Is bigger better?

A recent question I felt was useful to share:

Question:

Hello! I'm looking into getting a biOrb and have found your blog very helpful! I was curious, do you think bigger is better? We are looking into getting the 16gal. biOrb (as we have restrictions, and can't go much wider or bigger, gallon size, in the place we're currently living in -gotta love landlords-). Just curious on your views. Also, for growing plants in the biOrb, do you need a different type of light? Or is the light that it comes with efficient enough to grow plants?

Thank you!


Answer:

Hi there, I've decided I will go with a Biorb 60 as my poor fishes have very much outgrown the 30.... and the B60 is easier to clean than a proper tank. If you are keeping goldfish though the B60 would only take about 2 max (Ideally you should keep only 1 goldfish in a B30). A bigger tank will mean that there's more water, so there's less risk of spikes in temperature / nitrates etc. Though the number of fish you can keep in a tank is ultimately determined by the water surface area (and hence more oxygen), more water does tend to relate to more oxygen being available to the fish.

The light that the Biorb comes with is not sufficient to grow plants well. The plants will survive a while but after a few weeks/months will start becoming yellow / stunted. OK though, if you plan to replace the plants every couple of months.