Introduction to biotope aquarium – Kamil Hazy

A biotope aquarist with experience in international competitions. Advocate of systematization of environmental aquaristics. Organizer – together with ”Aquarium Magazine” – of the Polish Biotope Contest. He offers services of consulting and arrangement of biotope, habitat and environmental aquariums. He believes that aquaria are primarily intended to meet the needs of their inhabitants.

Biotope Aquarium – shore of a tributary to Lake Inle, Burma

Biotope Aquarium – small tributary to Rio Paragua, Bolivia

When planning to set up a new aquarium, you usually start searching for information on Facebook, but a great number and variety of aquarium groups there can really make you dizzy. Beginners in the hobby looking for inspirations, tips and advice will be often offered one suggestion: “Why not starting a biotope?” Many will catch on and start asking further questions and looking for information online. Unfortunately, the information they will find there and the advice they will receive from most aquarium hobbyists will have nothing to

do with the real “biotope aquaristics”. In fact the term “biotope aquarium” itself is very often abused. It is the result of imprecise terminology that has been in use for years and the same old patterns repeated all and over again. Most of us has a tendency to oversimplification when it comes to things that require more effort but image created on the basis of these simplifications will be easily assimilable but rather unrealistic. We tend to consider biotope aquaristics a hobby for the elites, but oversimplification mentioned above makes it a “product” for everyone. After all, according to Internet guidelines, it is enough to let fish from one continent into the tank... And we already have a biotope. This approach is tempting. You can belong to these “elites” not doing anything special. If you want to find out why this approach is wrong, take a minute and read this article.

WHAT IS A BIOTOPE? Let’s start with the most important thing – biotope aquaristics is in no way better than other aquaristics schools or approaches. Of course, it is different from others, but as long as we, the hobbyists, have one most important goal in mind, which is the welfare of aquatic organisms, there should never be better or worse paths to follow in aquaristics. Nevertheless, the terminology needs a bit of clarification. In order to understand the idea of a biotope aquaristics, we must explain what a biotope is. Let’s check Wikipedia then: (the below presented definitions are translations from Polish Wikipedia)

Biotope – the living environment of the biocenosis, the environmental part of the ecosystem. Originally, only the abiotic elements of the habitat were defined as the biotope. Nowadays it is often understood as an inanimate habitat altered by biocenosis. The biotope together with the biocenosis forms the ecosystem.

Let’s also look at the definition of biocenosis then, because it also explains a lot: Biocenosis – a group of populations of plant organisms (phytocenosis), animal organisms (zoocenosis) and microorganisms (microbiocenosis) of a given environment (biotope), belonging to different species, but linked to each other by various ecological factors and food dependencies, forming a whole that remains in nature in a state of homeostasis (i.e. dynamic balance). The biocenosis and the biotope, i.e. the physical (inanimate) environment, form an ecosystem.

KEY WORD Based on these definitions, we can see that a biotope aquarium is supposed to reflect the living environment of a particular biocenosis

Biotope Aquarium – pond in the northern ends of Pantanal, Brazil

that occurs in the same area and is linked by different factors. Therefore, there is no concept of a biotope aquarium without a biotope-specific biocenosis. However, we should remember that you can’t recreate the entire biocenosis from a given ecosystem in an aquarium, nor can you recreate the entire biotope – this is simply impossible. And that the correct naming is to define a number of factors, to systematize and create a certain canon, approach or – if you prefer – a platform for comparison and understanding in the human environment. The term “biotope aquarium” is not a new term, it has been used in the world of aquaristics for a number of years and is so well established that it seems unreasonable to reject it, even though it does not fully describe the actual state of the aquarium. Suffice it to say that every aquarium we have at home contains some kind of biocenosis and some kind of biotope, which most often do not occur in nature or do not reflect the natural ecosystem, but theoretically we can also call it a biotope tank. The most important aspect, the key word in this whole puzzle, by which most of the naming problems are caused, is the expression “to reflect”.

THREE SCHOOLS At this point let’s go back to the aquarium hobbyists and their perception of biotope aquaristics. Some of them believe that there is no such thing as biotope aquaristics at all, because there is no possibility to recreate the natural environment and processes in the aquarium. Others believe that we can talk about a biotope aquarium when all its elements are taken from the natural environment. All inanimate matter, all plants and animals, and even water must be derived from one specific place. There is also the third, most balanced group,

Habitat Aquarium – sunken shrub

and probably the biggest, that gives up extremes and aims to systematize this beautiful field of aquaristics. I will try to give you an idea of the approach of this third group, based on my personal opinion as well as the opinions of aquarists from all over the world.

REFLECTING THE BIOTOPE IN THE AQUARIUM A biotope aquarium must contain selected elements of the biocenosis from a particular region that we want to link with one other and provide them with a biotope as close as possible to that found in nature. And so we get back to the keyword “reflect”. A biotope aquarium is to reflect, as close as possible, in an artificial, glass environment some specific underwater ecosystem from a particular area. The selected biocenosis must be the same as the biocenosis occurring in selected nature, and the biotope must relate as closely as possible to the biotope from nature and fulfil the same role as in nature for the selected biocenosis. In simple terms: fish, crustaceans and vegetation must come from the same place in nature, and water, substrate and elements of inanimate matter (decorations) are to provide these animals and plants with living conditions as faithful as possible to nature.

SIMILAR TANK TYPES If you don’t feel confident enough to create a biotope aquarium and want to have a tank more similar to the natural underwater fish

Habitat Aquarium – pond shore

habitats, you can consider similar types of aquariums:

Environmental Aquarium – aquarium reflecting a given type of aquatic environment (e.g. black waters of South America), taking into account the biocenosis that occurs in this type of environment throughout the continent. Animals and plants used in such tanks do not have to meet in nature, it is enough if they live in a similar environments. Area Aquarium – aquarium reflecting a given characteristic area with a relatively similar environment (e.g. Lake Malawi, the Amazon, etc.) taking into account different biotopes and biocenoses from a given geographical area, consistent within the geographical framework (one river, one body of water). Habitat Aquarium – aquarium that reflects a specific habitat (e.g. streamside, sunken tree branch, etc.) taking into account the biocenoses found worldwide in such habitat types. All these types of tanks mentioned above have one thing in common, the welfare of the animals, which is a priority in case of all. Fish and plants selected for the above aquariums do not, of course, have to be derived from na-

ture, they may come from farms. However, it is important that their color varieties and body shapes are as close to natural as possible.

A WORD ABOUT APPEARANCE, ARRANGEMENT AND EDUCATION The very appearance of a biotope aquarium is often eagerly discussed as well. In my opinion, nothing stands in the way of the biotope tank to play its role and be harmonious and beautiful at the same time. A pile of branches and leaves thrown into the tank chaotically can be arranged somehow and – without losing anything of its usefulness for animals and plants – enjoy the eye of the viewers. However, it must be remembered that the arrangement of the aquarium should first meet all animals’ needs, that’s the priority. This issue is so individual that it is difficult to create any frameworks here. You should just remember about the welfare of plants and animals and the fact that an aquarium is also supposed to attract people not connected with aquaristics and at the same time to serve as an educational tool to promote given aquatic ecosystem. Furthermore, in the case of all aquariums that reflect underwater nature, it is important to keep pointing out all abnormal breeding practices educate about the destruction of the environment and disappearance of natural habitats. This rule does not apply to tanks arranged in public spaces only. We can follow this mission at home as well. Guests visiting our apartments will surely appreciate a well arranged tank with an interesting “story” behind it.

Quickly and conveniently enrich water with tannins and humic acids.