How can I find my old pictures?

[Jaime]

I've decided to get an aquarium to brighten up my living room and add some movement to a darkish corner. I've had coldwater fish a long time ago but now I like the idea of a very modern tank with some little fish.

 

I think I've decided to go with the Biorb Life P60 the new flat fronted aquarium - just with neon tetras to start.

 

Does anybody have any experience of this system and what are the drawbacks?

 

I saw the smaller version in a garden centre in a green house and it was full of algae and one fish - so not a good advert - but is wasnt for sale anyway.

 

I think I've convinced myself that I NEED one

[Redwing]

Just googled that model, it looks

 

I used to have a regular Biorb which was fab, the filter cartridges that you change regularly should keep the water clear but if the tank starts to green up you can get an anti algae cartridge and use next time

 

They are pretty easy to look after, if you get any green on the plastic you just reach in with the pad they supply and rub it away

 

The gravel for the bottom is a special chunky type that you must use (I think its to do with the filtration) and that always tends to look good. If you get the glossy pebbles too they look very cool but they do go green quite quickly and need washing every now and again

 

The airpump unit must be above the level of the water to be really efficient (it also hums badly if its below) and this doesnt look good as you see the tubes and wires unless you can figure out a way to hide it - I notice they never show this in any of their advertising the unit you have your eye on looks a bit more advanced so may have it built in I guess!

 

The Biorb branded plants resist algae and are much easier to clean than bog standard plastic plants so are worth the money!

 

Good luck!

[chelsea]

Claret is a biorb expert and gave me lots of advice, im sure she'll be along soon to add her advice as well as Redwings.

[victoriabunny]

Hmm...I suppose it depends what your primary aim for the tank is. It certainly ticks the trendy/modern boxes, so on that front it looks good. BUT - I feel it's hugely expensive for a small, plastic tank. For £180 I bought a 120 litre Jewell glass tank, complete with filter, heater, stand and lights, which I'm really pleased with. You are also going to be restricted in the number of fish you can put in a 60 litre tank - and it's tall and thin rather than short and wide, which fish tend to prefer. If you only want to keep tiny fish, such as neons and male guppies (avoid females or you'll be completely overrun with fry - males are prettier anyway), plus a couple of other small fish such as corydoras or zebra danios, then it's fine. The danger is if you get the fish "bug" after seeing the bigger fish in the shop, and want to upgrade to a larger tank! I'm already thinking that I'd really like a 300 litre tank soon...

[Lewis]

Wow. I haven't seen one of these in real life, but they look cool!

I bought Dad a cold water fish tank for his birthday 2 years ago, somehow they all died after a year , so I bought him a heater and tropical fish last year, and a last week mom unplugged "the tele" to do the vacuuming, and half the fish died - wrong plug!!! - father wasn't too impressed

Which gives me an excuse to buy some more fish in a few weeks for his birthday

 

 

It sounds really bad! but it has been over 3 years, but I think I'll buy some more lights (the ones we have are these and I really wouldn't recommend them, they've faded to almost nothing in a year ) And we'll probably get some 'better' fish than just tetras and danios.

[Jaime]

I've bought one and filled it with water - it fits in nicely apart from the heater/thermostat. The instruction book says I have to wait for at least 24hr for fish - I think I will let it settle longer than that!

 

[Edited a few times because I couldn't get the picture to work!]

 

[Lewis]

Looks good!

I would leave it to settle down for a few days yes, and then only get one or two fish so that the water settles down for a bit.

Then I'd get some more a week later.

 

I'm sure the pet shop will know more than me!

[victoriabunny]

24 hours?? You need a LOT longer than that! Basically, the main way a fish tank is "cleaned" is by the build-up of beneficial bacteria. Fish produce ammonia, which is converted into toxins (nitrates). A build-up of these will kill your fish quickly. Over time, beneficial bacteria colonise the tank and convert the toxins into harmless products. The process by which this starts to happen is called cycling. A new tank can take up to a month to fully cycle, and before this is complete you shouldn't add any fish - if you do, you'll run the risk of so-called "new tank syndrome" whereby you get a huge ammonia spike and the bacteria haven't colonised enough to convert it. This will kill your fish quickly. You need to kick-start the cycling process - the tank needs some ammonia in it to get the good bacteria growing. It used to be the case that people would buy "sacrifice fish" like zebra danios, which are quite hardy, so that they could produce ammonia and get the process going, but this is inhumane and there are much better methods. One is to add a bit of fish food to the water, which will break down into ammonia, or you can buy cycling chemicals with bacteria in them which you add to the water (a bit like a prebiotic). You should get yourself a water testing kit - get the ones with chemicals in them, not the test strip ones. You need to test every week for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, and don't add any fish until you are registering zero ammonia and nitrates.

 

I really recommend this forum for fishkeeping info - there's loads of info on there about how to cycle a new tank. http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum

[Jaime]

The 24hrs are what it says in the Biorb instructions. There are starter chemicals included and I have bought a tester kit.

 

I do intend to follow the instructions from the Aquarium shop - he says to run it for 2 days empty, run it for 2 days with "Stress Coat" then 2 days with "Stress Zyme" and on the 7th day it should be ready for 4-6 smallest hardy tropical fish. I like Neon Tetras but the guy said these are not hardy enough for the first few months. When I go back next week I'm sure I will get good advice.

 

I have followed the link to the other forum - lots of info to read.

 

...but until dark off to talk to the chickens - its their turn to be cleaned and petted.

[Redwing]

Your pet shop guy seems to know his stuff Jaime, I would have said a week too.

 

I love that tank, its the ipod of fish tanks

[Lewis]

Your pet shop guy seems to know his stuff Jaime, I would have said a week too.

 

I love that tank, its the ipod of fish tanks

I thought that

 

What does the thing on the top do?

Is it a light or just where you feed them.

[Jaime]

My picture isn't good. The black bit that you can see is my badly positioned heater.

 

There is a square hatch in the top for all the maintenance tasks - it has a small hole for feeding so you don't need to take the hatch off. within the hatch lid there are the electronics for the LED lights. they have an automatic day break - daytime - sundown - moonlight cycle. Full daytime can be 8hrs or 14 hrs or you can have permanent daytime or permanent moonlight. There is also a 2 hrs daylight off setting for maintenance or for watching a movie.

 

That's if I've understood all of the instructions properly

 

The air tube comes in from underneath the tank below the bubble column - so no need to thread the plastic tube through the top.

[Staffordmum]

Congratulations,

 

We got the BiOrb bug and now keep two at home and one in the office at work

 

Kind regards,

 

Pat & steve