Thandwe creek of Rakhine, Myanmar

The aquarium was set up based on a biotope of Thandwe creek of Rakhine in Myanmar. This is a slowly-running medium sized creek in the formerly Arakan State, on Myanmar’s western coast, bordered by Chin State in the north, by the so called divisions Magway, Bago and Ayeyarwady in the east, by the Bay of Bengal in the west and the Chittagong divison of Bangladesh in the northwest.

From north to south runs a mountainous region, across the state were it rains often.The valleys are filled with creeks, lakes and immense rice fields, coco and palm plantations. Very few fishes are known from this part of Myanmar. The snakeheads don’t live in deep habitats, the water is mostly clear, but after a heavy rain all is turbid. The ground is often covered with leaf-litter and gravel, black and white stones in some areas.