Amazon Biotope

[Dt524]

Im thinking about starting an amazon biotope in my 30 gallon. I saw in the Amazon Abysse and it inspired me. I was thinking about a sand bottom a with some leaves on the bottom. A lot of bog wood a roots on the back wall and some amazon sword. I am thinking about these fish:

cories
rams / apistogramma
angelfish
cardinals
needlefish
hatchetfish
oto

Does anyone have a picture of a amazon biotope??

the plants I want are
Echinodorus amazonicus
Dwarf sword plant (Echinodorus tenellus)
Hair grass (Eleocharis acicularis)
Amazon sword (Echinodorus paniculatus)
Cabomba
Myriophyllum

So what do you think. I know I cant keep needlefish with hatchet but I need to make up my mind. Do you think I could add anything or maybe take things away.

Your help will be greatly appriciated!! Thanx in advance


Heres a picture of my angelfish

 

[BrianNY]

That's a great looking angel. Although the Amazon has lots of vegetation decaying on the bottom, this isn't a good idea in the closed environment of an aquarium.

There are lots of fish called needlefish. The one I'm thinking of is highly predatory and would dine on your tetras. Other than that it should be a great tank. Good Luck.

 

[7Enigma]

I agree with BrianNY. In the wild there is a constant diluting effect from all the rainfall which keeps the toxins to a (relative) minimum.

In our cases, at best you would have sky high nitrAtes, and at worst a dead tank from all the ammonia being produced.

It would also be a SERIOUS PITA to do maintanence on. Plants as it is cause quite a lot of debris in the tank, and that's when they are healthy and alive. Adding dead plant material would be very difficult to manage unless you had a sump setup with much larger water volume than the tank itself (ie 55-100 gallon sump with 30 gallon tank). And had a lot of fast growing plants in the sump with lots of light to soak up the nitrAtes. But then you need to provide all the nutrients and CO2 to prevent algae in the main tank and.....you get the point.

I would get the species- and plant-specific first, then worry about biotope specific additions to make it more "authentic"

We want pics if you do it!

EDIT: I'm sure you could find some silk leaves at a craft store that might look realistic on the bottom. Added benefit of not having to replace these from rotting!

 

[Dt524]

Thanks I love him he's my pride and joy. lol I really want to breed him but thats a different thread.

Okay thanks for the advice!
I think im might take the plunge i think i might have to do like a 10% water change a day to try to recreate the flow of the water but i will never be able to do it as much as the amazon.

At first i was thinking of getting some leaves from my back yard but i've seen them in tanks before. The idea about the craft store leaves are really good im really going to have to look into that.

So im going to start my intense research and im going to keep you posted

 

[blazeyreef]

Im doing the same in my 10 (maybe to be 20) gall...although I wont follow the exact biotope on plants, I want it to look like it! Will be watching your tank!

 

[Dt524]

Thanks we will have to exchange notes on this one.
What fish and plants are you trying to have?

 

[blazeyreef]

Thanks we will have to exchange notes on this one.
What fish and plants are you trying to have?

well fish wise I have/will have

neon tetra
hatchet fish
black neon tetra
cherry barb (im not 100% sure if they are from the amazon...but oh well)
otto
guppy
bolivian/german blue ram
cory's
I beilve thats it... and plant wise.. well ....I do have several types of plants...you can check out my 10 and 5gall log to see the long list


*edit* here is an awesome site will all kinds of info on biotopes, I have it to the amazon page http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_amazon_blackwater.htm

 

[tropicfishman]

that would be pretty cool to have an amazon biotope, I never thought of doing a biotope, I do have a 75 gallon I've yet to have done anything with...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Stephen]

In setting up Amazon biotopes, one of the most difficult parts would be choosing the right mix of species, because there are so many!

In a 30 gallon, I'd say hatchets, cories, cardinals and an angelfish or two. That way, the entire water column is utilized. I wouldn't add more than two angelfish, considering the surface area you have to work with in a 30 gallon tank. You could actually skip the cardinals, since angels already occupy that area of the tank. I'd just add the cardinals for the color. Having driftwood and leaf litter will make your water tea-colored, and the bright colors of the cardinals will definitely stand out.

If you're going ahead with having the decayed leaves, I'd pass on the otos. They have a reputation of being quite sensitive, and might have difficulties coping under those conditions. If you need a fish for algae-eradication duties, a bushynose would do well.

 

[Dt524]

So today i got a couple of peices of bog wood and a root that i got fron my backyard.
I will post some pictures later.

I will have to think about the cardinals I want them but I think they are a little too commen. But i was thinking about things that occupy every level of the tank.What do you guys think would be the best cories to have for this type of tank?

I was thinking of having gravel or florite cause I dont really like sand. What do you guys think?

Will keep you updated TIA

Darryl

*Edit* Thanks BlazeyReef that web site was a tremendous help

 

[Stephen]

I'd go with pandas. They don't get that big so you could probably have more.

 

[JDogg]

i have a Amazon Biotope (more or less) in my 75 gallon

Fish
3 Angles: Pterophyllum scalare
2 Bolivian Rams: Microgeophagus altispinosa
4 (2m/2f) "Orange Flash" Cockatoo Cichlids: Apistogramma cacatuoides
1 male Apistogramma sp. "Steel-Blue"
1 male Apistogramma hongsloi
7 Rummy-nosed Tetra: Hemigrammus rhodostomus
6 Cardinal Tetra: Paracheirodon axelrodi
5 Julii Cory: Corydoras julii
3 Oto: Otocinclus mariae
Invertabrates
Malaysian Trumpet Snails: Melanoides tuberculata
Rams Horn Snail: Planorbis corneus
Plants (2.56 WPG)
Stargrass: Heteranthera zosterifolia
Amazon Sword: Echinodorus amazonicus
Rubin Sword: Echinodorus 'rubin'
Ozelot Sword: Echinodorus x. 'Ozelot'
Narrow Leaf Chain Sword: Echinodorus tenellus
Primrose: Ludwigia repens
Dwarf Sag: Sagittaria subulata
Narrow Leaf Sag: Sagittaria subulata
Jungle Val: Vallisneria americana
Giant Bacopa: Bacopa caroliniana
Java Fern: Microsorum pteropus
Four Leaf Clover: Marsilea crenata
Tiger Lotus: Nymphaea lotus

 

[Dt524]

Stephen i really like panda cories, time to do some reasearch great idea.

Wow Jdog. That tank is gorgeous your going to have to help me because theres just so much to choose from.

Do you dose with your plants?

I want angels and apistogrammas how do they interact in your tank?

Whats your ph?

Did you ever have any breeding success?

Thanks for your help

Darryl

 

[JDogg]

Stephen i really like panda cories, time to do some reasearch great idea.

Wow Jdog. That tank is gorgeous your going to have to help me because theres just so much to choose from.

Do you dose with your plants?

i use the EI dosing methode, i dose:NO3, PO4 and K three days a week and Trace w/Iron the other three days with a ~50% pwc on the 7th day. basicly you dose more ferts then you need and then keep them from building up too high with the pwc, this should ensure that you never run out of anything i also inject CO2

I want angels and apistogrammas how do they interact in your tank?

i keep 3 species of apistos in that tank (4 if you count the bolivian rams) they do just fine with the angels ime, the angels live in the top half of the tank and the apistos in the other. i think i am at the limit of how many dwarfs i can squeeze into the tank though :?

Whats your ph?

out of the tap it is 8.0 (not very amazon) but with the CO2 it is brought down to around 6.8

Did you ever have any breeding success?

not yet, i did have a pair of GBR spawn before they died, but they or someone else ate the eggs. currently one of my pair of cockatoo apistos is thining about it i think.

you will notice that my tank is only "more of less" amazon...the mts are not even south american, same with some of the plants, and not all the fish are for the Amazon region, but they are all South American

 

[physicsdude]

OK. I did an amazon biotope and i loved it. i followed this website exclusively:
http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_rio_sucasari.htm

 

[Dt524]

Jdogg thanks for all the help hope you have luck with the apistos.

Physicsdude if you dont mind me asking what happened to your tank?
Did you have any draw backs when creating it to the way you wanted?
I live that website thanks its a great help!

 

[physicsdude]

all went good- i had amazon swords, some bolivian rams, some corys and a few others. looked nice really. go for it man- its really alot of fun to try to re-create an entire biotope
i enjoyed it. the fun part was and always has been didviding the swords and letting the cuttings grow. really was alot of fun to create a specific biotope.

 

[Dt524]

Thanks for your advice and your experience physicsdude.

So I just got rid of my saltwater tank yesterday and emptied the tank. Emptying the tank took forever LOL SO today im ready to go and start getting the things ready.

What type of substrate should I get for this tank? I dont want sand its too hard to get up i I ever want to change the substrate.

Thanks in advance

Darryl

 

[Jchillin]

Hi Darryl...glad you decided to go for a bio-tope. There are so many substrates to choose from it isn't funny. Here is a short list:

Eco-Complete
Turface MVP
Shultz Aquatic Soil
Pool Filter Sand
Regular gravel (no more than 2mm in size)
Flourite

Of all of the above, pool filter sand is the cheapest.

 

[Dt524]

I think im going to go with the eco-complete or the gravel. Thanks for the encouragement now the fun begins