bam

Lower Rio Usumacinta sidearm, Mexico

Sponsored by
Educated by Nature

Mexico, Tabasco, Biosphere Reserve Pantanos de Centla

Close to the riverbank, on a small sidearm to the Rio Usumacinta, surrounded by dense jungle, you find this beautiful little spot.

I have tried to recreate this underwater landscape, with a combination of driftwood, branches, roots, leafes, pebbles and river stones. I have also tried to recreate the sporatic aquatic vegetation that characterize areas like this.

I have had a dream of making a central american biotope for quite a long time, and when I suddenly got the chance to buy some beautiful wildtype Poecilia velifera I knew this was the time.

Most of the branches and driftwood are locally collected, just as the stones. With the exception of the large riverstone to the left. This is an artificial module, which is used a filter for the aquarium – perfectly hidden.

Submitted by
David Nørholm
Approved by
Juan M. Artigas Azas & Jairo Arroyave
GPS
18.3007946, -92.4403610
Geographical region
Central America
Drainage Basin
Usumacinta-Grijalva
River catchment
Rio Usumacinta
Water body type
Rio
Water body name
Usumacinta
Water body part
Channel
Water body course
Lower course
Water body: tributary of
River
Tributary name
Grijalva

Videos above and below water

Water Chemistry

Water information

Water type
Fresh water
Water color
Clear water
Water transparency
High
Concentration of sediments
Medium
Water temperature
27 °C
Water flow/curent
Strong

Chemical parameters

pH
7.7
Conductivity
GH
7 mg/l
KH
6 mg/l
Dissolved Oxygen

Aquarium information

Aquarium description

Set-up date
May, 2021
Aquarium decoration

Mainly different types of wood and branches. There is a bunch of mangrove roots and a couple of Red Moore roots. Other than that there is some large locally collected driftwood, branches and a vast amount of dead leaves. Finally there is some small and medium sized rounded stones, as well as pebbles.

There is also a large artificial riverstone module (on the left), which is used as filtration.

Aquarium equipment

Light:
Lumax LED plant 123 cm, 6900k and 90 lumen/w
Lumax LED whie/blue 123 cm, 13000k and 95 lumen/w
Smart S2 PRO aquarium light dimmer

Filtration:
RockZolid module filter L, runned by Hydor Pico 1150.

Fish care

Fishes:

  • Poecilia velifera 8 (Poeciliidae)
  • Thorichthys meeki 6 (Cichlidae)
Plant care

Daily dosis of Tropica Premium Nutrition.
Blau Terra Activa soil.

Aquatic plants:

  • Salvinia auriculata (Salviniaceae)
  • Egeria densa (Hydrocharitaceae)
  • Ceratophyllum demersum (Ceratophyllaceae)
  • Ludwigia repens (Onagraceae)
Water care

Waterchange 30% every week.

Dimensions

Length
151 cm
Depth
51 cm
High
66 cm
Volume
450 L

Substrate in aquarium

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

Bibliography

Comment by the expert

Juan M. Artigas Azas: The aquarium is very beautiful, my only critisism is that Poecilia velifera does not inhabit the Usumacinta drainage and even if it were, it would not live in the habitat depicted, a better selection for this aquarium would be Poecilia petenensis, Poecilia mexicana, or Hypessobrycon compresus.

Jairo Arroyave: In this case it was rather difficult to assess the confomity with the BIN. Based on the video provided the BAM does not appear quite close to the BIN). In the video of the BIN macrophytes are almost absent and most of the matrix is dominated by collapsed and submerged tree trunks. Although the latter are somehow portrayed in the BAM, for the most part the tank, despite it’s overall beauty, it does not reflct entirely accurate the BIN portrayed in the video. Neverhteless, the aquarium is very nicely set up and the photos and videos are of very good quality. 

 

There are some minor errors in the description, but most importantly Poecilia velifera does not inhabit the Usumacinta River basin. There is a highly incomplete list of species found in the habitat.