My Little Guide To A Wonderful Biorb

[shang hi]

okay well if u go into any fishshop and ask about the biOrb you'll end up being showen to a small corner where the tanks are. and why is this? u may ask, well its because after learning about botton feeders not being sutable many people disregarded it.
well im not a quiter like others, i went ahead and bought the 30l tropical biorb (not 60l because im only 14 and i didnt have enough money to get it )
well i got 2 hardy plants on bogwood and 1 on rocks, soaked them for 3 days while tank was on fishless cycle. the media was soaked in old water from my last tank to kick start it with bacteria. (if it is your first tank do fishless cycle for 1month) after the 3 days the plants were added along with some liquid plant food. then my old tank failed, and the spare air pump and filter
so i had to move my 4 year old hardy minows into the tank with only 1 weeks of fishless cycle, i was weary but as none of the amonia, nitrite and nitrate levels rose i was happy
well the minow stayed in the tank for a month with no other additions except 10ml of stress zyme every week for the biological filter to stay at its best, and a 1/4 water change weekly. well still doing the stress zyme and now stress coat to keep the fish healthy, great little £5 items that last about 6 month per pack. and now i have a healthy stock of 2 minows, 2 red and blue colombian tetras, 3 platys, 1 male gourami and 2 harliquins (very very small fish about half a cm ea). with regular maitenence and water tests ive managed to keep my tank nice and healthy.
(apart from some problems due to my lack of knowlage, pft some times im just so stupid). anyway keeping a tank that has pleanty of room almost double what each fish is recomended (not overstocking) is my best way of keeping it a health and happy tank.
giving fish a hiding place is a exelent way of keeping fish unstressed and there-fore less liky not suseptiable to diesease
algau is no longer needed to be woried about due to no algau serves kit, and medication is also easyer to use for the most common problems (filter already had charcole romoved) and comes with 2 saches of antibiotics/ fungal/ external paracites .

and when doing plans attatched to wood (cant have planted tank as biological media wont hold them) burry the basses before anyfish are added as mine like to get jamed under them........ anoying so keep an eye out

folowups welcome, and hope this helps anyone thinging about getting a biOrb to make there mind up
shang hi

 

[pica_nuttalli]

lol, a half a centimeter each? call up the scientists because the world's smallest fish is only 1mm smaller! you officially have the world's smallest harlequins. (sorry for the ribbing, but that one cracked me up.)

the reasons that most people don't like biorbs are as follows:

1) they have a ridiculously tiny amount of surface area, meaning very little oxygen exchange. low oxygen levels really limit what sorts of fish you can keep.

2) they're really overpriced for the volume that you're purchasing.

3) the biggest one is only 15 gallons, which again limits possible stock pretty severely.

4) you can't plant the tank--most people ultimately want a planted tank

5) biorbs are difficult to decorate in ways that *fish* like because there's not a lot of room at the bottom for decor (caves) and again, you can't plant it heavily

6) you also can't really upgrade the filtration; the biorb essentially uses a fancy undergravel filter and is somewhat marginal if you want to keep any sort of messy fish like puffers

7) scraping algae off the glass in a pain in the butt and requires clever solutions. but no plecos! biorb gravel is too sharp for anything that swims on the bottom.

8) some people don't care for the way that the spherical glass distorts the shape of their fish.

All that being said, it is entirely possible to create a lovely biorb setup. It sounds like you are well on your way.

Quick question: what does "algau is no longer needed to be woried about due to no algau serves kit" mean?

 

[Luketendo]

You could've got at least a 70l tank and stand NEW for the amount you spent. Much more if you bought off ebay or someone here. I hate the way they distort the view of the fish it looks really weird.

 

[aitchvee]

I moved my betta girls from a conventional rectangular tank into my smaller 30l Biorb and they're so much happier. They use much more of the space and have plenty of places to hide, feel safe and get territorial. There's a lot of snobbery about Biorbs, but the fact is they can work very well, depending on the type of fish you put in them. Granted this does make them more restrictive but it's easy to plant them with java fern on bogwood and put in things for them to hide in.

Sounds like you're doing the right thing with yours, Shang Hi, and good luck with it!

 

[shang hi]

yes my very bad miss typing..... the light bulb blew and i couldnt see the keys.. its ment to say algae, i thinks that the right spelling anyway. the servis kit is a simple filter change that removes algae (not worth it tho but if your lazy its good, as with the first aid pack that im currently using to treat fin rot).

and yes luketendo i know u dont like my fish tank, u say it to me every day a school! but i like it and thats all that matters.

and yes i did exaduerate (i bet i didn't spell that right either) about the little fish, but there so small.

 

[fiskkeeperpro]

Can you post any pics, the setup sounds good. Although it has limited stocking etc i don't mind th biOrb, it looks nea in the corner of a room.

will

 

[shang hi]

yeah its in the corner next to my bed.
ill try and get some pics but ill need to borow sisters digital cam, they'll be on when i get a few good pics

 

[pica_nuttalli]

exaggerate

I'd be careful about any "anti-algae" additives; many of them are just fancy herbicides and can really do a lot of harm to your tank.

 

[KraKen]

I just had a great Idea for a biorb. It would look really cool to hang one from the ceiling, do you think this would be possible?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

well, considering that 30L of water alone would weigh 66 lbs... and then consider the added weight of the glass, lights, decor, etc... you're looking at suspending a minimum of 70 lbs from your ceiling. probably not a good choice.

consider also the fact that you'd probably also want to hang it from a single point like a lamp--which would render it almost impossible to get a water change done.

 

[shang hi]

exaggerate

I'd be careful about any "anti-algae" additives; many of them are just fancy herbicides and can really do a lot of harm to your tank.

i dont use the anti-algae stuff i have some snails that do all the hard work for me on the plants and some of the glass, the rest i scrape off with that algae scraper.
and thank you for the spell cheak
shang hi

 

[robhill27]

Hi Shang Hi.. I have a similar size tank to you... I currently have one mottled catfish (Looks like a Cory), A male dwarf gourami and a shoal of 7 neonn tetras. I am planning on adding a female dwarrf as soon as my LFS get one in. My dwarf gourami has just started to make a large bubble nest! Would a dwarf gourami make a bubblenest even if it is not ready for spawning? Is it trying to tell me something!!?? Cheers. Rob.

 

[Luketendo]

Hi Shang Hi.. I have a similar size tank to you... I currently have one mottled catfish (Looks like a Cory), A male dwarf gourami and a shoal of 7 neonn tetras. I am planning on adding a female dwarrf as soon as my LFS get one in. My dwarf gourami has just started to make a large bubble nest! Would a dwarf gourami make a bubblenest even if it is not ready for spawning? Is it trying to tell me something!!?? Cheers. Rob.

They make them when they're happy too.

 

[shang hi]

(robhill27 @ Oct 21 2007, 12:21 PM)
Hi Shang Hi.. I have a similar size tank to you... I currently have one mottled catfish (Looks like a Cory), A male dwarf gourami and a shoal of 7 neonn tetras. I am planning on adding a female dwarrf as soon as my LFS get one in. My dwarf gourami has just started to make a large bubble nest! Would a dwarf gourami make a bubblenest even if it is not ready for spawning? Is it trying to tell me something!!?? Cheers. Rob.

(Luketendo @ Oct 21 2007, 02:04 PM)
They make them when they're happy too.

yup but i wouldnt get a female unless u have a seperate tank or theres a big tank u can move the male and female, i had a male and female, but in mating season the male harasses the femal to the point of exaustion, if you are intending to bread them then u need at least a 10gal tank for just the male and female, i learnt the hard way.
shang hi

heres a link about how to set up any tropical tank, http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=217481

 

[KraKen]

well, considering that 30L of water alone would weigh 66 lbs... and then consider the added weight of the glass, lights, decor, etc... you're looking at suspending a minimum of 70 lbs from your ceiling. probably not a good choice.

consider also the fact that you'd probably also want to hang it from a single point like a lamp--which would render it almost impossible to get a water change done.

I was more thinking along the lines of a baby biorb hanging from steel cable(s) from a pulley attached to the ceiling. This would look really cool but I doubt my parents would let me do it.