More Than a Community Tank
By Phillip Wurm
Reprint GVAC Newsletter Jan-Feb 2005
Many, and I would dare to say most, if not all, budding freshwater aquarists
begin the hobby with a general community aquarium. Many initial efforts include
livebearer types, including of course, the famous guppy, hardy tetras including
the glowlight and neon, perhaps a few zebra danios, with a few catfish or a
pleco type to round out the population. Most aquarium keepers will use plastic
plants and other artificial decorations at this stage also. To start the
aquarist will probably have no larger than a twenty gallon tank. On your journey
to becoming an aquarium hobbyist though, please be aware that there are other
options beyond the general community to consider. Up to this point, you have
just been concerned with compatibility with your charges, and making sure that
their water and feeding requirements are similar. Please also consider other
types of freshwater aquariums; the species and the biotope.
Community tanks are sure to remain the most popular types, and for good reason. There are so many peaceful and colorful fish that can be mixed together in an aquarium that you want to keep many of them. And unless you have several or more tanks, you almost have to mix fish together. Community fish don't have to have particular types of plants or decorations in them, either. Community tanks are probably the best and most interesting for children for a "family aquarium". But there is so much more to experience!
A species aquarium is very simple; it would have just one type of fish as its
resident. The decor would be the same as a community tank. Anything you like and
is compatible with your fishes would be fine, or you could choose to be
"geographically correct" with your choice of plants and such too. Examples of a
species aquarium would include a simple ten gallon with guppies and a collection
of plastic plants, a twenty-nine gallon with pearl gouramis and appropriate
plants and driftwood, or a fifty-five gallon tank with a breeding colony of one
of the many popular aulonocara "peacock" types of African cichlid, with
necessary rock work as decor. You could even blend the rules a bit and add a few
corycats to the ten, a botia loach to the twenty-nine, and maybe some synodontis
species to the fifty-five to assist with the tank clean-up. This could be done
because the purpose of the tank would still be the same, to house and support
your selected species of fish.
The biotope type of aquarium can be very easy or difficult to achieve, depending
upon what fishes you would like to keep. A biotope would include only fishes in
a "fish biotope" that would come from the same region or specific area in
nature. I have chosen three common areas to mention for "fish biotope" tanks. An
Asian biotope could have gouramis, flying fox, botia loaches, many barb types,
danios and rasboras as inhabitants. A South American biotope could have schools
of various tetras, hatchetfish, corydoras catfish, angelfish or apistogramma
types of cichlids. An African biotope could have synodontis species of catfish
with various types of rift lake cichlids or riverine cichlids with Congo tetras:
plus there are some barb types that also call the African continent home. Of
course, you would not want to mix all the types listed for each biotope together
for compatibility reasons, but you get the idea some of the choices available.
There are dozens upon dozens of possibilities for biotope aquaria if the right
inhabitants can be acquired.
For a true biotope aquarium, the appropriate types of live plants would also
have to be included. For a "plant biotope" or a true full biotope tank, the
Asian example would need cryptocorynes, hygrophilias and java moss or java fern
to name a few. A South American example could include cabomba, echinodorus
sp. swordplants and elodea types, among others. An African version could include
anubias and vallisneria species. There are many other types of plants that can
be found in various and dispersed areas of the world. Some research would reveal
others to match the chosen biotope desired.
My own experiences have largely stayed with the "community" concept. I have "mixed" various types of aquaria though, as my rift lake cichlid tanks have residents only from the same lake, with appropriate rock work and decor. I therefore have several "biotope community" tanks. I have a forty-five gallon tank with gouramis, danios, flying fox, and a Botia lochata for a fish only biotope. It could also be a true biotope except for a few plastic plants and one of my favorite live plants, anubias nana. My anubias loves this tank, but I have tried crypts and others in it, and they did not. I have, in the past, had a South American tetra only tank with geographically correct plastic plants and some corys too, a guppy only tank, and a goldfish only tank with plastic decor. Depending upon how one can "bend" the definition, I suppose I have had "biotope" tanks during my 30 plus years of keeping fish and as a hobbyist. I hope you too will try other options beyond the popular and never ending community tanks. the end