Stocking a Baby BiOrb

[HarpyFishLover]

Hello again!

So I recently acquired a Baby BiOrb aquarium. It's 4 gallons, with a filter cartridge (no filter...) and an airstone/air pump which circulates water to the cartridge. I (and my brother) love it, even without fish in it. (It's not cycled yet.) So I decided to get him (my brother) one for his birthday. However, I don't know what to stock it with to give him advice.

My water has a high pH (from the tap) and very high GH. It's generally really hot where I live, and I don't want to try to use a chiller, so that rules out coldwater fish. The tank has a 14-inch diameter, with a bottom diameter of about 8 inches, so I don't want anything that has to move a lot or a bottom feeder.

I showed my brother a Khuli Loach, and he loved it. Would something like that work, or is the bottom too small?

Thanks in advance for the answers.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Kuhli loaches wouldn't work, as they need larger tanks and soft water. With a tank that small, you don't have a lot of options, other than snails, shrimp, a betta, or a single pea puffer (a fully freshwater puffer, only gets to an inch long).

 

[StandbySetting]

I wouldn't put fish in a tank this small personally, any bottom feeders are out of the equation because of the course ceramic media in the biorb.

Take a look at shrimp

 

[NickAu]

Assassin snails.

 

[GobyMaster11276]

I'd say some type of snail would be suitable. A bit too small for many fish.

 

[NickAu]

Rabbit Snails.
Rabbit Snails - Varieties

 

[Essjay]

So I recently acquired a Baby BiOrb aquarium. It's 4 gallons, with a filter cartridge (no filter...) and an airstone/air pump which circulates water to the cartridge.

Just to add that the biorbs do have filters. The rocks on the bottom of the tank are the biological filter media. It is basically an undergravel filter plus a cartridge, driven by the air pump.

 

[HarpyFishLover]

Just to add that the biorbs do have filters. The rocks on the bottom of the tank are the biological filter media. It is basically an undergravel filter plus a cartridge, driven by the air pump.

Yes, what I meant by "no filter" is that there's nothing "officially" sucking junk in and keeping it in there. Just lots of circulation and a filter-spong-thing.

Thanks to the lot of you for the suggestions. I would not like snails, as my very first experience with them (thousands of them...) was terrible. Plus, I can't put anything like snails or shrimp in it until I can order a small plug for the feeding hole. Wouldn't want snails all over my bedroom.

My brother loved the idea of a pea puffer. So he's getting one of those, if my LFS even sells them.

For me, however, I think I'll just break down and get a betta. Hopefully he doesn't get so sick I have to clean out the tank after him.
But first, I'm going to have to put my old guppy Max in mine so he doesn't hurt my harlequins. He's also been acting a bit strange lately, with seizures and lots of biting the harlequin's tails. Also, he tries to get out of my other aquarium a lot (meaning, he presses his mouth against the glass and frantically pushes against it, with all his fishy power, as if he wants to get out into the world around him), so I think he needs a scene change, however, I actually can't change my decorations in the other tank because of all my other fish.

Any more suggestions (other than snails... :} ) would be very helpful. I'm not entirely sure about the care of a betta, so I'll be posting another thread about that in another section. Thanks again for all the replies!

 

[TekFish]

I might be misunderstanding things, but do you only have one tank? If so you absolutely cannot put a Pea Puffer and a Betta in the same tank. The Pea Puffer will tear the poor thing apart most likely. You could probably keep the Pea Puffer OR the Betta, but to be honest I would see if you could get literally any rectangular tank. Even if it's the same size. They're just much more conducive to keeping fish. IMHO.

 

[LyraGuppi]

I might be misunderstanding things, but do you only have one tank? If so you absolutely cannot put a Pea Puffer and a Betta in the same tank. The Pea Puffer will tear the poor thing apart most likely. You could probably keep the Pea Puffer OR the Betta, but to be honest I would see if you could get literally any rectangular tank. Even if it's the same size. They're just much more conducive to keeping fish. IMHO.

Of course, I'm sorry if my message came across as keeping the two together!

 

[HarpyFishLover]

I might be misunderstanding things, but do you only have one tank? If so you absolutely cannot put a Pea Puffer and a Betta in the same tank. The Pea Puffer will tear the poor thing apart most likely. You could probably keep the Pea Puffer OR the Betta, but to be honest I would see if you could get literally any rectangular tank. Even if it's the same size. They're just much more conducive to keeping fish. IMHO.

Oh, sorry if I wasn't clear in my original message. I got the first tank this month, then I'm going to buy my brother a second one soon. So two tanks rather than 1.
Also, I would never keep a betta with anything, and I would assume, as puffers are generally very vicious, that puffers should be kept by themselves.

Two tanks, not one.

 

[TekFish]

Ok phew haha, sorry. XD
I didn't think you would have, but I thought I just ought to check. I am just keenly aware that there are gaps in everyone's knowledge. I worked in an LFS for about a week (not very long, I know) but it was amazing to me the things that people didn't know. Stuff we would think is basic. I had to tell a 5 year-old girl, "No I'm sorry, you can't keep a goldfish in a 5 gallon tank that you got 3 days ago." XD

 

[HarpyFishLover]

Finally got a quiet and Betta-suitable air pump. At least, I hope this isn't too much air for a Betta? I'll post a few pics; videos seem to be too large.

 

[TekFish]

No, it's not too much air really. As long as it stays fairly warm and humid, it should be ok for the Betta.

 

[NickAu]

As long as your betta can hover in one spot without being pushed around he will be fine. If the current is to strong use a little ball valve on the airline.

One of these.