01_04425x ffirs.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page i FRESHWATER AQUARIUM MODELS Recipes for Creating Beautiful Aquariums That Thrive JOHN TULLOCK 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page viii 01_04425x ffirs.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page i FRESHWATER AQUARIUM MODELS Recipes for Creating Beautiful Aquariums That Thrive JOHN TULLOCK 01_04425x ffirs.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page ii Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Tullock, John H., 1951– Freshwater aquarium models:recipes for creating beautiful aquariums that thrive / John Tullock; [photography: AaronNorman] p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-04425-4 (pbk.:alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-470-04425-X (alk. paper) 1. Aquariums. 2. Aquarium fishes. 3. Aquarium plants. I. Title. SF457.3.T86 2007 639.34—dc22 2006025098 CIP Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Book design by Elizabeth Brooks Cover design by José Almaguer Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: PART II: Aquarium Basics Aquarium Mechanics INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 3 THE ALLURE OF AQUARIUMS 3 MAKING YOUR HABITAT LOOK REAL 41 Taking the Tank into Consideration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 CHAPTER 1 Lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 CARING FOR AN AQUARIUM 7 Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Including Terrestrial Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Physical and Chemical Cycles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Aquascaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Borrowing from Japanese Gardeners. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The Needs of Aquarium Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 CHAPTER 4 Foods and Feeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 NUTS AND BOLTS 57 Routine Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Built-in Installations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Maintenance Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Free-Standing Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 5 BRINGINGOUTTHEBESTINFISHANDAQUARIUMS 27 TROUBLESHOOTING 67 Guidelines for Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Disease Prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Finding the Right Fit with Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Plant Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Finding a Good Dealer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Algae Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Choosing Healthy Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Acclimating New Arrivals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page iv PART III: Model Design 14: Sulawesi (Celebes Islands) . . 94 Freshwater Aquarium Model Design 15: Sumatra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Model Designs Australia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Model Design 16: Australian Rainbowfish CHAPTER 6 Community Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 SOUTHEAST ASIA 75 CHAPTER 8 Ponds, Ditches, and Rice Paddies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 AFRICA 99 Model Design 1: Shallow Pool in Southern Hard-to-Find Africans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Model Design 17: All-Purpose African Barb Model Design 2: Large Pond in Thailand. . . . . . 77 Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Model Design 3: Community Featuring Model Design 18: Congo Tetra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Gouramis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Model Design 19: African Lungfish. . . . . . . . . . 102 Streams and Rivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Model Design 20: Distichodus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Model Design 4: Sri Lankan Stream. . . . . . . . . . 80 Model Design 21: Elephantnose. . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Model Design 5: Asian Big River. . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 The Zaire and Other West African Rivers. . . . . . . . 110 Model Design 6: White Cloud Mountain. . . . . 83 Model Design 22: Jewel Cichlid Model Design 7: Community Tank Featuring Paludarium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Barbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Model Design 23: Soft Water African Tank. . . . 111 Model Design 8: Glass Catfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Model Design 24: The African Butterflyfish. . . 113 Estuarine Habitats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Model Design 25: A Crib for Kribs. . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Model Design 9: Estuary I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 African Killifish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Model Design 10: Estuary II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Model Design 26: Aphyosemion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 CHAPTER 7 Model Design 27: Epiplatys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 AUSTRALASIA 91 Model Design 28: Nothobranchius. . . . . . . . . . . 119 Oceanic Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Rift Lake Cichlids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Model Design 11: Borneo, Sumatra. . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Model Design 29: Mbuna Community Model Design 12: Irian Jaya, Ajamaru Lakes . . 92 Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Model Design 13: Irian Jaya, Fly River . . . . . . . . 93 Model Design 30: Mbuna Single-Species Tank I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 iv Freshwater Aquarium Models 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page v Model Design 31: Mbuna Single-Species Model Design 49: Terror on the Amazon . . . . 149 Tank II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Model Design 50: Ultimate Amazon Tank. . . 150 Model Design 32: Tanganyika Community South American Killifish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Model Design 51: Argentine Pearlfish . . . . . . . . 154 Model Design 33: Julidochromis transcriptus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 South American Cichlids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Model Design 34: Birchard’s Model Design 52: Apistogramma species. . . . . 155 Neolamprologus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Model Design 53: Butterfly Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . 156 Model Design 35: Shell Dwellers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Model Design 54: Angelfish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Model Design 36: Lemon Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Model Design 55: Discus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Madagascar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 CHAPTER 10 Model Design 37: A Madagascar Tank. . . . . . . 129 CENTRAL AMERICA 161 CHAPTER 9 Livebearers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 SOUTH AMERICA 131 Model Design 56: Guppies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Amazonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Model Design 57: The Wonderful World Model Design 38: Basic Amazon Community of Platies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Model Design 58: Swordtails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Model Design 39: Leaf Fish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Mollies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Model Design 40: Room-Temperature Model Design 59: Mollies I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Amazon Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Model Design 60: Mollies II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Model Design 41: A Tale of Two Tetras. . . . . . . 135 Central American Cichlids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Model Design 42: Tribute to Herbert Model Design 61: Convict Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Axelrod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Model Design 62: Mexican Firemouth. . . . . . . 170 Model Design 43: Neon Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Model Design 63: Salvin’s Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Model Design 44: Emperor Tetra. . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Model Design 64: Jack Dempsey. . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Model Design 45: Expert’s Amazon Tank. . . . . 141 Model Design 65: Blue Acara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Model Design 46: Flying (?) Fish Tank. . . . . . . 143 Mexican Cave Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Model Design 47: The Amazing Splashing Tetra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Model Design 66: Mexican Cave Tetra. . . . . . . 176 Model Design 48: Amazon Tank for Big-Fish Enthusiasts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Table of Contents v 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page vi CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 NORTH AMERICA 179 PURELY ARTISTIC DESIGNS 207 Focusing on the Southeast United States. . . . . . . . 179 Purely Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Why Native Fish?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Model Design 80: Dutch-Style Plant Aquarium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Conservation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Trouble-Free Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Collecting and Transport Techniques. . . . . . . . . . 181 Model Design 81: Miniature Aquarium . . . . . 209 Modifications to the Aquarium System. . . . . . 182 Paludariums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Lazy Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Model Design 82: Killifish Paludarium. . . . . . . . 211 Model Design 67: Southeastern U.S. Swamp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Model Design 83: Orchid Paludarium. . . . . . . . 212 Model Design 68: Southeastern Model Design 84: The Big, Easy Tank. . . . . . . . 214 U.S. Pond or Lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 The Non-Traditional Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Model Design 69: Everglades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Model Design 85: A Black-and-White Model Design 70: Southeastern Aquarium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Farm Pond or Reservoir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Community Tanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Model Design 71: Southeastern Model Design 86: Basic Community Tank . . . 216 U.S. Spring Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Model Design 87: Basic Small Model Design 72: Tidal Creek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Community Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Model Design 73: Rally Round the Flagfish . . 192 Model Design 74: Primitive Fishes. . . . . . . . . . . 193 PART IV: Topminnows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 The Appendixes Model Design 75: Golden Topminnow Species Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 APPENDIX A Model Design 76: Black-spotted FRESHWATER FISH AND PLANTS 221 Topminnow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Model Design 77: Bluefin Topminnow. . . . . . . 198 Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Inland Waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Water Hardness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Model Design 78: Texas Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Model Design 79: Little River Riffle Tank. . . . 201 Other Lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 vi Freshwater Aquarium Models 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page vii Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 APPENDIX D Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 RIVER MAPS 267 Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Plants and Water Hardness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Cameroon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Plants and pH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Central America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Other Helpful Plant Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Democratic Republic of the Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 APPENDIX B Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 TANK SPECIFICATIONS 263 Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 APPENDIX C Tanzania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 MEASUREMENTS AND CONVERSIONS 265 Thailand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 United States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Liquid Measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 INDEX 274 Light Intensity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Temperature Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Alkalinity Conversions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Water Hardness Designations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Table of Contents vii 02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page viii