On this page I will give an example of a set up you might want to try. For statistics on many
individual fish, click on any fish picture. To view a list of plants suitable for the home Aquaria visit the Plant Statistics page.
Suggestions for fresh water Biotope Aquariums
Lowland Swamps of West Africa.
Okavango swamp, Africa
photo by: Francois Botha
Lyretail
Ceratopteris sp.
A tank for the lesser known species of fish, that
deserve more attention. A rich tropical environment.
Size
A standard twenty-nine gallon, or even smaller if you
choose to limit yourself to the Killifish.
Set-up
The substrate should be a fine grained sand at least two
inches deep with plenty of Laterite mixed in or in a layer
under the sand. Some smaller pieces of drift-wood can be
added for the anchoring of the plants. This will be a
densely planted tank, here are some of the plants you can use:
Anubias Nana (my favorite)
Anubias Lanceolata
Eleocharis Acicularis
Bolbitis Heudelotii (on the drift-wood)
Ceratopteris Thalictrodes
Ammannia Senegalensis
Once again this set-up only needs very slight water
movement, from one end to the other if possible. The
lighting should be moderate to bright and two full
spectrum bulbs should be fine.
Water requirements
pH 7.0 to 7.2 with the Carbonate and General hardness
not being critical, anywhere in the middle will be fine.
Water temperature in the upper seventies to low eighties.
Fish
Many small varieties of Killifish, Cichlids from the
families Ctenopoma and Hemichromis, Catfish from the
family Synondontis and other African catfish are the most
common.
Hemichromis.
This is only one example of tanks you can try,
Biotope aquaria are only limited by your research and
wallet and can range from the most remote areas of the
world to the ponds right in your backyard. Try one!
