Rio unini, Deep Water and bank
_th place in Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2020
Volume: 450 L
Dimensions: 150 x 50 x 60 cm
List of fishes: Symphysodon, Panaque Nigrolineatus
List of plants: Sagittaria subulata, Riccia fluitans
Description of decorations: For the substrate I used river sand very similar to the grain size present in the bottom of the Rio unini, the decaying leaves cover part of the substrate to remind us of what we find in the Rio unini.
For the decoration I used different type of roots (mangrove, spiders).
The aquarium is composed of 2 parts, the first similar to the deep water present at Rio unini (little root / stone / leaf) and the second part is a bank therefore of plants (Riccia, Sagittaria) and a lot of roots, rocks.
Description of equipment: The aquarium is filtered by an external decantation, and a lift pump 2700L/h.
The lighting is done by 3 spotlights (50W and 2 x 10W)
Water parameters: Temperature est 29°C, ph is 4.5, kh 2, Gh 4, conductivity 50 µS/cm
Additional info: To amplify the bank of the aquarium I added a plant wall composed entirely of Amazonian plant, 20% water change every 3 days the green wall provides excellent filtration.
INFORMATION ABOUT BIOTOPE:
Description of the area surrounding the biotope: The river is surrounded by jungle still little known by man, the Rio Unini is part of the Amazonian forest where deforestation has not yet taken place, the banks are often covered by mangroves, there is very little sand.
Description of the underwater landscape of the biotope: The rio unini is directly connected to the rio negro and we find a lot of similarity between them in terms of parameter and population, what I reproduced in this aquarium is what we could find at rio unini frequently, areas not loaded with plants but with leaf roots, a very black water linked to the decomposition of organic matter.
Description of the parameters of the habitat: The water is black (visibility ~ 1 meter), Ph between 3 and 5, conductivity 50/150 µS/cm, temperature is 28°C.
These are average parameters, the strong rainy season greatly varies the parameters.
List of fishes and invertebrates occurring in the nature biotope: Symphysodon, Panaque nigrolineatus, Paracheirodon axelrodi, Hemigrammus erythrozonus, Nannostomus marginatus, Ancistrus dolichopterus, Apistogramma, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Hyphessobrycon bentosi
List of plants found in the nature biotope: Lemna minor, Limnobium laevigatum, Pistia stratoites, Eichhornia crassipes, Sagittaria subulata, Nymphaea sp, Myriophyllum elatinoides, Riccia fluitans
Threats to the ecology:
Sources of information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/