Peat swamp 3 kilometers northwest of Soekamara, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia

_st place in Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2022

Volume of aquarium: 54 liters

Dimensions of aquarium: 60x30x30 centimeters

List of fishes: sphaerichtys osphromenoides, boraras brigittae, parosphromenus sp.

List of plants: salvinia nathans, cryptocoryne sp.

Description of Decorations and Substrate: The substrate is a layer of peat covered in leaf litter. The wood used is spiderwood placed to look like roots growing into the water from the riverbank

Description of Equipment: external filter JBL cristalprofi greenline E702, 8w LED light 6500K

Water Parameters: the temperature is 23 degrees celcius, the pH is 5.2, both KH and GH are under 1 and the TDS is 40

Additional Info: i’m currently waiting on one of my female S. osphromenoides to release fry from her mouth

Aquarium video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1n5gqss3srjrcx/BADC2022.MOV?dl=0

Description of the Area Surrounding the Biotope: The peat swamps near soekamara are surrounded by rainforest. due to all the organic matter that ends up in these swamps the colour of the water is stained to a deep, dark red color. in the dry season the swamps dry out for the most part leaving just small puddles.

Description of the Underwater Landscape of the Biotope: due to the peat swamps being surrounded by rainforest the bottom of these waters are covered in leaves, seedpods, branches and other organic materials. both the thick canopy and the dark stained water make it that very little light reaches the bottom of these swamps. aquatic vegetation is almost non existant. the plants that are found in the water are plants like cryptocoryne spp. and eleocharis spp. which only become submerged after heavy rainfall

Description of the Habitat Parameters: the water is very stained due to the humic acid. this also makes the water very acidic the pH ranges between 2.9-4 depending on the rainfall.

List of Fishes and Invertebrates Occurring in the Nature Biotope: Trigonopoma pauciperforatum, Boraras brigittae, Parosphromenus ornaticauda, Parosphromenus linkei, Parosphromenus harveyi, Parosphromenus spp. Betta coccina, Trichopsis vittata, Sphaerichtys osphromenoides

List of Plants Found in the Nature Biotope: Salvinia nathans, Cryptocoryne spp., Eleocharis spp., panicum spp.

Threats to the Ecology of the Biotope: The peat swamps of Borneo are endangered due to deforestation to make place for palm oil plantations making a massive dent in the population of fish which are found exclusively in these peat swamps such as Parosphromenus spp..

Sources of Information:
https://www.gbif.org/
https://www.gbif.org/species/2394132
https://www.gbif.org/species/2394169
https://www.gbif.org/species/2366587
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/sphaerichthys-osphromenoides/
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/boraras-brigittae/