IM WRITING IN CAPTIALS.

IM BUMPING THIS THREAD UP FOR ANYONE WHO IS THINKING OF GETTING A BIORB (MEMBERS OR GUESTS) TO KEEP MARINE FISH.

************* DONT DO IT OR YOU WILL MAKE YOUR FISH SUFFER **********

READ THIS THREAD ALL THE WAY THRU. ALSO READ BELOW.

BIORBS ARE A TERRIBLE TANK, AT BEST A 60 LITRE WILL SUPPORT 12 NEON TERTA, AND EVEN THAT IS A SIN.


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yeah I set up a marine bi-orb 30 litre, with real live rock.

stuck a zoo and a feather duster in there too.

looked neat for about 4 months, then the coral gave up the ghost.

I also had 6 fish in there. they all spent about 6 months in the orb. their crime, not being able to speak.

5 are alive and well in my display 160 litre tank, the coral goby disappeared after about 6 months in the display tank.

When I transfered the fish into the new tank, they were very weak, and unable to deal with the current, I had to introduce the extra powerheads slowly over the course of a month while the fishes built their strength back up.

The biorb did look cool though. ***FOR A PERIOD OF TIME***

btw, I worked out how much the bi-orb eventually cost, it was about 500 quid (tank, stand, led light, filters (that needed changing weekly, water, live rock, fish and coral)

that 500 quid could have been infinitly better spent starting up a larger tank from the beginning.

the problem was, back then I knew nothing about fish, My knowledge was, they swim in water and eat food.

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THANKS FOR READING, THINK OF THE FISH, NOT THE ASTHETICS.

Well i suppose i can add a little something on this I ran a bio orb for 2 years as a marine set up with good success. I had live rock, mushroom corals a clown fish called Peter and a yellow tailed Damsel called Ray and 6 Hermits named Dermit1 to 6 respectively(the kids named them ). I still have both fish and stock have just moved the whole set up into a new tank.

I'd been keeping tropical fish for 10 years and decided to have a go at the marine thing, i didn't have room for 2 big tanks so at the time the bio orb was an ideal solution.

it is possible to run an orb as a marine set up, but i wouldn't recommend it. The main problem is keeping the dam thing clean as the spherical glass is a devil to keep clean especially when the purple stuff spreads onto the glass. Its impossible to get off without damaging it.

Also the cost of the thing as has been discussed is really high for what you get. Ive just bought a 100ltr 2.5 ft tank with everything in it for the cost of the orb.

Unless you really have to i would recommend staying clear of an orb as for a little tank it takes a lot of work.

cheers

Paul

I know this is a really old thread but just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed. I'm getting a 30l biOrb off a friend and was toying with the idea of converting it to marine with lr and a couple of inverts (no fish). I've been convinced otherwise by this thread though (which I came across from my Google search) and will look into using it for either a single dwarf puffer or a small shoal of rasbora's I think :)

Thanks again!

My goodness, this is an old post indeed!

You will find fish keeping has come on leaps and bounds even since 2006/2007.

Rasbora's need 60 litres min and no-one here would suggest a traditional biorb for reasons stated. They do look pretty I know, but not really designed for fish health

If you fancy a puffer, rectangular tanks are still best. Do you know your pH and GH?

I don't have a way of testing gh at the moment but ph is around 7.5.

I'm sure the minimum recommended tank size for a small shoal of galaxy rasbora's is 30l... If minnows or tetras are ok to put in there, why not rasbora's? They are not particularly active are they? I already have 4 in my tropical tank and they tend to just 'hang out' in the plants. Please correct me if I'm wrong though...

I understand your concerns about tank shape with regards to water oxygenation and I share them myself. I am also aware that puffers need clean water (as do all fish) and will be carrying out weekly water changes and regular testing, as I do on all my tanks :)

Minnows and Tetras are not OK in a 30L Biorb, both need at least 60 litres in a rectangular tank.

The minimum recommended for Danio margaritatus - Celestial Pearl Danio, previously Galaxy Rasbora - is 45 litres with at least an 18 inch length to the tank. This is because males need territorial space or they will fight, quite aggressively, and in smaller tanks all weaker males can end up being killed by the strongest. They are also quite active fish and need the space to accomodate this.

To be honest, I would not recommend any fish for one of these - even those that can be housed in a relatively low volume of water can't be maintained adequately in a bowl-shaped container because the surface area is too small for proper gas exchange. I would either use it for a few shrimps or other invertbrates or preferably, just as an attractive aquatic plant display.

The four in your existing tank are less active because they need to be in a larger group without any larger fish to feel secure. In small numbers, and in mixed community tanks they are liable to lurk inthe plants for safety.

I'll have to disagree with you about the rasbora activity levels, I started out with a shoal of 10 and they were no more active than they are now.

And they are in a community tank now but started out alone, just 10 rasbora's in a 30" tank and they were no more active then either.