Freshwater Aquarium Models: Recipes for Creating Beautiful Aquariums That Thrive

308 Pages·2006·5.79 MB·English

by  John H. Tullock

01_04425x ffirs.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page i
FRESHWATER
AQUARIUM
MODELS
Recipes for Creating Beautiful Aquariums That Thrive
JOHN TULLOCK
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page viii
01_04425x ffirs.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page i
FRESHWATER
AQUARIUM
MODELS
Recipes for Creating Beautiful Aquariums That Thrive
JOHN TULLOCK
01_04425x ffirs.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page ii
Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved.
Photography © Aaron Norman
Howell Book House
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the
1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through pay-
ment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978)
750-8400, fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be
addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, [phone],
fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Howell Book House, and related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc.
is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the
contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular
purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained
herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in
rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent
professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from. The
fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information
does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recom-
mendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or
disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at [phone], outside the U.S. at [phone] or fax [phone].
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in
electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Tullock, John H., 1951–
Freshwater aquarium models:recipes for creating beautiful aquariums that thrive / John Tullock; [photography:
AaronNorman]
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-470-04425-4 (pbk.:alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-470-04425-X (alk. paper)
1. Aquariums. 2. Aquarium fishes. 3. Aquarium plants. I. Title.
SF457.3.T86 2007
639.34—dc22
2006025098
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Book design by Elizabeth Brooks
Cover design by José Almaguer
Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: PART II:
Aquarium Basics Aquarium Mechanics
INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 3
THE ALLURE OF AQUARIUMS 3 MAKING YOUR HABITAT LOOK REAL 41
Taking the Tank into Consideration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
CHAPTER 1
Lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
CARING FOR AN AQUARIUM 7
Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Including Terrestrial Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Physical and Chemical Cycles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Aquascaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Borrowing from Japanese Gardeners. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
The Needs of Aquarium Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER 4
Foods and Feeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
NUTS AND BOLTS 57
Routine Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Built-in Installations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Maintenance Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Free-Standing Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 5
BRINGINGOUTTHEBESTINFISHANDAQUARIUMS 27
TROUBLESHOOTING 67
Guidelines for Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Disease Prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Finding the Right Fit with Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Plant Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Finding a Good Dealer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Algae Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Choosing Healthy Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Acclimating New Arrivals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page iv
PART III: Model Design 14: Sulawesi (Celebes Islands) . . 94
Freshwater Aquarium Model Design 15: Sumatra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Model Designs Australia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Model Design 16: Australian Rainbowfish
CHAPTER 6 Community Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
SOUTHEAST ASIA 75
CHAPTER 8
Ponds, Ditches, and Rice Paddies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
AFRICA 99
Model Design 1: Shallow Pool in Southern
Hard-to-Find Africans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Model Design 17: All-Purpose African Barb
Model Design 2: Large Pond in Thailand. . . . . . 77
Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Model Design 3: Community Featuring
Model Design 18: Congo Tetra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Gouramis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Model Design 19: African Lungfish. . . . . . . . . . 102
Streams and Rivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Model Design 20: Distichodus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Model Design 4: Sri Lankan Stream. . . . . . . . . . 80
Model Design 21: Elephantnose. . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Model Design 5: Asian Big River. . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
The Zaire and Other West African Rivers. . . . . . . . 110
Model Design 6: White Cloud Mountain. . . . . 83
Model Design 22: Jewel Cichlid
Model Design 7: Community Tank Featuring
Paludarium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Barbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Model Design 23: Soft Water African Tank. . . . 111
Model Design 8: Glass Catfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Model Design 24: The African Butterflyfish. . . 113
Estuarine Habitats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Model Design 25: A Crib for Kribs. . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Model Design 9: Estuary I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
African Killifish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Model Design 10: Estuary II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Model Design 26: Aphyosemion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
CHAPTER 7
Model Design 27: Epiplatys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
AUSTRALASIA 91
Model Design 28: Nothobranchius. . . . . . . . . . . 119
Oceanic Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Rift Lake Cichlids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Model Design 11: Borneo, Sumatra. . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Model Design 29: Mbuna Community
Model Design 12: Irian Jaya, Ajamaru Lakes . . 92 Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Model Design 13: Irian Jaya, Fly River . . . . . . . . 93 Model Design 30: Mbuna Single-Species
Tank I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
iv Freshwater Aquarium Models
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page v
Model Design 31: Mbuna Single-Species Model Design 49: Terror on the Amazon . . . . 149
Tank II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Model Design 50: Ultimate Amazon Tank. . . 150
Model Design 32: Tanganyika Community
South American Killifish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Model Design 51: Argentine Pearlfish . . . . . . . . 154
Model Design 33: Julidochromis
transcriptus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 South American Cichlids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Model Design 34: Birchard’s Model Design 52: Apistogramma species. . . . . 155
Neolamprologus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Model Design 53: Butterfly Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . 156
Model Design 35: Shell Dwellers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Model Design 54: Angelfish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Model Design 36: Lemon Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Model Design 55: Discus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Madagascar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
CHAPTER 10
Model Design 37: A Madagascar Tank. . . . . . . 129
CENTRAL AMERICA 161
CHAPTER 9
Livebearers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
SOUTH AMERICA 131
Model Design 56: Guppies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Amazonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Model Design 57: The Wonderful World
Model Design 38: Basic Amazon Community of Platies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Model Design 58: Swordtails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Model Design 39: Leaf Fish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Mollies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Model Design 40: Room-Temperature Model Design 59: Mollies I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Amazon Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Model Design 60: Mollies II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Model Design 41: A Tale of Two Tetras. . . . . . . 135
Central American Cichlids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Model Design 42: Tribute to Herbert
Model Design 61: Convict Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Axelrod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Model Design 62: Mexican Firemouth. . . . . . . 170
Model Design 43: Neon Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Model Design 63: Salvin’s Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Model Design 44: Emperor Tetra. . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Model Design 64: Jack Dempsey. . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Model Design 45: Expert’s Amazon Tank. . . . . 141
Model Design 65: Blue Acara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Model Design 46: Flying (?) Fish Tank. . . . . . . 143
Mexican Cave Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Model Design 47: The Amazing
Splashing Tetra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Model Design 66: Mexican Cave Tetra. . . . . . . 176
Model Design 48: Amazon Tank
for Big-Fish Enthusiasts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Table of Contents v
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page vi
CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12
NORTH AMERICA 179 PURELY ARTISTIC DESIGNS 207
Focusing on the Southeast United States. . . . . . . . 179 Purely Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Why Native Fish?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Model Design 80: Dutch-Style
Plant Aquarium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Conservation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Trouble-Free Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Collecting and Transport Techniques. . . . . . . . . . 181
Model Design 81: Miniature Aquarium . . . . . 209
Modifications to the Aquarium System. . . . . . 182
Paludariums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Lazy Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Model Design 82: Killifish Paludarium. . . . . . . . 211
Model Design 67: Southeastern
U.S. Swamp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Model Design 83: Orchid Paludarium. . . . . . . . 212
Model Design 68: Southeastern Model Design 84: The Big, Easy Tank. . . . . . . . 214
U.S. Pond or Lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
The Non-Traditional Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Model Design 69: Everglades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Model Design 85: A Black-and-White
Model Design 70: Southeastern Aquarium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Farm Pond or Reservoir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Community Tanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Model Design 71: Southeastern
Model Design 86: Basic Community Tank . . . 216
U.S. Spring Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Model Design 87: Basic Small
Model Design 72: Tidal Creek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Community Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Model Design 73: Rally Round the Flagfish . . 192
Model Design 74: Primitive Fishes. . . . . . . . . . . 193 PART IV:
Topminnows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 The Appendixes
Model Design 75: Golden Topminnow
Species Tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 APPENDIX A
Model Design 76: Black-spotted FRESHWATER FISH AND PLANTS 221
Topminnow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Model Design 77: Bluefin Topminnow. . . . . . . 198
Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Inland Waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Water Hardness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Model Design 78: Texas Cichlid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
pH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Model Design 79: Little River Riffle Tank. . . . 201
Other Lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
vi Freshwater Aquarium Models
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page vii
Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 APPENDIX D
Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 RIVER MAPS 267
Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Plants and Water Hardness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Cameroon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Plants and pH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Central America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Other Helpful Plant Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Democratic Republic of the Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
APPENDIX B
Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
TANK SPECIFICATIONS 263
Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
APPENDIX C Tanzania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
MEASUREMENTS AND CONVERSIONS 265 Thailand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
United States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Liquid Measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
INDEX 274
Light Intensity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Temperature Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Alkalinity Conversions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Water Hardness Designations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Table of Contents vii
02_04425x ftoc.qxp 10/9/06 11:10 AM Page viii