i know that fish find their way around by vibrations and they cant send signals out if the tank has no edges to bounce off, but wouldnt that make bow front tanks bad as well?
Its more about the surface area. Many bowls taper inward at the top or are not as wide as the widest part of a bowl. This causes insufficient oxygen exchange to take place at the surface. Basically you would be slowly and painfully suffocating a fish by placing it in a bowl.
