Intermediate habitat near Kapampa, Tanganyika Lake, D.R.Congo
113th place in Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2019
Ukraine. Ivan Ivasiv
Volume: 63 L
Dimensions of your aquarium: 70x30x30 cm
List of fishes and invertebrates in your aquarium (in Latin): Lamprologus caudopunctatus
List of plants in your aquarium (in Latin): –
Description of decorations and substrate: Quartz 0.4-0.8mm, Carpathian Stones
Description of equipment: Filtration – Aquael Circulator 500, heater – Aquael gold 75W, lighting – AquaLighter 60, 14w 6500 К
Water parameters: Temperature is 26C, clear, pH 7.5 Gh10
Additional info: –
INFORMATION ABOUT BIOTOPE
Description of the area surrounding the biotope: Tanganyika is second largest lake by volume in the world and the deepest lake in Africa. The lake is surrounded by four countries; Burundi in the Northeast, Democratic Republic of the Congo in the West, Tanzania in the East and Zambia in the Southe in Africa. Kapampa is located in the south-western part of Lake Tanganyika (D.R.Congo). That’s where we dive.
Description of the underwater landscape of the biotope: Where the huge rocks pop up from the depth, between the gravel placers and sand dunes, live very interesting fish – small cichlids with lions heart! In the wild it does not grow much larger than 6cm. A diver can observe the complex relationships in the breeding pairs of Lamprologus caudopunctatus, which occurs in the intermediate habitat at depth varying between 5 and 20 meters, and sometimes form large colonies. At this depth, the sun rays break through the water column and cause a strong growth of algae on the stones. In nature, they lay their eggs under stones or between them, because in their biotope shells are usually absent, but if they are found, they will definitely be used as a home for their children. The purpose of creating this aquarium was to reproduce the biotope of the intermediate habitat. This zone consists of a sandy bottom with numerous rocks. Hydrobionts were selected according to the geographical and aesthetic criteria: aquarium of the bright tones – black stones make contrast with rich green algae and orange dorsal fins of Lamprologus caudopunctatus Kapampa!
Description of the parameters of the habitat: Water is clear, transparent. T-26-27C, pH7.5-8
List of fishes and invertebrates occurring in the nature biotope (in Latin): Cichlids from genus Lamprologus, Neolamprologus, Julidochromis, Tropheus and Eretmodus.
List of plants found in the nature biotope (in Latin): –
Threats to the ecology: –
Sources of information on the biotope:
– Ad Konings – Back to Nature. Guide to Tanganyika Cichlids, 2005
– Ad Konings – Tanganyika Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, 4th edition, 2019