Freshwater aquarium: community, biotope or aquascaping aquarium?

For what concerns the freshwater fish tank, we can divide the aquaria into three main types of configurations: community, biotope or aquascaping aquaria.

Community aquaria are the first ones through which many of us have approached to this hobby. They host many species coming from different countries and environments. These fish have in common similar needs, regarding water hardness, nutrition and dimensions. The presence of plants is an important feature in this type of aquarium, because plants work as barriers and shelters, so that fish can distance themselves from the others. Moreover, lush plants make the quality of the water better, using the waste produced by fish for their growth. At the same time plants produce oxygen, useful for the hosts of the aquarium.

In addition to this, we suggest occupying every swimming level of the fish tank, in order to guarantee the full consumption of food and to avoid the overcrowding of some zones of the tank.

As regards the choice of the appropriate species, we need to consider the dimensions they will achieve in their adult life, favouring species with restrained sizes. It is recommended to avoid highly territorial species such as cichlids of medium and large dimensions. As a matter of fact, in their growth, cichlids can become big enough to predate other fish or to stress them, continuously pushing them away from their chosen territory.

Through the experience, many aquaria enthusiasts start to modify their fish tanks, hosting fish (and usually plants) that come from the same place of the world. In this case, we are talking about biotope aquaria. Biotopes represent an artificial cross section of a submerged environment in which fish swim into, highlighting their natural shapes and behaviours. In fact, we should define them as theme aquaria, because they usually represent huge environment with enormous differences for what concerns the population and the physical and chemical properties of water.

One of the most common biotopes that we can encounter in the enthusiasts’ tanks is the Amazon one. This usually hosts elegant Pterophyllum scalare that move among submerged roots and schooling of colourful Paracheirodon axelrodi in the dark waters, enriched by tannins and groups of peaceful Corydoras sifting on the fine sand of the bottom.

Another well-known biotope is the Asian rice paddy one, that can host the Trichopodus with their intense colours, the wonderful Betta splendens, the splendid Trigonostigma, the nimble Puntius that swim among submerged plants or, lastly, a group of curious Pangio searching for their food on the bottom of the tank.

How to not name the classic Malawi lake biotope of Africa, in which multi-coloured cichlids chase and courtship each other in the midst of the rocky bottom. How to not forget the tanks planned for hosting the king of the freshwater aquaria, the Discus. In this case the biotope is a variation of the Amazon aquarium, but with plenty of space for swimming, large driftwood as shelters and a school of fish that peaceful swim around our special guest.

In addition to these types of aquaria, recently a third category has been successful, that is the plants aquaria, also known as aquascaping aquaria. In the last years the cultivation of aquarium plants has become a real form of art, with international competitions in which enthusiasts from all over the world deal with the representation of submerged landscape and enchanted mysterious worlds. There, forms and colours of aquatic plants and fish blend with harmonious compositions.

For what concerns the building of the setting up, we need to search for the right proportions between the aquarium, decorations, plants and fish, in order to achieve the perfect balance that pay you back for the

work done. In the first years this type of aquarium was considered complex and difficult to maintain, but nowadays, through the proper instruments and products we can obtain great results, able to satisfy both the aquaria enthusiasts and those who are approaching today to the world of aquatic plants aquaria.