# Biorb help needed please!



## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Hi there  I`m new on the fish forums and could do with some advice re my 30ltr Biorb. I`ve had it for almost 5 years and have never had this issue until recently, but the water just no longer goes crystal clear, it is always slightly cloudy even straight after maintenance. Could it be that I need a better pump? If so, can anyone recommend one? Thanks in advance!!


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## scosha37 (Feb 24, 2008)

Hi  i have a boirb too my biorb did this before but i just let it settle and most times it dose, have you changed anything or added anything? like food,plants,filter, stones or added more fish? have you ever replaced the filter? your air pump slowing down? .


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Hi there, thanks for the reply! I bought a replacement Biorb pump about 6 months ago and also replaced the 2 way valve& tube. The filter gets changed every 5-6 weeks when I do the recommended partial water change with the service kit.


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## scosha37 (Feb 24, 2008)

What about the the spong at the bottom of the biorb have you changed that lately?


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

scosha37 said:


> What about the the spong at the bottom of the biorb have you changed that lately?


Do you mean the white bit that goes round the air tube? If so, I change that every time I service .


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

I wouldn't change the sponge. When you remove water for the partial water change rinse / squeeze the sponge in that water and replace.

How often do you do water changes?

What flora and fauna do you have in it?


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Hi there, thanks for the post  The only ornament I have in there is a Biorb brand coral decoration and Biorb pebbles. When you say the sponge do you mean the one in the filter that clips onto the air tube?


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

And I do a partial water change every 5-6 weeks


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## Peapet (Feb 8, 2013)

How many fish and what variety?
You should be changing water a bit more often


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## Peapet (Feb 8, 2013)

Biorb do the service kits to make money. You can squeeze the sponge in syphoned tank water and put it back. The carbon and zeolite would need to be thrown away, but you can buy a box of carbon to use. Another option is filter wool, if you buy a sheet you can then cut to size and place on top of the sponge. This will also trap smaller particles and help clear the water.

The only thing you would be missing is dechlorinator, but buying everything seperate will work out cheaper than the service kits. Then you can do more frequent water changes in between cleaning the filter


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

I have 2 normal goldfish. Thanks for the wool suggestion, I used to use that in my previous aquarium


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

Welsh Fox said:


> And I do a partial water change every 5-6 weeks


I would do weekly water changes, keep the filter media as suggested. Goldfish are very messy and a bit too big for a biorb, so I would do 50% weekly.


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Thank you, will give this a try


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

Welsh Fox said:


> Thank you, will give this a try


Let us now how it goes, any pics?


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Going to get the carbon & woll, then give it a try at the weekend, so hopefully pics to follow. My profile pic shows my cat Purdey Biorb watching


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Well, after much deliberation I have rehomed my goldfish with a friend with a pond, so I am starting the Biorb from scratch. It is all set up and ready to go, and I am going to get some white cloud mountain minnows at the weekend. I have been advised to start off with 5 as they like to shoal, does anyone have any further advice please?


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Sounds like you've made the right decision, I'm sure the goldfish will love their new home 

How long since you moved the goldfish? Have you kept the old filter media, and kept the filter switched on?


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

White clouds are very nice, interesting and easy to keep little fish. I reguarly have a shoal in my cold tank, though I just put my goldfish in the pond so now there's space for a different temperate fish. Anyway, the WCCMs will give you plenty of drama, the males especially display a lot to each other with their large dorsal fins raised up, doing a slow kind of swim with their pectorals quivering. I have both the wild type (grey) and the golden.


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Well I took the plunge and got 3 minnows & 3 danios today, just to start. I`ve been advised I can keep up to 12 little shoalers in there, would you guys say that`s good advice?


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I'd say it's pushing it slightly, but since you've already got both species, you might just about get away with 6 of each if you do 2x water changes per week. They'd prefer a bigger tank though...

You didn't say how long it's been since you rehomed the goldfish. Keep a close eye on ammonia and nitrite for a while now, and don't add the other fish just yet, until you're 100% sure water parameters are all stable. If you do get positive readings for ammonia and/or nitrite at any point, then 50% daily water changes until it stabilises at 0.


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

To be honest, I'd swap the danios for more minnows. Danios are both a bigger fish than the minnows and are very active shoalers... I wouldn't recommend them for any tank shorter than 3 feet long really. Also, personally I think that 2 shoals of 2 different fish is too much for that sized tank 

Maybe do as Phoenix24 suggested above, and have some 'normal' white clouds and some of the golden ones too, for a bit of variety?


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## Welsh Fox (Mar 21, 2013)

Thank you everyone for all your advice. The ones I have in there seem to have formed one shoal together. Going to take all the advice on board as these coldwater fish are new to me, I`ve got a lot of experience in tropical but not coldwater.


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