Doe-het-zelf: Een alternatief voor die vissenkom!

Mari

Mari

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Fishbowl Alternative

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Since almost everyone has realized by now that fishbowls are not suitable for real fish, you may still have some specimens lying around. Fortunately, they don’t have to end up as a candy bowl or flower vase, but you can still make a beautiful plant bowl out of it. With a light above it, lots of green plants and maybe some snails, such a bowl is a real eye-catcher!

Read on for everything you need to know about starting a planter bowl.

Do you want to know why fishbowls are not suitable for the classic goldfish? Then read the truth about goldfish . Unfortunately, a bowl is not big enough for other fish either.

Wat is een plantenkom?

Some aquarium gardeners add a filter, but in general a plant bowl is an unfiltered, unheated and heavily planted mini version of an aquarium. You will not find fish in it, only plants, which ensures that such a bowl requires little maintenance. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to use a real fishbowl: a large vase or even a nice glass drink dispenser like this one will work just fine too.

De plantjes in de plantenkom werken als een natuurlijk filter, wat het mogelijk maakt om wat kleine slakjes of garnaaltjes te houden. Dit heet de Walstad methode naar Diana Walstad, die hier een heel boek over schreef.

Plantenkom benodigdheden

Het starten van een plantenkom is niet moeilijk of duur. Goede kans dat je alle benodigdheden zelfs al hebt liggen!

  • A bowl or vase of at least 3.5 liters. As mentioned, you can be creative here: a drink dispenser or perhaps a large glass cookie jar will also work just fine.
  • substrate. Plants will grow in the bowl, so it is important to provide a good substrate. You can use a layer of potting soil and cover it with a layer of sand. If this is too messy for you, sand with some nutrition capsules also works fine.
  • Relief. Plants always need light. If you go for easy plants that don’t make too many demands, a super strong lamp is really not a  must,  a normal desk lamp also works fine.
  • Plants. The most important! It is best to go for easy plants. A list of 8 easy aquarium plants can be found here .
  • Invertebrates (optional). If your plant bowl is on the large side and well planted, you can add some dwarf shrimp such as fire shrimp . You can also go for some small snails, for example zebra snails.

Een plantenkom starten

Als je alle benodigdheden bij elkaar gezocht hebt is het tijd om te beginnen. Je kunt het beste eerst het substraat goed leggen en de plantjes erin zetten. Daarna voeg je voorzichtig water toe (let erop dat je de substraatlagen niet verstoort). Vervolgens is het een kwestie van de lamp aanzetten, eventueel op een timer, en wachten! Na een paar maanden zouden de plantjes goed gegroeid moeten zijn en is de kom als het goed is stabiel genoeg om wat kleine ongewervelden erin te kunnen zetten.

A plant bowl requires little maintenance. Change part of the water weekly. If you only have plants in it, you only have to prune where necessary and maybe add new plant food once in a while. If there are also shrimp or snails in the bowl, give them an algae tablet regularly. Remove any food leftovers within a few hours, otherwise the water quality can deteriorate quickly.

If you have any more questions about starting a planter bowl or want to share your own experiences, leave a comment below!

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