March '07 - Martina Cizkova's 150 L Asian Biotope Aquarium. (Czech Republic)

Owner:	Martina Cizkova, from Brno (Czech Republic), 2 years of fishkeeping.
Setup:	May 2006.
Dimensions:	110x35x40 cm.
Volume:	154 L (nominal).
Filtration:	Fluval 103 Canister.
Lighting:	Very poor at the time of these photos - one spotlight with bulb and one desktop lamp with short fluorescent tube.
Substrate:	River gravel (1 cm diameter) + sand from sandpit (3 mm diameter).
Heating:	100 W.
Decoration:	Smooth river rocks and hard branches from a local forest (home boiled in salt water).
Water:	Temp 24°C, pH 7.5, hardness 17°dH (from Brno duct, very hard and high pH), NO3: 35 ppm.
Maintenance:	Water changes 25% every 14-20 days, filter cleaning every 2 months.
Fauna:	4x Botia morleti, 1x Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, 12x Rasbora heteromorpha, 2x Macropodus opercularis, 12x Barbus tetrazona, 5x Barbus odessa.
Flora:	Vallisneria gigantea, Cryptocoryne affinis, Cryptocoryne balansae, Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia, Vesicularia dubyana, Microsorum pteropus.
Comments:	Hi! Message from Czech Republic:) I have been an aquarist for 2 years. Initially I found information about my hobby in books, then in Czech web pages, and later I found your nice pages. Thanks for your website! This is my second aquarium (150 L, 110x35x40 cm) and I tried to create something like a biotope. I must say that it is hard work, but I didn't know that in the beginning. Now, after a lot of effort searching for information about biotopes, I have set up a geographic aquarium with plants and fishes only from Southeast Asia (many people call it Asian biotope). I found my beautiful piece of driftwood in a nearby forest. I often use few beach leaves collected in autumn. They are dry, and for usage I boil them shortly. The colors look lovely and natural for me, and they don't cause problems. Nevertheless, I must exchange them every month, when they begin to break. Thanks for your time for bearing with my average English language skills :)

If you'd like to submit an aquarium for Tank of the Month, just contact me.

 Close up on the left half

Close up on the right half 

Photos taken by Martin Cizkova and displayed here with her permission.