General Biorb Poll

[newbiefishlover]

I was just curious if anyone out there has had any success using biorbs (I have a baby biorb, 15 litre/4gallon) as a fish tank?

I posted my first question yesterday and thanks to the response I have learned 2 important errors, one on my behalf and the 2nd due to pet store error I guess. Unfortunately I didnt know that my platys and guppys should be kept in at least a 10 gallon tank (my petstore labled them as a 4-5 gallon fish) plus my biggest concern now is that I was told the biorb was only appropriate for betta fish (very disappointed that they market the biorb for other types of fish )

I do regular vac cleanings, clean the walls down, use my conditioning salts, stress coat and stress zyme. I was succeeding in having a great running tank with healthy fish until I spotted babies!!! now thats stressing the tanks filtering system and I have some flatworms. I was considering a purchase of a 2nd larger biorb but now I'm not sure....

If anyone has had success please give me some hope and/or tips!!!

 

[ibbledibble]

personally i'd just buy a standard rectangular tank. the biorbs are quite pretty, but depending on how high you fill them can have a smaller surface area. more surface area means more oxygen for the fish, although obviously water disturbance by filters and using air pumps help too.

 

[fmervin]

I was to make the same error when purchasing my fish tank. Luckily a very knowledgeable guy at the lfs discouraged me and pointed me to the aquastart 500 (65 ltr) aquarium which is much better. I don't use the under gravel filter though. As the previous poster I'd suggest to go in for a rectangular tank and a bit bigger at that (100 ltrs)

 

[SJ2K]

Yeh I think that generally speaking people will speak against biorbs as practical for serious fish keeping, they are though however, quite nice on an esthetics level for the home (ie one in the living room to impress guests).

 

[ibbledibble]

Yeh I think that generally speaking people will speak against biorbs as practical for serious fish keeping, they are though however, quite nice on an esthetics level for the home (ie one in the living room to impress guests).

yeah i think they can look quite pretty as planted tanks, maybe with just a few tetras or something? or a siamese fighter?

but in the livingroom is the 5ft tank with the oscars and convicts in so not sure if anyone would notice a little biorb

 

[Samphire]

My betta are very happy in their BiOrb 30L.

 

[seanyt66]

Biorbs are great if stocked correctly (on the light side) ive ran out for a year without any probs. Just a few male guppies and amano shrimp - its looks ge=reat in my living room.

Sean

 

[Jonno]

i run a biorb 30L with 3 platys and some neons with no problem, and have done for over a year.

once the thing gets cycled and gains maturity (and not overstocked) the filtration handles the bioload well

 

[Rhea]

I've been running a BiOrb 30 for several months now with 8 neons and it's been okay.

I've put in some wood and lava rock for plants to grow on and everything seems healthy enough, but if I could go back I'm not sure whether I would buy it again or go for a more conventional tank that might be a bit more flexible in the future.