New Curuais/Lago Grande Biotope

[Mike_tucc]

Hi all, first post here. I've quite happily had the opportunity to get back into keeping wild discus just recently. Here are some photos of my new setup, a Lago Grande do Curuai biotope modeled on the typical discus habitat found in this lake on the lower Tapajos near Santarem. It houses a group of 5 semi royal red eye discus collected in the lake and a few other fish collected in the region, including Dicrossus maculatus and Biotecus opercularis. I have some additional fish in quarantine that should go in shortly to round out the tank.

The aquascape is still a work in progress but I plan on adding a few biotope appropriate plant species as the opportunity arises. The current scape is driftwood dominated with a leaf litter and accent pieces from Tannin Aquatics. I keep the pH around 6.5-6.8, temps around 80, and so far everything seems to be thriving. The discus were a little rough on import but have fully recovered and are now well on their way to becoming exceptional fish (first photo is of the dominant fish in quarantine just after import - that nicked fin is actually almost healed up now)
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[brewmaster15]

Looks Great Mike! Got yourself a nice group of wilds and nice biotope started.
Al
Ps Welcome to Simply! Hope to see more pics as the tank and fish mature!:)

[woopaul5]

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful fish and beautiful setup

[Phillydubs]

Very nice ! Welcome !

What size tank are they in...? What else do you plan to add ?

[Mike_tucc]

Thanks all! The tank is around 95 gallons I believe (kind of an odd shape, curved front corners). Right now I have a group of eques pencilfsh in QT I will add to the tank soon and I'm looking to get a group of lemon tetras, Bryconops (if I can find them), or barring the Bryconops probably head and tail light tetras. I've seen all of these in the typical discus habitat around Lago Grande.

[Phillydubs]

Sounds like you got it all planned out. I look forward to seeing it come
To life !!

Where from?

[Phillydubs]

Also very nice work healing them up. What in particular did you do to achieve that?

[Mike_tucc]

Thanks, it's been a fun project a long time in the making. I'm in Boulder CO (need to update my profile). I'll definitely be detailing the tank's evolution on the freshwater blog at www.reef2rainforest.com and possibly in Amazonas Magazine too (I work for them and write for their blog and magazines pretty regularly). These are just the first photos I've had the chance to take of the tank as it take shape.

[Mike_tucc]

Also very nice work healing them up. What in particular did you do to achieve that?

Honestly not much! I had them trans-shipped to me from Belem and they arrived pretty bad. Like, laying down on their sides for over a day bad. I attribute their recovery to a low-stress environment on arrival (lights off, no other fish in tank with them), salt at roughly 2 ppt (which I'm sure plenty of folks will object to but there's a reason all of the pros use it), and water temps relatively low, 77-78. Within a few days they were looking much better, now at roughly 18 days post import they look clean and their fin injuries are healing better than I ever expected. I used a lot of aquatic botanicals in the tank and I do think the humic acids and other compounds they release have helped both prevent bacterial infections and stimulate healing.

[Phillydubs]

Mike,

I sent you a PM earlier and would love to chat...

However, I think many may find it fascinating your standpoint and use of salt as well as aquatic botanical. Such as what you sue, how much, your process and all that.

Thanks

[Dhavalsp]

loving this setup...please upload a full tank video after everyone settles in...I think botanicals - tannins and acidic environment played a major role in quick recovery.

[jmf3460]

Mike, how did i miss this thread? Welcome to SD and first of all well done and a round of applause to you and your beautiful biotope. I would love to see a FTS (full tank shot) these wilds are beautiful. I too house dicrossus with my wild discus. I am curious in your biotecus fish. Do these behave much the same as your dicrossus?

[Mike_tucc]

Mike,

I sent you a PM earlier and would love to chat...

However, I think many may find it fascinating your standpoint and use of salt as well as aquatic botanical. Such as what you sue, how much, your process and all that.

Thanks

We talked via text but I thought I'd add my $0.02 here as well in case anyone is interested. I used natural solar salt at 2.0 ppt (measured using a digital TDS meter, a very useful bit of gear I'd recommend for any serious fish keeper) to help minimize osmoregulatory stress on the fish post-import. The reason I do this is because most exporters will use salt in their holding systems to some degree and everyone uses it for shipping. It's important in my opinion to realize with wild discus we're not trying to replicate their wild water conditions when they first arrive so much as we are trying to ease the transition from exporter ->importer/trans-shipper->you. In this case, temps were set lower than what I would normally keep the discus at to slow down the growth of opportunistic bacteria that often pops up post-import and because the fish were likely not being held at temps higher than 80 at the export facility. Salt also helps with this. The botanicals I used are partly for decor and partly for the beneficial properties of humic and tannic acids that they release into the water. In particular, I used Ketappa/Indian Almond and Guava leaves that I had boiled and added to the tank about a week before the discus arrived. They did not have much of a pH lowering effect but noticeably tinted the water and there is strong scientific evidence that the substances these leaves leach into the water have antibacterial and antifungal properties. As I said, my approach was pretty hands-off the first few days with the lights dimmed and being careful not to disturb the new arrivals while they were still visibly stressed. I plan to reduce the salt level in the tank through my routine water changes until it's essentially zero now that the fish are "over the hump" and doing well. I know everyone has their preferred method but this way of working with freshly-arrived wild fish has proven its efficacy time and time again throughout my experiences in the hobby as well as in retail and import.

[Mike_tucc]

Mike, how did i miss this thread? Welcome to SD and first of all well done and a round of applause to you and your beautiful biotope. I would love to see a FTS (full tank shot) these wilds are beautiful. I too house dicrossus with my wild discus. I am curious in your biotecus fish. Do these behave much the same as your dicrossus?

Thanks so much! FTS will happen once I'm happier with the aquascape. Looks a little bare without the plants I plan on adding at the moment. The Biotecus are pretty similar to the checkerboards in terms of behavior, although they seem to be a lot more quarrelsome towards each other. They are extremely delicate shippers - the two in this tank are all that remain of 20 I brought in.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Good on you for producing an accurate biotope. Lots of research, observation and planning no doubt. Simply Stunning. Welcome to SimplyD!

[Mike_tucc]

Good on you for producing an accurate biotope. Lots of research, observation and planning no doubt. Simply Stunning. Welcome to SimplyD!

Thanks. Biotopes are a labor of love for sure. Picking up some plants soon to help fill out the aquascape, and I have some more fish in quarantine I'll add soon.

[Swedgin]

Nice, just saw that we are going for a similar setup/stock. As the others said, some full shots and parameters would be nice. Mine, too are still not in the best of shapes and arrived in similar condition as yours. They're getting better every day though, and I've set up their qt tank a bit homely with wood, floating plants, tannins and cattappa leaves, similar to what their more spacious permanent setup will be. Seems to work, they seem to feel right at home.
Best of luck,
Tobi