Fish bowls are largely no longer considered the ideal beginner's tank, or so it seems judging from the views of retailers and experienced fishkeepers. Many retailers have stopped selling the traditional fish bowl, and no longer encourage its use as a simple and acceptable method of keeping fish.
One large UK aquatic retail chain, Maidenhead Aquatics, has a minimum size policy for aquaria, meaning that they actively discourage the use of traditional, unfiltered bowls. The only "bowls" they stock are the Biorb range, which constitutes a larger, filtered bowl that retains the shape of the traditional bowl whilst including the filter requirements of a larger tank. Paul Tapley, Maidenhead Aquatics' Livestock Co-ordinator, states that it is the "…volume and the lack of filtration, rather than the form of these containers, that makes traditional goldfish bowls so unsuitable for housing fish. The price of the large filtered bowls that we stock puts them out of the budget of the casual impulse purchaser seeking a cheap option."
He also states that, "In our opinion, small, unfiltered bowls are unsuitable for the purpose of keeping goldfish and the exposure of livestock to poor water quality is totally unacceptable at a time when the relevant life support equipment is cheaply and easily available. We try to encourage customers to avoid keeping goldfish in small containers and our latest point of sale livestock labeling states that they can achieve a length of 25cm and require spacious, filtered aquaria if not kept in an outdoor pond."
Goldfish are the species most likely to be kept in a traditional tabletop bowl, and it seems the care of this particular type of fish is one major reason why bowls are being discouraged.
Richard Muggeridge, of the Southwest-UK-based Bow Aquatics chain, stated that his company does not stock traditional fishbowls either. "My shops "Bow Aquatic Centres' do at this time sell the larger, better equipped aquarium bowls "Aqua-el". However I feel that there could be evidence to suggest that given the choice fish
would be better suited to other aquariums and so I will indeed look closely at discontinuing such aquariums.'
He continued on to say, "When all is said and done the facts are that the retailer is fully responsible for the products that are on offer to the customer. If we don"t buy the unsuitable products produced … then the market for these … will shrink to nothing.'
Fishkeeping has as much need to change with the times as any other hobby, and the responsibility lies with retailers to bring about these changes and help educate the hobbyist. Aquaria have come a long way since the bell jars and glass containers of the early 19th century, and it seems ideas about them will continue to grow and change well into the 21st.
