bam Demanding level

Clearwater part, Rio Orinoco, Venezuela

Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of, Anzoátegui, Ciudad Orinoco

The 90L aquarium recreates a submerged stretch of forest in the Rio Orinoco. With lots of leaves, branches and wood, it looks like an underwater world in Venezuela. The fish feel very comfortable without plants and with lots of leaves. Since it is a freshwater tank, I only use the humic coloring of the leaves and the wood there.

The Cardinal Tetra offer the perfect contrast to the dark scape. A big focus here is also on the emersed part of the aquarium.

Submitted by: Benny Barthel
Approved by: Roberto E. Reis, Pablo C. Lehmann and Flávio Lima

GPS: 8.1750736, -63.6625252

Geographical region: South America
Drainage Basin: Río Orinoco
River catchment: Llanos area
Water body type: River
Water body name: Rio Orinoco
Water body part: Flood plain
Water body course: Middle course
Water body: tributary of
Tributary name

Videos above and below water

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Water Chemistry

Water information

Water type: fresh-water
Water color: Clear water
Water transparency: High
Concentration of sediments: Medium
Water temperature: 28.5 °C
Water flow/curent: Slow

Chemical parameters

pH: 5.9
Conductivity: 180
GH
dGH
KH
dKH
Dissolved Oxygen

Aquarium information

Aquarium description

Set-up date

October, 2022

Aquarium decoration

Dragon roots, branches, catappa bark, talawa roots and round creek stones make it look very natural. Due to the beige sand and the layer of a foliage, it is very natural in the water. With a little pebbles on the bottom it looks very nice.

It gets exciting in the emersed part. There many plants grow into the tank such as Monstera adanonsii, Epipremnum aureum, Chamaedorea elegans and Philodendron scandens. Many roots also getting from emerse into the tank. So it looks like a sunken forest.

The back of the aquarium is painted black. This gives you a nice depth effect when you look at the aquarium.
With the spot lighting, I simulate sunbeams and that looks very natural, I think.

Fish list:

Paracheirodon axelrodi (Characidae)
Hypancistrus sp. L201 (Loricariidae)

Aquarium equipment

JBL e902 filter filled with Siporax
JBL e300 external heater
JBL PH Controller
Osmounity Reverse Osmosis System 330 GPD for best water
2x LED aquaristik SpotBEAM Plant mix Lights for almost natural lightning
Schego 850 Optimal Air Pump 250L/h

Fish care

In order to offer the fish the perfect habitat, I place a lot of value on the water parameters. With a pH value of less than 6.0 and an undetectable hardness with a conductance of 130ms/cm, the animals feel very comfortable.

With a balanced diet (live food, frozen food, granules) they have a very nice color and feel very comfortable. The 30 fish share the 90L tank and love it. By adding humic substances which have an antibacterial effect, I am sure that you are doing very well. The animals really like the temperature of 28°C.

I also built many hiding places for the L201 Hypancistrus catfish with roots and stones. They like to live in them. At night when it gets dark they come out to eat.

Plant care

No plants in it, only emerse ones.

Water care

I check the water with a pH controller. The aquarium is open, I have to top up the water every week. At the same time, I also carry out a change of at least 20 percent. I do it all with reverse osmosis water.

It is very important to me that no pollutants end up in the biotope. In addition, an air pump runs continuously in the aquarium so that the fish always have enough oxygen to live at the high temperature.

Dimensions

Length: 76.5 cm
Depth: 39 cm
High: 30 cm
Volume: 88 L

Substrate in aquarium

Sand: Beige
Pebble/Gravel: Grey
Stone: Grey
Stone form: Roundish
Silt/Mud: Beige
Leaves: Many
Driftwood: Few
Submerged terrestrial vegetation: Yes

Comment by the expert

Roberto E. Reis: Fishes and decoration selected properly, but aquarium too crowded – also, no stones occur in the BIN. One species listed not shown in the video (Hypancistrus) and one species not mentioned shown (Corydoras). On invertebrate (snail) in large number in the aquarium not mentioned. The aquarium is beautiful and balanced, but the only video presented shows very little. Description of tank and external resources well done.

Flávio Lima: The recreated biotope was well recreated, though geographically it reproduces a habitat which occurs more upstream in the basin than what was indicated (e.g., Paracheirodon axelrodi only occurs at the upper portion).

Pablo C. Lehmann: The biotope recreated by the participant is very accurate. However, the plants in the aquarium are exotic and are not present in or native to the Orinoco River basin habitat. Also missing from the list of aquarium species was a Corydoras, and unfortunately Hypancistus was not seen.