Any other fishkeepers out there?

ailuro2

fwiw, the good bacteria live on the surfaces in the tank not in the water- that's why the filter is there - to provide surface area for them,aswell as filtering out any debris floating around.

Google nitrosomonas and nitrobacter if you're interested in how it all works.:D

He sounds like he's done his homework and understands what is going on in his tank.

a couple of stocking issues you need to be aware of -
what kind of catfish is it - if it has very long whiskers then beware - these are the ones who ultimately end up living in tanks on their own.( because the rest of the fish ended up as sushi :rolleyes:)

the hong kong pleco - AKA Hillstream loach - these require cooler temperatures to increase the amount of available oxygen, which isn't really compatible with what the gourami and tetras need. Keep an eye on him.

yummymummyoftwo

weve had ours for about 6 months now,the down lighting kit isnt working only 3 leds are lit up,ive just cleaned it out and theres water inside the lighting and like rust inside surely this isnt right?trouble is a new set is around £20:mad:
just wandered if this was an ongoing problem with these???

destiny0206

Hi,im not able to offer any advice but just wanted to say that we`ve had ours for around 9mths now and our digital display doesnt work anymore....the screen is completely blank so our lighting doesnt work now nor does it tell us when the fish need feeding or if something needs to be done...grrr!!Not sure what we can do about it though....maybe they are not so good as i first originally thought!

BubbleFrogette

Hello there,

Just wondered if anyone has a biORB aquarium? I'm thinking of getting one as they are low maintenance and seem ideal for first-time fish keepers.

Are they any good? What kind of fish can be kept in them (cold water types)?

Any advice much appreciated!

Deep_In_Debt

Hi I have one. They are fairly straightforward and it doesn't seem to need cleaning as much as my old one and it's easy to clean with fewer fiddly parts. I have fancy goldfish in mine but I believe you can buy heaters etc and keep tropical fish. I was specifically wanting a new home for my cold water fish so I didn't look into having a tropical one.

It does look really nice at night when the light is on. The only downside is that the parts and filters can be quite pricey. It also doesn't take up a huge amount of space - I have mine in the corner of my living room and it fits in quite nicely and looks nice.

~Chameleon~

I don't think they are designed particularly well for fish due to the very small surface area of water and lack of oxygen available.

fuzyfelt

Hi,

I've had one for a few years. They're pretty easy to keep - a change of water every 1-2 weeks, and a good cleanout and filter change every 6 months or so.

They do have small water surface area, so you should make sure you dont overfill, or underfill a bit to increase area. Also, dont overstock - i think when i looked into it (plenty of fishy websites with info, and there's a good biorb forum) it's recommended 1cm of fish per litre, so for 30 l biorb, 30cm of fish - think i played safe and got 20cm of fish.

Check what the fish fully grown size will be - from what i've read, if you overstock, fish will be producing to much waste and have stunted growth.

Also, I looked into it and decided to get tropical fish - all the extra you need is a heater. Cold water fish produce lots of waste, so need a big volume - tropical are much cleaner so you can have more, and more interesting fish i think.

Andy

BubbleFrogette

Thanks for all your advice!

I actually had a small aquarium (bigger than the biorb) when I lived in the Philippines and I kept tropical fish without a heater as it was pretty hot there. I had various angel fish and they were beautiful, as well as easy to care for. I think I may therefore go for the 60L bioOrb tropical....

Deep_In_Debt

Yep, good advice. I have 3 fancy goldfish in my tank (1 died recently but he was quite old) and they all seem to be ok. Have to re-iterate though - they do look nice, well at least all my visitors remark on it when they come round. I've got the 60L but as I say I've only got fancy gold fish. I did have a tropical tank but had a nasty experience with it - had a problem with my electricity and for some reason the heater in the tank got too hot and ... I won't go on.

My fish seem to be quite happy in there... well they have been for the last 3 years. It's a fairly low maintenance tank and easy to clean.

boldaslove

i've got a biorb, they're much easier to maintain than normal tanks and they're really nice to look at. agree with what another poster pointed out - the parts are pricey, plus it's a bit of a hassle changing the filter as i have to take out the logs and plants, but all it really needs is a partial water change every few weeks and a wipe down. you can buy a nifty little magnetic device that clips onto the inside and outside of the tank so you don't have to get your hands wet to shift the algae.

i keep tropical fish in mine, it's a 30L (i think?!), there's not too many in at the moment, about 6 small fish and a golden snail. we had a major disaster with the tank a while ago so i'm cautious about what goes in now!

it's quite specific what kind of plants and materials you can put in so it's worth going to a shop that sells them and asking them for advice (i inherited the tank so have had to learn from my own mistakes!). as someone who knows nothing about fish i find it easy to look after so i reckon it's great for a beginner