# biorb life or rio 125 which one?



## andykent (Dec 30, 2009)

Hello all, I was lucky enough to get some money for christmas and have always wanted a fish tank, my wife really likes the biorb life in black to go with her iphone most probably lol but from reading other threads i would be able to keep more fish in something like a rio 125 which seems really well priced. Please please please give me some advice as i dont know anyone with a fish tank, has anyone got either of these tanks or would you recommend something else, please remember im a newbie


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

What kind of tank were you thinking of doing? 

Just to let you know, this is the Saltwater Forum. In saltwater tanks, three types reign: Fish Only (FO), Fish Only With Live Rock (FOWLR) or Reef Tank. 

First, FO is just that: fish and fake decor. Not a huge challenge, and therefore not a popular choice. 

The next, FOWLR, serves a better purpose: the Live Rock (and possibly Live Sand) is the filtration in the tank, coupled with a quality Protein Skimmer. This choice lets you keep the more aggressive fish in a more natural enviroment. 

The last choice, Reef Tank, is the toughest choice. Invertabrates, such as shrimp, crabs, snails, etc., are present along with other inverts, such as LPS and SPS corals. Fish are not the main attraction in these tanks, as the selection is limited to species that are "reef friendly". Reef tanks are also very dependant on light fixtures. You will find that this will be one of the most expensive pieces of equipment you will purchase. 

I have no personal experience with either of those tanks. I prefer a standard all glass aquarium myself.

You will find that things that are most important in this hobby are as follows:

1) Enough Live Rock and Live Sand to be a beneficial filter for your system
2) A good quality protein skimmer
3) Always test Alkalinity and Calcium. These are the most important water quality tests in your tank. They will let you know _exactly _what is going on in your aquarium.
4) Fish selection and compatibilty

You should research this hobby, just to have a good amount of info going in.

Welcome to the forum.


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## andykent (Dec 30, 2009)

thank you for the welcome i realised after that i had posted in the wrong place after i had posted, im going to just go for tropicall fish as im a beginner, i would love a marine as the colours are fantastic but i think i should start with something a bit more simple, i ended up ordering a rio 125 online cant wait for it to arrive.but will prob have to wait till the new year now:roll:. thanks for the advise who knows i may look more into marine and change my mind. i know i have to have my tank running for a couple of weeks before i add any fish if i was to change my mind can i adapt the water in the tank to be suitable for marine or would i have to start over again. ???


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

andykent said:


> thank you for the welcome i realised after that i had posted in the wrong place after i had posted, im going to just go for tropicall fish as im a beginner, i would love a marine as the colours are fantastic but i think i should start with something a bit more simple, i ended up ordering a rio 125 online cant wait for it to arrive.but will prob have to wait till the new year now:roll:. thanks for the advise who knows i may look more into marine and change my mind. i know i have to have my tank running for a couple of weeks before i add any fish if i was to change my mind can i adapt the water in the tank to be suitable for marine or would i have to start over again. ???


if you used tapwater i would dump it out and use RO after. All in all, I wouldn't sweat it.

the only big difference between salt and fresh is that you don't use a filter for the same purposes.
fresh water uses filters to break down nitrates and nitrites from ammonia buildup with bacteria -- in saltwater tanks, your filter becomes just a powerhead and a protein skimmer is the equipment that takes away waste from the aquarium.

also saltwater environment is much more delicate than freshwater.

I think it's always a good choice to start out with fresh, since the fish are more hardy -- I wouldn't deal with saltwater until you at least have a year or more of knowledge and experience under your belt with fresh before adding a saltwater tank. the routines for freshwater may give you a better understanding on how much more work saltwater tanks have.

I have a 90 gal FW tank, PM me if you need any info -- though there's a lot more knowledgeable people in the FW section, but i'll help if I can.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

I'm glad you got the rio 125. It's a far better tank. 

I have had a fair few juwel tanks and they have all been fantastic.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Just a couple thoughts.

I think a FOWLR tank is much easier than a fish only tank with artificial decor. The live rock provides a huge degree of stability to the environment and seeds the sand bed, making the entire setup much easier to maintain.

Also, others might disagree, but I think if you want to do marine you should start with marine. Freshwater teaches bad habits, because you can break a lot of the "rules" and very often have a successful system. In saltwater, this is just not the case. Far to many people learn in freshwater that they can ignore half the advice they hear and read about and still manage to keep fish alive. They then try to apply the same level of effort in saltwater. Big mistake. In my opinion, keeping saltwater aquariums has more in common with cooking a turkey than it does with keeping a freshwater tank.


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