#441: 2032L Biotope Aquascape Upper Bladen River, Belize

Lee Nuttall Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

Awards and Comments

Top Ten
Very well done.
— Karen Randall
Well designed biotope of the upper Bladen River. Your fish seem very happy since they spawned in the tank.
— Bailin Shaw

Aquascape Details

Dimensions 240 × 121 × 70 cm
Title Upper Bladen River, Belize
Volume 2032L
Background Modified Back to Nature Amazon
Lighting 2 x Arcadia T8 38w freshwater lamps
Filtration Biological filtration behind the background powered by 2 x New jet pumps (1200lph) & (2400lph).
Animals 2 x Vieja maculicauda, 2 x Trichromis salvini
Materials Substrate is sand and fine gravel mix with a scattering of beech tree leaves. River boulders and cobbles, Wood is a mixture of locally collected beech and oak wood.
Additional Information This aquascape is based around the tree lined river banks of upper Bladen River at Belize. The aquascape is based near the river bank where there will be lots of tree branches leaves and submerged wood piles. The area represented would be devoid of aquatic plants except marginal. The pristine waters contain many different syntopic species such as Cribroheros robertsoni, Cryptoheros spilurus and Thorichthys meeki. I have chosen two aggressive species, both native to the River: Vieja maculicauda and Trichromis salvini.I have chosen to omit smaller livebearers as they would not survive and be predated in the confines of the aquarium. A large aquarium is needed just to house the species as both have spawned regularly in the aquarium. Adding any other species would not be recommended as the harmony of the aquarium would be disrupted. The Vieja maculicauda pair use the artificial root background to spawn in. This is close to nature as V. maculicauda pairs have been observed in the wild to spawn in tree roots. The wood placement provides plenty of territory and escape routes for both aggressive cichlids to exhibit natural behaviour.

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