Creating natural, functional cichlid display tanks

[Hendre]

I'm working on my baked bean tin and car wheel biotope as we speak.
I think it will be truly inspiring and a great reflection of the natural world.

Reminds me of a little pond which had a shopping trolley in at one edge, being little at the time I wondered if that's how the fishies got their groceries

 

[J. H.]

In the Norwalk, CT aquarium they have a few tanks with junk in them, like rims and tires and lobstertraps, but no soda cans. I was told the aluminum poisons the water for fish somewhere on MFK, so that may be why. Norwalk is a great aquarium, with plenty of coldwater marine biotopes of the local area, and I guess they decided to represent the litter too. The tanks are beautiful there, even if they are dimly lit, unplanted, and few, if any of the fish are colorful.

 

[tiger15]

The American river system is the largest landfill underwater. You don't see the debris until the water level recedes in drought, or when the Army Corps dredged the rivers picking up tires, pipes, furniture, car and small items.

The Amazon river system is not immune, and in certain way worse. There is no logistic for waste pick up or management in remote villages along the river. When indigenous people are civilized with plastic and aluminum, they all ended up washing into the river.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

The American river system is the largest landfill underwater. You don't see the debris until the water level recedes in drought, or when the Army Corps dredged the rivers picking up tires, pipes, furniture, car and small items.

The Amazon river system is not immune, and in certain way worse. There is no logistic for waste pick up or management in remote villages along the river. When indigenous people are civilized with plastic and aluminum, they all ended up washing into the river.

Are you suggesting that the whole of the Amazon river is full of trash?

 

[tiger15]

No, not the whole Amazon, just near settlement areas touched by civilization.

 

[Ogertron3000]

I would Imagine any large river anywhere in the world would have polluted/littered areas and areas that are pristine. We have the Yarra river running through the middle of the city here. if you swim in it near the city you are guaranteed to get sick but an hour or two upstream you can drink from it.
This thread is obviously about replicating the cleaner parts of the river in the home aquarium. It doesn't matter if anyone appreciates the aesthetic or not, it's all down to personal taste anyway.
I think there's things anyone who keeps fish can learn from this thread, I would also enjoy reading a similar thread about African lake tanks even though I don't keep the fish as I don't personally like the look of the tanks much.
It's a good thread so let's try not to argue and ruin it, if anyone is so concerned about litter in rivers try not to throw rubbish on the ground as you know where it will end up eventually.

 

[Ogertron3000]

With your plants, do you use biotope correct ones or pick ones that will do the job you are looking for just out of curiosity?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

With your plants, do you use biotope correct ones or pick ones that will do the job you are looking for just out of curiosity?

First of all thank you for getting this thread back on its intended course.

Regarding the plants,I try to keep them biotope correct. However I will use other plants that resemble plants of a certain biotope if I need too.
For example the firemouth tank in this thread has African lotus lily as the main plant. It is very similar to the lily's found in Mexico . I could not find any lotus lily from Mexico so I chose the closest thing available to create a similar look.

 

[Ogertron3000]

First of all thank you for getting this thread back on its intended course.

Regarding the plants,I try to keep them biotope correct. However I will use other plants that resemble plants of a certain biotope if I need too.
For example the firemouth tank in this thread has African lotus lily as the main plant. It is very similar to the lily's found in Mexico . I could not find any lotus lily from Mexico so I chose the closest thing available to create a similar look.

No worries, I think it's worth keeping this thread on track, very interesting so far. Especially as I will be starting from scratch again once we finally move house. Still unsure of which way I'm going to go but this is certainly giving me something to think about.

Regarding the plants, you must have a bigger selection available in the U.K, like always our quarantine laws restrict what's available but it is slowly getting better due to the aquascaping scene taking off. My SA tank is currently full of Anubis and Java fern which does the job but obviously isn't authentic. Do you think having the correct plants make a difference to the behaviour of the fish or is it more for your satisfaction to be as close to nature as possible?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I think there are situations where certain plants may matter to a degree.
Some of the egg scattering characin species may rely on plants like cabomba to use to deposit their eggs.
Angel fish are said to like spawning amongst amazon sword plants.
Having said that,fish are adaptable and will normally find alternative methods.
So no ,I don't really think the plants are essential and alternatives will do .
A lot of the plants we use in aquariums are marginal plants any way and can only be found in the shallows and river banks.
Dead branches and leaves are probably the bulk of commonly kept fishes backdrops .
I mainly try to source biotope correct plants for my own satisfaction rather than the fishes.
It can be very restrictive,but I can't help myself.