Journal 28G BiOrb

[Kwyet]

Aside from a 20 gallon tank I had as a kid, and the large goldfish tank that I volunteered to take care of at the school where I taught, this was my first tank. I wanted something different than the rectangular ones that I was used to seeing (and thought were boring). Now of course, I realize that there are good reasons for the popularity of rectangular aquariums AND that they can look stunning when done right.

I’m not going to go back through the full history of this one, but it progressed from artificial silk plants with Glo-fish to live plants with Endlers and Ember tetras.

Here are a few of the photos through the years, before moving to our present home.

8/16/18 first photo:


5/27/21:


8/12/21:


2/9/23:


Before we moved last August, I traded all of the Glo-fish to a local fish store, and of course started completely over after the move.

 

[Kwyet]

This is the largest BiOrb they ever made, and has since been discontinued. It has a kind of internal, undergravel filter operated with an air pump and they sell foam etc to go in the filter and biomedia to go around the filter. I don’t use any of that. I replace the uplift tube with a much shorter one that I think looks better and left the circular filter compartment empty. Then I put extra foam rings around the filter compartment, covered that with ceramic media, and covered that with 1/4 in pea gravel.



I planted it with Crypt Spiralis, Crypt Wendtii Red, Nymphae Stellata, and what I thought was Crypt Undulata. I later came to believe it was actually Mi Oya, and added a couple of Undulata. I had some Nymphoides Taiwan in there for awhile, but later took it out.

12/4/24 with a Lominie light:

 

[Kwyet]

Well, the plants have been growing. I had some fancy guppies in there for awhile, but they “disappeared” during all the traveling back and forth to Mom’s. I’m sure the Amano shrimp took care of the clean-up, but I don’t really know what happened to them since I wasn’t here. All of the Endler’s were fine. I wonder if it just got too cold one night and my daughter just didn’t think to do anything about it.

At any rate, I’ve moved my 4 Ember Tetras in and they’re doing fine, as are the Endlers and Amano shrimp. I don’t plan to replace the guppies. I’ll fill out the group of Ember tetras instead. I think they’re underrated. These came from Florida with me and seem bullet-proof.

Other details:
-The Lominie light has been replaced by a Week Aqua T90Pro (what a difference!)
-30% water change weekly
-PPS-pro ferts added all at once after the water change
-No CO2

5/1/25:




Thanks for reading!

 

[Kwyet]

Not much change. I’m waiting for more funds to add to the Ember Tetras.

 

[Kwyet]

Since the last post, I’ve added more Ember tetras, some Medakas, and 5 Oto catfish. I also threw some Mexican Oak Leaf in to fill out the back better. Everyone is doing well.


I’m looking forward to the baby Embers getting their full color.

 

[Kwyet]

I put some of the Anubias from the retired shrimp globe in the middle and replanted a lot of the Mexican Oakleaf that had pulled up and become floaters. You can’t see it, but I also put a sprig of Pennywort behind the central “wood.” I’m hoping it’ll climb up and look nice. I’m disappointed that the lily has regressed so much. Root tabs won’t work in this tank because of the undergravel filter, so if it doesn’t come back I guess I’ll need to move it to a different tank. The shrimp are doing fine after their move. I see plenty of adults and shrimplets. The CO2 container isn’t for this tank. It’s a spare I keep on hand for the Dutch tank.

Thanks for reading!

 

[VJM]

This is so cool! I have never seen a tank like this. What a fun project!

 

[Kwyet]

This is so cool! I have never seen a tank like this. What a fun project!

Thank you very much!

 

[Kwyet]

There’s not much new to show about this tank, except I put the neons from the black water tank into this one. They look nice with the Embers, and I know they’ll be fine at room temp. The shrimp are enjoying the susswasstertang at the bottom of the tank. Even though they don’t show up well in pictures, I always see plenty of adults and shrimplets. The Amanos don’t reproduce, but it seems like they live forever, lol!