Favourite aquariums: Aquaeden’s discus tank

I know very little about it and, whilst it is definitely in the ‘nature aquarium’ tradition rather than a representation of anything you might find whilst out walking in Brazil, I love this tank. It seems to be the work of Portugese LFS Aquaeden (http://aquaeden-shop.net/). The left side of this is what I have in mind for the second ‘zone’ of the long Middle Congo biotope tank I’m planning for my conservatory (more on this later), but with big emersed Anubias or other aroids instead of the Echinodorus and perhaps Crinum instead of the Vallis.

Favourite aquariums: Nanne de Vos’ Cameroon aquarium

A classic aquarium by Dutch aquarist Nanne de Vos. This massive 2100 litres (300 x 100 x 70 cm) tank was created in september 1997 to represent a bank of a small rivulet in the high plateau of Cameroon.

I love the sense of depth and the restraint in the design of both the hardscape and plants, which consist only of Anubias var. nana, normal Anubias barteri, a few African Lotus water lilies (Nymphaea sp.) and some floating plants.

 

The fish population is similarly restrained, particularly for such a large aquarium, consisting only of 5 Pelvicachromis taeniatus sp. moliwe (caught in wild) [2 male, rest female], 4 elephant nose fish, 2 Synodontis batesi, 13 african red eye tetras (Arnoldichthys spilopterus, presumably) and  60 Ladigesia roloffi.

Further detail of this tank can be found online at http://www.goddijn.com/aquarium/jnanne.htm

Favourite aquariums: Tom’s Bucket O’Mud

I’m not a massive fan of ‘nature aquariums’, but I am a huge fan of ‘natural aquariums’. For me the project known as ‘Bucket O’Mud’ by British aquarist Tom Black is one of the best on the web.

The shallow but wide tank gives an amazing sense of depth and, combined with the open top and emersed plant growth, leads you to experience the tank as a natural habitat – with hidden corners and depths to explore. The willingness to let the plants develop and find their own form and space in the tank also leads to a really natural feeling.

It has been extensively recorded, widely admired and highly influential on both the UKAPS and Seriously Fish forums (these are two of the best sites for serious freshwater fishkeepers and are well worth further exploration), and I would encourage you to make a cup of tea, settle in and read the full story on one or both of the following:

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/toms-bucket-o-mud-the-end.14521/

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/forums/my-aquarium/toms-bucket-o-mud/

 

 

 

Naturalistic vs Nature aquariums

The ‘nature aquarium’ school of aquascaping pioneered by Takashi Amano has swept the globe and undoubtedly revolutionised the aquarium hobby.

However, within Amano’s work you can distinguish two quote separate threads – an earlier style that attempted to recreate  above water landscapes and a later trend towards recreating natural underwater habitats. It is the first of these that has come to dominate most of the big ‘aquascaping’ competitions. In recent years it has tended towards the naff, with sand waterfalls and floating islands mimicking scenes from ‘Avatar’. Some of the highest ranked efforts in recent competitions are horribly artificial and more akin to putting little plastic men or houses in terrariums or the model railway hobby, and just as artificial as putting sunken treasure or ship wrecks in our tanks. Iwagumi often head too far in this direction for my tastes.

I’d like to see a move towards aquascapes that look and feel like real underwater environments. There is no reason that we can’t combine this with the appreciation for healthy plant growth, aesthetic principles and better design of tanks (optiwhite, rimless) and equipment that the nature aquarium craze has encouraged. It would mean a smaller selection of species, less orderly arrangements and saying goodbye to the horrible little brown balls of clay that have been widely adopted as substrate (at least, not as a top layer).

I think this style is gaining some ground amongst aquascapers – at least in Europe: Seee for example some of the featured journals on the UKAPS forum. Perhaps we need to recognise it with a new name – naturalistic vs nature aquariums?

A resource for African biotopes

The ecosystem and country search facility of Fishbase (www.fishbase.org) provides a fantastic starting point for identifying combinations of fish for biotope aquariums that I think many experienced aquarists are familiar with.

Identifying aquatic plants that are native to the same areas is much harder and seems to rely on hearsay on online aquarium forums as much as anything else. I just came across a great resource from the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt that lists aquatic plants in different parts of Africa as part of a wider guide to African plants. To filter for aquatic plants, you need to hit ‘Browse and Search’, scroll down to ‘Life Form’ under the heading ‘Habit’ and select ‘Hydrophyte’ (or ‘Halophyte’ if you are looking for brackish water or coastal species). Also helpful to untick the ‘Only search for species with pictures’ to get a fuller list. Not sure how complete the database is but provides a great starting point.

You can access the guide at http://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/. You can also search for East Africa, Central Africa and Africa as a whole through the links on the homepage.

New African tetras

Every respectable local fish store offers a range of tetras from South America and less usual species crop up with reasonable regularity. Beyond the near-ubiquitous congo tetra, Phenacogrammus interruptus, it is unusual to find any African tetras in UK fish stores. I don’t think the situation is much different in Germany or the US. Over the last few years, however, a number of beautiful new species have been imported. Hopefully some will become established in the hobby and more widely available. Like congo tetras they are larger than their familiar South American cousins at 3-8 inches long and need spacious homes.

Phenacogrammus auranticus

Phenacogrammus nigropterus

Distichodon noboli (from Fishbase)

Distichodon sp. Black and Red Lefini River

Bathyaethiops breuseghemi

Alestopetersius brichardi ( also seems to be known as Phenacogrammus ansorgii)

Alestopetersius caudalis

 

 

 

 

Favourite aquariums: Catfish and barbs from the Western Ghats of India

River habitats are probably the hardest habitat to replicate in the one aquarium. This design by B. Vergeheyen in Belgium is one of the best I’ve seen. The combination of big rocks and driftwood and the mixed shoal of silvery Sahaydria, Dawkinsia and Barilius barbs is great. Having a mammoth 270x90x70 cm tank also helps create a sense of scale. It is a loose biotope for Horabagrus catfish, but it would also make a fantastic home for a group of Etroplus canarensis.

You can see more on Planet Catfish or the creators YouTube page:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36780&start=20
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCqJOmX2lVZfkBcE-0M0OWMg

 

 

 

 

Succulents and geometry

The beauty of succulent plants is, for me, in their shape and texture. I really like displays where this is accentuated by planting in pots with their own geometric and/or textural interest or where the plants are grouped to created repeated forms and patterns. Retail displays of smaller succulents lined up in individual small pots often do this well and look great compared to more random groupings.

Emersed plants in aquariums

There has been a lot of recent interest in growing aquarium plants emersed, i.e. with their roots in water but the rest of the plant growing above the surface. Most of this interest has been either as a way of establishing aquarium plants before ‘flooding’, as small scale ‘wabi kusa’ displays or rather artificial looking ‘paludariums’ with plants growing in pots secured at or near the water surface. There are fewer examples of using this as part of permanent naturalistic aquarium displays, but this can be spectacular and have a more natural look than conventional planted aquariums. Most plants grown in aquariums naturally grow this way (hence the need for CO2 enrichment to successfully grow some of them submerged – they are adapted for the much higher CO2 concentration in air than in water), and we are more used to looking at natural fresh water habitats through marginal vegetation.

Branch vivariums

I love the contrast that some vivarium and aquarium designs show between the chaos and complexity of a natural plant display and a more formal or abstract setting. The vivariums below illustrate one way of achieving this – through highlighting a single branch or a few branches isolated from their wider setting. The examples without backgrounds or substrate in particular are a high impact way of showcasing epiphytic plants such as bromeliads or miniature orchids or even arboreal animals such as tree snakes and tree frogs.