In a biotope aquarium, the aquarist attemp to simulate a natural habitat, assembling fish species, plants, water chemistry and decorations found in that specific ecosystem. A “true” biotope should be a mirror of a natural habitat…

The Rocio octofasciata, or Jack Dempsey cichlid, is a fresh water fish native to slow moving waterways in North and Central America. The Jack is common in swampy, warm sand bottomed canals, drainage ditches and canals in Guatemala, the Yucatan, Honduras and Mexico.

Before your start setting up your Amazone Biotope, you may want to have a look at the videos bellow where you can see for yourself what the real thing look like. It’s sometime difficult to know exactly what biotope is featured in each video but I assume most are either Whitewater Botope or Blackwater Biotope.

Lake Malawi is an African Great Lake located on the East side of the continent. The lake is about 375 miles (604 km) long by 53 miles (85 km) wide, making it the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world. This large rocky lake is home of the well known African Cichlids which are endemic to the lake.

Blackwater creeks and tributaries derive their name from their bronze tea coloured water, stained by peat, driftwood and decaying vegetation. Blackwater rivers are very low in dissolved minerals and often have no measurable water hardness.