1.5-2 gallon bowl Pico- to reef or planted tank?

[NSReefer902]

I have a small bowl looking to set it up in my desk at work. I am not sure if i should do a planted shrimp bowl or a small reef bowl? Biggest thing is low maintenance and the ability to leave it for two to three days. Any suggestions?

[Tired]

You're going to have some difficulty with animals in a tank that size, as I'm sure you know. Leaving it alone is a much bigger complication. You'd probably have better luck with a shrimp bowl, but I'd definitely suggest an auto topoff. 

[MainelyReefer]

I can leave my reefbowl for two weeks without top off or water change and there will be no ill effect.  I do feed pellets to my fish/shrimp Atleast everyother day if not daily.  I suggest if you want to do a reef bowl you get a nice light(ai Prime or Kessil), get a reliable heater and controller, use an air pump with battery backup and a liftpipe as your flow, get the tightest sealing lid possible without restricting the discharge of the air pump.  Check out my thread if you want specifics on equipment that has worked for the bowl.  Lots of valuable info to glean from the Creative Container Contest, though most of those systems were short lived.  You would have to do 100% water changes preferably weekly and occasionally you could push it to every two weeks when your busy.

[NSReefer902]

45 minutes ago, Tired said:

You're going to have some difficulty with animals in a tank that size, as I'm sure you know. Leaving it alone is a much bigger complication. You'd probably have better luck with a shrimp bowl, but I'd definitely suggest an auto topoff. 

That was my thought, as far as the reef bowl went I was thinking really hardy corals just softy and maybe a super

hardy lps, although I have heard that a planted tank can be more

difficult than a reef 

[Tired]

It depends on your definition of "planted tank". The really fancy-looking ones with CO2 and everything are a lot of work, but if you just want some easy plants, it's not that hard. I had a 10gal ghost shrimp tank for awhile, with Java moss and anubias. Water change once a month, sprinkle in some food every couple days, and that's it. 

For a shrimp bowl, I'd suggest Java moss, maybe anubias, maybe java fern. A few species, nothing hard to keep (nothing requiring CO2), probably nothing that needs a super bright light. Try plantedtank.net, maybe? Plenty of shrimp bowls online to read about. 

[NSReefer902]

16 hours ago, Tired said:

It depends on your definition of "planted tank". The really fancy-looking ones with CO2 and everything are a lot of work, but if you just want some easy plants, it's not that hard. I had a 10gal ghost shrimp tank for awhile, with Java moss and anubias. Water change once a month, sprinkle in some food every couple days, and that's it. 

For a shrimp bowl, I'd suggest Java moss, maybe anubias, maybe java fern. A few species, nothing hard to keep (nothing requiring CO2), probably nothing that needs a super bright light. Try plantedtank.net, maybe? Plenty of shrimp bowls online to read about. 

Thanks! Ya I’ve looked at planted tank, but I wanted to see what other reefers thoughts where on the subject. I think I’m leaning for a planted bowl with shrimp, although I am wondering about water movement in the bowl. I don’t really want to listen to an air pump all the time 

[Ratvan]

18 minutes ago, NSReefer902 said:

Thanks! Ya I’ve looked at planted tank, but I wanted to see what other reefers thoughts where on the subject. I think I’m leaning for a planted bowl with shrimp, although I am wondering about water movement in the bowl. I don’t really want to listen to an air pump all the time 

Show me the bowl! Some tiny HOB filters around these days.

 

You could do macroalgae, softies, lps, and sexy shrimp. I had 3 in my pico contest before I lost them to heat 

 

[MainelyReefer]

53 minutes ago, NSReefer902 said:

Thanks! Ya I’ve looked at planted tank, but I wanted to see what other reefers thoughts where on the subject. I think I’m leaning for a planted bowl with shrimp, although I am wondering about water movement in the bowl. I don’t really want to listen to an air pump all the time 

There are silent air pumps, the loudest part will be the bubbles popping.  Not sure if it’s made anymore but the Cobalt Aquatics phantom is dead silent, any piezoelectric air pump should be the same, I think that’s the name of them anyways, if you do go planted post a pic later on anyways