Rio Shishita, Rain Forest

The 19th place in the qualifying stage of the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2014

 Portugal. Claire Moreira

Volume: 180 L
List of fishes: Apistogramma bitaeniata sp. Shishita, Nannostomus marginatus
List of plants: Limnobium laevigatum
Biotope description: This biotope aquarium was created to be the home of a couple of wild Apistogramma bitaeniata sp. Shishita. Starting from here, a careful investigation was made about Rio Shishita biotope, finding very useful information on the trip journal “Collecting in Pebas, Río Orosa and Río Shishita 2008” by Tom Christoffersen and Mike Wise. In this particular biotope that I wanted to recreate I found that it should have a low water flow with very acidic and soft dark water, clear sand bottom, a lot of driftwood and fallen tree leafs, providing lot of burrows for the fish to hide and breed. I chose the Limnobium laevigatum because it is a native plant and is used to dim the lights and create an overall ambiance on the layout while providing shelter for the dither fish. Also the Nannostomus marginatus were chosen as they are one of the few smaller species that live along with Apistogramma bitaeniata sp. Shishita and because of their small size and mouth, it makes them an ideal dither fish as they aren’t an active fry predator.