8gal biOrb

[mommytron]

i got one of these tanks for x-mas

it's 8 gallons and apparently big enough for 4 fantail goldfish

anyway my plan is to set it up in our daughter's room with a betta. it comes with a 10w LED which i figured would be sufficient for an anubias nana and possibly some java fern.

one thing the tank does not come with is a heater. i have found the heater that is made for the tank. i'm not sure of the quality, however, and am wondering if there is another quality heater that would be compatible with the tank? or if anyone knows of the quality of the reef one brand heaters? this is my first biOrb aquarium, so the equipment is a little foreign to me. all those with biOrb experience please chime in and let me know what your thoughts are and those without please feel free to throw me some advice as well

 

[dkpate]

I think you should get goldfish. BAHAHAHAHA!

 

[mudraker]

Some types of small lights could might the temp pretty warm, possibly the one included.

I used to have one of those globe types (same set up, but with a map of the world wrapped around it and embedded in the plastic) it had a light under the body where the UGF sits. I kept a betta in it for over a year with no problems.

 

[BigJim]

Marineland makes some small heaters in their Visitherm Stealth line.

Do you have a picture of the lighting? 10W of good LED would let you grow most plants and would cause algae issues.

 

[iDream]

they give you a hydor theo, which we are now using in a fluval edge, good little 50W heater, dial on the top

 

[jenatron]

they give you a hydor theo, which we are now using in a fluval edge, good little 50W heater, dial on the top

I'm not sure which one you're referring to mommytron. But there are 2 different "kits." One has some random heater and another one comes with a hydor theo.

 

[Aquarium1]

Following lol.

 

[mommytron]

Marineland makes some small heaters in their Visitherm Stealth line.

Do you have a picture of the lighting? 10W of good LED would let you grow most plants and would cause algae issues.

this is the light

one thing i am worried about is algae, what are some things i can do to deter algae growth? would live plants be a bad idea?

I'm not sure which one you're referring to mommytron. But there are 2 different "kits." One has some random heater and another one comes with a hydor theo.

i'm not sure either, lol. i will look for the one with the hydor theo, i want to make sure i have a good heater. it does not stay warm enough here to go without.

Following lol.

yay

 

[mommytron]

I think you should get goldfish. BAHAHAHAHA!

was actually thinking a tiger oscar..... no?

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

was actually thinking a tiger oscar..... no?

A couple of speckled peacock bass would look much better.

 

[dkpate]

Oh, and maybe a few bala sharks.

 

[jenatron]

Oh, and maybe a few bala sharks.

A lady at Petsmart told me to put one in my 6g Fluval Edge!
(Don't mean to hijack, sorry!)

 

[mommytron]

A lady at Petsmart told me to put one in my 6g Fluval Edge!
(Don't mean to hijack, sorry!)

yeah that sounds about right specialness

i was at petsmart once while the woman was trying to sell some silver dollars to a woman with a 20 gallon tank who already had like2 silverdollars and 3angels in it. i chimed in with "silver dollars need much more than 20 gallons, your angels shouldn't even be in there." yeah i just got dirty looks apparently i don't know what i'm talking about.

what are your guys' thoughts on tank placement? i would like to put this tank on my daughter's bureau in her room, but i'm worried about water damage. i was thinking of laying a towel or blanket of some sort underneath the tank to prevent scratches and spills/splashes. i could replace the towel/blanket with water changes if necessary. thoughts? should i just look for a stand for it?

 

[dkpate]

I have 2 of my betta tanks on top of the particle board dressers. They have been there for over a year and I have had no problem. I spill water sometimes when I am doing a water change, but I have a little hand towel in there to clean it up right away.

 

[iDream]

as long as whatever it is can hold ~64lbs+, go ahead

jenatron had to take hers down because her bookcase was starting to bow from the weight

 

[mommytron]

so we got the tank all set up and i added ammonia 2 days ago. just tested it today (whoops) and threw in some seeded filter floss from our 27g hex. ammonia is at 2ppm, i'm hoping that's high enough. it's already been there for 2 days so i didn't want to add more now.

i still haven't decided on live or fake plants. we were originally thinking this would be a good betta tank, but after setting it up and realizing how strong the current is, i don't think it will be ideal (plus my daughter said she wants TWO fishies ) so i'm not really sure what i'm thinking at this point. i thought a trio of sparkling gouramis would be really cute, but i've had such bad luck with gouramis. then i was thinking like 7 or 8 CPD's might be nice....but i'm hesitant on the tank size for them and i don't know how easy they will be to find around here.

so....any suggestions are welcome. i also need to pick up more river rocks to cover the UGLY ceramic media in the bottom. also a little cheezed off that the nasty plastic covered sponge filter HAS to be exposed. i'm hoping once i get plants in there, they will hide the magnified heater and ugly bubble tube. we'll see. right now i'm not super thrilled.

so here she is, the ugly beast, lol.

ugly filter cover that needs to be exposed

the wads of cottony looking stuff is the filter floss i held down with river rocks. figured this was the easiest/best way to get the bacteria into the ceramic media.

 

[iDream]

they make little rock or shell sculptures to go on the bubble tube to cover it. jenatron 's picture she posted in your other thread, it is only from reef one as far as i know though

 

[mommytron]

they make little rock or shell sculptures to go on the bubble tube to cover it. jenatron 's picture she posted in your other thread, it is only from reef one as far as i know though

thank you!! i will DEF look into this. i was SO mad when i read that you can't put the rocks over it

 

[mommytron]

tested the tank yesterday: ammonia was down to .75ppm ... no nitrites yet