biOrb Life Aquarium

I bought two biorb aquariums, the Life 60 (16 gallon) and the Life 30 (8 gallon) 4 months ago and haven't had any problems (both are a freshwater setup). They look sharp and everyone notices them right away when they come over. The tanks come with ceramic media, filter, air pump w/ one way valve, air stone, and LED lighting. The amount of ceramic media that came with my tanks seemed low so I purchased more. If you are an experienced aquarists you should have no problems keeping fish in these tanks. I would consider both my tanks to be over stocked and in 4 months still have not lost a single fish. I have found replacement filters and air stones at all my local pet supply stores. The supplied air pumps have big rubber feet and don't make much noise. The LED lighting is amazing and gives you half a dozen setup options. I use the 14 hour day setting, it gives you 12 hours of full day light with an hour sunrise transition and hour sunset transition then 10 hours of moonlight. The top of the tank has two small holes, one is for feeding and I also use it when obtaining water sample with a pipette, the other is a small notch at the back that I use to pass the power cable for my heater and the cable for my digital thermometer through.

UPDATE (1 Year): Just wanted to quickly update my experience with these tanks. It has been a year since I bought them and my fish are healthy and still no loses. I am still using the supplied air pumps with out any noise problems. If you are careful you shouldn't have to worry about scratching the acrylic, my tanks still look as good as the day I bought them. Only drawbacks are the small feeding holes and you can only get one hand/arm through the top of the tanks when setting up and cleaning, this can make it difficult when trying to reach the bottom of the 16 gallon tank because of how tall it is.

I have had this this fish-tank (the 8gal Bio Life) for a few weeks now.

I added the ceramic media, and conditioned the water with Stress Coat and Stress Zyme, Installed the filter which was a breeze! and let it run without fish for over a week so the tank could settle.

I also made sure that the temperature was stable for the fish that I wanted to keep. I live in Jamaica, where it is mostly warm, but we have a air-conditioner in the living room where the tank is so it can get a bit cooler than normal.

All other water parameters were good, meaning Ammonia, PH, Nitrate, and Nitrite Levels were all good.

Now it was time to add the fish, Not to overload the tank, I am starting out with a group of 4 Neon Tetras (I will add 4 more in a month to make it a school). I know they are not the recommended starter fish for a New Tank, but I thought I would give it go seeing that all tested conditions were good.

I have to say I was a bit worried at first with all the information on the Net saying how hard Tetras were, and that you definitely need a heater etc. etc., I has been over a week, and I am glad to say that my fish seem very happy, and tank is doing fine! and without a heater. I even grew some brine shrimp to give them a treat, and they ate them readily!

I really love this tank it is not only beautiful to look at, it is so convenient in every way! Here are my Likes and Dislikes:

Likes:

Beautiful A Work of Art

Convenient Adequate Filter System So Far

Convenient Feeding Hole.

LED Lighting to mimic real light situations and saves energy.

It's Acrylic which is stronger than glass! Also, not many people realize, but Acrylic does not Conduct the Outside Temperature to the Water inside the tank very readily because Acrylic is a poor heat/cold conductor. So it keeps your water at a more stable temperature than a glass one. (see for yourself, place ice inside a glass, and place some in a plastic cup which one can you feel more cold on the outside? The Glass of course.

Comes Complete with almost everything that you will need to start (You will still need a Net, a fish tank water changer/cleaner, and more fish food and water conditioners, and replacement media)

Note: To save on buying replacement filters, buy just one more Replacement Bio-filter, and some Bulk Activated Carbon Pellets, and Some Diamond Blend or other Ammonia Removing Product. So when you need to change the filter you can, rinse the sponge filter in some of the tank water removed (not to kill the good bacteria), and replace the carbon and ammonia stones with what you bought, and you can vary the amount of each depending on your tank conditions.

Dislikes:

LED Light should have a 24HR Moonlight setting

Could have a diverter air valve inside so that you can connect other air stones, etc, without having to push an air line through the top.

Overall I really like this tank, and thinking of buying the 16gal.

I will followup this review, as I have the tank longer if anything out of the ordinary happens.

Buy biOrb Life Aquarium Now

After purchasing the biUbe 9 gallon aquarium for a bedroom (and loving it) here on amazon.com, we decided to get the biOrb Life 60 for our living room. I would say it's an in between tank (better than those little Sponge Bob tanks but not as good as a regular 20 or more gallon tank with optional filtration). The upright design makes it a perfect addition due to limited amount of space. We set it up as a small freshwater tropical tank for some Glofish. It fits nicely in the corner and is the first thing you notice when you walk into the room.

The tank comes with everything you need to set it up. If done correctly, it makes a beautiful aquarium for our small tropical fish. I like the upright design of the tank and the fact that it is flat (as opposed to the biUbe which is round and distorts my fish) so you can see the fish clearly.

Pros:

Nice upright design for those looking to save space and can't fit a long rectangular aquarium.

Comes with everything you need to get started. Directions are clear to follow.

The light is nice and bright just like the fluorescents you see in those nice big tanks.

Cons:

Overpriced. I brought mine on sale, and though I love the look of the tank, I think they are way overpriced.

The air pump that comes with the tank makes a buzzing noise and doesn't last long. I use mine as a spare and purchase a Rena 100.

It's acrylic which maybe stronger than glass, but scratches very easily, so be careful when maintaining.

There is a limited amount and types of fish you can keep in these.

So basically, if you have the room to fit a big tank in your house, than get a bigger cheaper one (the bigger the tank, the easier it is to maintain). But if you are like me and don't have a lot of space and would like to keep a small amount of fish in a designer aquarium, than the biOrb Life is right for you.

UPDATE: After having the tank for a couple of months I wanted to update my experience with this tank. The one complaint I have is the top of the tank. The opening is a bit small which makes it a little hard to do regular maintenance and leaves little room for any added filters and such (the little opening in the light fixture is just big enough to fit the cord from the heater). I added an internal filter for some extra filtration because I like to over filter my tanks, so my light fixture doesn't fit perfectly in the opening due to the extra cord coming out of the tank (no big deal though). Also, because of how deep the tank is, I find siphoning the bottom to be somewhat difficult. This is something I can deal with. Other than that, so far so good.

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PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS TANK. Save yourself some grief. We lost so many of our beloved fish in this tank and we're experienced fish keepers.

This review is for the 16 gallon tank but, I'm pretty sure it applies to the other sizes.

Pros:

Great looking tank. That's it.

Cons:

Inadequate filter system

Inadequate lighting system

No additional filters, lighting or feeders in the market that are made specifically for this type of tank

Very difficult to balance the tank due to all of the above

Our experience:

Plants wither and die.

Fish are unhappy and we lost a lot of fish due to difficulty in balancing tank.

We bought a standard tank and transferred the other fish and they are thriving in that tank. The standard tank has been low maintenance and the fish and plants are thriving.

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I bought the 12 gallon BioOrb Tank in Feb from Amazon. After 1 month, the fish tank exploded and the water, rocks, and fish ended up on my living room floor. I have pictures.

Worst tank ever. Don't be fooled by the slick design, that is if you care about your floorboards and furniture.