River Basin Biotype Aquascape for Endangered Fish

[Music] yo what's going on serpa squad tanner here and i'm back with another aquascape the story of this one is a little different than others i've shown while the local fish store the other week i saw a pretty cool variety of fish i've never seen at a store before i was really intrigued and spent the next 15 to 20 minutes doing some research on my phone i determined that this was a species i could keep and luckily i had a free tank in my quarantine area so i bought them the fish i'm referring to are mecca splendens or the butterfly split fin this is a beautiful fish that in my opinion looks like a mini bass what do you think they originate from a very small area within the ameca river basin in mexico unfortunately they're practically extinct in the wild due to habitat loss and other activities around the river so any you may find at the store will have been captive bred once i was aware of this i decided to go a different route with their aquarium i'll create an aquascape but i'll try to use materials that are found in the animal's natural habitat as such this will be something like a biotype aquarium meaning that it gains inspiration from nature but is not intended to be an exact representation of it in this case the amika river basin anyway these fish come from waters that are hard and alkaline due to limestone luckily getting limestone is pretty easy if you know where to look one of the best spots for it is at a landscape yard which can be a great place to get scaping materials for cheap from peat pebbles to boulders you should be able to find it all just be aware of the type of stone and how it could affect water parameters to determine if it's right for the job i was able to get everything you see here for less than twenty dollars i got some limestone sand which has some coarse granules to it i also got one v limestone which is a gravel consistency 2b limestone is larger and will work perfect as accent pieces to help with the sense of scale number three limestone is larger and will be my primary escaping material because of their size i also selected a few limestone boulders i sprayed them down before use they come with a lot of debris on them so this will limit the amount of sediment introduced into this setup i used a strainer for the smaller pieces to make life easier i process the sand a little differently i put it in a large container and spray it down to start i tip it over and continue filling the container i let the water overflow which skims off the fine particles while the desirable bits remain in the container as for the tank i went with the 40 gallon breeder aquarium i had a spare on hand that was ready to go all i did prior was install a piece of window frost film on the back i sprayed down the glass situated the film and squeegeed out the water i also added a piece of a crate light diffuser to the bottom to evenly distribute the weight of the hardscape although it's from a completely different continent i decided to use mu pawnee would it's what i had available and will work well for what i have envisioned i started with the largest piece then i worked in the largest boulder [Music] i'll use these as my key elements their characteristics will dictate how i design this setup the look i have in mind is a rocky outcropping near the riverbank picture amount of rocks with branches woven throughout maybe they're from a tree that fell into the water or perhaps roots that grew into the river bank as i worked through the idea i thought it would be neat to include crevices or caves within the rocky structure i continued placing items with that idea in mind as well [Music] after i got the scape in place i added the filter i went with an aquaclear 70. i already had it on hand and it should produce good flow the fish will enjoy with those in place i added some 2b limestone i placed them within the scape in areas i felt accented everything else they really helped with the sense of scale i also sprinkled in 1b limestone to fill in the smaller spaces then i added the sand to the front and spread it throughout i had to use a spoon to get it in the caves [Music] i added more stents to the front to better transition into the foreground as well at this point i was able to fill it up to get a better sense of how things will look i liked it but i felt that it needed more stones in the foreground [Music] i also sprinkled one bee throughout as for the plants i'm keeping it very simple and going exclusively with hornwort this is a plant that grows in the fish's native habitat which again is something i'm trying to loosely replicate before i could add the fish i made sure to dose the tank with some fritz turbo start which was provided by fritz aquatics this seeds the tank with denitrifying bacteria which makes it safe to immediately stock the tank i also used corrugated plastic for the lids and an led shop light to light the tank [Music] let's add the fish [Music] introducing the new ameca river basin inspired aquarium i'm so excited to add this one to the lineup and i'm really enjoying the butterfly split fins they seem to be at home immediately which is always a great sign i was captivated as i watched them explore the hardscape and zoom through the water i think there are beautiful little fish that look perfect in this setup keep in mind though that they still have to color up significantly and will look even better with time my hope is that they thrive and proliferate under my care i can't wait to learn more about them as time goes on coincidentally i've been thinking a lot lately about working with more threatened animals to add another layer to what i'm doing in the animal room if i'm able to make and provide great homes for them why not create refuge for animals that are being run out of their natural habitat i think it's a pretty cool aspect of this hobby that can easily be overlooked i believe that's all i have for this one though let me know what you think of the tank and these incredible fish as always i hope you all enjoyed the video and learned something new until next time surprise squad take care and peace [Music] you

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 109,441

Rating: 4.9812598 out of 5

Keywords: aquascape, fish tank, aquarium, biotope, biotype, ameca splendens, butterfly splitfin, butterfly goodeid, river basin

Id: 0rH4zXXLOfs

Length: 8min 26sec (506 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021