Show me your Biorb fishtanks, I'm thinking of getting one..

[SplinterSplit]

I'm considering the clear cube or lozenge shaped ones. They're so fecking £££ though sadly. It's still just an idea at this stage. I'm thinking of 3 goldfish - the ones with the funny tails. I have had fish before but it was eons ago. I'm wondering how you've designed yours internally?

It's been a few years since I had an active interest in fishkeeping so Biorbs might have moved on in that time but back then they were considered completely unsuitable for keeping goldfish, even the fancy variety, as they were much too small. Goldfish require huge volumes of water and overfiltration to keep well, they are big messy buggers.

Theyre nowhere near big enough to keep goldfish in. It's a myth that fish grow to the size of their tank.

Secondhand ones on eBay it try your local Facebook marketplace or gumtree etc.

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=biorb&_sacat=20754&LH_ItemCondition=3000

I looked at them and thought they looked a bit small and soulless for a fish to live his or her whole life in.

They aren't at all suitable for goldfish.

I have a 30l one for a few small tropical fish and agree they are too small for goldfish. Get a heater (not expensive, only £30) and get 3 or so smallish fish like mollies or guppies

I have a 30l one with tropical fish. I wouldn’t buy it (or a curved tank) again. You’re not allowed bottom feeders in them because of poor surface area and the design is such, they’re very poorly looked upon by the fish keeping community because of how oxygen levels work (I think).
Anyway, if I bought again I’d buy a nice flat sided one - bigger than 30l. And then I’d buy orange mollies. They look like goldfish and need less space.

Oooh thanks for the advice. It was the 60L cube I liked as I knew goldfish needed a larger surface area but I'm disappointed the filtration isn't better. I'm still only window-shopping at the moment so we'll see what else I can find..

Would this be suitable?

www.argos.co.uk/product/9189427

60l is much too small for 3 goldfish.

Please don't buy one of these tanks, they're not suitable to keep living creatures in.

Fish keeping isn't easy and is akin to an ongoing science experiment rather than just something to have that looks pretty. It takes a great deal of work to get the water stable and keep the fish healthy. You need to be a bit of a fanatic to do it successfully.

Do tons of research before getting a proper tank. Don't keep goldfish or those fancy tailed ones which are essentially deformed and prone to health problems. Be prepared to spend a good amount of money on a suitable tank and an external filtration system - the internal systems are inadequate and aren't worth bothering with.

Just to echo what others have said. I have a 100 litre tank and wouldn’t dream of keeping goldfish in it. It’s not feasible. I rescued a gold fish my mil had as it was in a very small tank and covered in ammonia burns. I tested the water when I got it back to mine and it was shocking. I managed to find someone with a big pond and he went to live in there instead. She still thinks I have that goldfish 3 years down the line when in reality it would be dead if I hadn’t intervened.
Go online and find a good fishkeeping forum and ask for help. But above all it’s an expensive (to begin with), time consuming hobby if done correctly. It’s highly addictive also!

I have one, I don't keep goldfish in it though. I have a little school of white cloud mountain minnows, which I've tried and failed to take a photo of...
I also have shrimp. And then was told by someone else that I shouldn't have been sold the shrimp because the tank wasn't suitable, but they have lived for years and are now much bigger than my fish! I hope they're not unhappy in there. They're very entertaining.

Olissa, what shrimp do you have and how much care do you need on a daily basis?

Are they cold water creatures?

I hate spiders, bugs and insects but I saw some cherry shrimp in an aquatic centre once and they looked cute!

I think they're glass shrimp, although Google tells me they only live a year? So I'm a bit confused because I've had these guys at least three years.
They can live in temperate or tropical tanks I think, as long as it's a fairly constant temp.
They eat algae, live plants if you have them, and "leftover" fish food. I say leftover, because sometimes they steal a whole pellet the moment you put it in and swim off frantically holding it in their front pair of legs.

Thank you Olissa8, they sound amazing.

I never rush in when it comes to caring for pets so will be thinking about them and researching a lot before deciding to get a any.

They are fascinating

I second getting one from facebay/gumtree as there's ten to the dozen around here.

I have a 240l tank and lots of the formulae for working out fish stocking levels say I can't keep more than 2 goldfish in there. You have to account for the final size of the fish when working it out. Goldfish can grow to 30cm long when looked after properly, and can live for 10 years +.

I did keep a couple for a few years and found i always had a water quality problem as I just couldn't keep on top of the amount of waste they put into the water (inc what they breathe) despite a large filter and lots of water changes.

As soon as my last goldfish died, the water quality problem disappeared. I have plenty of platys/tetras and danios now and zero ammonia or nitrate. And need to do less extreme water changes.