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Central American Lowlands -- Livebearer Biotope

BIOTOPE AQUARIA

A biotope aquaria is an aquarium that is set-up to simulate a natural habitat. The fish, plants, water chemistry, and furnishings are similar to those that can be found in a specific natural setting.

Mongabay.com is the sole effort of Rhett A. Butler, who has taken the photos and written all of the content found on the site. If you find mongabay.com a useful resource I hope that you may consider making a contribution to help support the site. You can also assist by purchasing biotope books using links on this page.

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Central American Lowlands -- Livebearer Biotope
Refugio de Vida Silvestre Cuero y Salado, Honduras
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In 2004 I visited The Refugio de Vida Silvestre Cuero y Salado in Honduras. This refuge is comprised of 13,225 hectares of mangrove-covered wetlands and lowland rainforest.

Around the refuge is a large area of seasonally flooded pastureland in addition to drainage canals and ponds. In these fresh and brackish-waters I found a number of livebearers including black and gray mollies and mosquitofish. The water temperature varied from 79-86F (26-30C).

The substrate of these ponds is sand and vegetation consists of floating Water hyacinth.

The water is tea colored but very transparent.

WATER:
pH: 7.5-8.0, 15-25 dH, 75-86 F (24-30 C)

TANK:
Use a dark-colored substrate of sand or fine gravel. Pieces of driftwood or bogwood can be used along with scattered floating plants (ideally water hyacinth). Lighting should be bright.

PLANTS:
Vegetation consists of water hyacinth and grass.

FISH:
Short-finned Molly - Poecilia sphenops [Pictures]

Black Mollies
Swordtail - Xiphophorus helleri [Pictures]
Mangrove molly -- Poecilia orri
Porthole livebearer -- Porthole livebearer "Occurs in irrigation canals" [quote: FishBase.org]
Yucatan goby - Gobiosoma yucatanum "Known from rivers, estuaries and inland lagoons" [quote: FishBase.org]
Ariidae Catfish


For other ideas, see Fishbase - Honduras listing or a broader broader look at Central American Fish

PHOTOS:
Honduras Cuero y Salado Photos
Molly Habitat, Honduras



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Other Biotope Resources




Recent news

Global warming to worsen ocean dead zones, hurt fisheries
(5/1/2008) Warming oceans will worsen oxygen-deficient or hypoxic dead zones, affecting ecosystems and fisheries, warn researchers writing in the journal Science.

Shark-repelling fishing gear in the works
(4/23/2008) Fishing gear that produces an electric field in sea water could help prevent sharks from becoming accidental bycatch, say scientists at NOAA.

Global warming could trigger dramatic Lake Tahoe changes within 10 years
(3/24/2008) Warming temperatures may cloud Lake Tahoe's legendary clear waters and put the lake's native species at risk, reports a new study from the University of California, Davis.

Hibernating fish discovered in the Antarctic
(3/5/2008) Scientists have discovered a fish that exhibits hibernation-like behavior in the icy waters of the Antarctic.

Feds flood the Grand Canyon to save endangered fish
(3/5/2008) Federal government officials unleashed a flood of water from Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona to help restore the Grand Canyon's ecosystem which has suffered as a result of changes caused by the dam.

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Copyright Rhett Butler 1994-2006

The copy for fish.mongabay.com was written in 1994-1995. Therefore some information such as scientific names may be out of date. For this, I apologize. Feel free to send corrections to me.