Biorb Blues

[chilly67]

Hi all,
just bought a BiOrb from prats at home ( i know, now ) in the manual it says that you have to keep the cinder media, is this the case? or can i exchange it for more conventional gravel?
The reason for the question is that we want dwarf frogs ( P@H sold us 2 which duly died because they could nt feed off the sharp cinder)

any help would be gratefully recieved

 

[rdd1952]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

What type filter does the tank have? The media goes in the filter not on the bottom as the substrate. You can put any type substrate in the tank that you want.

 

[chilly67]

Hi rdd1952,
Thanks for your reply, the biorb comes with a fitted centre, cartridge filter. in the manual it describes the "ceramic media" as the stuff that goes on the bottom of the tank, where you would have gravel in a rectangular tank.

 

[three-fingers]

This is a biorb though, basically they have stupid fancy looking UGF filters with special (and horribe looking, I might add) substrate as media. I think there's a sponge underneath it too.


To answer your question, I'm not sure if regular gravel would be OK as I can't remember exactly what the filtration system looked like, I think the gravel would clog up the filter too easy.

But I know that larger smooth rounded pebbles are OK, and look very nice. These for example (though thats a tad much for a biorb ).

Only problem is that this signifigantly reduces the biological filtration of the filter, although if your only going to be keeping 2 dwarf frogs the 'mechanical' filter sponge provided in the system should be fine for the biological filtration (just obviously don't change it unless it's literally falling apart, and only clean it out in old tank water).

 

[chilly67]

Thanks for the info, i think we have to accept that we bought the wrong type of tank for what we wanted
it was more a question of what was going to be ok with a 2 and a half year old who would give satan a run for his money

 

[OohFeeshy]

There shouldn't be a problem with normal gravel, as far as I can tell the ceramic media is only really to compensate slightly for the silly stocking reccomended for the tank.

 

[aaronnorth]

You need the gravel as when you change the filter, you have to change the whole cartridge so you are taking out your sponge which contains a lot and your carbon & ammonia remover. There fore when you change the cartridge, the ceramic media still keeps the bacteria levels up enough to convert ammonia etc.

 

[kismet]

It sounds like you know what you're talking about so I hope you're available a few months after you wrote this ... I've thought of scattering smooth glass pebbles (about half the size of the ceramic media) on top of the ceramic media to make it more acceptable for a dwarf frog. Do you think this would help and do you think this would have a negative effect on the filter system?

You need the gravel as when you change the filter, you have to change the whole cartridge so you are taking out your sponge which contains a lot and your carbon & ammonia remover. There fore when you change the cartridge, the ceramic media still keeps the bacteria levels up enough to convert ammonia etc.

 

[aaronnorth]

It will be fine, there will be more surface area for the bacteria so it will help.

 

[shelaghfishface]

This is a biorb though, basically they have stupid fancy looking UGF filters with special (and horribe looking, I might add) substrate as media. I think there's a sponge underneath it too.


To answer your question, I'm not sure if regular gravel would be OK as I can't remember exactly what the filtration system looked like, I think the gravel would clog up the filter too easy.

But I know that larger smooth rounded pebbles are OK, and look very nice. These for example (though thats a tad much for a biorb ).

Only problem is that this signifigantly reduces the biological filtration of the filter, although if your only going to be keeping 2 dwarf frogs the 'mechanical' filter sponge provided in the system should be fine for the biological filtration (just obviously don't change it unless it's literally falling apart, and only clean it out in old tank water).

but that is your opinion of course!!
i have run a biorb for months now, and never ever had an issue with it, it looks great always has!, the gravel provided is there for a purpose, tho people have upgraded to diffrent types with new filters etc.
i have had it for at least 6 months and have never yet changed the filter sponge, with no issues, i do reg water changes and clean the sponge gently in old tank water,then replace it back ( the sponge) i have a few black biorb pebbles in mine too,
having said all of this i only keep 1 male betta in mine, and dont intend keeping anything else in there,

good luck with yours, but i think you will be fine
shelagh xxx

 

[jennybugs]

I have a few biorbs and converted all of them from the ceramic media. This is just through choice and I used pea sized gravel so it wouldn't get stuck in the filter system. I've now converted two of them to sand with a separate internal filter, leaving one with pea gravel in and the standard filtration. I also have the gravel covered with pebbles and have had glass pebbles in there too at times (see my photos link in my siggy)

The idea of the ceramic media, as stated already, is that it gives a big surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonise in order to provide effective biological filtration Whether you like it or not is individual of course, but the main thing is not to have gravel that is small enough to get into the filter system.

 

[chico's dad]

Hi Jennybugs and shelaghfishface-I was hoping you could help me a bit on this seeing as your set ups are similar to mine.

I have a 30l biorb with lots of plants, ceramic media and white marble pebbles on top of the media. I had a male betta for 1 month before it died of what I still don't know, but one thing it did a lot was sit on the gravel or squeeze itself between the gravel and the stones until I came back one day and i think the gravel shredded his fins as they were bleeding and broken. At first I only had the stones but was suggested to get the media for biological filtration.

I am leaving that tank betta free and going to restock it with guppys and tetras, but I bought a baby biorb as a hospital tank for chico the dead betta, but it was too late. So now I want to set up the baby biorb for just one male betta but do not want to use the ceramic media.

My question is if I put slate, marble pebbles and the like instead of the ceramic media will this be enough biological filtration for a single betta and maybe a snail or amano shrimp? Or if I converted it as you have done witha 'separate internal filter,' with sand how would I go about doing this?

Also have any of your male bettas ever made bubblenests in a biorb? I have a heater that hangs down and disrupts the airstone tube bubbles into about an 1/8 'pieslice'of the top surface area-do you think this is enough space for bubblenest construction?

Thanks!

 

[Truck]

you have to use ceramic media thats why im fed up with mine