Lower Atabapo River, shallow water forest base, Venezuela
42th place in Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2019
Turkey. Arif Hikmet Başeğmez
Volume: 96 L
Dimensions: 60x40x40 cm
List of fishes: Apistogramma Lineata, Thoracocharax Stellatus, Paracheirodon Axelrodi.
List of plants: Cyperus . Similar to habitat
Description of decorations: Beige fine sand, dry cherry branches thrown by the river, dried fine herbs and dry leaves similar to those in habitat were used.
Description of equipment: 500 / liter SUNSUN HBL-802 filter, SUNSUN ADE-400C 7500K 18W LED lighting, HOPAR 100W heater.
Water parameters: temperature: 28 ° C / Ph: 6,8 / conductivity TDS: 38 ppm (0-4 gh)
Additional info: 18% water change was performed once a week. peat was used to darken the water in the filtration process; blackwater additive was used.
INFORMATION ABOUT BIOTOPE
Description of the area surrounding the biotope: The Atabapo River is a tributary of the Orinoco River, 131 km long. The depth of the river is up to 15 meters. The river mainly receives water from the rain. Atabapo is a river with territorial waters. The river is 1 km wide. The area is located on a volcanic terrain and is full of volcanic rocks. There are tropical forests on both sides of the river. When seasonal floods occur, forests and terrestrial plants are inundated. The region is very weak in terms of water fauna.
Description of the underwater landscape of the biotope: The terrestrial and forested coastal areas of the Atabapo River are full of leaves, tree roots and branches. The waters in this region are 30-40 cm high and shallow. The river has the characteristics of blackwater river because it has many soluble organic materials. Therefore, the waters are very acidic. Underwater plants do not grow in the area. There are seeds and terrestrial grasses falling from the tree. The base is covered with fine grained and light sand rotten organic matter.
Description of the parameters of the habitat: Water is blackwater. Its temperature ranges from 27 to 31 ° C. Water too soft: 10-50 ppm. The hydrogen index is 3.5-5.5.
List of fishes and invertebrates occurring in the nature biotope: Apistogramma sp.,Apistogramma Lineata, Dicrossus sp., Hemiodus gracilis, Satanoperca daemon, Pherophyllum altum, Mesonauta sp., Crenicichla notophtalmus, Biotodoma wavrini, Paracheirodon axelrodi.
List of plants found in the nature biotope: no plants. only have terrestrial plant like cyperus.
Threats to the ecology: The main threats in the basin are the use of natural resources and gold mining.
Sources of information:
http://cefishessentials.com/
https://ecoreportcard.org/
https://www.mikolji.com/books/