biOrb Fish Tank Review : A Stylish And Affordable Aquarium For Design Lovers

We recently got a new biOrb fish tank (affiliate) so that our girls could have pets. They have been asking for pets for quite a while now and we thought that a nice little aquarium would be a good place to start.

The trouble is, we don’t really have that many options. Ever since I was about seven years old I have been allergic to animal fur. I’m not talking about a slight reaction either. As an asthmatic, my allergy is severe and usually, a reaction ends up with me not being able to breathe. As you can imagine, there aren’t really that many pets that we can choose from.

A Stylish Fish Tank for Design Lovers

When it came to choosing an aquarium, I realised that I have very high standards when it comes to aesthetics. I don’t want something ugly in my home or anything that attracts too much attention unless it looks mighty fine. I remember the fish tank I had as a child with the plastic black lid and the ugly green filter. It wasn’t that nice to look at and I knew I didn’t want anything similar in my own home. I wanted something that would almost disappear into the background.

That’s exactly why we opted for a biOrb fish tank. With its sleek, minimalist design, a biOrb aquarium is the obvious choice for design-loving pet owners. After all, these tanks look more like a design object than a fish tank. There are six different styles to choose from in four different sizes (15l, 30l, 45l, and 60l).

In the end, we opted for a 30l biOrb Life (affiliate) with a totally transparent frame. Again, we opted for a transparent frame because we wanted our biOrb fish tank to be as inconspicuous as possible. This model is the perfect size for our small home. Its streamlined, minimalist, seamless aquarium design is just what I was looking for.

A Fish Tank that is Easy to Set Up

After aesthetics, another important factor for us was the ease of setting up our fish tank. I didn’t really want to have to spend any more time researching the setup of our fish tank. The good thing about the biOrb is that it comes with everything you need. So there is no need to research things like fish tank pump and filter systems. You don’t need to look into what plants to put in the tank or how much and what kind of aquarium sand you need to buy.

It honestly couldn’t have been easier to set up. The biOrb fish tank comes with a water conditioner sachet, its own light, an air pump, a filter, an airstone and ceramic media (affiliate) to go in the bottom instead of sand. The only things that don’t come with it that we needed to buy was a siphon hose (affiliate) for water changes, fish food and the fish themselves.

biOrb Fish Tank Decoration Sets

To make things easier for ourselves, we decided to get one of the biOrb decoration kits (affiliate) too. BiOrb offers individual fishtank decorations (affiliate) or complete decoration sets. These allow you to personalise your biOrb fish tank and create a small underwater world according to your tastes.

There are 12 different fish tank decoration sets to choose from from Red Forest (affiliate) to Pink Ocean (affiliate) and Stone Garden (affiliate) to Winter Dream (affiliate). We opted for the Summer kit (affiliate) in the end. I really liked the subtle Japanese feel to it and the colours work really well with our decor. As I said, I wanted something that would subtly fade into the background and the green Summer decorations do just that.

If you want to create an even more bespoke look, there are over 100 individual decorations to choose from. So you have free reign to conjure up something much more personal. I can imagine that we will probably invest in a few extra aquarium decorations so that we can mix things up every now and again. The girls will enjoy that!

A Low Maintenance Aquarium

Another priority for us was that any fish tank we chose had to be a low-maintenance aquarium. We have busy lives so we don’t really have a lot of extra time to dedicate to fish tank maintenance. So we wanted something that was easy and hassle-free to run. We are obviously prepared to do the regular fish tank cleaning that is required. But we wanted that process to be as quick and easy as possible.

From what I’d read online, biOrb aquariums are pretty easy to clean. What really caught my attention is the biOrb fish tank pump and filter system. There is an air tube in the middle of the tank which oxygenates the water thanks to the little airstone (affiliate). The tube connects to the filter with a simple snap-and-twist movement. This makes the filter really easy to replace. I also really like how the tree decoration slips over the air tube and helps to disguise the filter.

You can also buy service kits (affiliate) which help you to keep on top of the regular maintenance.

According to the instructions, the aquarium filter should be changed once a month. We were told in the pet shop that we need to siphon off and replace 25% of the water weekly. This will ensure that the biOrb aquarium stays in optimum condition.

So, all in all, fish tank cleaning seems pretty straightforward.

Innovative Aquarium Lighting

The biOrb fish tank comes with two options for lighting. There is the standard energy-efficient LED lighting with a classic on/off switch. Or you can opt for the more sophisticated MCR light unit (affiliate). No prizes for which one we chose! MCR stands for Multi-Colour Remote and it allows you to select from 16 different colour settings for your mini underwater world. These are controlled by the little remote control unit that comes with your biOrb fish tank.

There are also four different time cycles that are pre-programmed to simulate the light conditions of day and night. We haven’t gotten to grips with this yet because the girls are still excited about changing between the 16 colour options.

biOrb Fish Tank Review

So what are my thoughts about our new 30l biOrb Life aquarium (affiliate)?

I’ve been really impressed with it and it is everything that I was looking for in a fish tank. It looks great, it was easy to set up, maintenance is minimal and easy and the MCR lighting is a really special extra touch.

Overall, this aquarium looks absolutely fantastic. It is the perfect size for our small living room and more than manageable for those starting out with fish. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous you can simply buy the heating system for biOrb so you can have tropical fish instead.

There was a downside though. In my mind, we were going to get a couple of large impressive, slightly flamboyant fish for our tank. The reality was a little different. We went to a local garden centre to get our fish and we were really impressed with the selection. We didn’t know how we were going to narrow it down.

But after speaking with the aquatics expert we were informed that we had a choice of two types of fish. That was very underwhelming, particularly as the fish he showed us were tiny. We ended up with 6 little Cherry Barbs, which are almost invisible to the naked eye at the moment. Apparently, they are still quite young and will eventually grow to be 1.5-2″ long.

But it is worth bearing in mind that if you want large fish, you may need to invest in one of the larger aquariums by Oase (affiliate).

The only other criticism that I could come up with is that our biOrb fish tank is a little bit loud. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I actually find the hum of the pump to be quite calming and comforting. However, my husband doesn’t feel the same way and he had hoped it would be quieter. But I am sure that he will get used to it in time.

So what do you think? Does this look like a great starter option for you? Can you see the biOrb life fitting nicely into your home decor? Let me know in the comments if you think this is one of the nicest-looking aquariums you’ve come across.

You can click here to explore the full range of products and accessories from biOrb (affiliate).

And don’t forget to pin this post for later so you don’t forget about biOrb.