Under the waterfall of the forest river on Borneo
The 6th place in the qualifying stage of the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2013
Russia. Anastasia Melnikova
Volume: 65 L
List of fishes: Gastromyzon scitulus, Homaloptera stephensoni, Homaloptera tweediei
List of plants: Aridarum sp. Miri, Homalomena sp. Red Velvet , Piptospatha ridleyi, Bucephalandra motleyana, В. sp. Achilles, В. sp. athena, В. sp. Lawang Kuaki, Moss sp. East Kalimantan, Moss sp. Borneo
Biotope description: This aquarium was set up based on the river biotope of the rainforest state of Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo), where a small waterfall with Bucephalandras, Piptospathas and other Araceae clung to the rocks is replaced with the moderate flowing river. The bottom of the river covered with stones of neutral shades and brownish-grayish sand under them. Water temperature is 24…28°C, pH is 7.5-8.0. There is no aquatic vegetation, but on the rocks along the banks and in the middle of the river bed many Araceae species grow emerged. Near the waterfall, under a strong stream, a variety of fish of the family Balitoridae lives. Some, e.g. Gastromyzons, even climb the steep walls of a waterfall in search of algae. On the quieter areas Homalopteras catch small animals.
Anastasia made an excellent description of the habitat and a very nice elaborated work by composing this amazing biotope near to nature, but should have composed the species that really live together. Anyhow congratulations and you are fractions of points away from the other first 7 placed by me.
Is this tank really 65 liters? It looks very small – either there is a mistake in the description, or the rocks are too big for this tank. It looks as if there is barely any free space for water movement – and this is supposed to be a waterfall, so lots of water should move around, preferably with bubbles…