Lake Tanganyika. Sandy biotope of the Kungwe bay, 500 meters from the shore
The 45th place in the qualifying stage of the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2015
Russia. Vera Gladyshenko
Volume: 250 L
List of fishes: Neolamprologus multifasciatus
Biotope description: It is a fragment of the habitat of Neolamprologus multifasciatus on huge “graveyards” of shells (Neothauma tanganicense), the area of which has several hectares and is located at depths ranging from 5 to 40 meters. A layer of empty shells can be more than 50 cm in thickness, although there are some live snails there. A male, floating 5 cm above the substrate, controls several females, who do not go far from their shells to hide in case of danger. In the lower layer of shells fry and juveniles hide. According to researchers, per 1 square meter of surface in nature there are 6 to 10 adult fishes, not including juveniles, so against the tradition of keeping this fish in a small aquarium, they need space. In this aquarium while the family will increase, even more shells will be added than those buried in a large amount under a layer of sand.
Unique approach to decorating N. multifasciatus biotope. African Rift Valley lake Biotope tank without stones, that’s something you don’t see every day. It looks very natural.
The sandy Kungwe Bay biotope looks superb however, with the composition of fish, shells and cloudiness in the water, when combined with the lighting, gives the impression of a diver creeping up on a startled wild fish.