"New" to Hobby - Looking for Biotope themed aquariums

[Klinge]

Hello there!

I've decided to to get into the aquarium hobby! I had an aquarium when I was a kid, but that's awhile ago
When I decided I wanted to start the hobby I quickly found out I wanted to make a "Biotope" aquarium. I don't really like mixing things from different continents and I really want it to be as natural as possible. Is this hard to do for a beginner?

I do have some fish and places in mind and I wanted to hear if you guys and galls could help me out
For fish I really like, Cardinal Tetras and Angelfish from South American, Tiger Barbs from Asia, Congo Tetras from Africa and I really love Corydoras. I know these fish don't live in the same habitat, which is why I'm hoping some of you can give me ideas for some tank mates for these fish that are true to nature, or if you have some other ideas for some cool fish please let me know! I'm clueless.
In short I'm looking for ideas for an South American, Asian and African themed aquarium. The only problem I have with the Cardinal Tetras is the blackwater theme, while I do think it's cool I don't want my first aquarium to be like this.


Quick Note: Aquarium will be between 70-100 Gallon if that matters

I really hope this kind of post is allowed and that someone can help me. I know it's a big request

Cheers!

 

[reptilenotfish]

there are so many amazing combos! I love that you're looking for these. here are some cool ideas off the top of my head

South America
- pencilfish and apistogrammas
- cardinal tetras and more cardinal tetras (buy them by the dozen)
- ember tetras and ram cichlids
Africa
- rift lake tank (if you do it right, i personally don't like mixed mbuna tanks)
- congo tetras and pelvicachromis
Asia
- Boraras and wild bettas or badis
- hillstream loach, stiphodon gobies, and lake inle danios
- panda garras and celestial pearl danios

for some good info, I would recommend a podcast called Water Colors Aquarium Gallery, they've got some amazing episodes on some cool fish and tank ideas.

 

[reptilenotfish]

just so that you know, tiger barbs and angelfish can get really aggressive/territorial, and angels will breed like rabbits.

Edit: some alternatives to tiger barbs are odessa barbs, gold barbs, or checkered barbs.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

The first thing you need to do is figure out how hard your water is. That will help you narrow down a region that will be realistic for you. You can either buy a hardness test kit, or ask your water company.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

For me, the steps to planning a biotope go roughly as follows:
1. Figure out your water hardness. This is especially important for a beginner to biotopes, as you don't want to be tweaking your water chemistry all the time.
2. Once you've determined your water chemistry, find a region that matches it. I'd say the classic softwater biotopes are Amazon and Southeast Asia; the classic hardwater biotopes are Central America, Myanmar, Australia, and India. But of course there are many other possibilities: Sri Lanka, Southern China, East Africa, West Africa. I've always wanted to do a Himalayan Foothills biotope. Maybe someday...
3. Research plants from your chosen region. (I'm assuming you'll be doing a planted tank--there's really no reason not to unless you enjoy plastic) Plants are the basis of a good ecosystem; if you get the plants right the fish will be much easier.
4. Research stocking. You want fish that are beautiful, peaceful (for a beginner), and fish that fit your tank size. Avoid fish that will eat your plants. Seriouslyfish.com is an excellent resource. Determine a few species you want to keep, and how many of each you should get.
5. Once I've come up with a species list, I usually plug them into aqadvisor.com to make sure I'm not overstocked. As many on here will be quick to point out, Aqadvisor is an imperfect tool, but it's an excellent place to start.
6. Figure out what kind of hardscape (rocks, branches, substrate) you want. You can get very artistic and try to recreate the mood of your chosen area, or you can be pragmatic and simply give the fish what they want. The best biotopes do both.
7. Set up your tank, order your plants and start building! I usually let the plants grow for several weeks before I add fish.

This all assumes that you have educated yourself about filtration, lighting for planted tanks, and so on.

 

[Klinge]

Thanks for the reply!

When you came up with these ideas, lets say Asia. All those fish under Asia, can they go together? Like can the "Boraras" and the "celestial pearl danios" go together or should i stick to just "panda garras" and "celestial pearl danios" or is mixing them up okay?

A shame about the Tiger Barbs, are all barbs aggressive? I was thinking about actually if i were to do an asian themed aquarium i would like to add some "Pearl Gourami" but i've heard that Tiger Barbs will nip at ther fins... will all barbs do this?

Cheers!

 

[Byron]

"Biotope" has a variety of definitions, by which I mean you can do a strict biotope, or a geographic biotope, or a representative biotope.

Strict biotope means that everything in the tank occurs in very close proximity in the habitat. The fish species would or could be found living together in the specific watercourse, and the plant species would be found in that watercourse, and the hardscape (substrate material, wood, or rock, whichever) would be found in that watercourse. This takes more research, and obviously is far more limiting on what can be included.

A geographic biotope is less restrictive. You could do a South American or Amazon geographic tank where the fish and plants would all be from South America but not from the same watercourse. For example, a tank with cardinal tetras, Corydoras catfish, a dwarf cichlid species, hatchetfishes, pencilfishes--these species occur in South America but they do not all live in the same river, stream or creek.

"Representative" is my attempt to label an aquarium that will be providing an accurate physical environment but the inhabitants, especially the plants, may not be from the same geographical area. For example, using sword plants (native only to the neotropics) in a tank with pearl gourami that occur in Asia. The hardscape might come from all over the place, for example dried leaves such as would occur in such a habitat can be oakleaves collected in temperate zones rather than leaves collected in the tropical watercourse. "Leaves" generally meaning dried leaves, regardless of actual species.

The first thing to settle is the water parameters, as was mentioned previously. The GH and pH of your source water. Freshwater fish have preferences, some species being absolute, when it comes to parameters. Temperature is the other parameter, but the aquarist can use a heater, but always remembering that water temperatures vary for "tropical" fishes depending upon their native habitats.

 

[reptilenotfish]

Thanks for the reply!

When you came up with these ideas, lets say Asia. All those fish under Asia, can they go together? Like can the "Boraras" and the "celestial pearl danios" go together or should i stick to just "panda garras" and "celestial pearl danios" or is mixing them up okay?

A shame about the Tiger Barbs, are all barbs aggressive? I was thinking about actually if i were to do an asian themed aquarium i would like to add some "Pearl Gourami" but i've heard that Tiger Barbs will nip at ther fins... will all barbs do this?

Cheers

there are plenty of great barbs, tigers are just pushy. If you can find wild collected tiger barbs, they are a little better. It's the commercially bred ones that are a**holes. As far as compatibility, it completely depends on the fish. It's on you to research that particular species. Most fish appreciate stable parameters, so don't worry too much about the gh, kh, etc. just make sure that the parameters aren't too different to the fish's preferred, and they'll be fine. I keep blackwater fish long term with water from mountain runoff (very hard water).

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I do not do Biotopes. BNut there are a cou[ple of excellent sources on thes. The first is a gent whose site I know and is well know for biotopes, among other things fishy, Heiko Bleher. His book on bitopes is well known:

Bleher’s Biotopes​

Expeditions to Aquatic Habitats | Aquatic Biotopes in Nature | How to do in Aquaria
By Heiko Bleher

This book contains 460 pages of histories and field records of nearly half of Heiko Bleher’s 910 filed trips in about 50 countries, detailed description of 500 plus rivers and lakes with approximately 2500 fish species mentioned and shown (with many new ones), and nearly 500 different aquatic plant names.

Heiko's site has pictures of some of his biotopes and much more. You have to register to see a lot of it.
http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/

 

[GaryE]

The advice is rolling in. How "Biotope" you want the tank to be depends on how much digging and research appeals to you.

Water comes first. Generally, softwater fish can live in hard water, but the reverse doesn't work. Hardwater adapted fish tend to die in softwater. So that info comes before everything else.

And "live in" has a cost - rainforest fish in hard (high mineral content) water may have duller colours, or even shorter lives, and in most cases, will be unable to breed. I kept blackwater fishes in moderately hard water for years, and they survived. They have done wayyy better in the 16 years I've had soft water from the tap. They're more colourful, longer lived and hardier.

A good source is youtube, if the species you want to build around has been filmed in nature.

With angels, most of the ones sold in stores are hybridized and linebred ones that don't resemble wilds much. I have found wilds and while they cost more, they were worth it. A biotope tank that reflects what happened on a Singapore fish farm is a bit of a misdirection, really. You can keep angels and cardinals together in a large tank, if the cardinals are adults. Really cheap tiny ones will be a meal for adult angels, but if the two species arrive small, you're good. Before I moved, I had full sized adult wild caught angels in a planted 75 with 40 5 year old cardinals, and the combination was fine. The cardinal to angel mouth ratio was good....
In such a tank, you could choose a Corydoras species that fit. There are many Corys from many different regions.

What you do depends a lot on where you live. Denmark's stores are unknown to me, but Northern Europe is far ahead of the US or Canada for finding fish species.

Congo tetras would be hard to make a biotope with in Canada, but again, you're in Europe. In a deep tank with a long front glass and good filtration, there are a number of Congo River tetras and dwarf Cichlids available. I had Nanochromis parilus with Congos and B. breuseghemi tetras for a while and it was a good tank.

Tiger barbs grow larger than most of us expect, but in a big tank they could be part of a mixed Asian barb group.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

A shame about the Tiger Barbs, are all barbs aggressive? I was thinking about actually if i were to do an asian themed aquarium i would like to add some "Pearl Gourami" but i've heard that Tiger Barbs will nip at ther fins... will all barbs do this?

Cheers!

No, some barbs are very peaceful. For a good alternative to tiger barbs, try pentazona barbs. They are just as pretty as tigers but extremely peaceful. Get a group of ten and they'll hang out together in the plants and leave everyone else alone. They do absolutely require clean, stable water. Pearl gouramis are a classic fish--one of my favorites.

 

[Klinge]

"Biotope" has a variety of definitions, by which I mean you can do a strict biotope, or a geographic biotope, or a representative biotope.

Strict biotope means that everything in the tank occurs in very close proximity in the habitat. The fish species would or could be found living together in the specific watercourse, and the plant species would be found in that watercourse, and the hardscape (substrate material, wood, or rock, whichever) would be found in that watercourse. This takes more research, and obviously is far more limiting on what can be included.

A geographic biotope is less restrictive. You could do a South American or Amazon geographic tank where the fish and plants would all be from South America but not from the same watercourse. For example, a tank with cardinal tetras, Corydoras catfish, a dwarf cichlid species, hatchetfishes, pencilfishes--these species occur in South America but they do not all live in the same river, stream or creek.

"Representative" is my attempt to label an aquarium that will be providing an accurate physical environment but the inhabitants, especially the plants, may not be from the same geographical area. For example, using sword plants (native only to the neotropics) in a tank with pearl gourami that occur in Asia. The hardscape might come from all over the place, for example dried leaves such as would occur in such a habitat can be oakleaves collected in temperate zones rather than leaves collected in the tropical watercourse. "Leaves" generally meaning dried leaves, regardless of actual species.

The first thing to settle is the water parameters, as was mentioned previously. The GH and pH of your source water. Freshwater fish have preferences, some species being absolute, when it comes to parameters. Temperature is the other parameter, but the aquarist can use a heater, but always remembering that water temperatures vary for "tropical" fishes depending upon their native habitats.

Hmm I think I'm more into Geographical and repensative aquariums. I would like to just focus on a region/country. Like an aquarium based in Vietnam or Borneo or the Amazon. So the fish and plants doesn't have to be in the same river/lake. But just the same region. Maybe it's not a biotrope then, but I dont know what its called.

 

[Klinge]

The advice is rolling in. How "Biotope" you want the tank to be depends on how much digging and research appeals to you.

Water comes first. Generally, softwater fish can live in hard water, but the reverse doesn't work. Hardwater adapted fish tend to die in softwater. So that info comes before everything else.

And "live in" has a cost - rainforest fish in hard (high mineral content) water may have duller colours, or even shorter lives, and in most cases, will be unable to breed. I kept blackwater fishes in moderately hard water for years, and they survived. They have done wayyy better in the 16 years I've had soft water from the tap. They're more colourful, longer lived and hardier.

A good source is youtube, if the species you want to build around has been filmed in nature.

With angels, most of the ones sold in stores are hybridized and linebred ones that don't resemble wilds much. I have found wilds and while they cost more, they were worth it. A biotope tank that reflects what happened on a Singapore fish farm is a bit of a misdirection, really. You can keep angels and cardinals together in a large tank, if the cardinals are adults. Really cheap tiny ones will be a meal for adult angels, but if the two species arrive small, you're good. Before I moved, I had full sized adult wild caught angels in a planted 75 with 40 5 year old cardinals, and the combination was fine. The cardinal to angel mouth ratio was good....
In such a tank, you could choose a Corydoras species that fit. There are many Corys from many different regions.

What you do depends a lot on where you live. Denmark's stores are unknown to me, but Northern Europe is far ahead of the US or Canada for finding fish species.

Congo tetras would be hard to make a biotope with in Canada, but again, you're in Europe. In a deep tank with a long front glass and good filtration, there are a number of Congo River tetras and dwarf Cichlids available. I had Nanochromis parilus with Congos and B. breuseghemi tetras for a while and it was a good tank.

Tiger barbs grow larger than most of us expect, but in a big tank they could be part of a mixed Asian barb group.

Hmm we don't really have any big chains if i remember correctly, more like small shops it seems like. There is alot of different fish tho.
Still not sure what geographical habitat/biotope i should chose. Guess ill make a post soon. I've made some spreadsheets for ideas. Maybe be a good idea to hear other poeple if these fish can live in the same aquarium!

 

[Klinge]

Do you all think this setup could work in a 75 Gallon Tank? Its supossed to be a Malaysian Geographic Biotope. Please let me know if i can increase the number of fish aswell. Maybe incease the Number of some of the fish or maybe add some more species!

4-6 Pearl Gourami ( I dont know the best amount)
15 Harlequin Rasbora
1 Siamese Algae Eater (Don't know if i should get more? Read online it was either 1 or 5+)
10 Kuhli Loaches (Was thinking about doing Clown Loaches - Problem is i hard they are hard to keep and that is scaring me a little bit)
3 Gastromyzon punctulatus

Please let me know if you have other great fish i could add. Was using the AqAdvisor that WhistlingBadger recommended

Cheers!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Not bad. We still need to know your water hardness, though. These are mostly fairly adaptable species, so if you water isn't very hard you should be OK. But some places do have hard water so it's still worth knowing.

4-6 pearls would be great. I recommend 2 males and four females, as the males can get a bit aggressive at breeding time.

Harlequins are really nice little fish.

I'm not a fan of the siamese algae eater. I've kept them and I've never seen one eat algae! I much prefer a school of panda garra for a southeast Asian algae eater.

Clown loaches get very big and need a huge tank. I've never kept G. punctalatus, but if I'm not mistaken they need a specialized habitat with lots of current, so might not be the best with some of your other choices. Kuhlis are fun but need a very stable, mature tank, and if it's densely planted you'll rarely see them. If you can get them, dwarf chain loaches (Ambastaia sidthimunki) are really fun. Get at least seven; the more the merrier. Amano shrimp are another cool bottom feeder.