2005 AGA Aquascaping Contest

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Entry #113: 125L (33 gallon) Biotope Aquascape: "Upper Orinoco White Water Pool at San Fernando de Atabapo"
Philip M. Chang, Toronto Ontario Canada
changpm at gmail.com
http://www.7keysolutions.com

Front View

A peak at the creature in its natural surroundings.

Looking to the Surface.

Nesting.

The sun sets over Rio Orinoco.

Rough Initial Design. The hardscape is supposed to be as natural as possible, therefore not much planning went into it, rather I tried to choose driftwood that would be found on the bottom of a pool off of a river.

	First time entry.
Tank Size	80 x 35 x 45 cm (31 x 14 x 18 in)
Volume	125L (33 gallons)
Category	Biotope Aquascape
Title	Upper Orinoco White Water Pool at San Fernando de Atabapo
Plants	Echinodorus bleheri Echinodorus amazonicus
Fish/Animals	(6) Cardinal Tetra - Paracheirodon axelrodi (6) Rummy Nose Tetra - Hemigrammus bleheri (Pair) Cupid Cichlid - Biotodoma cupido (Pair) German Blue Ram - Mikrogeophagus ramirezi (3) Otto Cat - Otocinclus sp. (Pair) Butterfly Pleco - Dekeyseria sp. (L052) (2) Clown Pleco - Panaque maccus (1) Hypancistrus inspector - L201 (1) False Clown Pleco - Peckoltia sp. (L147) (1) Common Bushy Nose - Ancistrus sp.(3) (1) Gold Spot Bushy Nose - Ancistrus sp.(3)
Decorative Materials	- Natural Sand Substrate, light "dusting" - Variety of High-Density, natural driftwood - Both "Branchy" and "root" types - No rocks present in this biotope
Background	Flat Black
Lighting	7keysolutions Custom 3-stage Fully Adjustable Lighting - 120Watts During Peak Periods - 20watts Colormax High-Red Dawn/Dusk Period - 20 Diffused Moon-Mimic White LED Moonlighting
Filtration	-7keysolutions Custom 15 Gallon Sump - 7 gallon sediment and TSS containment - 4L Seachem Matrix Biomedia (50% Wet, 50% Trickled-Filtration) - 3.5 Gallon Mechanical Filtration Via. Sponges -Ehiem 2213 as Secondary System
Additional Information	Tank is a Hagen Euro-Frameless 3-stage lighting is on a fully adjustable mechanical timer system. Lighting is used to keep fish calm during day/night transisiton and simulate a natural-habitat for the fish. Amazon Swords were planted at varied depths to produce a more natural, less flat aquascape. In nature plants will grow where they can, not always on the substrate, quite often near the surface where wood and particulate has been captured. Water Conditions: Temperature - 84F Ph - 6.98, not constant TDS and TSS kept as low as possible through frequent water changes (sometimes multiple times every week) Water at San Fernando de Atabapo is pristine, three main rivers intersect here, a colletion of water just off of the main junction would likely have more plant life and wildlife than the main rivers themselves. These waters are characterized by clear, sandy and slightly tinted water from tannins. With all the driftwood added, I would have expected more tint in the water, but after a year of frequent water changes the water is becoming considerably transparent. No fertilizers or special plant-growing susbtrates, additives present in the water. I did have some foreground Plants Planned, but they become uprooted easily with so many catfish and a thin sand substrate.

"Although the fish seem to be in great health and the biotope hardscaping (substrate and wood) is accurate, the plant choice is not accurate for this biotope nor are the ones present in good health. Furthermore, many of the fish in this aquarium aren't from the Orinoco River system. Nonetheless, it is a nice general representation of a typical South American river biota of characins, catfishes, and cichlids." ---Carlos Sanchez

"A bright, attractive tank with a nice selection of fish. The swords may be a bit of artistic license for the areas where these fish are typically found. I would like it even better if your wood was not quite so heavy looking, with all the sawn-off ends." ---Karen Randall