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Biotope Aquarium from Brazilian Amazon region

The biotope aquarium from the Amazon basin is a popular set up kept by numerous aquarists, from beginners to experts. If you are a beginner, you should therefore not hesitate to set up an Amazon biotope aquarium, as long as you are okay with sticking to sturdy plants and fish species from the Amazon region until you gain more experience.

Setting up a biotope aquarium is actually ideal for a beginner since all plants and fishes will need exactly the same water conditions, water temperature, substrate and lighting to thrive. So, what is a biotope aquarium? As you might have guessed already, a biotope aquarium is an aquarium containing plants and animals from the same biotope. Can you guess how many different biotopes there are in the Amazon? And how many biotope aquarium models you can create? Right, millions!

Aquarium Decoration

Not everywhere the Amazon waters are densely grown with aquatic plants. And not each biotope include plenty of driftwood that allow to colour the water. There are biotopes with clear, black and mixed waters, with none, slow, fast or very fast current, and with always varying biological community.

Water chemistry and quality

Although the water in the Amazon’s tributaries is soft and acidic, not every waterway has a dark water. The darkness is caused by naturally occurring humic acid. The recommended pH range in an Amazon biotope is pH 6.0-6.9. Some species will prefer even more acidic water, down to 3.2-5.5. When it comes to water hardness, the GH should be around 3-7 and the KH 2-4.

Keeping the water quality up is naturally important. The amounts of ammonia and nitrite should be below detectable levels and the amount o nitrate should never be allowed to rise above 10 ppm. How often you have to change the water depends on aquarium size. Always keep an eye on the pH-value in your aquarium since the driftwood can make it drop to far down.

Water temperature

The recommended water temperature for most Amazonian species is 23.5-25.5 °C (74-78 °F).

Light

The sun is very strong in tropical South America, but its works different for different types of water. As water can be black due to high levels of humic acid or shadowed by overhanging lush vegetation in most parts of the Amazonas region, your light craving plants will need the lighting with spectrums for plant growth that stretches the entire length of the aquarium and comes with proper reflectors. If you do not have a lot of light, stick to low-demanding Amazon plant species.

Fishes and Plants