# Central American Biotope



## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Okay, so I'm setting up a CA biotope (hopefully or close to it) for a firemouth cichlid in a 37 gallon tank.

Here is the rock setup that I wanted to do for the middle of the tank (it's a 30 inch long tank)



















I was thinking a piece or driftwood (real or fake is okay so long as it looks realish) for the left corner as a cave/shelter


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

your thoughts? 

I'll also be using two fake plants in the tank (tall, not really dense)

here is my first find in regards to driftwood in the corner as a cave

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3202488


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## Shifty (Jan 18, 2009)

Looks like a good start, I'm trying to do the same type of thing for a 125 for some JDs and some more CAs.

What type of substrate are you going with?


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

i think for now it'll be a small tan gravel, i have it in now, just waiting for the pH to go back down (had crushed coral in before that with an african setup)


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## Shifty (Jan 18, 2009)

A small piece of driftwood will bring it down to exactly where it needs to be.

For plants I would look for forums that are plant only tanks and see if they specify what country/area they are from.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

the pH has already dropped from 8 to 7.4 within a day, so I think it should be fine by tomorrow (my tap pH is 7 on the dot)


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

okay so here is what I have as of right now, might be cutting off part of one of the legs of the tree to make it fit in the corner a little better, and I'm buying another bag of gravel today, because the egg crate caused most of the gravel to fall into the squares 

Also in the process of finding a piece of black pvc pipe, since the catfish (synodontis eupterus) loves to hide in one. (he's full grown btw and is the laziest fish ever)










Also, should I perhaps buy black gravel to go with what I have now? maybe to make the fish "pop" more?


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

just switched to black gravel, pics coming soon


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

The only issue is still the white pvc, log broke into 5 pieces yesterday so the glue is drying still


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## Morpheen (Jul 21, 2010)

Personally I liked the tan substrate better. Liked the contrast it had against the rocks.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

the pic here doesn't do much justice, the rocks actually contrast the gravel nicely, just got a firemouth today and he's GORGEOUSSSS - pics soon!


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

This is the new firemouth... Just getting used to the tank and hiding from the Synodontis Eupterus


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)




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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

i used the black gravel because i felt the tank was really bright, and I was aiming to darken it up a little, plus the natural environment isn't overly bright as it is.

I think it makes the colors of the fish come out even more


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

So I just bought a nice piece of Malaysian driftwood at my LFS - a really unique piece of wood, it's soaking right now in a tub of water with water being replaced daily for a few days to help take some of the tannis out...

Until I put the wood in the tank, here's a few new shots of the firemouth


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)




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