What Tank, What Fish.....decisions!

[mrspasty]

Hi,

I joined this forum some time ago whilst researching a marine aquarium. This is still my long term ambition but we can't afford at the moment to do it the way I want (BIG!). I'm keen though to get some fishy-ness into our home, and am considering getting a smallish biorb or similar for either goldfish or tropical to keep me going in the meantime.

My main priority is quality of life for the fish, and after reading on the internet for hours and getting no further forward, thought I'd ask on here for a few pointers as everyone was so helpful when I was researching the marine route.

My main questions really are:

Is the biorb OK? And if so, what can I put in it? What size would you recommend?
If not, what would you suggest as an alternative?

Really I'm looking for a cheapish start up option which gets us a little tank as a starting point.

Thanks

 

[lilfishie]

well a single goldfish will require at least a 20 gal, then 10 gal for each further one as they grow bigger than most think and produce a lot of waste, i am not sure what sizes biorbs come in as i have never had or seen them

you could get a a smallish tank, over 1 gal and have a male betta (simease fighter) in it

 

[penguin22]

I think you will regret getting a tiny tank. I started with a 2ft then got a 4ft now both of these seem small considering the fish I would like to keep. If you are like me you will want to buy more fish and you are very limited with the tiny tank. I would pick up a cheap 2ft tank off ebay and then you can have a small comunity of fishes .Maybee a shoal of small tetras with a shrimp or male guppies,platies and a few khuli loaches. It leaves you with many more options to go a little bigger.Good luck.

 

[dwarfgourami]

First of all, I would go tropical rather than goldfish. Goldfish not only grow big and need a lot of space per fish for a healthy life, they are also social fish, so you'd really want to keep a group=even more space.

There are smaller coldwater fish you could get- White Cloud Mountain Minnows or Desert Gobies (these latter not in a biorb though), but there is a much larger range of small tropicals.

The biorb is attractive from many point of views, but you need to remember that the shape means you can fit in fewer fish than in a standard rectangular tank of the same volume, as there will be less oxygen and less swimming space.

30 ltrs is a small tank (c. 8 US gallons), so it will mean a limited selection, but there are still nice things you can do with it. A betta/Siamese fighter is the obvious suggestion. He could actually live in the biorb quite happily, as far as I know. Just the one and maybe some shrimps or snails to keep him company. Or you could keep a small group, 6-7, of tiny tetras (not bigger than a neon).

In a rectangular tank you could fit in the betta and a small group of pygmy corydoras or amano shrimps.

A rectangular 30 ltr tank would also do as a home for a small school of small tetras (neons, ember etc) or some small livebearers (endlers, heterandria formosa, male guppies) or some cherry barbs, or a sparkling gourami, maybe with a group of pygmy corys or shrimps.

Going up in size to a 60 ltr, as penguin suggests, opens up more options: platies, guppies, more corydoras to choose from, more tetras to choose from, khuulie loaches etc.

 

[lukestanislaus]

I would advise against the mini tank like most others, you think a 2ft tank is huge until you realise its still very limiting, id start off with 2ftx1ftx1ft or something around that size, you can have a nice little community in a tank like that

 

[fiskkeeperpro]

I have a 30l biOrb. Inside i have 2 platys, 4 cardinals and 4 harlequins rasboras. They live happily so if u are going 2 get a 30l biorb i would suggest about 10 fish that grow no bigger than 5 centimetres. Also get the LED light as it shows the fishes colours wonderfully. Although my status is newbie i hav had a biord for 2 yeras now and they r really nice.