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Journal Biotope of Chorhun river (Crimea, Ukraine)
- Thread starter Valeriy Aqyar
- Start date
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
Merry Christmas from Ukraine!
#diaryofsurvival
Meet the spined loach (Cobitis taenia), my tiny helper
This little snake-like fish is a key part of survival of my Chorhun river biotope ecosystem in these hard war-times.
Do you have experience in keeping this species?
#diaryofsurvival
Meet the spined loach (Cobitis taenia), my tiny helper
This little snake-like fish is a key part of survival of my Chorhun river biotope ecosystem in these hard war-times.
Do you have experience in keeping this species?
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
Total disappointment by the AGA IAC 2024 results in the Biotope category.
Feeling humiliated 😥
Feeling humiliated 😥
I’m sure it’s still very beautiful, I’ve been really looking forward to seeing it - please do share some photos!!
You are scaping against the odds in a way which I imagine almost no other competitor is, don’t feel humiliated or defeated! Whatever the score I know it will still be a fabulous tank.
PARAGUAY
Member
I would not feel that way, it's just the way contests go ,judging often reflects what's a judges favourite rather than than anything else. Often l see IAPLC entries in the hundreds and wonder why they are not higherly rated. Sometimes the beauty of a entry or the region accuracy clashes with the technical difficulty. Just my thoughts.
FrozenShivers
Member
Well said. You have a great tank and should be proud.
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
Thank you everybody here for your kind words and support!
Many aquarists wrongly understand what the biotope aquarium is and set up aquascapes that replicate the above water side of the Earth though the underwater world is different. The majority of contestants is engaged in the aquarium business, they’ve abandoned chances to win the Amano’s IAPLC and come to biotopes to win at least there…
Every year judges are to choose between biotopes and aquascapes in the biotope category. This year they voted for aquascapes. And this fact caused my bitter feelings that I shared with you…
Though the organizing team of the AGA IAC hasn’t published all submissions yet, I’m pretty sure my entry was disqualified. I didn’t have any illusions or hopes about it.
I raised a serious problem that is now slowing down the biotope aquaristics but its solution requires serious changes in our understanding of the concept itself.
I still hope the judges had enough courage to admit the problem.
And finally let’s come back to the ground 😉
2025.01.09 – about 3.5 years old without any restarts and after solving only some minor problems. All plants here were planted before 2024 and with no maintenance since the contest shooting in mid December.
Many aquarists wrongly understand what the biotope aquarium is and set up aquascapes that replicate the above water side of the Earth though the underwater world is different. The majority of contestants is engaged in the aquarium business, they’ve abandoned chances to win the Amano’s IAPLC and come to biotopes to win at least there…
Every year judges are to choose between biotopes and aquascapes in the biotope category. This year they voted for aquascapes. And this fact caused my bitter feelings that I shared with you…
Though the organizing team of the AGA IAC hasn’t published all submissions yet, I’m pretty sure my entry was disqualified. I didn’t have any illusions or hopes about it.
I raised a serious problem that is now slowing down the biotope aquaristics but its solution requires serious changes in our understanding of the concept itself.
I still hope the judges had enough courage to admit the problem.
And finally let’s come back to the ground 😉
2025.01.09 – about 3.5 years old without any restarts and after solving only some minor problems. All plants here were planted before 2024 and with no maintenance since the contest shooting in mid December.
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
Untill now - no results of the AGA IAC...
After studying the winning submissions I'm almost sure that my submission was disqualified.
But nevertheless despite all the efforts in creation of the complicated self-sufficient ecosystem and putting everything at stake - life still goes on and I have to focus on the future.
Now I'm working on my #warsurvivaldiary and you are welcome to read the first post in this series:
biotopeaq.wordpress.com
I would be greatly greatful if you share your own experience in keeping this speciecs (of course if you have any 😉)
After studying the winning submissions I'm almost sure that my submission was disqualified.
But nevertheless despite all the efforts in creation of the complicated self-sufficient ecosystem and putting everything at stake - life still goes on and I have to focus on the future.
Now I'm working on my #warsurvivaldiary and you are welcome to read the first post in this series:
Can this fish save my ecosystem?
This little snake-like fish has become the key part of survival of my Chorhun river biotope ecosystem in these hard war-times. It is a close relative
biotopeaq.wordpress.com
I would be greatly greatful if you share your own experience in keeping this speciecs (of course if you have any 😉)
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
11 years of the war
3 years of the Ukrainian nation's genocide by the russians
This night I haven't slept, I was standing at the shelter and listening to the Death that was flying over my head. This night it chose other victims.
Russians attacked our critical infrastructure and many of their missiles and drones reached their targets. Russians are making the genocide of the Ukrainian nation and I don't know how long we are able to struggle more.
So now I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who help us stand. You help us stay alive and fight for our future!
I wish to express my deepest condolences to the citizens of the United States: your state is now captured and occupied by the so-callled russia without a single fight. Their spies and agents have taken the control over the White House.
I know, common americans are on our side but you have no more power and rights in your own land and cannot protest against illegal decisions of your maga reign. And from 2025.03.04 the US citizens share responsibility for every murder of every Ukrainian.
The US refused to recognize the so-called russian federation as aggressor in the UN voting and joined its side in the war.
I have to warn my European colleagues: the war is inevitably coming to your homes, you'd better start preparations for the war ASAP to be ready to take arms and defend homes, also be ready to evacuate your families.
#cancelrussia
You still have chances to prevent the russian invasion in the EU - just cancel everything russian: culture, food, IT, fossil fuels (this one is the hardest to do as your own politicians are financially interested in the opposite).
Stop, end, quit buying, using, supporting everything russian!
Because they use you and your money (direct income, taxes, sensitive data) to kill more people and occupy more lands. Every day of warmth in your house, every russian song in your mediaplayer, every litre of cheap gasoline kill more Ukrainians and bring war closer to your homes. After the fall of Ukraine you will become their next victims.
Now when the US are no more a reliable partner (right now they are violating the Budapest Memorandum and hundreds of other security agreements) please think twice before buying any US produced product as they are reliable partners no more (just remember elon musk's shutdown of Starlink for the AFU in 2022) and may use their products against you. Consider replacing american for European for your own safety:
Juneau is closer to the so-called russia than Kyiv. Remember this
This winter was the worst for my biotope aquarium project. I neither started any new experiment, nor have wish to continue my present projects.
Decline.
Depression.
Decay.
Though my Chorhun river biotope aquarium is feeling great right now, I feel no joy watching it and have no plans to develop it. We together just flow with the water current.
I am afraid to keep responsibility for my pets as every night when going to sleep I am not sure if I be lucky to wake up in the morning.
Pumpkinseeds are so cute! They are now my absolute favourites
Sorry for this portion of sober reality.
3 years of the Ukrainian nation's genocide by the russians
This night I haven't slept, I was standing at the shelter and listening to the Death that was flying over my head. This night it chose other victims.
Russians attacked our critical infrastructure and many of their missiles and drones reached their targets. Russians are making the genocide of the Ukrainian nation and I don't know how long we are able to struggle more.
So now I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who help us stand. You help us stay alive and fight for our future!
I wish to express my deepest condolences to the citizens of the United States: your state is now captured and occupied by the so-callled russia without a single fight. Their spies and agents have taken the control over the White House.
I know, common americans are on our side but you have no more power and rights in your own land and cannot protest against illegal decisions of your maga reign. And from 2025.03.04 the US citizens share responsibility for every murder of every Ukrainian.
The US refused to recognize the so-called russian federation as aggressor in the UN voting and joined its side in the war.
I have to warn my European colleagues: the war is inevitably coming to your homes, you'd better start preparations for the war ASAP to be ready to take arms and defend homes, also be ready to evacuate your families.
#cancelrussia
You still have chances to prevent the russian invasion in the EU - just cancel everything russian: culture, food, IT, fossil fuels (this one is the hardest to do as your own politicians are financially interested in the opposite).
Stop, end, quit buying, using, supporting everything russian!
Because they use you and your money (direct income, taxes, sensitive data) to kill more people and occupy more lands. Every day of warmth in your house, every russian song in your mediaplayer, every litre of cheap gasoline kill more Ukrainians and bring war closer to your homes. After the fall of Ukraine you will become their next victims.
Now when the US are no more a reliable partner (right now they are violating the Budapest Memorandum and hundreds of other security agreements) please think twice before buying any US produced product as they are reliable partners no more (just remember elon musk's shutdown of Starlink for the AFU in 2022) and may use their products against you. Consider replacing american for European for your own safety:
Juneau is closer to the so-called russia than Kyiv. Remember this
This winter was the worst for my biotope aquarium project. I neither started any new experiment, nor have wish to continue my present projects.
Decline.
Depression.
Decay.
Though my Chorhun river biotope aquarium is feeling great right now, I feel no joy watching it and have no plans to develop it. We together just flow with the water current.
I am afraid to keep responsibility for my pets as every night when going to sleep I am not sure if I be lucky to wake up in the morning.
Pumpkinseeds are so cute! They are now my absolute favourites
Sorry for this portion of sober reality.
Hi all,
Darrel
There really isn't anything I can say, other than my (and I'm sure our collective) thoughts are with you in your darkest hour.
Darrel
Last edited:
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
Thanking you for your kind words here and sending my gratitude to everybody who sympathizes and helps us, your help does alot more than you can even imagine!
But I didn't asked for sympathy.
I WARN YOU
But I didn't asked for sympathy.
I WARN YOU
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
I lost any hope to get any feedback from the AGA IAC team so I suppose now is the time to start the story of my submission here.
These days I am busy editing the video of my contest sumbmission and until it's ready I share a couple of photos I took on 08.12.2024 during my photo/video shooting for the AGA IAC.
nearly 4 years already!
Can you imagine a local European biotope aquarium living successfully for such a long time?!
These days I am busy editing the video of my contest sumbmission and until it's ready I share a couple of photos I took on 08.12.2024 during my photo/video shooting for the AGA IAC.
nearly 4 years already!
Can you imagine a local European biotope aquarium living successfully for such a long time?!
Valeriy Aqyar
Member
Invasion and occupation. Chorhun River in Aqyar, Crimea, Ukraine
This is my submission to the AGA IAC 2024.
In the wartime I made a tremendous effort to submit my biotope to that contest. Until now they neither posted my result, nor even answered my pledges to provide it.
So here and now I start publishing data on my submission. I cannot wait anymore, I don’t know if I’m lucky to wake up tomorrow (search in the news for Kyiv last night).
Tbh, I don’t know why the AGA team hasn’t published results in the Biotope category. I was worrying if the DOGE fired them all and the association is defunct. But on Thursday they published a new post on their website and fakebook. This bring the conclusion that they are just ignoring me. I’ll be happy to hear back from the AGA IAC though now I realize it’s impossible.
Below is my submission I made on Dec 8, 2024 without any alterings or corrections. Text and photos are the same:
Invasion and occupation.
Chorhun (Chorna) River in Aqyar (Sevastopol), Crimea, Ukraine
Aquarium Volume (L) *
124 (80x50x31 cm)
Lighting
2 LED lamps x20 Wt and 1 10 Wt LED lamp for background
Filtration
internal filter Sunsun JP-023F
Hardscape Materials
oak, hornbeam and willow driftwood, twigs and leaves, Carpathian stones and pebbles
Background
light blue cardboard behind
Substrate
mixture of river sand, pebbles, silt
Plants
Sparganium erectum, Myriophyllum spicatum L, Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadensis (invasive), Potamogeton nodosus, Stuckenia pectinata, Spirogyra sp.
Livestock
Lepomis gibbosus -3 (invasive), Pseudorasbora parva -3 (invasive), Rhodeus amarus -5 (indigenous), Rutilus rutilus -5 (indigenous), Planorbarius corneus -many (indigenous)
BIOTOPE ENTRIES ONLY: Additional Information
Invasion and occupation.
Chorhun (Chorna) River in Aqyar (Sevastopol), Crimea, Ukraine
First they invade and conquer your land, then they outlive you and behave as owners and hosts of your land.
The Problem.
Rules of a biotope aquarium contest include a requirement that all inhabitant species must be only indigenous.
This is nice in the ideal world. But in our reality it's sometimes hard to identify the origin of a species you want to add into your contest ecosystem. When you browse a web database like gbif.org or inaturalist.org to find out whether a species is present in your natural biotope, in the results you get all documented occurrences for your coordinates. But this can lead you to disqualification.
Why?
Because chinese sleeper and stone moroko are the most common fish species in the Podillya area where I live, but they are invasive and originate from the Far East, from where both were brought in the mid XX century. So they are not indigenous for biotopically pure aquarium.
But the worst problem of invasive species is that they have already become a vital part of an ecosystem I intend to recreate. So if I exclude stone morokos (as it is required), I will create an inaccurate representation of a local biotope with a questionable vitality.
Now we come to a hard choice between: accurate, healthy biotope and risk of disqualification or unreal outdated one but following all requirements?
As a biotoper I wish to represent the original indigenous biotope but here I have chosen the accurate present biotope to emphasize the problem of invasiveness. And btw invasive species have been living in this area for so long that they are already considered by us as indigenous.
The River.
Chorhun is a river in the southwest of the Crimean Peninsula, originates in the Baydar Valley and flows into the Sevastopol Bay in the city of Sevastopol. The length of the river is 41 km, in the Baydar valley on the river there is the Chorhun reservoir, then it flows through the Chornorichensky canyon and flows into the Black Sea in the Inkerman district of Sevastopol. It is the second full-water river of the peninsula.
The nature of the river changes from a rapid mountain stream in the upper part and in the canyon to a wide, slow, full-water river in the Inkerman part before the estuary. It is high-water in the winter-spring period and low-water in the summer-autumn period. In recent years, the river has become extremely low water in the summer, and in 2021 it even dried up in some places.
Protection of the Crimean nature is a huge environmental problem. After the illegal occupation of the peninsula by the russian federation the invaders turned it into their military base. They do not care about ecology at all, they are destroying our unique biotopes when they take water for the needs of their army and fleet.
What is special about my aquarium biotope?
First, it was created in 2021 with last plants added in autumn 2023. This is a long-term healthy ecosystem that accurately represents the natural biotope.
Second, it relies on one-direction water flow system: the water intake is in the right bottom corner, from there water runs through the pipe to the pump at the left side glass and the pump creates powerful current back to the right. All filtering system's elements are hidden behind driftwood and in substrate.
Third, since the russian full scale invasion in 2022 this ecosystem has been coping with constant electricity outages, caused by russian missile attacks on our electricity infrastructure. Proper filtering and lighting setups, selection of inhabitants and constant care help it keep stable balance to survive the wartime and look natural even now.
Fourth, some indigenous fish and plant species were replaced in this biotope ecosystem by invaders just as in the original natural habitat: here I use pumpkinseeds instead of indigenous common perches and ruffes, whom these dangerous invaders ousted in most natural habitats.
Fifth: as the system is mature, the alga cover all possible surfaces: from stones and branches on bottom to side walls of the tank. They contribute to the natural look of the biotope and are vitally important for the ecosystem to survive electricity outages this winter.
The problem of invasion ruiningly influences both nature and humans.
Crimean indigenous nature has lost the fight for its habitat, now the Crimean indigenous human ethnoses of Crimean tatars, qaraims, krymchaks are losing their fight against the northeastern invaders.
But we still have the chance...
References:
www.gbif.org
www.inaturalist.org
www.flickr.com
Instagram
www.instagram.com
www.youtube.com
Original post: https://biotopeaq.wordpress.com/2025/03/23/agaiac/
This is my submission to the AGA IAC 2024.
In the wartime I made a tremendous effort to submit my biotope to that contest. Until now they neither posted my result, nor even answered my pledges to provide it.
So here and now I start publishing data on my submission. I cannot wait anymore, I don’t know if I’m lucky to wake up tomorrow (search in the news for Kyiv last night).
Tbh, I don’t know why the AGA team hasn’t published results in the Biotope category. I was worrying if the DOGE fired them all and the association is defunct. But on Thursday they published a new post on their website and fakebook. This bring the conclusion that they are just ignoring me. I’ll be happy to hear back from the AGA IAC though now I realize it’s impossible.
Below is my submission I made on Dec 8, 2024 without any alterings or corrections. Text and photos are the same:
Invasion and occupation.
Chorhun (Chorna) River in Aqyar (Sevastopol), Crimea, Ukraine
Aquarium Volume (L) *
124 (80x50x31 cm)
Lighting
2 LED lamps x20 Wt and 1 10 Wt LED lamp for background
Filtration
internal filter Sunsun JP-023F
Hardscape Materials
oak, hornbeam and willow driftwood, twigs and leaves, Carpathian stones and pebbles
Background
light blue cardboard behind
Substrate
mixture of river sand, pebbles, silt
Plants
Sparganium erectum, Myriophyllum spicatum L, Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadensis (invasive), Potamogeton nodosus, Stuckenia pectinata, Spirogyra sp.
Livestock
Lepomis gibbosus -3 (invasive), Pseudorasbora parva -3 (invasive), Rhodeus amarus -5 (indigenous), Rutilus rutilus -5 (indigenous), Planorbarius corneus -many (indigenous)
BIOTOPE ENTRIES ONLY: Additional Information
Invasion and occupation.
Chorhun (Chorna) River in Aqyar (Sevastopol), Crimea, Ukraine
First they invade and conquer your land, then they outlive you and behave as owners and hosts of your land.
The Problem.
Rules of a biotope aquarium contest include a requirement that all inhabitant species must be only indigenous.
This is nice in the ideal world. But in our reality it's sometimes hard to identify the origin of a species you want to add into your contest ecosystem. When you browse a web database like gbif.org or inaturalist.org to find out whether a species is present in your natural biotope, in the results you get all documented occurrences for your coordinates. But this can lead you to disqualification.
Why?
Because chinese sleeper and stone moroko are the most common fish species in the Podillya area where I live, but they are invasive and originate from the Far East, from where both were brought in the mid XX century. So they are not indigenous for biotopically pure aquarium.
But the worst problem of invasive species is that they have already become a vital part of an ecosystem I intend to recreate. So if I exclude stone morokos (as it is required), I will create an inaccurate representation of a local biotope with a questionable vitality.
Now we come to a hard choice between: accurate, healthy biotope and risk of disqualification or unreal outdated one but following all requirements?
As a biotoper I wish to represent the original indigenous biotope but here I have chosen the accurate present biotope to emphasize the problem of invasiveness. And btw invasive species have been living in this area for so long that they are already considered by us as indigenous.
The River.
Chorhun is a river in the southwest of the Crimean Peninsula, originates in the Baydar Valley and flows into the Sevastopol Bay in the city of Sevastopol. The length of the river is 41 km, in the Baydar valley on the river there is the Chorhun reservoir, then it flows through the Chornorichensky canyon and flows into the Black Sea in the Inkerman district of Sevastopol. It is the second full-water river of the peninsula.
The nature of the river changes from a rapid mountain stream in the upper part and in the canyon to a wide, slow, full-water river in the Inkerman part before the estuary. It is high-water in the winter-spring period and low-water in the summer-autumn period. In recent years, the river has become extremely low water in the summer, and in 2021 it even dried up in some places.
Protection of the Crimean nature is a huge environmental problem. After the illegal occupation of the peninsula by the russian federation the invaders turned it into their military base. They do not care about ecology at all, they are destroying our unique biotopes when they take water for the needs of their army and fleet.
What is special about my aquarium biotope?
First, it was created in 2021 with last plants added in autumn 2023. This is a long-term healthy ecosystem that accurately represents the natural biotope.
Second, it relies on one-direction water flow system: the water intake is in the right bottom corner, from there water runs through the pipe to the pump at the left side glass and the pump creates powerful current back to the right. All filtering system's elements are hidden behind driftwood and in substrate.
Third, since the russian full scale invasion in 2022 this ecosystem has been coping with constant electricity outages, caused by russian missile attacks on our electricity infrastructure. Proper filtering and lighting setups, selection of inhabitants and constant care help it keep stable balance to survive the wartime and look natural even now.
Fourth, some indigenous fish and plant species were replaced in this biotope ecosystem by invaders just as in the original natural habitat: here I use pumpkinseeds instead of indigenous common perches and ruffes, whom these dangerous invaders ousted in most natural habitats.
Fifth: as the system is mature, the alga cover all possible surfaces: from stones and branches on bottom to side walls of the tank. They contribute to the natural look of the biotope and are vitally important for the ecosystem to survive electricity outages this winter.
The problem of invasion ruiningly influences both nature and humans.
Crimean indigenous nature has lost the fight for its habitat, now the Crimean indigenous human ethnoses of Crimean tatars, qaraims, krymchaks are losing their fight against the northeastern invaders.
But we still have the chance...
References:
GBIF
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Free and Open Access to Biodiversity Data.
www.gbif.org
Observations
iNaturalist is a social network for naturalists! Record your observations of plants and animals, share them with friends and researchers, and learn about the natural world.
www.inaturalist.org
Flickr: Explore everyone's photos on a Map
The safest and most inclusive global community of photography enthusiasts. The best place for inspiration, connection, and sharing!
www.flickr.com
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
www.instagram.com
YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
Original post: https://biotopeaq.wordpress.com/2025/03/23/agaiac/
It's a fantastic biotope and project, I love that you are really interogating what a biotope is and what relevance it has to our world today. Is a biotope something which recreates an area of the past, a pristine fantasy of what it once was, or is it something which is accurate to now, which takes into account the layers of human intervention that have redefined nature everywhere? Sadly the reality is our natural waterways have been and continue to be absolutely wrecked across the world in myriad ways. It's important to confront that, not ignore it and pretend it's still as once was. While for a lot of us our aquariums are an escape, they can also be an amazing tool to tell rich stories and histories, and yours is doing that better than any I've ever seen. Sadly it looks like the AGA IAC Judges are more interested in a pretty scene than a moving in-depth investigation of the Chorhun/Chorna River, for artists twas ever thus.
As ever, sending our love and support!!
As ever, sending our love and support!!
