View Full Version : The Biotope Challenge
mymindseye81
08-03-2009, 12:37 PM
Everyone submit pics of there complete biotype fish tank. Judge on accuracy, fish, decorations, water Ph etc. All biotype tanks would be accepted, from all over the world. Good Luck!
ozz465
08-03-2009, 6:56 PM
Sounds very interesting .
Coryd55
08-04-2009, 12:22 AM
I like it
Tay690
08-04-2009, 10:52 AM
here's hoping this contest is still open by the time I move and setup my prize tank :nilly:
princess
08-04-2009, 4:11 PM
Do marine tanks count? IE, GBR type setup? my fish aren't wild caught though
paopanlilio
08-04-2009, 4:34 PM
cool whats the price tho?
mymindseye81
08-04-2009, 6:03 PM
good responses here. now lets see if we can get a moderator to get involved. any suggestions? princess i cant thelp but to agree to everything you say. even though its a given to win, us freshwaters dont have a chance. i say its up to everyone to vote on marina. lets hear it...
princess
08-05-2009, 4:50 AM
well i would submit my cichlids it's the amazon biotope but with a bloodparrot and kribensis? lol
princess
08-05-2009, 4:53 AM
OOOOOOOOOO what about vivariums? I have an Southern Tanzania set up lol altho I have a fern in there......lol i'm bloody rubbish at this
Amazon_Addict
08-05-2009, 5:08 AM
9 posts and no pics. This thread is going no where fast.
wonword
08-05-2009, 9:57 AM
I love biotopes, they are the best! I love my dats too much, otherwise I would do a SA biotope!
mymindseye81
08-05-2009, 11:22 AM
I agree with AMAZON we need pics! enough talky talk we need pics people. I will start it off... Here are some pics of my 75. This is Tanganyika biotope w/ 4 frontosa, 1 black calvus, & 1 compressiceps. The decor is Texas Holey Rock. I know that the rocks dont come from any kind of water but they just look so darn cool. im even thinking about staining them a dark grey or black color to make them look more realistic. any way im sure you guys have much better tanks than this one so let see them!!
oh and Princess lets see all of your tanks, everyone submit all of your tank pics!!
princess
08-05-2009, 12:21 PM
i have no full tank shots, think i should win :headbang2
mymindseye81
08-05-2009, 2:23 PM
That looks amazing! i want to do marina so bad but im to scared. yours looks great princess:p. since yours is :barf:SO MUCH BETTER THAN MINE, and we are the only 2 posting pics:WTF: haha then yes you win :banher:congrats a marina tank beat a freshwater... typical
:j/k::mwave:
*THIS CONTEST SUCKED*
princess
08-05-2009, 4:34 PM
yeah it kinda did hunny, i had to humor you, couldn't let you die could i?
Otto_VonBacon
08-05-2009, 6:50 PM
Nice tank princess, you ever consider submitting pictures to Reefscape?
- http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253980
Proteus
08-05-2009, 8:21 PM
Just got back from vacation with handful of redbelly dace, johnny darters, brook sticklebacks, crayfish, mudminnows that I have caught out of a family property river.... all in one spot- I even brought back the driftwood, plants and some sand....as well as clams, snails theres even 2 fish I'm not sure about the ID yet, they're called nile perch maybe something different they're brown with black stripe over their eyes
I always wanted redbelly dace setup and one of the males I have caught is just so sweet looking! will be working on the tank this weekend though the 20 g long tank is currently running but semi-bare- only got clam shells, driftwood working on sinking them again as they got dried out fast.
Alot of the Johnny darters jumped out- much to my disappointment and to my cats delight.
zenyfish
08-05-2009, 8:35 PM
I will start it off... Here are some pics of my 75. This is Tanganyika biotope w/ 4 frontosa, 1 black calvus, & 1 compressiceps. The decor is Texas Holey Rock. I know that the rocks dont come from any kind of water but they just look so darn cool. im even thinking about staining them a dark grey or black color to make them look more realistic. any way im sure you guys have much better tanks than this one so let see them!!
umm ... plastic plants and aquarium gravel in a "biotope"?
Separate categories for fresh and salt water.
umm ... plastic plants and aquarium gravel in a "biotope"?
Separate categories for fresh and salt water.
:iagree:
cyberhog05
08-05-2009, 10:55 PM
:iagree: X2. But he did enter a tank shot though
princess
08-06-2009, 4:45 AM
Nice tank princess, you ever consider submitting pictures to Reefscape?
- http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253980
yeah I've though about it but my tank is not good enough for that, this is the 1st time anyone on mfk has seen my reef
Otto_VonBacon
08-06-2009, 3:27 PM
Your tank is fine. Those leathers are awesome.
princess
08-06-2009, 4:14 PM
ty very much
andyjs
08-08-2009, 6:29 PM
Just got back from vacation with handful of redbelly dace, johnny darters, brook sticklebacks, crayfish, mudminnows that I have caught out of a family property river.... all in one spot- I even brought back the driftwood, plants and some sand....as well as clams, snails theres even 2 fish I'm not sure about the ID yet, they're called nile perch maybe something different they're brown with black stripe over their eyes
Nile perch? Where'd you get them? They have been introduced to some places in the US, but not many. They are HUGE fish and definitely wouldn't go with the other fish you have. Could you take a picture and post it in the native section for a positive ID?
grmanrocks
09-01-2009, 6:10 AM
if this contest was to go anywhere i would be more than willing to submit my Southern California Pacific Coast biotope :)
cockroach
09-01-2009, 8:42 AM
I like the sound of this. Will get my pics up soon.
gnuisance
09-01-2009, 11:33 AM
Nile perch? Where'd you get them? They have been introduced to some places in the US, but not many. They are HUGE fish and definitely wouldn't go with the other fish you have. Could you take a picture and post it in the native section for a positive ID?
Where have Nile Perch been introduced in the U.S? I researched this and wasn't able to find anything. Just curious and looking for a bit more info...
Darth Scohin
09-01-2009, 6:30 PM
Okay, West African Biotype "Plastic Plants" (they had BB on them+Algae swapping out for Bolbitis slowly) Flora: Riccia (not pictured) Anubias
Fauna: Senegal Bichir, Leopard Ctenopoma, Featherfin Syno, Endlicheri Bichir (African Butterflys and Congo Tetras Coming Soon)
I'll update after it has been "aged"
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/DarthScohin/My55gal.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/DarthScohin/NimSWithImpetus.jpg
cockroach
09-08-2009, 11:16 AM
This is a pic of my Rio Negro flooded forest biotpe.
Inhabitants are:
6 Altum angels
18 Rummy-nose tetras
4 sterbae cories ( I know not technically right but still searching for the right ones.)
Driftwood
Fake vegetation
Natural silica sand
1 light with 120W output over the centre.
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True biotopes must have :
1. real live plants (from the intended location)
2. wood/rocks from the right country(mopani in a CA or SA biotope big fail!)
3. fish from the right country location( and environment just because they are from the same location/country does not mean they would encounter each other in the same body of water.
4. the substrait needs to be beliveable.
cockroach
09-09-2009, 9:14 PM
True biotopes must have :
1. real live plants (from the intended location)
2. wood/rocks from the right country(mopani in a CA or SA biotope big fail!)
3. fish from the right country location( and environment just because they are from the same location/country does not mean they would encounter each other in the same body of water.
4. the substrait needs to be beliveable.
I have seen biotopes in aquariums where fake plants have been used to great effect. They are easier to care for and don't affect water parameters.
As for the rocks, if they resemble rocks from that biotope, does that not make it believable.
grmanrocks
09-11-2009, 1:15 AM
True biotopes must have :
1. real live plants (from the intended location)
2. wood/rocks from the right country(mopani in a CA or SA biotope big fail!)
3. fish from the right country location( and environment just because they are from the same location/country does not mean they would encounter each other in the same body of water.
4. the substrait needs to be beliveable.
i agree entirely.
i personally have a pacific coast biotope that i hand collected every aspect of from the sand to the sharks (accept one shark, but that one was collected only 17 miles from my location).
"mongabay.com" has a great reference for building biotopes, including lists of species and plants native to individual bodies of water. i used that to build my congo drainage biotope once upon a time.
i have however subsititued artificial plants at times when the conditions i wish to replicate arnt condusive to growth...
FishFreak95
09-12-2009, 2:44 PM
:goldfish:Im going to be starting a 110gallon Rio Grande Biotype somewhere between now and 1 year hopefully. Im going to trade my 55 gallon plus some extra money for my uncles empty 110 gallon!!! Im keeping some of the future inhabitants for the 110 gallon already. I have 2 Rio Grand silvery minnows(native) in the 55 gallon and in one of my 10 gallons I have a black bullhead(native) and a channel cat(introduced). I cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:nilly::nilly::nilly::nilly:
I will post my 10 gallon biotype in my next post.
Proteus
09-12-2009, 10:27 PM
Nile perch? Where'd you get them? They have been introduced to some places in the US, but not many. They are HUGE fish and definitely wouldn't go with the other fish you have. Could you take a picture and post it in the native section for a positive ID?
my bad it was a pirate perch not a nile perch :nilly: sorry for setting a wild goose hunt.
my two specimens did not make it at all- they refused to eat so they slowly starved to death and I have not yet found their corpses so I think the crays had so much feasting on those guys.
http://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Aphredoderidae/pirate_perch_eastern.jpg
I have seen nice biotopes with plastic plants. However, to acheive a "perfect" biotope, you would need predator and prey that interact with each other, which is near impossible in the home aquarium (I believe Neo and Arimpaiman were the only ones to do it, even in the short term)
i agree entirely.
i personally have a pacific coast biotope that i hand collected every aspect of from the sand to the sharks (accept one shark, but that one was collected only 17 miles from my location).
"mongabay.com" has a great reference for building biotopes, including lists of species and plants native to individual bodies of water. i used that to build my congo drainage biotope once upon a time.
i have however subsititued artificial plants at times when the conditions i wish to replicate arnt condusive to growth...
Thanks for mongabay.com, useful site I've never heard of before! ;)
My tank isn't a real biotope, I just wanted to thank this guy for the website, haha. Right now my 200 gallon with a coral sand substrate and rocks also has large driftwood and plastic plants (cichlids like to munch on live plants I find). I have 9 frontosas in the tank with a couple plecos. :grinno:
So, no pics for this thread, sorry...ha!
Thanks again for mongabay.com!
FishFreak95
09-16-2009, 9:55 PM
I cant find a Rio Grande Biotope on mongabay.com:swear: