# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cichlids >  Rio Negro Biotope

## hermes73

Hi,

Thought I'd post some pics of my Rio Negro biotope, focused on Heckel discus, angels and cupid cichlids, as well as my experiences. This is the second tank - the original was longer but thinner, and is now housing Geophagus sp. 'Tapajos' and a colony of zebra plecos.



It's not a large a tank as I would have liked, but space is at a premium. But I think I've managed ok in maximizing the space, after a bit of a learning curve.

Viewed from above is divided approximately into one third open area, one third deep shade, and one third in-between. Shade is provided by spider driftwood to simulate roots: to maximize floor area, all driftwood is fixed to the glass behind, with nothing resting on the bottom. I wanted to keep floor area as large as possible because that's where the Heckels and cupid cichlids feed. Too small an area and there would be increased squabbling over feeding space. (As an aside: in an earlier design, I had used rocks, but the Heckels were very wary of swimming over them and didn't seem certain of what rocks were exactly.) Majority of driftwood is near the surface, and they provide the base on which the plants grow.

The spider driftwood has no sharp corners where the discus can hurt themselves (have had bad experience with old black wood), and I've noticed the Heckels seem most secure when they have shelter *above* their heads and a place behind a network of branches where they can see you but they think you can't see them. I've not had any "mad Heckel dashes" since. In one of the older designs, there was a completely isolated spot behind a huge piece of driftwood where they could hide: but that seemed to work only ok, because the discus couldn't see when it was safe to venture out again.



Most Rio Negro biotopes are bare of vegetation, as should be the case, given that the dark water and the depths at which discus live preclude most plants from growing. However, it does make for a bit of a boring tank, so I've come to a compromise by having the plants grow at the top of the tank, out of the water. I feel it helps reduce nitrates (and the plants DO grow fast) plus it affords additional shade and shelter to make the Heckels feel secure.

The plants aren't biotope correct, I have to admit:
- Hydrocotyle verticillata
- Bacopa caroliniana
- Limnobium laevigatum "Amazon frogbit"
- Riccia fluitans
- Taxiphyllum barbieri
- Bolbitis heudelotii
- Echinodorus cultivar 'Red Rubin'

The Taxiphyllum was wrapped around the tops of the driftwood and provided an initial "base" on which to grow the Hydrocotyle and Bacopa. They've grown so fast and thick, I think they've almost wiped out the Taxiphyllum and Riccia. Bacopa is starting to put forth blue flowers, which is what I wanted.

Bolbitis was a concession because I wanted the "flooded forest" effect and couldn't find any Amazonian "epiphytes". The Bolbitis is still settling in, so we'll see how they survive in the long run.

The Echinodorus is the only plant rooted in the substrate: I formerly had Tonina, Mayaca and Syngonanthus, and then I noticed something odd. The Heckels were systematically uprooting any rooted plants, as if they felt they were alien and didn't like them at all. The way they did this was amusing - they would regard a plant from several angles, and then headbutt them until it drifted away. I chose 'Red Rubin' because I didn't want something too green and maybe resemble something scorched by the acidic water. The Heckels don't have any issue with the Echinodorus so far...

Planting the Echinodorus took a bit of thinking because most of the substrate is a thin (< 1 cm) layer of probably the last bag of ADA Rio Negro sand left for sale in Singapore. Sand was kept thin to avoid anaerobic bacteria buildup, especially since the cupid cichlids aren't as effective sand-sifters as other Geophagus. In the end, I kind of made my own Wabi-Kusa ball of leftover ADA Amazonia II and planted it in that. The Wabi-Kusa didn't last (thanks to the cupid cichlids which kept picking at it) but the Echinodorus seems to have rooted in the meantime and is growing alright.

Right, now to inhabitants - it's a bit crowded, I know, but may move the angels once they get a bit bigger.

6 Heckel discus
4 young Manacupuru angels
1 leopold angel
5 young Biotodoma cupido (cupid cichlids)
1 Dekeyseria brachyura (butterfly flounder pleco)
a few Ottos



(Yes, I forgot to clean the glass before I took the photos...)

I believe they're Rio Negro Heckels (anyone can confirm definitively?). Oh: another lesson learnt - don't mix Heckels from different rivers. They don't get along. Had some Heckels from a different batch with brighter yellow, rather than orange-red, colouration and boy was there fighting between Team Yellow and Team Orange.



The Manacapurus were a later addition, to replace the Leopolds, which were unfortunately wiped out by a parasitic infestation.



The one surviving Leopold. Still prefer them and feel they're highly underrated. Besides, felt it was only appropriate to have the smallest discus species with the smallest angelfish species. The survivor bosses it over the Manacupurus and is showing great colouration, especially the purple-red fins. Wish the rest survived.



Biotodoma cupido: only had them for a couple of months. They're cute now, but wondering what I'll do when they get bigger. I bought a lone adult once but it didn't survive more than a few days: I do suspect they need company. Juveniles seem to be more hardy and have settled in well, although they can be extremely nervous and prone to dashing about. They school when scared, but squabble when secure. A bit of colour is starting to show, like a faint rose underbelly, although it's not there all the time and very hard to capture in a photograph.



L168 Dekeyseria brachyura. Keeps pretty much to itself. Sometimes I forget it's there.

The Ottos (which I *think* are either Otocinclus hoppei or O. vittatus) were also a concession, so as to keep algae under control as Yamato shrimp didn't have an ice cube's chance in Hell surviving with the Heckels around. That was before i managed to find the Dekeyseria. I know the warnings about having loricarids with discus: have had issues with Ottos attacking (domestic) discus before, but have been keeping them well-fed and so far no trouble.

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## sqwerc

Very unique setup! Thanks for sharing bro!

It looks pretty crowded though how big is your tank?

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## FT David

Really like the scaping especially the spider driftwood. Can share with me where u got them with the cost? Thought of buying few pieces for my Altums.

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## BFG

Not an expert but your setup do look like a riparium. Since you know this setup is kinda over crowded, why not get a large capacity canister filter or 2 as these large fish do produce a lot of waste by product. Have an air pump on standby as I feel you might need it in the near future. If you see the fish rapidly breathing or staying near the water surface, do not hesitate to start using the air pump.

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## sfk7

Nice one Hermes! Though the plants are not biotope correct but it adds a very nice touch to the look. Love the Heckels! From C328? Just gotten myself 6 pieces from a forummer too.

Yours look like a tall 2.5 or 3ft tank? Second BFG's suggestion, overfiltration is always good.

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## hermes73

> Nice one Hermes! Though the plants are not biotope correct but it adds a very nice touch to the look. Love the Heckels! From C328? Just gotten myself 6 pieces from a forummer too.
> 
> Yours look like a tall 2.5 or 3ft tank? Second BFG's suggestion, overfiltration is always good.


Thanks for the suggestions: actually, I didn't talk about hardware ... the aquarium is a braceless 900 x 450 x 600 mm tank. Because it's deep and the surface partially covered by vegetation, I've made allowances for overfiltration. Hooked to it are a Eheim Professional II with a venturi and an ADA Super Jet ES-1200 with a lily pipe. Oxygen's not an issue at 4.0 to 6.0 mg/l. Water is typically pH 5.5, 30.5 degrees Celsius, 0 kH, 6 gH. At least 25% water change twice a week, together with the plants, keep nitrates under control. Algae growth slowed down significantly since the plants were introduced.

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## hermes73

> Not an expert but your setup do look like a riparium. Since you know this setup is kinda over crowded, why not get a large capacity canister filter or 2 as these large fish do produce a lot of waste by product. Have an air pump on standby as I feel you might need it in the near future. If you see the fish rapidly breathing or staying near the water surface, do not hesitate to start using the air pump.


Thanks, BFG.

I've already mentioned the filtration systems. I wouldn't use an air pump because I find Heckels often act adversely to rising curtains of bubbles. They also get spooked by shirtlessness lol, which leads me to conclude that bubbles and bare bodies are too reminiscent of Amazon dolphins for the liking of wild caught discus  :Smile:

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## illumnae

Your Heckels do look like they're from the Rio Negro, and the brighter yellow ones are likely from the Rio Abacaxis.

The manacapuru angelfish are stunning for being juveniles - it's getting less and less common to see such bright red ones locally. However, if you do want to strictly stick to a Rio Negro setup, you'll probably want to remove them sometime and "top up" on either more Pt. leopoldi, or consider St Isabel scalares or what is usually called the "Rio Negro altums" (also Pt scalare, but showing some morphological similarities to real altums).

I believe Biotodoma wavrini is the eartheater you're looking for in a Rio Negro setup, as Biotodoma cupido is found nearer to the Tapajos area in the Amazon basin as well as in the Orinocco, Guyana and Essequibo and not in the Rio Negro (according to fishbase anyway).

I love your L168! I'm using the very similar L52 for my Rio Orinocco set up and it's a very hardworking cleaner (better than bristlenoses in my opinion) and very pretty to boot.

Still a very interesting effort, and very well done! I hope that I didn't come across as being overly critical, but since you labelled this a Rio Negro biotope set up, I thought you may be interested in how this tank may be tweaked to more accurately to reflect the true biotope you hoped to emulate. 

What's most important though is that your fish are comfortable, and the most telling thing is that your heckels do not do the "mad dash". Having kept my heckels in a range of tanks from planted, to inaccurate biotope to accurate biotope, and only in the 3rd situation did they not resort to the "mad dash" every now and then. It's really great to see that your heckels are happy!

Sfk7 and myself have both set up Rio Negro biotope setups, though I think we both were striving to be more biotopically correct in decor and fauna. I've since torn down mine though to make space for a more generic South American set up (sold off my Heckels and am working on bringing in Rio Curua royal blues instead).

I do hope more interest will develop locally in biotope set ups, as the natural look definitely holds its own beauty too.

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## ady vladutz

Looks cute but i think you have to many fishes and to many plants at the surface.

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## hermes73

Thanks, illumnae.

I started with a biotope-correct setup, but got bored. There's only so much driftwood, blackwater and sand one can stare at.

As for Manacapurus, they're not necessarily from Rio/Lagos Manacapuru. There's an article I came across about someone breeding red-shouldered angelfish definitively identified to have come from the Rio Negro (http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com...are_negro.html). The mouth of the Rio Negro used to flow into the Solimoes at present-day Manacapuru, and the conditions are similar (both being blackwater), so it does not seem unlikely. The red colouration of the "Manacapuru" angelfish is likely a blackwater adaptation - which makes it even more probable that red-shouldered angels also live in the Negro.

Biodotoma cupido is also found in the Rio Negro - it was described 1840 by Heckel, with type specimens from the Rio Guapore and Rio Negro. The species from the Orinoco is B. wavrini, the "Orinoco eartheater" (Gosse, 1963, with type specimens from the Orinoco). Guyana and Essequibo are linked to the Rio Negro; the Tapajos locality seems rather odd, given the lack of interconnectedness. The Tapajos is a right tributary of the Amazon, fast-flowing whitewater, although it does have small blackwater creeks feeding it. Negro, Guyana and Essequibo are slower moving left tributaries, with the first two being mostly blackwater and Essequibo both black and clear. Biodotoma dislike strong current, so I'm not convinced they would populate isolated creeks along the Tapajos as they would have had to navigate the main channel to reach these. It would also seem strange that B. cupido would have managed to populate both Orinoco and say Guyana and Essequibo, without also being successful in the Rio Negro. The Orinoco was not, until recent years, linked to the Amazon system and is today linked by a canal by way of the Rio Negro. Smaller fish species are known to be found both in the upper Orinoco (Rio Iniri et al) and upper Negro, but do not disseminate to the lower Negro: Apistogramma iniridae is an example. These were likely to have been washed down from the Orinoco to the Negro by floods. Orinoco lies upland of Negro across the Guiana Shield, so it's not possible for the reverse to have happened.

I don't trust Fishbase entirely: they list Pterophyllum altum as one of the species found in the Negro for example, when it's pretty widely known now that true altums are solely from the Orinoco and that "Rio Negro altums" are in fact P. scalare (according to current labeling). P. leopoldi which is also reported by Bleher to have been commonly caught in the company of Symphysodon discus is also not listed by Fishbase under Rio Negro species.

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## hermes73

Sorry: realized a geographic mistake - Guyana and Essequibo aren't tributaries but are connected to the Amazon by seasonal flooding. They're sluggish flood-prone rivers, like the Negro, although I believe they're more clearwater than blackwater.

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## illumnae

I am no expert in the Biotodoma genus so I will bow to your greater knowledge  :Smile: 

In relation to the red shouldered angelfish, you may be happy to know that your conclusion is correct. There are red shouldered angelfish found in the Rio Negro. They are the Santa Isabel angelfish I mentioned in my previous post  :Smile:  The Manacapuru red shoulders show morphological differences from the Santa Isabel ones though, so strictly speaking, the Manacapurus won't be classified as Rio Negro fish, unless of course you're passing them off as the Santa Isabels (which are extremely rare, but may make an appearance locally in the near future). You may be interested to know that there is another population of red shouldered angelfish from the Rio Tapajos as well.

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## hermes73

Thanks for the tip on the Sta Isabels - interesting, although I'll have to check up on the differences (do you know a good link?). They look like altum-scalare/rio negro altums, albeit with red colouration.

Sta Isabel would be the upper Rio Negro, at the border with Venezuela. With those in the north and Manacapuru in the south, I wouldn't be surprised if there were red-hued angels the entire length of the Negro. Funny that no one's noticed these until fairly recently. I guess with domestics so easily available, interest in wild caught angels only came into its own right within the last decade.

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## illumnae

I have only taken notice of the Santa Isabels myself so nothing concrete in relation to the differences. I've heard some talk about differences in the areas on which the red appears (apparently one variant extends to the fins and the other doesn't, and the manacapuru is supposed to have a "cleaner" looking body too). But yes, I do believe that the Santa Isabels are the legendary "Rio Negro Altums" that were mistaken as altums early in the hobby (as you mentioned earlier in your assessment of fishbase). There is some similarity between them and altums, though clearly different when looking closely.

Perhaps in time we'll have more discoveries of other variants of red shouldered angelfish from the rest of the Rio Negro. It'd be interesting for sure.

Recently discovered are apparently "golden head" angelfish as well. I'm waiting for more information on locality and pictures on those  :Smile:

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## illumnae

There are red shouldered angelfish from the Cuini as well, which is also a tributory of the Rio Negro

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## hermes73

There's some consensus that Cuiunis and Sta Isabels fall under a more general 'Upper Rio Negro' morph, with the Manacapurus belonging to a 'Lower Rio Negro' group. It's all iffy of course, as with all discussions on colour morphs for Amazonian species.

The more I look at the URN morphs, the more they look like the legendary (mythical) 'Rio Negro Altums'. Have you watched the documentary on Fishchannel which shows 'Rio Negro Altums' in their natural environment? They look like the URN morphs, with tall finnage, intermediate stripes and somewhat feral patterning, although the tea-hued water in the documentary makes it difficult to tell if they have any red colouration. Manacapurus and the LRN morphs appear to have cleaner bodies like you mentioned, more akin to the classic Pterophyllum scalare.

I used to have a wild-caught Scalare very similar to the Cuiunis, but without any red except for the usual eye. It came in extremely acidic water, and had tall fins, somewhat "dirty" but very dark stripes, an Altum mood spot behind the eye and a patterned, bluish caudal fin like the Cuiunis, but no intermediate stripes. Unfortunately I had to go on holiday and it died while under the care of a well-meaning friend.

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## hermes73

> I am no expert in the Biotodoma genus so I will bow to your greater knowledge 
> You may be interested to know that there is another population of red shouldered angelfish from the Rio Tapajos as well.


Dude, would you know the differences between Geophagus 'Rio Tapajos' and G. 'Rio Negro'? Am more curious about that. Am thinking the Heckels would look better with Geophagus (and the Discus look on in horror at the thought of being moved again)...

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## illumnae

There's a Geophagus species from the Casiquaire drainage (which links the Rio Negro with the Rio Orinocco) - G. winemilleri. That should satisfy your desire for Geophagus sp. from the Rio Negro?  :Smile: 

The most common Geophagus from the Tapajos is very readily available locally, commonly called "RHT" aka G. sp. "Red Head Tapajos", though I think the hobby internationally recognizes it as G. sp. "Tapajos Orange Head" now

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## hermes73

> There's a Geophagus species from the Casiquaire drainage (which links the Rio Negro with the Rio Orinocco) - G. winemilleri. That should satisfy your desire for Geophagus sp. from the Rio Negro? 
> 
> The most common Geophagus from the Tapajos is very readily available locally, commonly called "RHT" aka G. sp. "Red Head Tapajos", though I think the hobby internationally recognizes it as G. sp. "Tapajos Orange Head" now


Thanks illumnae but that's not what I was asking.

Am already aware of the Geophagine cichlids of the Rio Negro - the Surinamensoids including Geophagus altifrons, G. sp. "winemilleri" and a localized version of G. sp. "Tapajos orange head", Biodotoma cupido, Acarichthys heckelii and the Satanoperca group. I was wondering if you knew or was aware of any reliable resource to check on the reported differences between Geophagus sp. "Rio Negro" and G. sp. "Tapajos orange head".

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## illumnae

Nope sorry!

Edit: Here's a link that has some anecdotal sharing of someone who's kept both G. sp "Rio Negro" and G. sp "Orange Head Araguaia", which is a similar fish to G. sp "Tapajos Orange Head":

http://www.perthcichlid.com.au/forum...5&#entry127835 (Post #75)

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## hermes73

Wow thanks! That's exactly it, thanks!

Btw I'm surprised there's no biotope section here in Aquatic Quotient. Would be good to pool accumulated knowledge on various environments. God knows it's such a task sifting through data, some of which is often erroneous. For the longest time I suspected but could not prove that discus and Altums don't occur side-by-side.

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## illumnae

You just have to speak to Heiko Bleher (who used to post here from time to time) to be definitively told that discus and altums don't occur together in nature  :Smile:  It's definitely a pain gathering data, and I think through our discussion we can see that there's so much information out there that we want to know, but just don't. I've been purchasing a number of books such as Heiko's Discus "encyclopedias" (I have both Vol 1 and 2), Heiko's DiscusBook01 and Oliver Lucanus' Amazon Below Water just to try and piece together information on how to keep S.A. fish in biotope-correct tanks.

It's not a popular style of tank here in Singapore, and not here in AQ where it seems that the planted hobby takes dominance. As you noted in your initial post, a biotope-correct tank may tend to look boring to some (though I can't see how it's any more boring than bare bottom tanks!!), but if done correctly can be beautiful too. There is a small increase in biotope style tanks (mostly Heckel discus tanks) over in another forum that I've become more active at, which hopefully will see the start of more biotope-style tanks being popular in Singapore!

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## stormhawk

As what ilumnae said, it's not a popular style of tank locally, simply because of the restriction on what fish you can keep together, even if they are from the same river. Ditto for the plants.

You might want to have a look at Gert's tanks. He posted here in AQ and made some splendid biotope-style setups with sand bottoms and leaf litter. Might be good as a reference.

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## illumnae

Here's a video of the Tapajos population of red shouldered angelfish taken by Hudson of his personal collection:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7mVJ...layer_embedded




> I am no expert in the Biotodoma genus so I will bow to your greater knowledge 
> 
> In relation to the red shouldered angelfish, you may be happy to know that your conclusion is correct. There are red shouldered angelfish found in the Rio Negro. They are the Santa Isabel angelfish I mentioned in my previous post  The Manacapuru red shoulders show morphological differences from the Santa Isabel ones though, so strictly speaking, the Manacapurus won't be classified as Rio Negro fish, unless of course you're passing them off as the Santa Isabels (which are extremely rare, but may make an appearance locally in the near future). You may be interested to know that there is another population of red shouldered angelfish from the Rio Tapajos as well.

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## PatrickChan

ur setup is nice! May i know is there any way that i can improve the intensity of the redness of my manacapuru? or it will brighten up when in adult stage? Thanks

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## hermes73

> As what ilumnae said, it's not a popular style of tank locally, simply because of the restriction on what fish you can keep together, even if they are from the same river. Ditto for the plants.
> 
> You might want to have a look at Gert's tanks. He posted here in AQ and made some splendid biotope-style setups with sand bottoms and leaf litter. Might be good as a reference.


Thanks for the reference: Gert has lovely tanks but they're not a Heckel biotope in the end. They're more a forest creek, the sort found around the Rio Tapajos or Rupununi, with heavy marginal vegetation. The Rio Negro is acidic enough to scorch leaves of terrestrial plants and with visibility at less than 1 metre, almost nothing would grow beneath water. I would guess there might be Echinodorus spp., Tonina fluitans or Syngonanthus in the shallows but Heckels wouldn't venture there. My Heckels don't even like leaf litter, which suggests there isn't even much of that.

In the end, a true Heckel biotope would be blackwater, branches and inert sand, repeat ad nauseum. By having the paludarium effect, I was just trying to explore reasonably acceptable alternatives. 

P.S. Update: Three plants have overcome all the rest - Hydrocotyle, Bacopa and Limnobium. Nature herself seems to have stepped in to eliminate the biotope-incorrect plants.

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## hermes73

That's a good question and I don't know the answer... The colouration does seem to intensify and develop as they age, but I've yet to see an red-shouldered angel develop additional red on top of what was basically already there when they were juveniles.

I don't feed them anything exceptional: discus pellets (the Heckels show distinct preference for TetraBits over other brands; no, I don't own Tetra shares), frozen bloodworms, sinking tablets (actually for my Hypancistrus but the zebras being generous decided to share), frozen brine shrimp, and occasional treats of live food.

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