Biorb - To Buy Or Not To Buy?

[lol]

Hi there

I currently have a 120 litre tropical freshwater tank housing 3 pristella tetras, 1 (blind) goldfish and a chinese algae eater (approx. 15cm). These fish were living with 2 angels, but they have sadly passed away in the last year or so, hence I'm left with a big tank and a few fish.

I've always liked the look of biorbs (round, probably 60 litre variety) but I'm not sure they offer a good home to fish, or whether they are easy to clean. I've always held off from looking into them as they were so obviously never suitable for my angel fish, but now would like some advice.

I'm expecting to hear that I shouldn't consider housing the CAE in a biorb. I guess they don't give him much space to hide/dart around, as the base area of even the 60 litre is comparatively small. This led me to ask how long mine may live, and I just read online that he may live up to 26 years! Is that likely?! (For info - he very ocassionally has a run in with the goldfish when it gets too close to his cave, but is otherwise very peaceful).

(Re. the goldfish - to cut a long story short, I bought the tank second hand a few years ago, he came with it, along with the other inhabitants - was going to put him in the outside pond in the summer but was worried he wouldn't feed properly because he's blind. Sometimes it ices over in the winter, and he eats pellets on the surface... Kept him in a smaller tank while the angels were alive but seemed pointless to run 2 tanks once they were both gone, so put him back in the big one. The smaller one was only a few degrees cooler - our house is very warm.)


So, does anybody have advice about the biorb? Any info re. good/bad points will be gratefully received!

Many thanks in advance : )

 

[ellena]

Generally they are regarded as a bad thing by fishkeepers. The filtration system is similar to an undergravel one which have their problems even in a normal tank. The rough lava stuff on the bottom means any bottom feeders are out of the question. The small footprint excludes them too.
Round tanks in general don't make the best use of space.
The goldfish should be in a tank with no heater of at least 20gall, so maybe you could get another and make your existing tank a coldwater setup? I can see why you don't want to put him outside.
If you are wanting a tank that looks better than a bog standard rectangular one, there are plenty out there with curved fronts, hidden in lid filtration etc which would make a much better home for fish. There's also the aquael bowl which comes max 45l which has the aqua in lid filtration if you really wanted a round tank. I'd try looking on eBay for secondhand tanks in your area and see what comes up. Do you have a max size in mind?
Don't really know about CAEs, but maybe rehoming him would be the best idea?

 

[lol]

Generally they are regarded as a bad thing by fishkeepers. The filtration system is similar to an undergravel one which have their problems even in a normal tank. The rough lava stuff on the bottom means any bottom feeders are out of the question. The small footprint excludes them too.
Round tanks in general don't make the best use of space.
The goldfish should be in a tank with no heater of at least 20gall, so maybe you could get another and make your existing tank a coldwater setup? I can see why you don't want to put him outside.
If you are wanting a tank that looks better than a bog standard rectangular one, there are plenty out there with curved fronts, hidden in lid filtration etc which would make a much better home for fish. There's also the aquael bowl which comes max 45l which has the aqua in lid filtration if you really wanted a round tank. I'd try looking on eBay for secondhand tanks in your area and see what comes up. Do you have a max size in mind?
Don't really know about CAEs, but maybe rehoming him would be the best idea?

I thought they probably were - thank you. Thank you also for goldfish info. I've had a long look online and it seems CAEs generally live to 10ish so looks like I should stick with the big ol' tank for him for some time to come! Don't think I could re-home him! Think I'll consider my options re. a new tank when I move - see how much room I have then.

Thank you so much for your help! : )

 

[Assaye]

CAEs get big, get aggressive and need big tanks. TBH, I think you need to either upgrade or rehome the CAE and the goldfish.

You don't say what type of goldfish it is - if it is a common/comet/shubunkin, you're looking at a 1-2 foot long fish when mature. For that, you're looking at a 6 foot-12 foot tank. Even if he is blind, he might be better in the pond. They're pretty resourceful fellows and as long as it's a filtered pond and you can keep the ice off the top in winter (by using bubblers, etc), then he should be fine. You could always bring him in over the winter once he outgrows the tank.

If he's a fancy type, you don't want to keep him with the CAE long term anway, as he'll probably get bullied and miss out on food (esp as he is blind). The fancies need 20-30 UK gallons each, depending on their adult size, and that'd before you add any more fish.

Goldfish Stuff

So no, don't downgrade to a biorb. Low surface area for O2 exchange, low bottom surface area for the CAE, borning tank that makes the fish swim in circles. Don't do it, man.

 

[GAB99]

IMO a biorb is just like a glorified betta tank

 

[shelaghfishface]

you could get a decent sized rectangular tank second hand for the same money as you would pay for a biorb
and steer clear of CAE- nasty fish

 

[GAB99]

yeah CAEs get big, i was at the lcs and was wanting to buy an algae eater, and the guy recommended me a CAE because they stay small and were peaceful, then i told him there was 6" CAE right behind him killing a gourami...