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]
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 `'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'`` Other Biotope Resources
Poecilidi Goodeidi - Biotopes - Habitat descriptions for livebearers. Much of the site is in Italian -- some nice biotope pictures. Shane's World - Geography Articles - Biotope resources for Catfish Biotope Aquariums - Freshwater biotope and regional aquarium setups, water chemistry information, care instructions for featured fish and plants Badman's Tropical Fish - Biotope Aquariums - Biotope Aquarium Info Loaches Online - A River Runs Through It - Replicating fast flowing rivers and streams Loaches Online - A River Runs Through It - Replicating fast flowing rivers and streams for hillstream loaches Aqua Journal - The Making of Nature Aquarium Cichlid-Forum.com - The Great Lakes of East Africa Aqua Botanic - Archived biotope descriptions Aqua Botanic Biotope Forum Archives - Archived biotope forum All Wet Thumb Community [Aqua Botanic] - Rio Negro biotope thread including pictures All Wet Thumb Community [Aqua Botanic] Biotope Forum - An excellent resource for information on biotope aquaria NBAT - In Dutch Tropica.com - Tropical Aquarium Plants Simply Discus - Amano's pics of some Blackwater habitats TheKrib.com - Biotope pages from TheKrib
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