Reef-one BiOrb Life Fish tanks

[5cupa]

does anyone have a BiOrb Life 60 fish tank?

if so what do you think of them as I am thinking of getting one soon?

http://www.reef-one.com

thanks

[TheAnimus]

Remeber they can be harder to keep clean.

That said my plecs do such a great job on the glass, i've not needed to scrape in about 18 months!

[5cupa]

do u have one of the BiOrb Life ?

[TheAnimus]

Nope, but nearly bought one for the hall way.

I was looking at one, thinking of putting some fancy crustaintions in there, but been a good shop the guy made me think how i would clean it (can't have many fish in with lobsters!)

[HSK]

I like these, might get one out of their range.

[mamboboy]

I've got the 60l Orb...had it for around a year now and it's going great. No visible algae on the rocks or glass.
I've tried having a sucker fish in there (they recommend not too because the supplied ceramic media can damage their skin)...mine was fine, but they gradually get more aggressive the older they get and he kept trying to latch onto my goldfish!

If you're looking at getting goldfish, I'd seriously recommend no more than 3 at the absolute max. I have a fantail and HAD one ugly goggle eyed fish, but he'd struggle to get to the top due to the shape and eventually got swimbladder I think. The fantail is more streamlined but he still struggles to get the food for example. But the reason you shouldn't overcrowd an Orb is because of the sheer amount of crap fish create!

Also, Reef One try and rip you off by saying you need to buy new sponge filters and chemicals every couple of months, but I just bought a cheap bag of carbon from the petshop and every 2-3 months I'll just partially clean the sponge and then replace new carbon. I also make a 25-30% water change every two weeks.

Ideally I'd like my Angelfish in there, but I don't want to mess things up seeing as my goldfish is going strong!

TheAnimus must be super careful with his, because I'd managed to scratch mine whilst setting it up! literally brushing past it with anything rough will leave marks (i.e. placing it in the bath whilst I was setting it up for example)

So yea, if you're willing to care for it, then I'd thoroughly recommend it. I love mine

[TheAnimus]

I didn't buy it, the guy in the shop knows me and wouldn't of sold me something that wasn't perfect

Also are you planning tropical? Coldwater tends to get less growth.
(having marine is on my list of things to do )

[5cupa]

I was looking at going tropical for the first time with the extra heat pack. but I would really like to see some of the tanks in a shop but there are no stockists near me

[99Flake]

I have never had a BiOrb but from what I have seen of them, for tropical, you might be better off with a Juwel tank, they have all the filters/heaters built in and are very easy to keep. They are also very well made.

I have a Rekord 60 and it is a fantastic tank.

[Barakka]

We have one of the original BiOrb 30l tanks in the lounge that's been running for nearly 5 years now - it's great as a minimal maintenance tank and it has just one goldfish living in it - not really big enough for more, goldfish are dirty fish . The main thing with the BiOrb tanks is the maintenance, we have a large Juwel tank too which takes a lot more maintaining, the joy with the BiOrb is a water/filter change is very quick compared to the bigger tanks. But you pay the price for the convenience with the cost of the filters to do the changes.

The maintenance kits are relatively expensive but I get everything from Urmston Aquatics in Manchester - they've very cheap for the BiOrb stuff and do bulk packs of the filters to save on costs - they do deliver too. Don't know where you're located but if you can get there they have all the tanks on display - they're big on BiOrbs and were doing a BiOrb marine setup waaay before you could buy the kit from Reef One.

If you're looking at going tropical on a tank that size you need to be careful on your fish choice, take you time selecting the right combinations as slow movers like mollies wouldn't have many places to hide from nippers like tiger barbs. Also be sure to research how big they are likely to get so choose a SAE over a plec etc. but for all I know you might know all this already so i'll shut up

[Stringent]

I have a 30l BiUbe and have been impressed with it so far.

[topcaty]

I've owned a biOrb 30 for 4 years (although I was tempted by the biUbe Pure) and not had any problems with it at all. The fantastic thing about it is how easy it is to clean! It may look like the shape makes it harder but it certainly isn't. The round shape means all the dirt is collected in the internal filter rather than in a corner (like the Fluval tank I've alos owned!). I just replace my filter every 2 months and all the dirt is removed.

Barakka is completely right, my larger Fluval aquarium was a pain in the a** to keep clean! The biOrb is nothing compared to this. I don't think £5 every 2 months is a lot for their filters though, also as Barakka said you can get a multi-pack from some places which is even cheaper.

I don't want to preach about it but I get it you would be disappointed.

[5cupa]

what fish are you ''running'' in your biOrb 30?

[Barakka]

what fish are you ''running'' in your biOrb 30?

Sorry if this is off on a tangent... I know it wasn't directed at me and I may be telling you what you already know.

People make the mistake of assuming the number of fish you can keep in a tank is down to how many litres/gallons it holds.

It's not.

It's down to the surface area of the water as that's where the oxygen gets in and out of the water, it's like people thinking that a bubble tube/air stone puts air in the water, technically no. When the bubbles get to the surface, and more importantly break the surface is what puts oxygen in the water. Our Juwel tank has no air bubbles in it, just the filter directed to make a wave in the surface, in fact I tried it with bubbles and got an algae explosion.

But back to how many fish.... the rule of thumb is one inch of fish per 12in of surface area for small/medium tropical, one inch of fish per 20in of surface for large tropical or goldfish. The reason for the difference is partly down to how much oxygen they consume, and partly to how much ammonia (wee/poo) they produce.

So with the BiOrb life 60l measuring 16.5in x 11in that would equate to 15in of tropical fish or 9in of goldfish - remember this is the size in inches that the fish will grow to, not how big it is when you buy it.

Bear in mind this is a rule of thumb and you can "get away" with a few more than this, but you need to bear in mind if you add too many they will require more oxygen, so you'll need to agitate the surface more, and will generate more ammonia so you will need to change the filter more frequently. The first tank I ever ran as tropical was tiny, and I loaded it with fish but to keep them alive needed water changes every few days and it was like a balancing act - not recommended - was about a month and I got a bigger tank.

My recommendation would be (after the week breaking-in period) to start it with half a dozen small fish like neons, maybe a cory cat (Corydoras species from the Callichthyidae family) as a bottom feeder ? then build from there..

[Steve]

I was tempted by the BiOrb but I think I'm going to get a Fluval Edge.

[mamboboy]

^ I like that. Anyone seen the wall-mounted tanks you can get on Ebay? Practically impossible to care for, but they must like super awesome!



I thought about buying one, but imagine how hard it is to clean/empty, etc!

EDIT:



Wow!