Upper Amazon River basin, Departamento Loreto, Peru
The 24th place in the qualifying stage of the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2015
Netherlands. Ruben Rensink
Volume: 55 L
List of fishes: Apistogramma trifasciata, Nannostomus marginatus, Otocinclus marcospilus
List of plants: Limnobium laevigatum, Sagittaria subulata, Vallisneria americana
Biotope description: A shallow, near still water filled with submerged woody structures and leaf litter. The tannin stained brown water gets its colour from the logs of wood and the leaf litter at the sandy bottom of the tank. As a micro predator Nannostomus marginatus uses its tiny mouth to hunt for microorganisms between the submerged wood and leaf litter. Otocinclus macrospilus feeds primarily on algae and other microorganisms that live on plants. They hide in the floating mats of Vallisneria. Water parameters are pH 5.6-6.4, conductivity is 69 µS/cm, and temperature is 26.3°C.
This aquarium looks very much like a small fragment of land which was flooded with water only recently. I don’t know if this was the idea of the designer, but my impression is as described above. I remember several sites which I was filming in Poland – banks of creeks, covered with grass and dead twigs, immersed in water after the water level in the creek raised. This aquarium looks very similar. I like the 3D structure of this layout – the whole height is filled with decorations and / or plants, enriching the environment with many places for fishes to explore.