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Biotopes by Country Africa Biotopes Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Cameroon Central African Republic Chad CongoDR Congo Rep Cote d Ivoire Equatorial Guinea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea-Bissau Guinea Kenya Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia Sudan Tanzania Togo Zambia Zimbabwe Asia Biotopes Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia East Timor Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Laos Malaysia Myanmar Nepal Pakistan Philippines Singapore Thailand VietNam Caribbean Biotopes Cuba Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Trinidad and Tobago US Virgin Islands Central America Biotopes Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama North America Biotopes USA Australia & Oceania & Misc Islands Biotopes Australia French Polynesia Guam Hawaii Maldives Marshall Islands Mauritius Micronesia New Caledonia Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Seychelles Solomon Islands Sri Lanka Tahiti Taiwan Vanuatu South America Biotopes Bolivia Brazil Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uganda Uruguay Venezuela Ecosystems Africa - Central Africa : Congo_Zaire Lake Kivu Africa - East Africa : Sabaki River Tana River Africa - North Africa : Nile Africa - Rift Lakes : Lake Chad Lake Liambezi Lake Malawi Lake Rukwa Lake Tanganyika Lake Turkana Lake Victoria Africa - Southern Africa : Chobe Okavango River Orange Shire Zambezi Kwando River Linyanti Africa - West Africa : Agnebi Bandama River Benue River Bia River Buba River Casamance River Cross River Gambia River Kariba Little Scarcies Niger River Ogun River Rokel Saint John Saint Paul Saloum Senegal River Volta Weme Comoé River Corubal River Ebrie Fatala Geba Kainji Lake Kogon Kolente Konkoure Loffa Mano Mao Mono River Nipoue Pra Sassandra Sewa Tano Asia - India : Brahmaputra River Cavally River Ganges Indus Krishna River Chilka Lake Chittar River Godavari Asia - Japan : Lake Biwa Asia - Philippines : Lake Buluan Lake Lanao Taal Asia - Southeast Asia : Amudar'ya Chao Praya River Irrawaddy Mekong River Salween Eurasia : Danube Lake Baikal Seine Loire Rhine Middle East : Euphrates Tigris North America - USA : Great Lakes Lake Waccamaw Mississippi South America : Amazon River Araguaia River Madeira Magdalena Maranon Orinoco Para-Tocantins Paraguay River Parana Rio Negro Sao Francisco Uruguay River Purus Saltwater / Marine / Reef Saltwater Great Barrier Reef Saltwater_Hawaiian_Insular Saltwater_Persian_Gulf Saltwater_Peru-Galapagos Saltwater_Polynesia Saltwater_Red_Sea

BIOTOPE AQUARIA -- Updated Mar.3.2004

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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.

Languages - Translations German / Deutsch Spanish / Español Portuguese / Português French / Français Italian / Italiano Best Biotope Books

Roughly half of the two dozen or so biotope-related emails I get each week ask for more specific details on a particular biotope. The truth is, true biotopes are exceedingly difficult to represent even if you are fortunate enough to be endowed with substantial tank. True habitats very greatly -- they are dynamic environments where conditions can change quickly and flora and fauna tend to be limited to a single species rather than an exciting mix of species. True biotopes are considerably more boring than those you see in magazines while natural substrates and materials [clay, mud, decaying leaves] are often impractical in the home aquarium. The purpose of this site is to jumpstart your creative process and to give you some ideas for designing your own biotope aquarium.

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.

[Photos from various habitats/biotopes]

Freshwater fish species listed by country and ecosystem -- excellent resources for constructing biotope aquaria.

African River Rapids Lake Tanganyika Lake Malawi West or Central African River Southern African Swamp Southeast Asian River Thai Creek Southeast Asian Blackwater Pool Southeast Asian Mangrove Estuary

Indian/Burmese River New Guinea River Northern Australia Rainforest Creek South American Whitewater River South American Clearwater Stream South American Blackwater Creek South American Blackwater Stream Central American Rocky Lake Central American River

Be sure not to miss links to other biotope resources and sites.



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Other Biotope Resources

Catfish Hunters - Article [with pictures] from National Geographic on fish survey in Guyana
Eheim - Biotope profiles for 10 habitats
NatureAquarium.it - For those who can read Italian
Amazzonia - In Italian. Includes great pictures on how to set up a biotope tank
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
Asian and African Biotopes[Aqua Botanic] - Asia & Africa
Aqua Botanic - Tips on planted aquaria
Aqua Botanic - Sri Lanka - Sri Lank biotope 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
Giant Amazon Biotope Tank

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.