BiOrb 60 ltr nano

[bentleg]

Hi guys

i recently got my self a Biorb 60ltr has anyone had any luck with one of these running it as a nano reef. or fish only

i understand the lighting is a potential problem, but i was thinking of keeping species that don't require lots of light. sponges, feather duster worms, cleaner shrimp.

so my question is by using living rock as well as the inbuilt under gravel type filter plus a internal pump for extra circulation and chemical filtration can i get away without the use of a skimmer in a 60 Ltr tank with a fish population of say four small fish damsels / chromis.

any views or ideas would be helpful BiOrb LINK

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

I REALLY like that tank and have for some time.

I have thought along the same lines as you about this.

The main problem with the tank that I saw ( I have no personal experience with it so I could be wrong here ) was that aquascaping it might be a bit like building a ship in a bottle.

I know that nanos can be done with that type of filtration- a shallow gravel bed and a central lit tube. The second issue of Coral magazine was devoted to nanos built just like that.

A hole was drilled with a masonry bit thru the middle of each rock large enough to fit a section of rigid airlift tubing. Each piece of tubing protruded about a half an inch above the top of each rock. Then as the racks were stacked one on top of another the tubing fit into the hole in the rock above it and held it in place. An airstone was placed in the tubing and water was drawn thru the gravel and up the tubing by the bubbles. Sort of a modification of Eng's natural system that only used large air bubbles for circulating the water, and the larger the bubbles the better.

You will need "soft/porous" live rocks small enough to fit thru the top opening and flat enough to stack securely on top of each other. You will need luck and patience drilling them and fitting the sections of tubing.

I personally would not put more than one damsel in a tank of that size with that filtration system. The risk of over feeding will cause major problems down the road with the gravel bed of what is basicly an undergravel filtration system in the tank.

I'd say that it can certainly be done. I'd love to do one myself someday. What an awesome idea!!