# SE Asian biotope



## Phil (Feb 19, 2005)

I have a very densely planted tank and I am about to stock it in a few days.I think this time I would go for an Asian set up and use pearl gouramis and harlequin rasboras.Any other recomendetion for fish that live in the same region?I was always a fan of biotope aquariums.


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## Mori (Jul 23, 2003)

Are your plants also SE Asian? And what size tank? 

It's fun to add fish to someone else's tank... :tongue:


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## m249saw (Jul 10, 2005)

http://www.aquabotanic.com/seast.htm


Asia and Africa
By Robert Paul H.
Southeast Asia Back -water

Southeast Asia is home to many of the fish which are in most demand by hobbyists today. The backwaters of southeast Asia are both slow moving and thick with vegetation. Both above and below the waterline live many ferns and bamboo. The streams are packed with organic matter and stained brown by the iron rich red rocks that cover the bottom. You can recreate this environment with the following guidelines: 

pH 6.0 to 6.5 
hardness: 100mg/liter CaCO3 
temp 75 to 79 degrees 

Plants: 
Bamboo Plant, Blyxa japonica 
Giant Hygrophia, Nomaphila stricta 

Recommended lighting: 
3 watts per gallon of water 

Substrate: 
laterite 
sand 
red gravel 
multi colored stones 
pebbles

Suitable Fish: 
Tiger Barb, Barbus tetrazona 
Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens 
Clown Loach, Botia macracantha 
Zebra Danio, Brachydanio rerio 
Honey Gourami, Colisa chuna 
Dwarf Gourami, Colisa lalia 
Pearl Gourami, Trichogaster leeri 
Paradise Fish, Macropodus opercularis 
Red Tailed Black Shark, Labeo bicolor 

The bottom layer of the substrate should contain iron rich laterite for the plant growth, topped with a mixture of sand and red gravel accented with larger stones and pebbles. Seachem's Flourite is a red clay gravel very suitable for this. To make things more interesting you can alternate to have some exposed areas of sand as well as gravel or rock, however the overall look of the substrate surface should be dark with a lot of red color. Broken pieces of red clay flower pots also make a nice accent. The over all look you are striving for is tall, bushy plants in the background and sides, and a rocky foreground. This simulates the plants growing close to shore while the outer areas are littered with rocks.


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## Phil (Feb 19, 2005)

Thanks,very useful


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## m249saw (Jul 10, 2005)

No prob roud:


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## wob (Apr 21, 2005)

This is the same look I am going for in my 150g tank. I've done quite a bit of research on this, and my favorite site is The Monga Bay project. It's URL is http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope.htm

I'm probably another month or two away from actaully putting it altogether (still gathering all the equipment to run the tank). When I do, I'll put up pics.


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