South American Biotope

[vosevichs]

I'm wanting to make my tank look as natural as posible. I'd like it to look like tha Amazon or Lake Tefe or somewhere along those lines.

I need plant suggestions.

I already have Amazon Swords spreading all over the place. But I need something to take the place of the ludwigia, and java ferns.

Any Suggestions????

Thanks,
Scott

[Ralph]

I've been looking into this question for a couple months off and on and I still don't have an answer.
Two problems:
There isn't much info or many underwater pictures available, inpart due to water turbidity and possibly lack of interest. And there is little info on the ranges of aquatic plants (Tropica comes the closest).
The other problem is the huge change in water levels over the seasons of the year. There are areas where the shoreline (principle residence of discus) can change 5 miles! So the discus take up residence in the branches of submerged trees during half the year.

You probably just wanted a short list of plants, didn't you?

The short answer is probably that there are no plants in a discus biotope. But with the large area making up the range of discus habitats and the variety of those habitats, there must be areas where discus live with plants. I'm still looking.

Here is an interesting website though:

http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/indexc3b0.html

[Ralph]

Here's a list if you want one:

Cabomba caroliniana - Green Cabomba
Heteranthera zosterifolia - Stargrass
Vallisneria - Giant and spiral, I think
Ceratophyllum submersum - Hornwort

There are some floating plants too.

[vosevichs]

That's the same problem I've ran into. No pictures of discus in their natural habitat. There was a program on National Geographic. The rivers were full of litter, (leaves, twigs, sticks,) trees and stumps. Lots of the plants were bushes that were hanging into the water. I seen no plants growing in the water. I was just thinking of filling the tank with alot of drift wood, that would be the closest to their natural habitat that I can find. Lately the algae is growing faster than my plants. So sticks don't sound so bad.
I've been to the Tropica web-site, It is a tremendous help. I'll check out that amazonian site.

Thanks
Scott

[ChloroPhil]

If you want to bend the rules a little you can go with a Flood-Plain habitat. This would simulate the flooded riverbanks during the rainy season and is a *possible* habitat for discus at that time. If going with that I'd stick with your swords and add some Saggitaria subdulata in among the larger swords, staying away from stem plants like Heteranthera and Ceratophyllum. Putting in a lot of branchy wood would be good too.


If you're going for a more accurate depiction stick with lots of vertically oriented pieces of wood and attractive rocks. Floating plants such as Riccia fluitans or Ceratopteris would be appropriate and will help keep nutrient levels low in the water.

[Ralph]

I was reading a site last night and it said that most of the plants in the flood plains keep their leaves during the inundation season. It seemed to open another area of possibilities for me.

Question: What would be the likely problems involved in putting dead leaves in the biotope?

[vosevichs]

Tha main problem would be them rotting. Then of course cleaning / vacumning.

I was wondering what kind of plant I could use next to the tank an let the limbs hang over into the tank.

[Ralph]

The decomposition of the leaves is what came to mind for me too. I'm not so sure that it is a problem though. I would think that the rotting would be slow enough that in wouldn't affect the fish. In fact, if you don't prune your plants very often, then it is going on in your tank now. If it happens aerobically, it would just be releasing plant nutrients back into the water. And then there is the question of which leaves, they would have to be nontoxic and boiled before going in the tank. I'm probably crazy for even thinking about this. I thought about coating them with something clear but that would make even more complications. I'll probably try it in an experiment with some unfortunate tetras.
Philodendrons would be the obvious choice for an exterior plant. Aroids are a huge family with more kinds than have been classified yet and come in all shapes and sizes. People here use them near their tanks and let the roots hang in the water, it removes nutrients without some of the side effects of a planted tank. And most are from the Amazon.

[ChloroPhil]

I'm working on an apistogramma biotope which would be perfect for discus if it were another 50 gallons larger..:) I'm planning on having about an inch of leaf litter, oak or beech, over a shallow layer of silica sand. I've had leaves in my tanks before and they've posed no problems as the decay is so slow and the algae eaters usually take care of the decaying bits.

Floating plants like Water Sprite can be attached to the sides using a suction cup + clip combination or by tying it onto a hook or piece of driftwood. If you can somehow conceal it one of those small plastic window boxes with the suction cups on one side work really well for holding plants like Pothos or Spathiophyllum.

[Serpae]

Howdy, Didipilis diandra, I think is South American.

[ChloroPhil]

Didiplis diandra is native to North America. It can be found in many of the lower 48 US states.

[Ivan]

I always thought Vallisineria Gigantica was also north american?