biorbs

lookitsjonno

lookitsjonno

lookitsjonno

Soldato
Joined
10 Sep 2003
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Midlands
Hi there,

I was brought a biorb for my birthday and just trying to decide where to put the thing. Does anyone know if the pumps are noisy as i'd like it in my room?

Also - should i buy real plants or fake ones? Any suggestions on which tropical fish to choose?

Jonno.
 
I only have limited knowledge but I've been looking at these the past few days on the net and from what I can gather it's quite hard to have real plants in these. I would've thought the pump itself would be quite quiet but I'd imagine the sound of the air bubbling up is noisier. That's certainly the case with our new tropical tank setup.

You're probably better off asking at www.fishforums.net about the fish you can put in as some species grow quite a lot from the babies you see in fish shops. Others will need to be in groups etc so probably best ask and look around.

The fish you want will depend on whether you want a 'community' tank or not and whether the species are compatible with each other.

Hope that's of some help and I didn't seem patronising :)
 
I bought one for my father, the pump makes a lot of noise. I think we've just got a dodgy one though, all the others I've seen have been silent.
 
I've got one and the pump isn't noisy at all if you put it on a carpet. I've got mine on the floor behind the table it's on. It's no noisier than a computer fan, probably quieter. If you've just bought it why not plug the pump in your room just to have an idea of how noisy it is? The bubbling of the water doesn't really make that much noise.
As for fish, I think these are one of the things you can't really get too much advice over the internet from as you're not likely to buy them over the internet. Pop down to your local aquarium and they'll give you good advice and you can see the fish first hand.
I have plastic plants in my tank. Tried real ones but most of them died. A couple of plastic plants and a "water feature" really suits the tank. I've got a 15cm high Easter island stone face and some kind of fake coral in my tank. Looks cool.
Good luck with your tank
 
Yep, very quiet. Had mine cleverly suspended so it didn't touch anything, but even on the floor it's not noisy because of the padded feet. The bubbles rising to the surface make noise but it's VERY muffled if you keep the lid on.

As for fish, I've only ever owned one so I'm not an expert, but I understand goldfish need a lot more room than what these can provide, being filthy little gits, so if you want a busy crowded tank don't include any goldfsh.
 
As fish tanks go, the biorbs aren't very good for bio load capacity. The filters aren't really adequate. If you want a shoal of fish. You might want to try white cloud mountain minnows. They are common small, hardy, freshwater fish.
 
Remember that you need to work out surface area to determine how many cm's of fish you can have, remember with bowls the surface area decreases as you fill it up so don't fill right up to the top ;) bowls have a smaller area than tanks which is why I avoid them. If you find the pump noisy you can buy underwater air pumps. Does yours come with a heater? You need one for tropical fish.
 
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Anyway, back on topic, I've two Biorbs meself, Biorb was what got me hooked to the fishies in the first place. Not the easiest orbs to manage. The pump won't keep you awake. If you're already considering investing money in real plants, you need to buy yourself a bigger tank. Don't do that though unless you have a passion for the wee fellas. :)
 
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there are "biorb forums" which will provide more specific advice on .. biorbs...

I have one.... the biggest problem when setting it up is to "cycle" it.... that can take upto a month... once done it's easy to care for....

I have real plants in mine, no problem there, the swordtails and tetras munch them and it's still growing..... i cant hear the pump.... oh yea, buy a heater...
 
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