally Posted by mdreher

I know how that feels. My bowl had way more room in my head than it actually did in real life. So how exactly did you find a corner in your bowl?

Its hard to explain, I spent a good amount of time looking at the tank from every angle and placed the rock in a place where you mostly see just the "trunk" of the manzanita and not many branches. So I placed the rock in a way that if you look at it from that angle the rock is the main focus, but it slips into the background if you view the bowl from other angles.

Also, great news I should have quite a few pictures of the bowl I have at work so you can see the container I'm working with.

[Bannik]

Here is one of my work canister

[Bannik]

So, I've flooded my bowl because I have submersed grown marsilea hirsuta. But it almost immediately got uprooted as soon as I filled the bowl. Any suggestions on planting this? My thought was just to bury the entire plant leaves and all. I've done that on marsilea quadrifolia and it worked.

[acitydweller]

with the FSS, im afraid not. i elected to use eco complete in my bowl and all my plants anchor much easier.