• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

British River Biotope

Joined
6 Nov 2010
Messages
417
Location
Kings Hill, Kent
Hi All,

For years I've wanted to try creating a British River Biotope. I have now bought a cheap tank second hand (Pets at Home Love Fish Panorama 64) to do one in whilst leaving my TMC signature tank as is.

Having got the tank I've found the filter is reviewed poorly so i have now replaced with a Fluval U2.

Anyway, given the basic spec of the tank (1 LED strip light) and the fact that I'd like it to be as low tech as poss (Profito and Easy Carbo only)... Can anyone suggest any plants that would suit a British Stream Biotope that are easily obtained and easily kept?

I was thinking about taking some cuttings of wild aquatic plants in a local isolated stream but I'm not sure on the legalities. Also I've found a local supplier of Elodea Crispa plant and Sticklebacks. Ill add some hairgrass from my high tech tank. Just need a few more ideas
 
Hi all, Willow moss (Fontinalis antipyretica).

cheers Darrel
Im not sure about Moss anymore, its become a little invasive in my TMC tank and started growing under and amongst my hairgrass and causing it to be patchy. Wish I had never put it in there in the first place! But hey if I find some and its native. Why not!

Im thinking maybe some starwort chucked in at the back as another plant aswell

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
 
Besides WillowMoss have Duckweed,just keep in check along with Eloeda (Canadian Pond Weed)You could add(have I spelt this correctly the UK Hornwort with the feathery leaves,sorry purists but could I suggest artifical Bullrushes(deko-mich supply them.Seen examples were pebbles are actually pre prepared with algae on looks really authentic
 
Besides WillowMoss have Duckweed,just keep in check along with Eloeda (Canadian Pond Weed)You could add(have I spelt this correctly the UK Hornwort with the feathery leaves,sorry purists but could I suggest artifical Bullrushes(deko-mich supply them.Seen examples were pebbles are actually pre prepared with algae on looks really authentic
Ive had Hornwort before but for some reason I wasnt very good at keeping it alive. But again if I find some that'll be worth a shot too

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
 
Im not sure about Moss anymore, its become a little invasive in my TMC tank
Fontinalis is not going to be invasive IMO... it is a slow grower compared to the standard mosses used in the hobby. It will probably do better in this setup than in standard ones as I assume the temperatures will be cooler, and mosses do love low temperatures.

I've seen some EU biotopes (demonstrative tanks for showing endemic fish) but honestly they can be quite deceiving regarding the truly submerged plants. In most cases what you see is Ceratophyllum or Myriophyllum native species that are not so compact and nice colored as the tropical ones. We also have, both hydrophytes (truly submerged) and halophytes (emerged), native species that actually belong to the same genus of other species commonly used in the hobby, but they do not suit well in our tanks for different reasons: Potagometon (the species we have are too large for small tanks and mostly adapted to strong flow), Nymphea and Nuphar (idem), Utricularia (not grassy type), Ranunculus (most don't look like R. inundatus/papulentus, but with stingy and elongated leaves), Polygonum/Persicaria, Apium, Rorippa, etc. Some nurseries sell Samolus valerandi (also native) as an aquatic plants but it is not... if you want it to survive it is a lovely plant for the submerged part of the tank.
However I've seen interesting tanks with Charophytes (mostly Chara, and sometimes Nitella) but my guess is that you need hard water and I am not sure if they are easy to maintain in the longterm.

My bet would be a nice hardscape with stones and wood, with mosses and Ceratophyllum as submerged species, and then a nice and large emerged part for trying everything you can find in the nearest river.

Jordi
 
You might find this journal interesting

Surrey Summer

(try sticklebacks as your search term ... there are quite a number of "hits" )
 
You can keep Batrachium (Ranunculus family) for several years in a tank - even running it 25' C. I've allready tested it.....
It resemble a gracile Cabomba a bit, and grow quite fast - making it very good at maintaining a good balance in the tank, by doing trimming sessions.
Apparently it does not need "winter", but can grow on and on for years, only needing trimming quite often.
 
Potamogeton natans could do in a not so large tank.. Its also a floater, it can grow from 60 to 140 cm but when kept in shallow water it rather stays smaller, it addapts to it and is easy to trim and keep small. I have it in a very shallow sinc bath tub 30 cm deep 40 cm wide and 170cm long, all summer never realy had to trim it. But in the tank you shoud trim the runners. I like to try this plant in my comming low tech tank which will only 100 liters..

If you take sticklebacks.. Then go in the garden and catch small earth wurms and feed them to the sticklebacks.. You'll be amazed how ferosiously they feast on them. They are anyway the most fearless little fish on the planet, they now they are untouchable. Realy funny fish to have, unfortunately if your lucky they live 2 years, but average in captivity less then a year. Cooling instead of heating will extend lifespan to a maximum, this goes for almost all native coldwater spieces. best to keep temps around 12 to 15 C. The Eurasian minnow could do, they are regularly offered in pondshops as pondfish, if you buy 'm small and young and keep 'm indoor they wont live long enough to reach full lenght. :)
 
I was thinking about taking some cuttings of wild aquatic plants in a local isolated stream but I'm not sure on the legalities
I don't think you need to worry about the legalities too much check this out if you're concerned http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/schedule/8
This isn't a British river biotope but it may give you some inspiration, it's one of my all time favourites http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-banyan-forests-of-stickleback-island.12557/
 
- and I would guess Water cress, too......:)
Crush a leaf, smell - and you should know.......
 
Back
Top