HELP! :( 15 litre biorb - I know, bad decision.

[Kyt]

Hi,

In advance I am really sorry if this has been asked before etc but I am absolutely gutted!!

Bought the biorb was so excited to get a cold water arrangement of minnows, shrimp, snails etc... Turns out I can only have 4 minnows and no shrimp because of the way the biorb is set out...

My friend had a heater for me and I thought a betta would be a good idea with rosbassas (think that's how you spell it) but how many could I fit in healthy?

Please don't get angry at me I would never have bought the biorb if I knew they weren't that good but I'm a first timer. I also can't take it back as it's been totally set up and I haven't got £60+ to chuck away to get a new tank type thing. I would so deeply appreciate any help because if I'm going to do it id like to do it correctly type thing.

Any suggestions cold water/tropical would be massively appreciated!!!

I was so so
Excited and now I just feel so bummed out

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hello and welcome to the forum first off.

This is, believe it or not, a fairly common mistake amongst new fish keeper, buying tanks that are unsuitable or does not meet expectations.

A lesson thats learned the hard way amongst many.

However, these bio orbs are not all bad, they are in fact quite a neat little tank. But as you have found out, the stocking choices are very limited for such a tank.

I do know of one or two members who have had bio orbs and were quite neat set ups. Usually coldwater fish such as WCMM but only a few, I do not see why shrimps would not work in this little tank without a heater tbh, though must be of the hardier species such as Red Cherries or Amano shrimps as well as a couple of snails if you like.

The addition of a heater would work well if you would like to add a betta splenden, only one as these will kill any other betta in the same tank (they are not called Fighting Fish for nothing ) shrimps may be possible with a betta but that really depends on the betta as they may like shrimps as food. Snails certainly possible with bettas.

This tank at 15L is too small for any types of goldfish so do not go down that route for this bio orb.

If this was up to me, i reckon I would add a heater and either have just a single betta splenden as 15 litres / 3.3 US gals is perfectly fine and fill with as much anubias as possible as well to have some nice greenery.

Or the more likely choice for me is to have this as a shrimp only set up with a few plants like anubias, moss and java ferns since they do not need to be planted , tied onto some nice rocks or bogwood, so that would be no problems in that regard due to the type of substrate thats required for these bio orb filtration system.

Not much choice really but not that bad a tank to be fair, personally I quite like them but due to the limiting restrictions of them its not a first choice of tank to have really.

Not something I would recommend for a first timer to the fishkeeping hobby but not as bad as some choices I've seen made in the past.

 

[Kyt]

Thank you so much for replying so fast!! I have genuinely been so upset about this!

My idea was always to have 4/5 White cloud minnows, some shrimps and a few live plants. Is this suitable? I knew little goldfish would suffer so I just wanted a little community of shrimps? WCM and snails. I then read that the shrimps would be damaged in the media and the media was too hard for the snails. I have had such conflicting reading this is why I came here!

I really want a betta with three other little fish but again that might not be okay which is why I thought the cold water would be better suited for me first time?

Thank you again, I appreciate the help and guidance here!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Mixing bettas with any other fish species is always a bit of a gamble due to the nature of bettas and their natural instinct to fight for their space.

To be honest, 15 litres is on the small side for WCMM as they are quite energetic quick little fish, grows to around 3 - 4 cm, not exactly small really.

A little more info from fairly decent sites that I use as well, there is a lot of conflicting information out there for those who do not know much of fishkeeping so I know what that is like having gone throught that myself when I first started the hobby.

White Cloud Mountain Minnow

Betta Splendens Caresheet


Red Cherry Shrimp / Planet Inverts

 

[Kyt]

I've decided to go cold water for my first tank.

I'm filling it with some floating plants like the article mentioned which will suit shrimp. In the previous post you said it could house some WCM but in this one you said you wouldn't? I was only going to put in 4 max 5. What do you think?

Thank you again for your responses!

 

[Essjay]

If you read the link that Ch4rlie gave you, you will see that white clouds need a tank at least 60 cm long. They would be OK in the large biorbs, but not the baby 15 litre biorb.
To be honest, I can't think of any cold water fish suitable for 15 litres. A betta, with a heater, is the only fish I would keep in a tank that size. The rasboras you mentioned earlier also need more than 15 litres, so they won't go - and as shoaling fish, you'd need more than 3 of them.


Your options really come down to 2. A heater with a betta, or no heater and shrimps. After the tank has been cycled, of course http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[Ch4rlie]

In the previous post you said it could house some WCM but in this one you said you wouldn't? I was only going to put in 4 max 5. What do you think?

Sorry for the confusion here.

In my first post I mentioned I knew of members who had bio orbs with WCMM but I should have said in those particular instances the bio orbs were actually the 60 litre ones which is just about passable for WCMM, though still would not recommend that really.

In your case of having a 15 litre bio orb, its is a bit too small am afraid, especially if you read the seriously fish link I gave on my second post, it says minimum is a 54 litre tank or at least a 60cm long tank, in fact I think a 75cm or 2.5 feet tank should be considered as minimum for a nice group of 8+ WCMM.

Apologies if I mislead you at that point. Hope I have now cleared thing up a little bit. Not exactly what you wanted to hear probably but I always say its better to learn this before actually adding the fish into the tank and learning the hard way.

BTW, floating plants are a great addition to any tank, with one caveat, i'd stay away from duckweed, its actually a weed that grows insanely and will cover the entire surface of the water given the chance, hard to get rid of as well.

 

[Kyt]

I could honestly cry on the box it says it can have minnows. I'm absolutely gutted I've set it up so can't take it back and I haven't got another power source plug to fit the heater. I really thought 4 minnows and some shrimp would be fine. I was so excited too now I just feel like I've wasted a big amount of money

 

[Ch4rlie]

Those boxes and packaging images and wordings are a real bane, its really false advertising that entices folks who know no better to buy these products and thus stocking them with the wrong types of livestock, often with misleading advice from LFS staff to boot as well to make things a bit worse (not always but a common scenario).

I have had debates with other members on here about trying to stop this kind of false advertising, but against huge companies with millions in their pockets, its a real uphill battle.

There's a million different scenarios of grossly misleading fish pictures for particular tank sizes I can recount seeing in the past and an audible groan can be heard from yours truly every time I see them.

But to get back to your tank, sorry if we're not helping in the sense of your expectations and excitement, a betta or a shrimp set up can be truly stunning with some imagination in setting up and with a choice of plants, really beautiful tanks, I have always had small tanks with just shrimps and snails and I thoroughly enjoy them,

I currently have a small 5 gallon tank with just amano, red cherries and a couple of species of snails, great little tank



Don't be downhearted, give it a go with either of these options, will be more enjoyable than you think

Of course you will need to cycle the tank first as essay linked earlier, not too hard to do if you follow the instructions given and a healthy dose of patience helps too

 

[Kyt]

I think what I've found so upsetting is with the false advertising I feel completely mugged off for words!!

Id love a betta with some shrimp but it's finding the extra plug source for the heater! I'm thinking the kitchen as I could have a double socket. I wanted it to be in the sitting room but the phone is connected on th same socket and I'd be scared to overload it!! The conundrum begins ha!

 

[Ch4rlie]

An extension cord with several power outputs springs to mind that would help answer and solve that.



Not particularly expensive, all sorts and sizes are readily available from hardware stores and online.

 

[Essjay]

My son is an electrician so I've just asked him. (He's had a wisdom tooth out this morning and can't be left alone for 24 hours so he's here till his wife collects him after work).

A 4 socket version of the photo is not a problem. The plug on the end has a 13 amp fuse (or probably a 10 amp fuse these days) and this is more than enough as a filter (a few watts) a heater (which should be 25 watts max for 15 litres) a small light, and a phone will add up to well under 1 amp.
He says that plugging those into a multi socket, and that into a single wall socket is not problem at all.

 

[thrujenseyes]

I feel bad for your situation.
When I was looking to purchase my first tank (in many many years) I too looked at the Biorb because of it's fun and different look and there are so many ways to set it up and have it look like a little heaven!
And the good news is...you still can do that.
The false advertising is always an issue. So many of these tiny little tanks...which they love to market as "beginner tanks" (don't even get me started on that) are photographed with two fancy goldfish so people go "omg look how beautiful".
And they do look and they do think that! I did!
But once you start asking real questions and doing research you learn otherwise.
I'm glad you've figured this out before you stuffed a bunch of poor fish into that orb and had a nightmare on your hands.
I'm going to second (or third) the shrimp suggestion.
At first I was a little creeped out by shrimp as they're kinda sorta like cockroaches....and ew, who wants that?!
But I've completely changed my tune and have some in my tank and I have to tell you...
they're hands down my most favorite inhabitants! I adore them!
They're so busy all the time and have such fun personalities and they come in such amazing colors.
So don't be too down.
This can be a fun thing and hey...it can be your first of ....um..many tanks
Someday you can look back and say "see this cute shrimp biorb....it's where it all started".

 

[Kyt]

Hi amazing people!!

Thank you again for the advice on here. I know I've been a moaning myrtle but I've calmed down now lol!!

What do you guys think of one betta with some lil hardy shrimp for company? Xx

 

[Ch4rlie]

A betta and a few adult shrimps COULD work.

Depends on the temperament of the betta, remember many fish species, including bettas, view shrimps as fair game for food.

But do remember that the temperature requirements of betta (76F - 82F/ 24C- 28C) can slightly differ for certain shrimp species (red cherries 64F - 82F) at the top end of the temperature range for shrimps means their lives will be shortened due to haviing to use higher body energy to cope with warmer waters.

I would perhaps suggest trying glass shrimps, they tend to fare a bit better in same tanks as bettas as well as tolerating the higher temps, just a few to try things out.

Ghost / Glass / Grass Shrimp

One more point I must point out, shrimps tend to fare a bit better when tanks have established a bit more, maybe 3 months minimum after cycling the tank and the betta living there a while.