Indochina Biotope

[LongS]

This is my attempt at a Biotope roughly based on the Indochina region. I originally wanted to create a purely Vietnamese Biotope but found the selection of fish to be small and unsuitable for my tank sizes as the majority of fish from this region don't suit communities.(correct me if I'm wrong as i would love to be).

The set up will be low tech, no Co2, minimal ferts and relatively low light.

Although it will not be purely Vietnamese i will TRY to add as much as i can from the Vietnam area.

Here is my tank to begin with, mixture of plastic and real plants. Featherfin Syno, two female guppies and a Botia histronica.

I ordered some more Botia Histronica and set them up in a small quarantine tank

Unfortunately one of the little guys died earlier despite me using a cycled filter, checking the ammonia levels twice throughout the day and even doing a water change after the first 24 hours. I'm very disappointed with myself but i guess these things happen... anyway after this i decided it may be better getting them out the little 20 litre and straight into the main tank. My thinking behind this is there may have been a slight trace of ammonia that the test hasn't picked up on due to it being such a small tank.

So my tank after adding the loaches, 20 vallis plants and removing some of the plastics.

One of the new Botia Histronica, fingers crossed for him

http/i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j435/longshlong1/DSCF0274.jpg

So thats that for the moment, i have ordered 40 more vallis plants and hope to heavily plant the back of tank with the vallis to achieve an oriental jungle look with a few crypts and maybe something else (open for suggestions).

Depending on how the Botia Histronica do i may add 2-3 more. I am going to keep the female guppies in there as they look very nice swimming in amongst the vallis, and maybe look at adding a gourami of some sort, perhaps a sparkling/croaking gourami or a betta imbellis if i can get a hold of one. Again i am open for suggestions (preferably Vietnamese) for combinations.

A bit pic heavy but aren't they supposed to be?!

Next step is to add an extra lighting tube into the existing hood to try and improve the chances of the vallis. I'm expecting the parts to arrive this week.

 

[Xraymark]

Your tank is looking good. I like biotropes.
Keep the pictures coming.

 

[Biulu]

I love biotopes! I have a similar topic, although I have included fish from both the Indochine region and Sri Lanka. I am having botias and we can't decide whether they are rostratas or histrionicas. Were yours classified in the store, or how do you know they are histrionicas?

I have rasbora espei in my tank; these fish originate from Thailand and Cambodia, at least the same region.

 

[LongS]

Well it's interesting you say that, i actually asked the store to order Histrionicas for me as i already had one in the tank. However a fella came into the shop before me and proceeded to tell the girl in there that they were indeed Botia Kubotai and that he has kept them for years.

Now he was probably right in saying that as there were botia kubotai mixed in the shipment and apparently they do live closely together in the wild and can be mixed in the aquarium (so i have read). But the markings definitely looked like histrionica on the individuals i picked out.

But to make things even more complicated, B. almorhae, rostrata, Histrionica and Kubotai juveniles can all have very similar markings. Only when they get a bit older can the differences be seen. Saying that, i'm not sure the loaches themselves would mind too much as they tend to group together and despite the differences in markings the behavior and requirements are very similar.

I have actually kept botia histrionica with the slightly larger botia striata and they made a nice little group. Love the Botia species, lovely fish, great characters.

Do you have a link to your topic? i wouldn't mind a quick nosey!

 

[Biulu]

I currently have here 3 striatas and 1 rostrata/histrionica. In the coming next week I will bring the remaining striatas and histrionica.

You can find my journal here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/387780-new-beginnings/

 

[LongS]

Well i've now received my 40 vallis plants and hope to get them planted tonight after i finish work got them a few days ago but when i went to plant them i noticed i was thin on gravel near the back where i was planning having them. Not to worry went out and picked up a small 2kg bag today so thats tonights job sorted.

I have also received all my equipment to get on with the lighting upgrade so i'll post my progress. Once this extra vallis is in and the plastic monsters out i'll be much happier and can really concentrate on scaping it a bit better.

I was actually thinking of adding bits of twig and very small branches to sit in amongst the vallis to give it a natural look. Does anyone know if it will be ok to add twigs and such from a local woods? If so is there anything i need to do before hand?

Oh one more thing, i seem to be having a bit of trouble keeping the vallis anchored. Does anyone have any tips to keep it in the gravel? or is it just a case of constant replanting and patients whilst they grow sufficient roots?

 

[stu40]

60 vallis. Wow,if they take, you're certainly going to have a jungle on your hands.

I never buried mine too deep, they always seem to do best with the crown slightly exposed.Just keep replanting.maybe make the gravel a bit deeper.
Beech or oak twigs work best, general opinion is to dry them out for a bit and remove the bark.Though others have just tossed them in.
Good luck.

 

[LongS]

Cheers mate, i know, i am really hoping they do well. I can picture what i want it to look like in my head lets just hope they don't rot! Fingers crossed the extra lighting will see to that.

Ok, i'll have a look round and see if i can get any decent pieces of wood and twigs.

 

[LongS]

I've just planted all the vallis and to be honest completely ran out of room. I've over did it a bit with it but at least its planted. I just wanted to get them in. I found it really difficult to plant it. If i tried to plant too many in one spot for thickness, the one i pushed into the gravel would push another one out. Very frustrating.

I'm wondering if planting with tweezers would stop this from happening? I'll have to give it a try. Anyway, by tomorrow i'll probably find half the plants uprooted!

 

[LongS]

A little update and a few pictures. I got the extra gravel in and the Vallis planted like i said and here it is.

I also managed to fit the new light. I bought a reflector, starter unit and a T5 bulb and attatched it to the underside of the hood.

The reason for going for a T5 bulb was purely the slimmer profile and it was easier to tuck away and not get in the way of the feeding hatch.

The only thing i have to do is take a hacksaw to the bolts as they were too long. (Any one interested in fitting a new light should check out the sticky topic in the DIY section that BigC put together. Very helpful).

The main problem i found whilst doing the upgrade was the arcadia starter unit itself. Where the bulb connects to the lighting unit, it requires a little seal that screws on. This was so tight against the bulb that it tore the bulbs metal pins to pieces despite my best efforts to follow the instructions not to twist the bulb. Luckily i had ordered two bulbs but was pretty disappointed at the quality of these seals. Paying a decent price for this starter unit i expected alot better. I managed to eventually fit the second using a good amount of Vaseline and literally scraping away some of the rubber seal with a stanley blade. (not really what i wanted to be doing where electric and water is concerned but it worked.)

So here is the difference. With the single T8 bulb.

With the extra T5 bulb

The happy inhabitants

Well thats all the pics i have for now. The Vallis is just kind of chucked in, so in the next few days I'm replanting it all at the back and going to try to make it thicker. I've also tried to move the stones around for a more natural scattered looked, may look into getting some more.

Next step is to buy some more foreground plants and maybe have a type of lawn plant that'll spread like a grass? Can anyone recommend?

The fish i am looking at hasn't really changed, a gourami or betta imbellis or something like that.

SO... suggestions? comments? criticism? Anything? Would like to hear what people think and what i should do next!

Thanks for looking

 

[Xraymark]

Your tank is looking great. Low hardscape and plants for height. A black background might help but I like the brown wall as a back drop as well.

 

[LongS]

Mark, your bang on right mate. I knew there was something i was supposed to get cheers for reminding me! Black background is what i will be getting tomorrow, it think it will do a good job in hiding the heater and things like that.

The pain about this is the vallis keeps floating to the top. constantly replanting it. I just hope it does well in there. As you can see there is a major difference with the new light added.

I'm still not too sure where to go from here. I've been looking at fish from the Indochine area but haven't decided on anything else yet.

Plant wise, maybe a few more crypts? Any plant/Biotope experts fancy giving a nudge in the right direction?

Thanks for looking guys and girls

 

[FishFanatic04]

Keep pushing the vallis down. I have a hard time with my delicate stems, and it seems my arm is always in my tank. Then one day they stick.

I love the tank size you are working with. I am dying to do a serious scape in a smaller tank.

Maybe bury the rocks in a bit more if you can, and crypts would be great...You can get some dark and light color in there that way. As stated above, I am liking the high/low setup.

I am jealous of those lovely rocks your Europeans have access to.

 

[Biulu]

The only Asian grassy type plant I know is Blyxa. However, there are a lot of low crypts that could fill this role too, such as c. affinis.

 

[LongS]

Well a quick update but no pictures. I'm starting to get alot of runners and fresh shoots off the vallis. The ones that have managed to root are doing really well. There are still some that keep floating to the top but at least they aren't rotting. I'm just going to have to keep planting them and hope they root.

I have noticed that there are even plants that are floating at the top that have started to have runners appear. I'm liking this plant alot.