Stream Pool of Rio Patuca,near Guaguina region Honduras

_st place in Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2022

Volume of aquarium: 400

Dimensions of aquarium: 155χ45χ60

List of fishes: Cryptoheros Sp. Honduran Red Point
Poecilia Mexicana

List of plants: N/A

Description of Decorations and Substrate: The decoration of the aquarium,consists of ,materials collected from natire (rocks ,trees,branches,leaf/litter ).Fine Quartz Sand mixed with variety of pebbles and stones is used to describe as closely as it can be the bottom of the exact spot
Fallen leaves and rotting roots ,from the surrounding trees are also submerged

Description of Equipment: 1x 1500lt Eheim pump classic
1x 300w Eheim Jager heater
3x 30w Coolwhite Led floodlights
2x T5 sylvania grolux bulbs

Water Parameters: Temperature is 27°C, pH is 7, gH is 10

Additional Info: The aquarium is incredibly Balanced,with performed and succecful breeding of the Cryptoheros.sp Pairs, and great viability between the species. Αt the moment there are two generations growing in the aquarium (parennts/ juveniles from previous breed)
Weekly water changes are done *about 40% A variety of foods is used for both of Adult,juvenile,and fry

Aquarium video:

Description of the Area Surrounding the Biotope: The Patuca is a river in northeastern Honduras, formed southeast of Juticalpa by the merger of the Guayape and Guayambre rivers. It is the second largest river in Central America and the longest river of Honduras, measuring almost 500 kilometres (310 mi) long and draining 23,900 square kilometres (9,200 sq mi)
It is a part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, an area of great biodiversity threatened by the expansion of agricultural, cattle and forest enterprises and land grabbing. The Patuca National
Park, mostly consisting of tropical rainforest, and the Tawahka
Asangni Biosphere Reserve are a part of the Rio Plátano
Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area in the country
with 350,000 hectares. The reserve contains a wealth of natural
resources and wildlife, including white-tailed deer, scarlet macaws,
jaguars, tapirs and iguanas, as well as thousands of Fish and plant species such
as orchids and kapok trees.
Taken as a whole, the conservation
complex in Northeastern Honduras is contiguous with Bosawas
Biosphere Reserve in neighboring Nicaragua, jointly constituting
the largest contiguous forest area in Latin America north of the
Amazon.
The river flows northeasterly, meandering and twisting along its way to the lowlands of the Mosquito Coast before joining the Caribbean Sea at Patuca Point.
The location of biotope described is located near Guaguina Region,in Rio Patuca Honduras ( Coordinates : 15°24’29.3″N 84°29’39.2″W
There is a Side stream on the Basic flow Of the River,where depth varies and the underwater habitat is more dense.
By being described as a tropical moist forest and tropical wetforest,Rio Patuca (general region referd to As RIO PLATANO Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras) including important coastal marine areas and a variety of habitats rich in biodiversity, as well as expanses of Mangrove, associations of Pine and Tique forests, savannahs, wetlands, lagoons, coral reefs and cays. However, most the region described is covered by rainforest vegetation harbouring the Reserve’s greatest biodiversity.

Description of the Underwater Landscape of the Biotope: As Patuca is making is way to the Mosquito coast, passing from the Guaguina region,is carrying a variety of mud,leaves,branches twigs etc. Due to the difference in depth at the sides and the center of the stream
All these set ,and create a great habitat for all fish,providing great covers and breeding spots for both Poecilia, and Cryptoheros.
Depending on the Season ,the flow carries more or less litter and materials

Description of the Habitat Parameters: The average temperature is 25-28°C
pH varies from 7.0 to 7,3 TDS n/a

List of Fishes and Invertebrates Occurring in the Nature Biotope: Cryptoheros Sp.
Poecilia Sp.
Archocentrus multispinosus
Criptoheros cutteri
Hypsophrys nicaraguensis
(etc- see full list of Honduras FISH at Sources of INFO link )

List of Plants Found in the Nature Biotope: Cedrela odorata, Swietenia mahagoni, Calophyllum brasiliense, Tabebuia guayacan, Anacardium excelsum,Terminalia amazonia

Threats to the Ecology of the Biotope: According to references The Patuca was proposed to be dammed to provide hydroelectric power. Two previous efforts were abandoned, the first in the late 1990s when Hurricane Mitch caused widespread damages and the second in 2007 when financial crisis forced Taiwan Power to withdraw.
In 2011, The Honduran government approved the Chinese firm Sinohydro to build the first of the three dams.The Patuca hydropower projects would have significant downstream impacts, including deforestation, changes in fish populations, changes in the bio-chemical makeup of the
river, and alteration of the river’s flow and seasonal flooding
patterns. Alteration of the river’s flow is being cited by
ENEE as a benefit of the project. Significant modification
of the river’s flooding patterns and current would benefit
palm plantations, which are currently expanding along the
Patuca River. However they would destroy traditional farming
practices and the river’s ecology

Sources of Information:
https://www.banktrack.org/download/honduras_patuca_iii_int_riv_factsheet_pdf/honduras_patuca_iii_int_riv_factsheet.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228369855_Annotated_checklist_of_the_freshwater_fishes_of_continental_and_insular_Honduras
https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/lac/rio-platano
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patuca_River
https://www.conservationgateway.org/Documents/Rio%20Patuca%20Environmental%20Flow%20Assessment%20-%20With%20Appendices.pdf
https://www.fishbase.se/summary/3227
https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/cryptoheros-sp–honduran-red-point/