30 litre nano tank suggestions?

[AmyKieran]

You could always put the fish tank in another room

The only other room I have is the living room that I’ve currently got 3 tanks running in, it’s too big for my kitchen.

 

[AmyKieran]

Don't biorbs have a pump and ceramic media in the bottom base?

Yes, under gravel air driven filter and ceramic media in bottom (to which I was going to change for sand)

 

[Wills]

Yes, under gravel air driven filter and ceramic media in bottom (to which I was going to change for sand)

From memory, I don't think that you can use sand in a biorb and you have to use quite a large kind of gravel to let it flow through - the ceramic media is essentially the substrate. Hmmm maybe I'm a bit biased but I just dont like BiOrbs for a tank this size I'd have gone for a Fluval Flex, you can usually get them for about £30-£40 on facebook market place and their internal filters are pretty good and very simple, good square shape, bit quirky with the curved glass and stylish in black or white.

Wills

 

[AmyKieran]

From memory, I don't think that you can use sand in a biorb and you have to use quite a large kind of gravel to let it flow through - the ceramic media is essentially the substrate. Hmmm maybe I'm a bit biased but I just dont like BiOrbs for a tank this size I'd have gone for a Fluval Flex, you can usually get them for about £30-£40 on facebook market place and their internal filters are pretty good and very simple, good square shape, bit quirky with the curved glass and stylish in black or white.

Wills

I got the biorb for £10 that’s the only reason why I got it. Hmm I’m a bit stumped. Any way I can make good out of a bad situation? Anything I can keep in this tank? I know another used mentioned WCMM?

 

[Wills]

I got the biorb for £10 that’s the only reason why I got it. Hmm I’m a bit stumped. Any way I can make good out of a bad situation? Anything I can keep in this tank? I know another used mentioned WCMM?

As long as you have the filter going there are definitely options. Not sure what your tap water is like but if its hard best choices are Emerald or Galaxy Rasboras or if you have soft water there are quite a few options. Chilli Rasboras, Neon Green Rasboras, Ember Tetras, Green Neon Tetras would make a nice small school. Probably wouldnt do any bottom dwellers but Badis or Dario would be great feature fish - Tiger Badis are particularly stunning and the magnifying effect of a biorb would help a lot here.

Oooosh they are nice! Bit rare but possible to find these days.

Wills

 

[AmyKieran]

As long as you have the filter going there are definitely options. Not sure what your tap water is like but if its hard best choices are Emerald or Galaxy Rasboras or if you have soft water there are quite a few options. Chilli Rasboras, Neon Green Rasboras, Ember Tetras, Green Neon Tetras would make a nice small school. Probably wouldnt do any bottom dwellers but Badis or Dario would be great feature fish - Tiger Badis are particularly stunning and the magnifying effect of a biorb would help a lot here.

View attachment 160895

Oooosh they are nice! Bit rare but possible to find these days.

Wills

Well my kh is 3 and gh about 4

I wouldn’t be running a heater but the room it’s in is very hot (currently 26 degrees and it’s only 13 degrees outside) ide like something to breed because I think breeding is fun

 

[Wills]

Well my kh is 3 and gh about 4

I wouldn’t be running a heater but the room it’s in is very hot (currently 26 degrees and it’s only 13 degrees outside) ide like something to breed because I think breeding is fun

So that would be the tetras and rasboras that I mentioned in a standard 30 litre you'd be ok with 12-15 of them but I'd probably say to go for 8 maybe 10 in a biorb. If you want them to breed forget the Badis they are a micro predator.

To breed tetras or rasboras you would want very dense planting with something like Limnophilla Sessiflora or even Hornwort, other easy grow plants like Anacharis could be a good option and so could Water Sprite. You might be able to do some floating plants which the roots would really help fry survive and any kind of twisty root type wood around the central column would be good too.

I think I'd go for the Chilli Rasbora as they are the smallest but they are very colourful. I saw some coloured up in a display a few weeks ago and they are properly red.

Wills

 

[Deleted member 149562]

If you got a Biorb for a tenner, you want to make sure everything works properly and it doesn't leak around the bottom (normal reason for selling a £300 quid acrylic orb that cheaply)

Charterhouse Aquatics | Aquarium Retailer

At Charterhouse Aquatics we stock the largest range of aquarium dry goods in the UK. We have full design, installation and maintenance services. We are the UK's leading aquatics retailer

charterhouse-aquatics.com

Specific substrate needed

BiOrb Ceramic Media

Extra ceramic media can be added to your Reef One aquarium.

charterhouse-aquatics.com

 

[AmyKieran]

So that would be the tetras and rasboras that I mentioned in a standard 30 litre you'd be ok with 12-15 of them but I'd probably say to go for 8 maybe 10 in a biorb. If you want them to breed forget the Badis they are a micro predator.

To breed tetras or rasboras you would want very dense planting with something like Limnophilla Sessiflora or even Hornwort, other easy grow plants like Anacharis could be a good option and so could Water Sprite. You might be able to do some floating plants which the roots would really help fry survive and any kind of twisty root type wood around the central column would be good too.

I think I'd go for the Chilli Rasbora as they are the smallest but they are very colourful. I saw some coloured up in a display a few weeks ago and they are properly red.

Wills

How would I even plant the plants in the ceramic media though? It’s rough and big so the plants would really just need jammed between rocks

 

[AmyKieran]

If you got a Biorb for a tenner, you want to make sure everything works properly and it doesn't leak around the bottom (normal reason for selling a £300 quid acrylic orb that cheaply)

Charterhouse Aquatics | Aquarium Retailer

At Charterhouse Aquatics we stock the largest range of aquarium dry goods in the UK. We have full design, installation and maintenance services. We are the UK's leading aquatics retailer

charterhouse-aquatics.com

Specific substrate needed

BiOrb Ceramic Media

Extra ceramic media can be added to your Reef One aquarium.

charterhouse-aquatics.com

Yeah I’ve filled with water and no leaks around the bottom lucky I guess lol

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Yeah I’ve filled with water and no leaks around the bottom lucky I guess lol

Seriously there has to be something wrong with it for a tenner.....even someone fed up with fish would sell it for more than that

Spares are easy to get though and are not overly expensive, so if anything has gone awry with it, then its usually an easy fix......the only real bugbear with the Biorb is that you must use Biorb substrate and spares, no aftermarket stuff will do unlike other aquariums.

I am not 100% sure but you might be able to interchange parts like the lighting from older Biorb models to the newest...so rather than the basic lighting, upgrade to the MCR version instead, which for a bedroom aquarium would be nice cos you can soften it down with the MCR

 

[Wills]

How would I even plant the plants in the ceramic media though? It’s rough and big so the plants would really just need jammed between rocks

Hmm ok your best bet would be ephiphites like Java Fern, the Trident Fern tied to the centre pillar might be a good option. Filled out it would look awesome (in my head at least) but you need properly dense planting to achieve the chance of fry surviving.

The loose substrate may help in this situation though - a lot of people use marbles to collect eggs from egg scatterers so its the same kind of thing - as long as they dont get sucked through the filter...

Wills