Hello, I'm New & Would Like To Introduce Myself

Hello and thank you for allowing me to be a member of the forum. My intentions here are to learn and to get advice on several of my projects. Hopefully by the 4th quarter of 2004 or early 2005 I will be lauching Right Now. Right Now is an idea which will change the world forever. It's intentions are to connect the world and "eliminate" cultural barriers. A simple motto of mine is Anybody, Everbody / Anything, Everything. Meaning we're all equal and each of us can do whatever the "other" is doing. Right Now will show people thier true potential and thus show what humanity can really be. That's all I can let out for now.

Where does SimplyDiscus.com fit in? Well about 10 years ago I saw a special on the Discovery Channel called "The Golden River". It was a documentary on the Rio Negro. The golden part of the title reffered to the abundance of life this river supports. Anyways, I instantly fell in love with it's coffee colored water and amazing wildlife. Since then the Rio Negro has become very dear to me.

Now, thanks to Right Now, I can make my dream a reality. Within the next year or so I'll be building a house and as it's centerpiece; my own little Rio Negro. I plan to build the house around a large courtyard. Within the courtyard will be a fully sustained rainforest. Well except for the rain part which will be simulated. There will be a blackwater pond feed by a small network of blackwater forest streams. I want to keep many types of fauna here as well. Fishes from Pirarucu to the smallest characin. Reptiles including Mata Mata turtles, tree boas, various lizards and possibly a couple dwarf caiman. Amphibs such as Pipa toads, Dendrobatid arrow frogs and various tree frogs. Mammals including Aguti, Acuti and sloths. Finally several birds such as Ibis, Kingfishers and Hummingbirds. Of course beautiful flora will be there to compliment as well. Bromiliads, carnivourus plants, various trees and water plants. Some of you may be thinking, "oh the poor Discus might wind up as caiman food". Well those are the consequences nature is full of. Don't worry though, there'll be no "prize" fish kept this way.

Well as the months go by this project will get closer and I'm hoping for lots of help from the forum. Please feel free to make any comments or suggestions as you wish. Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I'm looking forward to becoming a respected member of this community!

[hexed]

Hi Marshall, welcome to simplydiscus.
You have a big plan but unfortunately it wouldn't work
Putting that many animals together is a disaster waiting to happen. You say the following:
Some of you may be thinking, "oh the poor Discus might wind up as caiman food". Well those are the consequences nature is full of.
What your trying to create isn't "nature" You will be putting all these animals in a confined space or "forcing" them to live together and that's not quite "nature" that's just watching them "kill" each other and is illegal in my state. Some of the animals you listed wouldn't survive in such a confined space and many you will never get. See here we "care" for discus and to come here and say if the discus die then so be it isn't really a nice thing to say.
We welcome you to the forum and hope you will look around and learn as much as possible. You too will fall for these beautiful fish as all of us have.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Marshall,
Welcome to Simplydiscus.com ! What you are describing would be a very interesting setup, but it would have to be very well thought out, and I think you may find that the number of represented species would have to be very small and careful consideration given to each of their needs in terms of food and territory. This would be very important if you intent for this man made biotope to be self carrying as far its wildlife reproduction.


I am a biologist by trade and I would be happy to help you evaluate any of this if you would like. My biggest piece of advice here is be sure to do a detailed evaluation of every animal, and check to make sure they are not CITES listed.

hth,
al

Thank you for the comments. I suppose I should have mentioned some specs for this project.

It is to be about 400 ft. x 150 ft. This is not something I just thought up overnight to say the least. It will be a multi-million dollar project likely to rival any zoo or private collection. I'm aware that several species I'm interested in are on the CITES list and I've taken full consideration of that. All documentation and permits are being collected. I also have an importer whom deals with zoos and they are a fully legal operation.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Marshall,

I see many potential problems, but if you can make such a project work ..that would be very interesting.

Lets start at a basic level. What are your plans for the Blackwater stream and ponds filtration and water chemistry. How will you filter this system and maintain a stable pH and low conductivity while supporting all the wildlife in the system. "blackwater" is black because of organic matter that it passes thru as it enters the river systems.

How will you heat, aerate and age the influx of water coming into the system as "rain"?

What kind of water volume are you looking at.?

-al

[Discus_Newbie19]

It will be interesting to see how this turns out if you do it. Dont think you can keep so many Carnivore is a small area unless you want to keep refilling your stock every month or so. In an area so small you wont be able to make an invorment fully sustained....at all. If you pick and choose very carefully and learn all you can on every single thing you add you may make a very pretty greenhouse.
Just my 2 cents