Lake Matano of South Sulawesi, Indonesia
The 11th place in the qualifying stage of the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2015
Singapore. Simon Wong
Volume: 60 L
List of fishes: Caridina dennerli, Tylomelania gemmifera
Biotope description: One of the world’s ten deepest lakes, Lake Matano on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia is also one of the most unique. Lake Matano (Indonesian: Danau Matano), also known as Matana, is a natural lake in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. With a depth of 590 m, it is the deepest lake in Indonesia (ranked by maximum depth), and the 10th deepest lake in the world. The surface elevation from mean sea level is only 382 m, which means that the deepest portion of the lake is below sea level (cryptohollow). It is one of the two major lakes (the other being Lake Towuti) in the Malili Lake system. Lake Matano is home to many species of endemic fish and other animals (e.g. Caridina shrimps, Parathelphusid crabs and Tylomelania snails) as well as many plants. The endemic fishes of Matano have been compared to the species swarms of the Rift Valley Lakes of Africa. While not as diverse, they are thought to have all arisen from a single ancestor species and diversified into numerous different species.
I put this entry on the 2nd place, despite the apparently poor setup (only lava). But some marginal areas of the lake look exactly so. My recommendation to the author is to place a number of empty shells (it can be pieces) of native clams into the aquarium.