Biotopes
A look at creating a riverine biotope based around Tomocichla tuba
Creating a biotope display aquarium is a great way of learning about the fish we keep. It gives the opportunity to find out what species live sympatric together, as well as the underwater environment including how rock formations look and aquatic fauna that maybe present in each waterway. Costa Rica is an interesting country to research and create a cichlid biotope from as the endemic species available is quite diverse. There is around 9 genera of cichlid that inhabit the many river systems of Costa Rica, giving us plenty of scope when choosing species and combining different cichlid species. Costa Rica boarders Nicaragua in the North and Panama to the South, River systems both have Atlantic( Caribbean sea) and pacific side drainages. The San Juan River is Atlantic side, one of the largest and is shared by both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. I have been planning a Riverine setup for some time, but was unable to source a suitable cichlid to base the aquarium on. I was very fortunate to grab a small group of Tomocichla tuba, these are very hard to find in the hobby and were lucky that my good friend Ross Evans had grown a large group on at the unit. Tomocichla tuba range extends into eastern Nicaragua, through Eastern Costa Rica to the very tip of Northern Panama. They are a riverine species and found in waters with high oxygen content and strong current. The underwater environment is mainly rocks / boulders with a sand – gravel River bed. I would regard T. tuba as a fish for the more advanced aquarium keeper. They need quite a strong flow in the aquarium, failing that provide water with high oxygen content by using a spraybar to break the surface of the water. My filtration system is very basic, perhaps crude as the background in the aquarium conceals a basic biological filtration system made up from sheets of filter
22