"Any aquarium pros out there know if LED's are the proper lighting for fish?"

Sure. LEDs are just starting to gain popularity as lighting for fish. Aquarium lighting tends to be on the same track as home lighting, just a few years ahead. Compact fluorescents have been popular for quite a while in aquarium circles, for instance.

The real problem is that it's a bowl. Any aquarium pro will tell you that a half-gallon bowl is not an appropriate environment for a fish. Throw some cherry shrimp and low-demand plants in that bowl, though, and you've got yourself a nice desk accessory.

TPIRman

Now my Sea Monkeys will have the space they need to grow.

DeadWriter

@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy:

Any self-respecting Gizmodian would build a feeder to drop acid and E automatically for their fishies!

Fused7

@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: HAHAH good points.

Add an E dispenser at the bottom and you got yourself a deal!

cd\[insert rave music here].mid

TheGeektoriousBIG

UNCE UNCE UNCE UNCE UNCE *bloop*
UNCE UNCE UNCE UNCE UNCE *bloop*
UNCE UNCE UNCE UNCE UNCE *bloop*

Fused7

Where are the fishy glowsticks? Do I add the E to the water before I feed them or after? Why does the fish disappear when I turn the LED's on?

Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy

Could we have had has plasma ball inside?
at bottom with tubes trough hollow glass of the shell.

Since the fire in the (mandatory) bomb shelter here the whole building is ungrounded , tried to clean my CRT ,got a hit which wasn't pleasant , a gravitating field is present.

bugs.

THE MAXX:
Say, could you be a fish
In a bowl made of glass
MAXX'S FISH:
Yup. That's the plot
Now I'd say you should run

THE MAXX:
Pretty wise, pretty wise
But who are these guys son

MAXX'S FISH:
They're your fears
They're your terror
And they live in a cave
In the pit of your psyche
And they all are named steveDave

Valicious

@Fused7: The aerator is down! The aerator is down!

dingus

@TPIRman: Dude that would be a cool desk thing, if it wasn't for my cats I'd totally get this just for that.

Technogen

@dingus:
+1 for strongbad reference!

Fused7

@Dracoster: Where did "worst" go?

Dracoster

animal cruelty at it's

Dracoster

@Purple Dave: Bettas don't use the oxygen in the water, they breathe from the surface (it's called a labyrinth lung, don't ask me why). But they jump like crazy (see earlier comment). Very bad idea.

Megan Trigg

@TPIRman: Ditto the LED & bowl comment.

The real problem with bowls & betta fish is that bettas jump. Seriously. I had one little female in college who'd leap for my fingers whenever I opened the tank to feed her. Once, she got a good 6" in height and latched on to my finger! If I'd had her in a little 1/2 gal bowl, I'd've had a dried up crispy fish on the floor within a week.

Megan Trigg

It looks safe for this fish.

@TPIRman:
You could keep a betta in a globe like that. If they can handle being in those horrible little betta cans, they won't deplete the oxygen levels in something that has about twice as much exposed water at the top. Besides, if the oxygen does start to get depleted, they're known to gulp air bubbles directly from the surface.

Purple Dave

awesome, so will this be available at Ikea!

StealthNinja

@Megan Trigg: Yes, they do use the oxygen in the water, but also use surface air.

Dracoster

thats just what i need for my fish with an E addiction!!!

urbanturban666

@Megan Trigg: That aside, waste buildup is also a problem with small containers. Keeping a betta in a bowl and not doing regular water changes is like keeping your dog in a closet full of dogshit.

Back when I was in Year 5 in primary school (5th grade in elementary school to you Americans), there was a Siamese fighting fish fad and the boys would bring their bettas to class in jam-jars and fight them in the back of the room during recess. Poor little things, thank God kids these days have Digimons.

Xenobiologista

@Valicious: The maxx was a good show. I'm guessing it's my avatar that is striking fear and terror.

Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy

@Megan Trigg:
Do they? I guess I never left the lid off to check.

@Megan Trigg:
The do both, but the labyrinth lung isn't strictly necessary for gulping air (it just makes it a lot easier). Basically, the gills you see on the sides of the head are still regular gills (though male bettas, at least, can flare theirs out like those neck-frilled lizards do). The labyrinth organ is just something sorta like lung tissue that grows in the top of their mouth, depending on how oxygenated the water is.

But other fish that don't have a labyrinth lung (such as goldfish) can often be spotted gulping bubbles from the surface. I think what it is is that sucking a bubble in like that allows the water to pick up a bit more oxygen right before it passes through the gills. Gouramis have them, but I don't think African Butterflies do, and I had one that would occassionally suck a bubble down.

@Xenobiologista:
Well, unless you've got a good undergravel filtration thing going (and not just the mechanical aspect of it), not doing regular water changes in _any_ tank is a bad idea.

Purple Dave

@Megan Trigg:
Bettas only jump when provoked (ie: near other male bettas). I have yet to see one jump from being startled, though.

I cant imagine anything else living in this bowl unless you expect to do very frequent water changes. Maybe some small shrimp as mentioned above.

As for the lighting requirements. Fish dont need light but plants (including algae) do.

spline9