True South American Biotope.

Firsly, before i continue, i would like to tell you a little about this tank.
I challenged myself to spend LESS than £100 to set up the entire thing, including equipment, and may i add, succeeded!
Take a look, i hope you find it as stunning as I do.
The tank itself is 3ft, and cost me about £30, i cant remember exactly what it cost me as i bought it a few years ago to house some frogs which i was keeping at the time.
the stand is made from scrap wood and concrete blocks which I painted, cost me less than £5 for the lot from a buliding merchent.
the wood, rock and sand is all collected from a local river, other than the little bit of wood in the top left corner which I bought for £6.
I went to a local fish shop and asked if they had any broken filters, they gave me (free of charge) two elite internal filters which were not working and unused, i simply put new plugs on the end of these and both worked perfectly.
the heater i bought for £17 from a MA store.
the lights i bought from an online store, costing me £8each inc. delivery.
A grand total of £78. (ish)
It houses a shoal of cardinal tetra, and a trio of apistogramma cacatuoides which are breeding at the moment.
It used to also have floating "water lettuce" which was lovely, i even had the cardinals spawn in its long flowing roots.
This is a tank created on an absolute tiny budget just to show that you dont need alot of money to create somthing beautiful.
PICS:

I am jealous.
And as I am jealous, I therefore hate you.

Seriously good job though, I would perhaps suggest polyfiller-ing those blocks to turn them smooth.
Apart from that, job well done!

nah, i like the rough and ready look!
If im completely honest,this was a weekend job because I was really bored.
Im getting ready for my 8ft, which will have simular layout, stand etc, just wont have an open top.
Its going to house some of my big boys!

Very nice looking.

Great find on the two filters. Bargain doesn't do it justice.

Great tank, great project!!!!!.....and thank you for giving me an idea for a cheap stand. Brilliant idea.

Regards, Mark

just be careful with it, i have three bricks either side, on top of that, i have three wooden slats, which are about 1" x 2" and 36" long which run over them. on top of that i have a 36"x12" bit of MDF which is the same size of the tank base, abit of polystyrine on top of that and then the wooden slat at the front to cover it all up.
if you dont quite understand it let me know and ill run you through it with some pics. This style of stand will hold anything. I will be placing my 8ft x 3ft x 2ft tank on a stand just like this one.
Dan.

Lovely tank, but really a "True South American Biotope"?

Or just a tank with South American fish?

I wouldn't exactly call it a True south american biotope either, unless the water quality matches up I love the layout, looks wonderful. I'd say add some more plants to make it look fuller, but that's just me lol.

PRW1988 said:

I wouldn't exactly call it a True south american biotope either, unless the water quality matches up I love the layout, looks wonderful. I'd say add some more plants to make it look fuller, but that's just me lol.

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you wouldnt find many plants, if any in some of the small streams and creeks from this region. The water is peat filtered, acidic, very little hardness. Sand bottom and plenty of bogwood. The fish were chosen as they would all be found in the same region in the wild. I think this is as close as you're ever going to get!
Dan

Dan Robbins said:

PRW1988 said:

I wouldn't exactly call it a True south american biotope either, unless the water quality matches up I love the layout, looks wonderful. I'd say add some more plants to make it look fuller, but that's just me lol.

Click to expand...

you wouldnt find many plants, if any in some of the small streams and creeks from this region. The water is peat filtered, acidic, very little hardness. Sand bottom and plenty of bogwood. The fish were chosen as they would all be found in the same region in the wild. I think this is as close as you're ever going to get!
Dan

Click to expand...

A lot of commonly available plants hail from the Amazon region. You can for instance pick plants from the Echinodorus genus, e.g. Echinodorus paniculatu (Amazon sword), Echinodorus tenellus (Dwarf sword plant) and Echinodorus amazonicus. Eleocharis acicularis, also known as Hair grass, is another popular Amazon species.

double post

yeah thats true, i beleive that most of the echinodorus species, with a few exceptions of course, are more bog plants, and in the wold are rarely found sumberged. In this tank i am trying to replicate one of the gentle creeks which are often so low in hardness and so dark with tannins that they support very little plant life. The pH in this tank is LOW. And the water is very dark, it wouldnt supprt mant plants. I used to have floating water lettuce, which in all honesty looked amazing. Next pond season now i will be sure to get some more. Thanks for the kind comments everyone. As of yesterday, i am making a fishhouse to accomodate my bigger fish. I will be sure to get a journal up.

PRW1988 said:

I wouldn't exactly call it a True south american biotope either, unless the water quality matches up I love the layout, looks wonderful. I'd say add some more plants to make it look fuller, but that's just me lol.

Click to expand...

you wouldnt find many plants, if any in some of the small streams and creeks from this region. The water is peat filtered, acidic, very little hardness. Sand bottom and plenty of bogwood. The fish were chosen as they would all be found in the same region in the wild. I think this is as close as you're ever going to get!
Dan

Wow stunning. I love the Amazon basin, and with this tank you have done it justice in my eyes, especially concidering the budget. Congrats!


I must say i'd favour a more slate like rock, even rouned slate to fit in with the faster flowing water theme.


A cracking effort, and a cracking tank. I like alot, well done!


SERIOUSLY seriously looking forward to a journal of a potential 8ft tank!

looking good, loos really peaceful tank and the cardinals look stunning in the pic