This is some of my research on flora & fauna on Amazonia Black Water Rivers, mainly Rio Negro. This is by no means exhaustive and I will add to it as I go along.
I first visited the amazon and Rio Negro back in 1993 with my parents, experiencing the incredible sight of Rio Negro melting into Amazonas Proper. I was only 13 years old back then, and the sight marked me for life! Ever since I have either wanted to work in the Amazon (and I did, in 97' and again in 2010) or at least have something to do with it, hence this aquarium project
Once it was thought that Rio Negro was not capable of sustaining human inhabitants, since very few indigenous tribes were found along the shores of Rio Negro, by the first Spanish explorers. Later this has been debunked, as more and more species of fish has been discovered. It is now believed that the low number of indigenous tribes along these waters, were a direct cause of European diseases spreading.
Anyway, back on track. This is what I have found so far.
Fauna
It seems there is plenty to choose from, and it is thought that about 800 species of fish live in these waters. Probably a lot more. Only a fraction of that is "known" to the hobby though, and again only a fraction of that would fit in an aquarium, not to mention being available at my lfs.
I picked some species that might work in my Rio Negro bio:
Cichlids
Iotoecus opercularis
Dicrossus filamentosos
Taeniacara candidi
Discus is another possibilty, but is probably out of scope for this project.
Catfish
L168 Dekeyseria brachyura
L183 Ancistrus dolichopterus
C. Duplicares
(maybe L114 - Rio Demini, Tributary of Rio Negro)
Cosidered:
Ancistrus dolichopterus l183
Hemiloricaria teffeana
Harttia uatumensis
Parotocinclus polyochrus
Dekeyseria brachyura
Peckoltia braueri
Hemiloricaria melini
Hypancistrus inspector
Oxyropsis acutirostra
Peckoltia sabaji l075 (??) I love this one, and have kept it before. It gets rather big though about 25cm. I'm not sure if its a "true" Black Water species though.
Amblydoras affinis
Pseudolithoxus Nicki
Pseudolithoxus dummes
Hypancistrus sp. l136C
Parotocinclus polyochrus
Ancistrus dolichopterus
Corydoras Serratus, robinae, rabauti, parallelus, incolicana, imitator, duplicares, crypticus, amandajanea, adolfoi, burgessi, crimmeni, crypticus, davidsandsi, kanai, nijsseni, tukano
Tetras
Paracheirodon axelrodi (obviously)
Snails (not restricted to Rio Negro, but still amazonian)
Asolene spixi
Marisa cornuarietis
Endemic species
Tucanoichthys,
Ptychocharax,
Atopomesus,
Leptobrycon,
Niobichthys, and
Stauroglanis
Flora
With little known plants in the Rio Negro, other than flooded forest plants, I have decided on a compromise using the following:
Limnobium Laevegatum (floating)
Helanthium Tenellus (around roots)
Staugoryne Repens (around roots)
Vesicularia Dubyana xmas (roots)
I could also add: Heteranthera zosterifolia
Botanicals
Lots of different botanicals from Tannin Aquatics
Flora cont.
This is where the true challenge of a black water biotope lies. Because of poor light penetration, most flora is either submerged bushes and trees, or semi aquatic plants growing very close to shore. In fact some expeditions report nearly zero plant life in the river itself. There is however plenty of plant life surrounding Rio Negro, being one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.
One expedition in 2009: "In the nutrient-poor waters of the Rio Negro there are practically no underwater plants. Not until the linking canal, into which water was forced from the Solimões, was there any improvement in the nutrient content and the number of species of aquatic plants increased significantly."
Interview with Peter Kriz, another Rio Negro expedition:
"Were there any aquatic plants?
There was almost no aquatic vegetation. Nor did I see any floating plants in the Rio Negro. This could be due to several factors including there are just normally very few aquatic plants or they may be seasonally active and wait for the water rise to occur. I was there at the time of the absolute lowest seasonal water level of the river. This area would be deeper water for the rest of the year. Possibly farther up on land is where the plants would be more likely to grow."
I have yet to get any confirmation of plants in Rio Negro other than what I have seen myself, (which I can hardly remember) and on pictures.
Through contact with Tropica, I have learned that the underscored plants
should be authentic occurences. The bold plants are stretching it to fit. The others not so much.
Cabomba furcata, Cabomba aquatica, Echinodorus tenellus, Ludwigia palustris, Echinodorus quadricostatus, Echinodorus amazonicus,
Eleocharis vivipara,
Staurogyne repens, Vallisneria americana, Myriophyllum aquaticum, Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Eleocharis acicularis, Limnobium laevigatum, Pistia stratiotes, Sagittaria subulata,
Ceratophyllum demersum,
Myriophyllum mattogrossense, Echinodorus bleheri
One study of antimalarial plant use by locals of Rio Negro did show a specific plant list, although these are not necessarily aquatic in nature:
Glycidendron amazonicum, Heteropsis tenuispadix, Monopteryx uaucu, Phenakospermum guianensis, Pouteria ucuqui, Sagotia brachysepala and notably Aspidosperma schultesii, Ampelozizyphus amazonicus, Euterpe catinga, E. precatoria, Physalis angulata, Cocos nucifera and Swartzia argentea
Some trees in the region that get flooded:
Virola elongata,
Eschweilera longipes,
E. pachysepala, and
Pithecellobium amplissimum
The quest for specific aquatic plants that DO exist in the waters of Rio Negro, continues.
Sources:
http://fish.mongabay.com/data/ecosystems/Rio Negro.htm
http://www.fishbase.org/search.php
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/
http://www.roggo.ch/thefreshwaterproject/rionegro.htm (incredible footage)
http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/12/09/biotope-video-cichlid-heaven-in-the-lower-rio-negro/
http://all4aquarium.ru/en/events/jbl-biotope-contest-2013/entries
https://www.jbl.de/en/expeditions-2009-brazil/detail/9/expedition-2009-brazil?page_id=4999
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archive/index.php/t-25886.html