Ralph
01-25-2003, 08:06 PM
Rio Negro Biotope
An Interview with Peter Kriz
It’s time for another trip down the Amazon. This time we are going to the Rio Negro, Heckel country, and our guide is Peter Kriz. He is an aquarist at the world famous National Aquarium in Baltimore (http://www.aqua.org/index.shtml). Peter is responsible for three of the Amazon River Forest Systems at the Aquarium, one of which has discus on display (including Heckels). He also is in charge of the Kelp Forest, Pacific Coral Reef, and the Rain Forest Display Tanks. Peter formerly worked in the aquaculture research lab at The Center for Marine Biotechnology, also located in Baltimore. AND he owns his own pet store near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Peter’s recent trip to the Amazon was sponsored by Project Piaba, based in the city of Barcelos which is on the Rio Negro, upriver from Manaus. Project Piaba is a large conservation effort to save the river, it’s fish, and the indigenous people. To provide a financial alternative to deforestation and mining, the Project is developing a responsible management system for providing tropical fish for the world’s aquarium market. His goal for this trip was to evaluate the procedures by which fish are collected, transported, held, quarantined, and shipped to the United States. More information on the project can be obtained at http://www.angelfire.com/pq/piaba/.
Once again, the aim of this series of interviews is to provide a visual description of specific areas of the Amazon River Basin for those of you interested in making your own biotope. But the interviews also give insights into how and where discus live in the wild.
Here it is......
What area of the river system would you like to describe?
The area of the Amazon River Forest that I would like to discuss is the black water tributary of the Amazon River, the Rio Negro (Black River). The region of the area I was in during my recent trip as a member of Project Piaba was between Manaus and Barcelos.
http://www.mongabay.com/images/brazil/forest_reflection_boat.gif
Copyright 1999 Rhett A. Butler (Mongabay.com)
Whenever someone talks about discus in the wild, driftwood is usually mentioned first. Is it an important part of the Rio Negro?
Driftwood has to be among the most important aspects of the Rio Negro ecosystem. The driftwood serves many purposes. I will briefly describe some of them but this is by no means an all-inclusive list of the benefits that driftwood provides. One of the purposes it serves is both cover and concealment for a variety of fish. Fish swim among the tangled roots and hopefully will avoid some of the larger predatory fish such as Serrasalmus sp. and cichlids such as C. ocellaris. On the other side of the spectrum, the driftwood can help the predatory fishes such as the malibare (we commonly refer to this fish as a wolf fish), which hide among these roots. We routinely caught this species in little backwater areas that you would never suspect would hide fish such as these. The area that we (members of Project Piaba from both the National Aquarium in Baltimore as well as the New England Aquarium) were visiting had very, very limited amounts of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Therefore a conclusion has to be made that a large percentage of the diet of Loricariidae (plecos) must be made up of wood in the form of driftwood, leaf litter, and microorganisms. While conducting research in the Amazon, whenever we would collect Loricariidae, they would inevitably be located in or on driftwood. The Discus would also be found hidden among the tangled roots, trying to evade capture. Finally, the water in the Rio Negro is intensely acidic. We usually found the pH of the water to be at 4.5. In one area we found the water to be a pH of 3.9 !!! The cause of this, or at least a contributing factor must be the slow moving flow of water coupled with tons upon tons of decomposing driftwood and leaf litter. The amount of fish found by simply going to the edge of the stream, and proceeding to lift up a collecting net full of leaf litter was amazing. From catfish to cichlids, we were finding many different species of fish.
What other fish are found living near the discus habitats?
Some of the different species of fish found in the same biotope as the discus are: Cardinal tetra’s (Paracheirodon axelrodi), Rummynose Tetra’s (Hemigrammus rhodostomus), Red Tail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus), Marble Hatchet’s (Carnegiella stigmata), various knife fish, various wood cats, various Loricariidae (plecos), Wolf fish (Hoplias malabaricus), Flag cichlids (Mesonauta festivus), some pike cichlids (Crencichla ssp), Peacock Bass (Cichla ocellaris and Cichla temensis), Tatia cats, and others. School sizes are tough to determine but anywhere from one up into the hundreds depending on the species. The most readily observed fish in my opinion is the marble hatchet. This could be due to the ease of catching and observing however.
http://www.universaldiscus.com/wild%20pict/NegroHeckel3.jpg
Rio Negro Discus
This photo provided by Universal Discus
What kind of animals and insects do you see in the area?
Some of the other animals found in the vicinity were Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodylus), Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger), bats of various sp, Howler Monkey’s, Giant River Otters, Freshwater Dolphins, wild pigs, tree frogs (Phylamedusa), and others. Also we saw many butterflies including that electric blue species (Morpho menelaus) that is on many of the nature programs. As far as insects go, the Rio Negro is very limited due to the acidity of the water. Thank goodness there are almost no mosquitoes due to this black water environment.
What did the water look like?
The color of the water is mostly brown with a very high level of turbidity. Fish must have to rely heavily on their lateral line to locate predators, obstacles, and other discus. The water temperature was pretty steady at 82 F. Flow rate was variable depending on where you were. Some places may have a few rapids while the next area proved to be extremely calm. pH remained at about 4.5 but was as low as 3.9. Depth also was extremely variable but for the most part in the collecting area was less than 5’.
http://www.mongabay.com/images/brazil/rio_negro_beach_close.gif
Copyright 1999 Rhett A. Butler (Mongabay.com)
Did you see any algae in the waters of the Rio Negro?
Algae was extremely uncommon and to be honest, I do not recall seeing it at all. I remember while in the Rio Negro area thinking that the diet of Loricariidae must be predominately wood and they must not be the “algae eaters” we commonly think or refer to them as.
What was the streambed like?
The streambed is made up predominately of sand, with leaf litter around the outskirts. It can, meaning the leaf litter, be very deep at times and suck you in like quick sand if you are not careful.
Were there any aquatic plants?
There was almost no aquatic vegetation. Nor did I see any floating plants in the Rio Negro. This could be due to several factors including there are just normally very few aquatic plants or they may be seasonally active and wait for the water rise to occur. I was there at the time of the absolute lowest seasonal water level of the river. This area would be deeper water for the rest of the year. Possibly farther up on land is where the plants would be more likely to grow.
What kind of water treatment set up do you use for the discus display at the Aquarium?
My discus system is run with a large high rate sand filter, chiller and heater, uv sterilizer, ozone, and CO2 reactor with a pH controller. Along with the discus, I maintain cardinal tetras, rummynose tetras, Loricariidae, turtles, caecilians (wormlike burrowing amphibians), and corydoras. pH and water level are hooked up to an alarm system that sounds if the variables are incorrect.
Peter is also a member of the National Guard and after he agreed to do the interview, he found out that he was being called up. He went ahead and finished the interview though I am sure he had more important things to be doing and I am very grateful for that. Sometimes we forget or take for granted the sacrifices made by people like Peter who is going to be away from his family, friends, job, business, his fish, and his country for a year or more. If you get a chance to read this Peter, everyone here at Simply wishes you a safe and rapid return.
Peter is now deployed with the 20th Special Forces Group as part of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Noble Eagle to parts unknown.
I would also like to thank Samson at Universal Discus (http://www.universaldiscus.com) and Rhett at http://www.mongabay.com for the use of the photos, along with David Webber at http://www.wilddiscus.com for his expertise, and of course Al, Ryan, Weezy, and John here at Simply.
An Interview with Peter Kriz
It’s time for another trip down the Amazon. This time we are going to the Rio Negro, Heckel country, and our guide is Peter Kriz. He is an aquarist at the world famous National Aquarium in Baltimore (http://www.aqua.org/index.shtml). Peter is responsible for three of the Amazon River Forest Systems at the Aquarium, one of which has discus on display (including Heckels). He also is in charge of the Kelp Forest, Pacific Coral Reef, and the Rain Forest Display Tanks. Peter formerly worked in the aquaculture research lab at The Center for Marine Biotechnology, also located in Baltimore. AND he owns his own pet store near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Peter’s recent trip to the Amazon was sponsored by Project Piaba, based in the city of Barcelos which is on the Rio Negro, upriver from Manaus. Project Piaba is a large conservation effort to save the river, it’s fish, and the indigenous people. To provide a financial alternative to deforestation and mining, the Project is developing a responsible management system for providing tropical fish for the world’s aquarium market. His goal for this trip was to evaluate the procedures by which fish are collected, transported, held, quarantined, and shipped to the United States. More information on the project can be obtained at http://www.angelfire.com/pq/piaba/.
Once again, the aim of this series of interviews is to provide a visual description of specific areas of the Amazon River Basin for those of you interested in making your own biotope. But the interviews also give insights into how and where discus live in the wild.
Here it is......
What area of the river system would you like to describe?
The area of the Amazon River Forest that I would like to discuss is the black water tributary of the Amazon River, the Rio Negro (Black River). The region of the area I was in during my recent trip as a member of Project Piaba was between Manaus and Barcelos.
http://www.mongabay.com/images/brazil/forest_reflection_boat.gif
Copyright 1999 Rhett A. Butler (Mongabay.com)
Whenever someone talks about discus in the wild, driftwood is usually mentioned first. Is it an important part of the Rio Negro?
Driftwood has to be among the most important aspects of the Rio Negro ecosystem. The driftwood serves many purposes. I will briefly describe some of them but this is by no means an all-inclusive list of the benefits that driftwood provides. One of the purposes it serves is both cover and concealment for a variety of fish. Fish swim among the tangled roots and hopefully will avoid some of the larger predatory fish such as Serrasalmus sp. and cichlids such as C. ocellaris. On the other side of the spectrum, the driftwood can help the predatory fishes such as the malibare (we commonly refer to this fish as a wolf fish), which hide among these roots. We routinely caught this species in little backwater areas that you would never suspect would hide fish such as these. The area that we (members of Project Piaba from both the National Aquarium in Baltimore as well as the New England Aquarium) were visiting had very, very limited amounts of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Therefore a conclusion has to be made that a large percentage of the diet of Loricariidae (plecos) must be made up of wood in the form of driftwood, leaf litter, and microorganisms. While conducting research in the Amazon, whenever we would collect Loricariidae, they would inevitably be located in or on driftwood. The Discus would also be found hidden among the tangled roots, trying to evade capture. Finally, the water in the Rio Negro is intensely acidic. We usually found the pH of the water to be at 4.5. In one area we found the water to be a pH of 3.9 !!! The cause of this, or at least a contributing factor must be the slow moving flow of water coupled with tons upon tons of decomposing driftwood and leaf litter. The amount of fish found by simply going to the edge of the stream, and proceeding to lift up a collecting net full of leaf litter was amazing. From catfish to cichlids, we were finding many different species of fish.
What other fish are found living near the discus habitats?
Some of the different species of fish found in the same biotope as the discus are: Cardinal tetra’s (Paracheirodon axelrodi), Rummynose Tetra’s (Hemigrammus rhodostomus), Red Tail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus), Marble Hatchet’s (Carnegiella stigmata), various knife fish, various wood cats, various Loricariidae (plecos), Wolf fish (Hoplias malabaricus), Flag cichlids (Mesonauta festivus), some pike cichlids (Crencichla ssp), Peacock Bass (Cichla ocellaris and Cichla temensis), Tatia cats, and others. School sizes are tough to determine but anywhere from one up into the hundreds depending on the species. The most readily observed fish in my opinion is the marble hatchet. This could be due to the ease of catching and observing however.
http://www.universaldiscus.com/wild%20pict/NegroHeckel3.jpg
Rio Negro Discus
This photo provided by Universal Discus
What kind of animals and insects do you see in the area?
Some of the other animals found in the vicinity were Spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodylus), Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger), bats of various sp, Howler Monkey’s, Giant River Otters, Freshwater Dolphins, wild pigs, tree frogs (Phylamedusa), and others. Also we saw many butterflies including that electric blue species (Morpho menelaus) that is on many of the nature programs. As far as insects go, the Rio Negro is very limited due to the acidity of the water. Thank goodness there are almost no mosquitoes due to this black water environment.
What did the water look like?
The color of the water is mostly brown with a very high level of turbidity. Fish must have to rely heavily on their lateral line to locate predators, obstacles, and other discus. The water temperature was pretty steady at 82 F. Flow rate was variable depending on where you were. Some places may have a few rapids while the next area proved to be extremely calm. pH remained at about 4.5 but was as low as 3.9. Depth also was extremely variable but for the most part in the collecting area was less than 5’.
http://www.mongabay.com/images/brazil/rio_negro_beach_close.gif
Copyright 1999 Rhett A. Butler (Mongabay.com)
Did you see any algae in the waters of the Rio Negro?
Algae was extremely uncommon and to be honest, I do not recall seeing it at all. I remember while in the Rio Negro area thinking that the diet of Loricariidae must be predominately wood and they must not be the “algae eaters” we commonly think or refer to them as.
What was the streambed like?
The streambed is made up predominately of sand, with leaf litter around the outskirts. It can, meaning the leaf litter, be very deep at times and suck you in like quick sand if you are not careful.
Were there any aquatic plants?
There was almost no aquatic vegetation. Nor did I see any floating plants in the Rio Negro. This could be due to several factors including there are just normally very few aquatic plants or they may be seasonally active and wait for the water rise to occur. I was there at the time of the absolute lowest seasonal water level of the river. This area would be deeper water for the rest of the year. Possibly farther up on land is where the plants would be more likely to grow.
What kind of water treatment set up do you use for the discus display at the Aquarium?
My discus system is run with a large high rate sand filter, chiller and heater, uv sterilizer, ozone, and CO2 reactor with a pH controller. Along with the discus, I maintain cardinal tetras, rummynose tetras, Loricariidae, turtles, caecilians (wormlike burrowing amphibians), and corydoras. pH and water level are hooked up to an alarm system that sounds if the variables are incorrect.
Peter is also a member of the National Guard and after he agreed to do the interview, he found out that he was being called up. He went ahead and finished the interview though I am sure he had more important things to be doing and I am very grateful for that. Sometimes we forget or take for granted the sacrifices made by people like Peter who is going to be away from his family, friends, job, business, his fish, and his country for a year or more. If you get a chance to read this Peter, everyone here at Simply wishes you a safe and rapid return.
Peter is now deployed with the 20th Special Forces Group as part of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Noble Eagle to parts unknown.
I would also like to thank Samson at Universal Discus (http://www.universaldiscus.com) and Rhett at http://www.mongabay.com for the use of the photos, along with David Webber at http://www.wilddiscus.com for his expertise, and of course Al, Ryan, Weezy, and John here at Simply.