bam difficult level

Intermediate Rocky Habitat, Lake Tanganyika, Zambia

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Tanzania, Ujiji, Katete region

I had all decoration materials needed to set up this biotope, but I was just unaware of BIN existence. Diver informed me about this unique habitat, and he shared video of BIN. Then I instantly started to set up BAM.

I tried to show a fascinating transition from rocks to sand and create proper parts for different species in BAM. I did not have much choice in terms of fish species to shape a habitat similar to the one in this video on the market.

Since the import of aquarium fish is also banned within the framework of the measures regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. The most exciting feature of BAM is that species with different dwelling characteristics live in harmony as in nature.

Submitted by
Uğur Ruşen Doğan
Approved by
Ad Konings & Michael Salter
GPS
-8.2705002, 30.5719719
Geographical region
Eastern Africa
Drainage Basin
River catchment
Water body type
Lake
Water body name
Lake Tanganyika
Water body part
Water body course
Water body: tributary of
Tributary name

Videos above and below water

Water Chemistry

Water information

Water type
Fresh water
Water color
Clear water
Water transparency
Medium
Concentration of sediments
Low
Water temperature
25 °C
Water flow/curent
Slow

Chemical parameters

pH
8.5
Conductivity
600
GH
11 mg/l
KH
19 mg/l
Dissolved Oxygen
0.7 %

Aquarium information

Aquarium description

Set-up date
January 2020
Aquarium decoration

Roundish white and grey stones (120 kg) were collected from a nearby river for my previous BAMs, and in shape/colour/size, they were compatible with BIN, so I used them for rockscape.

Like sand, I used natural sea sand (40 kg) which is nearly same in looking with sand of BIN. I wanted to recreate bottom part of habitat where rock piles are embraced by sandy bottoms. First, I positioned rocks by getting inspiration from BIN videos and added sand to an empty front bottom to show the transition between rocks and sand.

I left an open water area between rock piles for open water species. I used transparent light blue colour background and a lightening system behind of tank.

Aquarium equipment
  1. Lightening: 12x Led Bulbs (5 w Daylight, 4000 K)
  2. Filtering: 2x External Filters each 1000 L/H,
  3. Heating: 300-watt heater.
  4. Timer Plug for lightening system
  5. Cooling system (8 x 12 v fans with a digital thermostat)
Fish care

I feed fish in a feeding plan with three well-known brand foods two times in a day. Choosing species with different dwelling habits and decorate tank according to their different needs make it easy to keep aggression very low in the tank.

For keeping the population in controlled condition, I watch fry and get them out of the tank in the night when they are big enough to be caught. I watch water parameters closely and do not do any changes in the tank that can effect parameters. I light tank in a lightening plan (6 hours daily). To maintain healthy water for fish, I do regular water changes.

Plant care
Water care

The tap water’s pH was 7,5 at 12°C degrees, so to raise this value; I used natural sea sand in the bottom and natural crushed coral in external filters. After a few weeks of setting up the pH of my tank raised to 8,5 at 25°C degrees and till now it is stable.

For maintaining this value, I do weekly %20 water changes by siphon cleaning between of rocks and keep tank temperature stable at 24°C degrees with a cooling system. Not to cause high saturation, I set the cooling system in an angle which it makes a minimum surface movement as much as possible. I clean equipment and glasses from algae weekly. I clean the filters in every three months.

Dimensions

Length
125 cm
Depth
50 cm
High
65 cm
Volume
406 L

Substrate in aquarium

Sand
Beige
Pebble/Gravel
no
Stone
no
Stone form
Silt/Mud
no
Leaves
No
Driftwood
no
Submerged terrestrial vegetation
No