Amazone: Whitewater Biotope
Whitewater originate in mountains that are still eroding large amount of mineral and soil. The waters carry a high amount of suspended sediments, resulting in a muddy brown water or cafe-au-lait appearance with poor visibility. It’s not polluted, it’s simply full of sediment!
Whitewater tropical rivers are the typical form of large rivers in lowland tropical rainforests. In the rainy season, the erosion also wash lots of sediments which contribute to muddy-like appearance and causes many trees to fall in the rivers. Certain zones are colonized by water plants, but mostly, there is only wood and dead leaves. Whitewater rivers include the Amazon, the Napo, and the Orinoco.
Because those large rivers are often fed by a large number of acidic tributaries, they are relatively soft in terms of water hardness due to their relatively low mineral content, and they have a slightly acidic to neutral pH (6.3-7.0).
Most aquarium fish from this habitat does like the open areas in the middle of the river where they make a perfect mouthful for a number of predators. Whitewater rivers typically contains small channels and oxbows with lesser current and more hiding places. This is usually where most smaller fish will spend their life, hidden among driftwood, plants and dead leaves. Unless you keep large fish, you might want to recreate those small channels and oxbows for your whitewater amazonian aquarium.
Whitewater Tank
The tank should be furnished with lots of driftwood and open swimming areas. The substrate should be made of dark sand or small gravel covered by 2-3 inches of old leaves.
Look for oak or magnolia trees. Both of these hold up pretty well in the water and you would probably just need to replace them every month or so. Keep the light low and consider using peat in your filter.
Water chemistry
Whitewater rivers have a pH between 6.8 and 7.1 with a slightly hard water (3-8 dH). Temperature should range from 79F to 84F (26-29 C).
Fish:
Corydoras, Doradids, Oscars, Eartheaters, Acaras, Angelfish, Headstanders, Piranhas, Hatchetfish, Tetras, Pimelodids, Loricarids.
Plants:
Only few plants should be present in this kind of biotope. A few sword plants and anubias should be enough Some floating plants could also be a good addition.
Here is a nice video showing what whitewater environment look like:
Source:
Freshwateraquariumplants.com: Amazon Biotope
Freshwateraquariumplants.com: Amazone River Facts
Mongabay.com: Whitewater Biotope
Aqua-fish.net: Whitewater river
Ivanov.ch: Amazonien
TheKrib.com: Biotopes
SydneyCichlid.com: Dwarf-Cichlid
Mongabay.com: River Types: Dwarf-Cichlid
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