KEEPING AFRICAN CHARACIN FISH

What will you keep if you have an empty, 2.50 meter long aquarium? If you ask me, since this aquarium is quite long in dimension, I think it will be very lovely if I keep fish that school together back and forth.

I have an opportunity to decorate and fill an aquarium for a very good friend of mine. The aquarium is very big. It is 250x60x60(cm) in dimension. I decorated it with river gravel, some river rocks, and 3 piece of driftwood that shape like tree branch. That way, I left spacious room so the fish can swim freely. Since my friend refused to be bothered by the technical matter should he kept live aquatic plants, I choose to put only indestructible plants plus plastic one. I chose to put some Cryptocorine sp. because their green color livens up the tank.

Now, since I also have the liberty to choose what fish to be kept, I decided that I will put African characin in this aquarium. Why? I don’t know, maybe because I already have 2 aquariums filled with Puntius denisoni in my home, so I cheated and grab the chance to fulfill my own dream of having all african characin aquarium.

The fish that I will keep in this aquarium is The African long-finned tetra, Alestes longipinnis.

I keep about 20 of them. Then the old-classic Congo tetra, Phenacogrammus interruptus.

This fish is one of the best medium sized characin there is. They make great inhabitant to any aquarium. Imagine that I keep about 20 of them in this tank. The next choice is the yellow congo tetra, Hemigramopetersius caudalis

Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain two of my favourite fishes. One is the red-eyed African characin, Arnoldicthys spilopterus.

The other one, however is not African in origin, it comes from the Amazon. It is the pink-tailed characin, Chalceus macrolepidotus.

Fortunately, I was able to substitute them with their close relative, the red-tailed characin, Chalceus erythurus.

Why I choose Amazonian fish in African Aquarium? because they look nice together and complement each other. Besides, in they native river, there are fish (Brycinus sp.) that looks just like them. So, I consider the red-tailed characin as their replacement.

This aquarium uses a sump filtration. Since they are all heavy feeder, weekly water change ensure the health of the fish. I might add a few catfish, perhaps Synodontis multipunctatus,

and also brushmouth plecos, Ancistrus sp.

Bigger fish such as Distichodus affinis

and Distichodus sexfasciatus.

Also come to consideration. But since some of them are quite aggressive, I have to postpone the idea.

Wise men said that life is too short to be regretted, so go chase your own dream, since I’m finally realized one of mine.

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NATURAL VS BIOTOPE AQUARIUM

Have aquarium decorated with beautiful, is the dream of almost all hobbies aquarium. An Aquarium that has been decorate well, especially when using a life water plant can be as highest ideals for hobbies of the aquarium decor. Often when we see a beautiful aquascaping, we often think that the glass is in the box is really natural, as if we move a small part of nature itself into a limited space which is in the room where approximately located.
But if it always so?
An aquarium can be called with the term natural aquarium, in the ecosystem when the aquarium is already there and also water plants fauna, and has been a cycle of chemical and biological sustainability.
Meanwhile, the biotope itself can be defined as the environment that reflect the specific circumstances in which the species of flora or fauna originated. Biotope be equated with the general habitat, but will better reflect the uniformity in biology in general. The explicit, describing the habitat of a living organism-specific, both animal and plant (eg, swamps, lakes, rivers), while the biotope specifically describe the place is derived organisms (eg, Whitewater or blackwater).
Prominent differences from the Natural Aquarium Biotope and patterns of use are materials used in designing an aquarium that would have been decorate. Natural Aquarium, will use the materials to support the aquarium's initial design. So on a NA-valid only if we use the dwarf amazon sword plant originating from South America in the foreground, Driftwood originating from Borneo as her focal point of view aquarium, and Vallisneria sp. Coming from North America or Hygrophylla corimbosa coming from Asia as a background for the large size. Discus fish form a graceful slow swimming fish be under guard by gang Rasbora. In short, in a Natural Aquarium, we're not limited by any aquascaping realize to create in our dreams. Only directed imagination that gave us our limits.
Meanwhile, if we want to be pure designing an aquarium that can be called a biotope, so many things that needs to be a consideration. We need to know exactly where flora or fauna that would keep us come, and as much as possible we use materials that originate from the area. Therefore, if we want to show the biotope deputize her Asian waters, it will be very good if we concentrate using materials originating from the area.
So if we compare these two things after we know what the meaning of each term and Natural Aquarium Biotope , Aquarium Natural whether more can be considered to be superior compared to the biotope aquarium, because there is no limitations that we rein in designing to create a aquascaping?
Honestly, the author assumes that designing biotope aquarium is the work more challenging and more fun to it. In business designing a biotope is good, we must better understand the needs of plants or animals that we keep, and with the understanding what they need, of course, they will get better care more, so that their viability more guaranteed. With the limitations in trying to create when we create a biotope, we are required to be more creative in determining the choices of materials we would use.
Nature is showing the extraordinary that can be inspired by people in designing aquarium, but only touch the human soul that can be improved the beauty of it. Thus, a beautiful aquascaping be defined as a work of art.
Biotope is intended to show the form of flora and fauna as natural as the place such as where they originate. If we aim to keep them and hope they show the beauty of their maximum, and it isn’t best that the prison that we call the aquarium we built in accordance like their homes in natural habitat

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