Somebody who actually did a true Amazon aquarium.

[Stan510]

Do you notice when somebody does the research and does a large fish tank with fish and plants from one part of the globe it has more of a awww,looks so real to it? I wish I had done it..maybe.
My only critique is..those Discus are not happy..very thin. I would have just gone more Altums.

 

[Dajuyu]

Maybe they just got that Discus in ....

 

[OliveFish05]

It is very nice to feel like your tank is as natural as possible and everything is with what it was meant to be with.

I once was going to do a strict Parana River Biotope. I did so much research and had it all planned out, but due to space and money I wasn’t able to get a big enough tank. It was all planned, 125-220 gallon tank. Amazon Sword, Brazilian Pennywort, Water Hyacinths, sand substrate, driftwood branches, river pebbles. Stock was going to be a big school of Cories (either hastatus or peppered), a group of Otos once it was well established, big schools of bloodfin tetras and either Buenos Aires tetras, black skirt tetras, or veil fin tetras. The centerpiece fish would be geophagus sveni. (I still had some research to do on the stocking). It just has to wait for another day.

 

[Stan510]

It's like when I used to see Steinhart Aquariums home sized aquariums..maybe 30-100 gallons,and they were all native to each other fish and plants..and the placard showed where the river they were native to is. It just stuck as "professional and real" over my blend at home back then of whatever looked good,kept together.
What's found with M. boesemani?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Very pretty, but I'd really like to see that tank again in 3 months.
Gorgeous though that view is, there isn't a single place in the mighty Amazon where such a view could be seen and, as such, that is no more a 'true' Amazon aquarium than any other actual glass box with fish and plants in.

As a contained ecosystem, I'd love for it to work as well as it looks and I would be very pleased to have such a thing to gaze upon on a daily basis.

 

[FishNturt808]

Very pretty, but I'd really like to see that tank again in 3 months.
Gorgeous though that view is, there isn't a single place in the mighty Amazon where such a view could be seen and, as such, that is no more a 'true' Amazon aquarium than any other actual glass box with fish and plants in.

As a contained ecosystem, I'd love for it to work as well as it looks and I would be very pleased to have such a thing to gaze upon on a daily basis.

Can I ask what makes you say there’s no place in the Amazon that would look like that? My only assumption is the clearness of the water.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Can I ask what makes you say there’s no place in the Amazon that would look like that? My only assumption is the clearness of the water.

Yes...the clarity of the water.
The health of the fish.
The health of the plants.
The proximity of the fish to each other.
The mix of species in such proximity.
The numbers involved.
The sweet substrate.

 

[FishNturt808]

Yes...the clarity of the water.
The health of the fish.
The health of the plants.
The proximity of the fish to each other.
The mix of species in such proximity.
The numbers involved.
The sweet substrate.

See, here I question your knowledge of natural ecosystems. Living in a place (albeit very far and different from the Amazon) where I can see natural ecosystems firsthand on a daily basis I think you would be very surprised at nature’s ability to mix all those things you said were not ‘natural’

 

[Stan510]

I actually looked for co habitat fishes for my M.boesemani and..no Barbs,no Danio's..nothing I saw was something you would see for sale..other than other Rainbow fish species. Either too large like Datnioides or Nile type perch- Barramundi..or too small like Blue eyes. None of the Gobies are common aquarium fish.
Still,Barbs and Loaches and Danio's seem made to keep with M. boesemani in the home aquarium.

 

[FishNturt808]

Fish intermingle with other species on a very regular basis. I see it all the time. Eels working with fish, fish working with octopus, sharks, turtle, rays all going to specific spots on the reefs to have a fish clean them. Happens all the time

 

[FishNturt808]

I actually looked for co habitat fishes for my M.boesemani and..no Barbs,no Danio's..nothing I saw was something you would see for sale..other than other Rainbow fish species. Either too large like Datnioides or Nile type perch- Barramundi..or too small like Blue eyes. None of the Gobies are common aquarium fish.
Still,Barbs and Loaches and Danio's seem made to keep with M. boesemani in the home aquarium.

I think we come up on that all too often. Unfortunately for those of us that would love to do a biotope specific to a certain area, finding those fish that actually fit is sometimes much much more difficult if not impossible due to the limitations we face trying to find species that fit due to them not all being desirable in the aquarium trade.
P.s the steinhart aquarium was always my favorite place to go growing up. You remember that big great white in the case they had right when you walked into the door? Scared the snot outta me. Every time I walked in. Nothing like looking down the throat of a giant. Disclaimer I also grew up surfing those waters.

 

[DoubleDutch]

See, here I question your knowledge of natural ecosystems. Living in a place (albeit very far and different from the Amazon) where I can see natural ecosystems firsthand on a daily basis I think you would be very surprised at nature’s ability to mix all those things you said were not ‘natural’

Do you mean this is a biotope aquarium.?

 

[Byron]

@Bruce Leyland-Jones is correct in post #5 when it comes to the number of species. You would never find some of these species in the same habitat in SA.

There are also serious issues for an aquarium holding these species. Discus and angelfish should never be housed together, primarily because of the more aggressive feeding habits of the angelfish--and read this carefully, I said aggressive feeding habits. Second discus require warmth, and no species of Corydoras should be housed long-term at such high temperatures. There are most likely other issues but these certainly stand out.

And, one cannot compare a marine ecosystem with a freshwater, they are very different. Aspects of one do not tend to apply to the other, because the fish have evolved differently according to their environment.

The only way one can say this is a true "Amazon" aquarium is the fact that all the fish species do occur in some part of the Amazon basin, though I may find even this untrue if I looked into the smaller fish.

 

[FishNturt808]

Just my opinion, but don’t forget how large the Amazon actually is. The amount of biodiversity in that river would have to be much larger than any river we would be familiar with.

 

[FishNturt808]

There are actual dolphins that live in that river. So to say it’s completely different from the ocean isn’t quite accurate.