Hello

[ChrisH]

I've joined this forum to get some advice. My son is facinated with fish so we have decided it would be nice to have an aquarium. We came to this decision today so I currently know very little.

We went to a garden centre today to try and get some advise and to be honest they were of little help. The initial idea was a simple bowl with a couple of Fantails. However the gentalman was trying to sell us a Biorb 30ltr bowl. He told me that they are easier to look after and was an ideal starting point. I've read a few reviews and the world seems very split on the product with about half the post loving them and the rest warning me to keep very clear. Also the £100 price tag seems a lot for what you get, so now I'm not sure.

The second point is that I'm personally more interested in keeping tropical fish as they are more interesting. So the questions now are:
What is a good starting point?
Is the tropical Biorb any good?
What is the benifit for a square tank over a bowl?
How much should I spend?

The one thing I don't want to do is setup a small torture chamber that slowly or even quickly kills fish. Some of the reviews of the Biorbs gave me the impression that these were little more than that.

Thanks

 

[melosu58]

Moving this to the FW getting started forum. You`ll get more answers there as this is the welcome wagon. BTW welcome aboard.

 

[swankyspoon]

Welcome Aboard!

As the much more experienced members will tell you, 30l (around 8 g) is not large enough for a goldfish, which despite their common depiction, require a lot of water. I do not know much about bioorbs, but I cannot imagine a goldfish doing well in such a small tank.

I would suggest a standard 10 g tank (larger if you can) with tropical fish. Though a 10 g is limited, with regard to fish that will be happy, here is a good list of possible fish stocks:

Print Page - Ten Gallon Stocking Suggestions

Again, welcome aboard, and do not be afraid to ask lots of questions!

 

[mgamer20o0]

Welcome to AA.