I can only comment anecdotally on this, but in the tanks I keep, the surface is always clogged with plants. I use water lettuce as a floater, and I like to keep fast growing rooted plants that grow up and across the surface. I have to pull water lettuce and prune almost daily just to make a space to drop food in. I have never observed any apparent detriment to non-plant life that would suggest a gas exchange issue.
I'm sorry to report, no. The few that I spotted in the breeder tank disappeared gradually. But that was in a tank with an active predator in the form of the alpha apisto male. What I'd like to do eventually is swap out the danios with the surviving alpha male and turn the breeder tank into a community tank with just the danios and the juvie apistos. I'm gambling that more glo-fish fry would survive that environment and I think it would also be good for the juvie apistos to have some chill adults around to serve as role models (at scarcely a half-inch long, they are already showing signs of aggression with each other.)
I've been trying to set aside time to reassess the bowl's basic components (plants, critters, substrate, etc.) and I'm toying with the idea of paving over the excess debris with some Safe-T-Sorb and transplanting some submerged rooted plants from another tank.
Since our plants are very different species, this might not apply, but I've been trying something similar with my Taiwan lily. It's been putting out floating leaves with plantlets almost exclusively and the submerged leaves are deteriorating. So I've been trimming the floating leaves, but not all of them. The deterioration seemed to slow when there were only three floating leaves, but since I've been gone so much, I can't babysit it. It's a shame, because I like the plant when it has some floating leaves and some submerged, but apparently it doesn't. Oh well.
I've had mine nearly as long as your uncle. Maybe 20 years. I found it in New York City's Chinatown. I wish I could give you the exact address. All I remember is that it was not one of the glitzy, souvenir stores. Look for one of the less noticeable "holes-in-the wall" on Mott or Mulberry Street.
Your Taiwan lily sounds like my "hardy lily". Its submersed leaf stems will just keep growing until they touch the surface; it took me a long time to realize that they weren't emergent leaves.
I tried to see if you mentioned this before but I can‘t find the answer: What size is your bowl? How many inches across is the porcelain bowl? Thanks!
Thanks. I have a dream of starting a bowl like this but only if the right one comes along. I’m giving myself a budget and a year to find one. Even if I bought it tomorrow I can only start this project in spring at the soonest so I’m not in a rush.
