View Full Version : Amazon biotope aquarium
Iam planning on setting up a 33 gallon amazon biotope aquarium. Using many live plants. Iam going to have a group of 8 cories on the bottom. But need ideas of other fish to put in it, probably mostly tetras.(i dont want angels) For the plants i was thinking of having only potted plants for ease of relocation and cleaning the gravel. Since pots dont look natural i was planning on covering them up with a combination of rocks and drift wood and onther ideas would be great. ps. what color of gravel is natural to the amazon? Thanks
i changed mymind iam not going to use pots. How does one clean the gravel of a heavely planted tank or do they? and also could anyone give me info on pygmy southamerican cichlids and they are compatible with small tetras. Thanks
Makino
11-07-2003, 2:58 PM
I have a shoal of 6 cories, 8 cardinal tetra's and a trio of agassizii apisto's in a heavily planted, amazonian, peat filtered 30gal. It's my favourite tank at the moment. Activity at all levels, and the apisto's add all the character and personality you'll ever need.
Makino
11-07-2003, 3:14 PM
My substrate is black sand. Make sure it's not not beach sand as it usually contains coral and will raise ph. For south american dwarfs, soft and acidic water is really a must. What's your water parameters? Vacuuming isn't a problem with sand and a few dead leaves does no harm. I prune my plants and remove dead leaves once a week. It keeps mulm and dirt to a minimum and keeps the tank looking fresh
i heard that sand is not a good substrate
cdawson
11-08-2003, 12:35 AM
Silica sand is fine for amazon plants, but some plants don't do as well in sand.
dethjam316
11-08-2003, 1:36 AM
sand is much better than large gravel and better than small/medium gravel for some plants. i've found that most of my plants (vals, swords, hygro, crypts) grow as well in sand as in medium gravel, if not better. i use 'medium sand' from your average hardware store. i find the fine sand a bit too..err...finey. the fine sand also takes a couple days (minimum) to settle down, during which time you really shouldn't run the filter...and definitely no fish then.
mrkeeg
11-08-2003, 12:32 PM
Hi Dean,
Just thought I'd say hi since I live near Red Deer. Cool to see someone local!
Keegan
tricksterpup
11-08-2003, 1:21 PM
Here was a great thread and sand between RTR and myself.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=14151&highlight=Sand
jim
tanker
11-10-2003, 3:38 AM
Originally posted by Dean
i changed mymind iam not going to use pots. How does one clean the gravel of a heavely planted tank or do they? and also could anyone give me info on pygmy southamerican cichlids and they are compatible with small tetras. Thanks
I bought a rigid platic tube and some plastic hose (same size) and pushed the plastic tube into the hose about and inch. Now I have my own gravel vac but is more narrow and controlable. I start siphone and with my finger over the output I can control the "suck". This way I vaccum "gentally" under leaves, between plants, ect. Works great. PS--I do not clean the gravle, just the surface. My tank is a 100 with LOTS of plants.