The Biotope Challenge

[cockroach]

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]

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]

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will post my 10 gallon biotype in my next post.

 

[DrownedFishonFire]

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 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.

 

[L021]

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)

 

[Aesop]

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.
So, no pics for this thread, sorry...ha!

Thanks again for mongabay.com!

 

[FishFreak95]

I cant find a Rio Grande Biotope on mongabay.com

 

[knuckles04]

how exactly we define biotope?

it's not just like any ordinary aquascaping designs isn't it?

 

[stewnew]

no.

its a representation of the true natural habitat for the region your trying to imitate

 

[knuckles04]

haha from where i come from guppies can be found in sewers..i guess i have to imitate that eh?

just joking sorry