-
You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up
Stream Biotope
- Thread starter Paul27
- Start date
beautiful aquascape
which is not a stream biotope. The design and character of the flow make it more Amano IAPLC type aquascape rather than a stream biotope.
The ecosystem is fresh, overloaded with leaf litter and driftwood and contains no plants (neither aquatic nor marsh). These mistakes soon will cause huge problems with balance.
I wonder whether it still exists.
Beautiful here does not mean natural
Sorry
which is not a stream biotope. The design and character of the flow make it more Amano IAPLC type aquascape rather than a stream biotope.
The ecosystem is fresh, overloaded with leaf litter and driftwood and contains no plants (neither aquatic nor marsh). These mistakes soon will cause huge problems with balance.
I wonder whether it still exists.
Beautiful here does not mean natural
Sorry
Natural goes out the window when you start putting things in a glass box. Your never going to exactly get a perfect biotope as it's impossible, you can just do your best to replicate it.
It won't contain any plants because the eco system it's based on doesn't contain any I'm assuming. Yes your right it does look fresh, so yes it's going to look exaggerated.
Once the botanicals start to breakdown and mulm and algae forms etc it's going to look more realistic.
It won't contain any plants because the eco system it's based on doesn't contain any I'm assuming. Yes your right it does look fresh, so yes it's going to look exaggerated.
Once the botanicals start to breakdown and mulm and algae forms etc it's going to look more realistic.
PARAGUAY
Member
I have seen quite a lot of Chris Lukhaup videos and quite a lot of aquascapes are not far off the real thing. Tank Tested goes to the Amazon yearly l think, and on of his biotope on the Amazon got No1 in a biotope contest, so l would be surprised if he had not researched the stream biotope properly
Hi all,
In terms of tropical fish I think it has come about because <"people collect Discus etc."> during low water, when they are concentrated in permanent water bodies (and their lives are on hold), but in the wet season they are distributed across the <"flooded forest and varzea grasslands"> <"Várzea forest - Wikipedia">.
Even if you <"ignore floating plants">, what are the forest trees, and <"riparian grasses">, if they aren't aquatic plants?
cheers Darrel
I like it. Have a look at <"Your tanks: Nick Ridout">. I'm <"taking some credit"> for Nick's success.
I don't personally subscribe to the <"don't have any plants"> argument either. If there are riparian (Willow (Salix spp.) etc.) trees growing along a temperate stream they are as much aquatic plants as the Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus spp.) and Willow moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) etc growing in the stream.
In terms of tropical fish I think it has come about because <"people collect Discus etc."> during low water, when they are concentrated in permanent water bodies (and their lives are on hold), but in the wet season they are distributed across the <"flooded forest and varzea grasslands"> <"Várzea forest - Wikipedia">.
Even if you <"ignore floating plants">, what are the forest trees, and <"riparian grasses">, if they aren't aquatic plants?
cheers Darrel
_Maq_
Member
I wonder to what degree such looking tank would be compatible with cultivating not-so-easy plants?
"Once the botanicals start to breakdown" - no, they just decay and rot. Can you imagine what happens then to the fresh tank with tons of rotten botanicals?!!
Algae can grow in water with pH level higher than 6 and can't survive in the acidic blackwater biotope. So it won't help in digesting all those rotten decorations...
Plants... You can tell for sure that there are no biotope plants in a wadi spring somewhere in Oman or UAE. But even there we can find algae or some terrestrial plants that directly influence the water body and are desired to be added into a home aqua.
In my photo above there is a semi-terrestrial plant that grows in my Barcelos igarape, and it's terribly good at biological filtration.
yep, you're right. I do.
"Researched" is different from "recreated". Both aquariums of Alex Wenchel aka Tank Tested are beautiful but have little chances to last long as they are overloaded with organics and have no biological filtration which is crucial for acidic water habitats and which cannot be substitued by external canister filters. Such aquariums are short time shooting stars, created only to win a contest and gain new subsribers. But they mislead and cause lots of problems to those who decide to follow. Unfortunately.
Thank you, Darrel!
Your links are a must read for blackwater biotope newbies.
It depends on what you mean by a term "not-so-easy plants". There are many aquatic and marsh plants that prefer low pH and low nutrient water rich in tannins (Echinodorus, Bucephalandra, Cryptocoryne, Aponogeton etc.).
In my blackwater biotope I successfully grow Pachira, Phalaenopsis, some aquatic plants and Amazonian sword plant (added after AGA 2023 contest)
This monster has overgrown the aquarium in just 4 months. photo taken yesterday
All these answers are just a lyrical retreat from the problem of this thread - inappropriate use of terms.
In my communication with Scott Fellman (Tanninaquatics) we agreed to use a different term for such tanks as Paul27 shared - "biotope inspired aquarium". It allows us to impovise and not mislead others.
Is this a biotope inspired aquarium?
Steve Buce
Member
Interesting debate, but I’m sure @Paul27 was just showing us a tank that might inspire fellow members
Stream biotope ? Not in the traditional sense, but more of a cross section of a stream
I should imagine this tank has proper filtration including biological, as it’s a permanent display at an aquarium in the national park where the “biotope” is inspired by
True biotope? The grail! We can try to replicate , source the materials,hard scape , plants, leaves and botanicals but unless you have access to the location where you have based your biotope and can source the correct flora and fauna it will always be a “biotope inspired aquarium”
Stream biotope ? Not in the traditional sense, but more of a cross section of a stream
I should imagine this tank has proper filtration including biological, as it’s a permanent display at an aquarium in the national park where the “biotope” is inspired by
True biotope? The grail! We can try to replicate , source the materials,hard scape , plants, leaves and botanicals but unless you have access to the location where you have based your biotope and can source the correct flora and fauna it will always be a “biotope inspired aquarium”
Here is the detailed description of this aquarium:
#738: 115L Biotope Aquascape “Flood is coming! Small igarape near Barcelos, Rio Negro, Brazil”
#738: 115L Biotope Aquascape “Flood is coming! Small igarape near Barcelos, Rio Negro, Brazil”, by Valeriy Shylenko Vinnytsia, Ukraine, is an aquascape from AGA 2023 Aquascaping Contest.
showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org
you are welcome to check it and make your own conclusion.
Yep, you're right. The aquarium the thread starter's shared with us is an excellent source of inspiration.
But I'm just a term nerd who was triggered by the inpappropriate use of the term "biotope"
I studied this aquarium setup and natural biotope and came to these conclusions:
- Nick Kinser (author) did an awesome job of studying the real Minnehaha Creek (appr. 38°58'01.1"N 77°08'22.5"W) and described it in his blog ( https://ninjaaquascaping.com/project/20biotope/ ), though he didn't share any image of it.
- Nick did a marvellous job in creating a beautiful aquascape based a bit on the natural biotope and his aquascape looks really inspiring. Though he did not recreate a biotope.
- This tank has no adequate filtration. It's staffed with a canister filter which is of no help when all organics start to decay...
- Minnehaha Creek has beautiful and useful plants that could have been used in this aquarium ( Observations and Potomac Basin Reporter, Winter 2017 - ICPRB).
- direction of water flow is a really tricky point, which is a fail here. "Cross section of a stream" - can you imagine how to make the water flow from the back to front glass or vice versa in this hardscape? If there are any successful aquariums with such flow realization, please, share (some years ago I failed at planning such project)!
Grail?! - Hell, yeah! But why not dream to find it?
And again, I agree with you: any aquarium, that contains nothing from the real location, can be called only a "biotope inspired aquarium". We can perform a thorough research of scientific websites, download hundreds of photos and videos, contact local people; then order fish and plants available in our local trade; design a natural looking hardscape with available materials, cook the water, let the aquarium mature and shoot it for a contest/youtube fans. But we cannot add micro- flora and fauna, algae, bacteria and fungi which are a necessary base of the original ecosystem and are unavailable in trade. I ordered Apistogramma bitaeniata right from Barcelos, Amazonian fine sand, collected correct plant leaves and twigs, but I could not add a single bottle of genuine water with original microorganisms...
So, yes, unfortunately you are right. At least from the scientific point of view. We have to use terms appropriately.
Many years ago I realized this problem and got an idea to make a contest of local biotopes, where all contestants come to the nature with glass boxes and create a biotope aquarium right on the spot. I shared this idea in the Ukrainian Aquaforum and my colleagues tried to organize this contest. Here is my video guidance for it: