Kelani river. Rocky shore shallow stream, wet zone, Sri Lanka
55th place in Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2018
Poland. Łukasz Kułakowski
Volume: 112 L
Dimensions: 80x35x40 cm
List of fishes: Pethia nigrofasciata, Puntius titteya
List of plants: Cryptocoryne beckettii
Description of decorations: Stones and pieces of rocks, branches, pieces of wood, dry leaves, fine gravel and sand with the addition of clay.
Description of equipment: Internal filter aqua szut 750 with biological filtration, lights: leddy tube 6500k aquael, Heating.
Water parameters: Temperature is 24°C, ph 6.2, generall hardness is 264 ppm.
INFORMATION ABOUT BIOTOPE
Description of the area surrounding the biotope: The Kelani River is a 145 km (90 mi) river in Sri Lanka. Ranking as the fourth longest river in the country, extends from the Sri Pada mountain range to Colombo.in the wet zone of rain forests, the banks are rocky, stone overgrown with mosses and often ferns grow between them. Over the water, large leaves of palm trees, rhizomes and lianas usually hang over. there is marginal vegetation here and the water is slightly cloudy, something like white water.
Description of the underwater landscape of the biotope: Underwater environment of this river consists mainly of gravel and sand, and a different fraction of stones and boulders. usually the river bank also contains a lot of rocks and stones covered with mosses and marginal vegetation. such a plant is Cryptocoryne beckettii. between stones is a typical view of branches of different sizes, branches of trees, fallen leaves both dry and fresh. Plant hatchlings can be found among the plant’s leaves. the water is slightly turbid almost like white water.
Description of the parameters of the habitat: Temperature is from 25°C to 29°C. General hardness is 246 ppm and ph is often between 5.9 to 6.9.
List of fishes and invertebrates occurring in the nature biotope: Malpulutta kretseri, Channa orientalis.
List of plants found in the nature biotope: Cryptocoryne beckettii.
Threats to the ecology: Large number of inhabitants causes huge landfills on the banks of rivers. the water becomes polluted, the chemical composition of the water changes and this causes the biological balance to be disturbed and leads to the death of the natural environment of endemic species. The second threat is the mass extraction of sand from the river bed which results in flooding the natural habitats of fish in which they were spawning.
Sources of information:
http://cefishessentials.com/
Comments of the members of the jury of Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2018
Simply combination of common species in the hobby. This can be an easy to maintain tank that could last “forever”. Good job. Hide the equipment at the right and fill the tank a little more.