I thought I'd try my hand at a blackwater biotope for chocolate gouramis, Sphaerichthys osphromenoides.

Sumatra wood and Indian almond leaves.

Tank is 60x30x30cm. Small internal set filter to low output.

Various floating plants. There's some Amazon frogbit that will be removed once the Salvinia establishes.

pH <6, 29C (85F). 10% water change per day with RO.

Thanks for looking.

Lovely tank, and lovey Gourami's

Are you trying a breeding project with the tank or was it just something you wanted to do, keep the Grouami in a species biotope?

i love the autumnal look of the leaves! beautiful fish....makes me want chocolate gouramis....mmmmm

Very Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks amazing, very nice fish too.

People who try to get rid of tannins are crazy, they make the tank look so nice and natural .

This post has been edited by three-fingers: Jan 11 2008, 01:28 AM

Thanks all.



I'm not deliberately trying to breed. I've always liked CGs so ceased the opportunity to do them justice.

Look out for a blog on the PFK site next Monday (14th Jan 08), detailing why and how I set it up...

Cheers.

Very nice fish they are looking gr8.

Yes lovely fish. I wish they weren't so fragile. I'd love to try to keep them. I ordered a few by they died during the post.

-Darke

wonderful fish and tank! How many do you have in there and how big is the tank?

Thanks.

Four fish. Tank is 60x30x30cm.

is there anything else in with them? That is one beatiful tank. wish i could have that.

No. It's a tank dedicated to these lovely little fish.

I'm going to be doing more of these biotope/species tanks. They're so much less hassle than hi-tech planted yet they are very attractive, on a different level.

Amazing fish and tank!

Would be really cool if you did manage to breed them.

Very nice biotope George.

I look forward to seeing more of your aquascaping. Which other biotopes and species tanks have you got plans for and are we going to be seeing lots of them in PFK?

Cheers, Andy.

Nice what other palnts can go in with these fish in this ph. I am looking at making a biotope of them in a40l aquacube.

Pretty much anything you can think of, except the obvious one that is Vallis.

Thanks everyone.



Thanks, Andy.

I'd like to try a fast flowing stream next. I don't want to give too much away...

There should be a blog about this CG tank on the PFK site today sometime.

I'd like to feature these biotopes in the mag too. We'll see.

If you're serious about a biotope then this may interest you -

http://www.greenchapter.com/article.php?ca...;id=21&pg=0

Cryptocoryne, Blyxa and Eleocharis would be suitable. Trouble is, in a blackwater biotope, you need intense light for submerged growth.

This is why I've stuck to floating species, where light and CO2 aren't an issue, of course.

Wonderful tank! What kind of lighting are you using, as it seems pretty dim. Or is that because of the tannis?