Heiko Bleher (Italy): First of all I wanted to thank all participants and I want to add that almost all did a fantastic job and each one should be proud of his work and his research done to create such a beautiful most of them biotope – nature correct. And information from me to almost all: You should do better research before you finalize the biotope and text. Most of the errors which occurred were (in this order): firstly error in mixing species not found together in the named biotope (mostly fishes, but also plants); secondly the names/locations/area and geographic location of the decorated biotope have to be more precise; and thirdly the description of the biotope (which some made excellent, but some also missing most of it) should be more accurate.

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): We have all one thing in common. We love nature and especially all what is in and around the water. A little piece of untouched nature in our own habitat at home. The Russian Aquarium Design Contest is one of the most interesting ones worldwide with a great number of participants. I have been a judge in many contests worldwide and it's never easy to judge especially if the people create these scapes with a lot of love and dedication. Nevertheless we have to decide who is the best in scaping, shaping and naturing these little glass worlds. I am always curious to see how creative people are and this time there has been a lot of good entries to look at. What I think is the most difficult is the Nano Competition. It is for sure not easy to scape a glass tank with very limited space. As an underwater photographer specialized in freshwater it's a pleasure to look at the natural biotope aquariums. Some of them have been outstanding.

Ivan Mikolji (Venezuela): I want to congratulate all the contestants in the JBL Biotope Aquarium Design Contest. When I opened the web page and started looking at the tanks I asked myself smiling… “How were they able to create such extraordinary biotopes?” I looked at every picture. I tried to imagine myself replicating each aquarium and setting them up at home. I tried to think of the steps that I would have to take from beginning to end until they looked like the pictures on the website. My conclusion was that every biotope aquarium in the contest shows the dedication, the passion of its creator, and his/her ability to think beyond the aquarium.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): The biggest surprise for me was that numerous tanks were too small for the fish kept inside. Also, some tanks were clearly not a biotope tanks - and I was not sure how I should judge them, because they were very good planted aquariums, but had nothing to do with real biotopes. I liked very much the organization of the contest - I mean, the form was prepared very good and careful, all titles of layouts were exactly the same as titles on the website, this was done very well. 

COMMENTS TO THE ENTRIES

North America

Heiko Bleher (Italy): I must say that almost all the North America biotopes were very well done, with exceptions mentioned below. Congratulations to all of you.

1. Big cypress swamp

Heiko Bleher (Italy): Has deserved the first prize, because it is really correctly done in every sense, she coordinated the correct fishes and plants that live in such biotope and even mentioned the trees growing there. Congratulations, keep up the great work and education for anyone to learn from it.

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): I snorkled a lot in Florida and this is a very realistic scenery that could happen in any of the little creeks in Madison or Leon County around Tallahassee. Especially I was happy to see C. schmitti in there. Florida is one of my favorite snorkel places on this planet, even if the alligators are scary sometimes. Well done!

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): It's a small aquarium, but looks like a larger one. And in fact, such layout would be very suitable for a much larger tank, imitating flooded wetland. Stems of Ludwigia repens look very natural, "entangling" themselves along fragments of driftwood. And the lighting is great, with these "columns of light" in the water.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): Gorgeous aquarium, good photo, optimal selection of the inhabitants, concise selection of plants. The only pity is the crayfish is not seen on any of the pictures, but his way of life is quite secretive, maybe that's why it can not be seen? I like driftwood, smooth like aerial roots of swamp cypress, I like selection and set up of the substrate, it is slightly silty, but for the aquarium there's no need to get more, a few leaves at the bottom complete the composition. The underwater landscape looks natural and mysterious. Rays of the "sun" and highlights on the right "cypress" reinforce this impression. The plants over the water create a light shade in the aquarium. Everything is wonderful in this little world, but something is bothering me, something is wrong... The proportions! Driftwood mimic the aerial roots of cypress trees, which are quite massive, and Ludwigia is Ludwigia, it looks unnaturally large in comparison with the roots. However, it is very difficult to achieve the ideal proportions in a small volume, maybe driftwood should be less massive and less in quantity, or plants should have small leaves... And maybe I should forget about skapers troubles and just enjoy the aquarium.

2. Everglades

Heiko Bleher (Italy): This was also a very nice biotope and almost corrects according to a small part of the Everglades, only Echinodorus tenellus nor Ludwigia arcuata (and hardly L. palustris) grow that far north (unless introduced).

3. Florida backwater

Heiko Bleher (Italy): This actually was my second choice, and contrary to the 2nd Place, this one from Florida is really authentic 100%, fishes and plants as well as décor. (Probably some of the Judges have never been there).

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): I like the way the stemmed plants in the central part of the layout are "interwoven" with dead leaves. It looks very natural.

Heiko Bleher (Italy): And I thought this was the 3rd best of this group because that is really what the lake can look like under water, except that some other cichlids and fishes of other groups live there as well. And it would have needs at least some sandy area as well.

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): I like this layout because it is realistic as well. I guess I have to check out this lake on one of my future expeditions. Thanks for the designer for the inspration.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): This tank looks more like imitation of a stream, not like imitation of a lake… In spite of this, it has very good arrangement of pebbles of various sizes. If the water would be more clear this layout would be even better. Another thing is that the volume of the aquarium given in the description is probably a mistake - the tank pictured is more like 240 liters, not 24 liters. And I really hope it IS a mistake, because introducing these fish into 24 liters tank would be somewhat cruel…

5. Cuba. Swamp. Platies

Heiko Bleher (Italy): This Cuban decor not bad and even could be as shown, except for some of the plants and also Platies do not live there. And the description is very poor.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): What can I say about this aquarium? It is not biotope at all, but it looks good. And it is clear that the author put effort: such a wonderful driftwood, and the multi-colored plants, and some clever colored stone, and motley substrate, and colorful fish like Cuban at the carnival. Absolutely brilliant emerald Myriophyllum and red Ludwigia nearby harmoniously echo the pink tops of Proserpinaca to the right. And additional photos are simply charming, and it's not a joke. It is an absolutely wonderful aquarium, there is no feeling of a biotope, but there is a feeling of Cuba!

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Nice try but the tank is too small for these fishes.

6. Shallow waters of the river in autumn

Heiko Bleher (Italy): This biotope looks to artificial, nor river bank would ever be so perfect, except if done by man. Also the fish/generic names are not up-dated (ie. Vieja is a synonym), and A. labiatus is not even found near of this area, restricted to Nicaragua’s lakes Managua and Nicaragua (and is no river fish).

7. Nicaragua

Heiko Bleher (Italy): This décor is much more correct to the biotope described as the former one. Very nicely (nature-like) done. But the fish name is wrong and nigrofasciatum is not found there. Also try to describe the biotope more correctly.

South America

Heiko Bleher (Italy): Now, the second Part, South America, is not very well judged at all, with very few exceptions). For sure several (or better most) of the judges have never been to that part of the world and/or never (or hardly) seen the biotope of fishes and plants in the South American nature. For the participants I must congratulate many of you, especially my first 12 (see my position in parenthesis), but at the same time let me tell you all, that the location of the biotope must be precise, not ‘Amazon’, nor ‘Brazil’, ‘South America’ or just ‘Coastal’, ‘River theme’ or ‘Somewhere’, or similar, can be accepted and one will loose many points during judging. Do your homework (and do normally not rely on Internet) and specially with the fishes and plants, if they really live together (or in) the particular biotope. You will find it (and mostly in books) if you want … And everyone should note that the quantity of fishes per aquarium (size) is not (should not) be a negative criteria, as this fluctuates also in nature.) But let me comment on each one of the South American Biotopes as of the judging result with The placements given by me in parenthesis.

1. Flooded forest area of the Rio Negro during the rainy season

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (4) Very well done, almost authentic, and the name of fishes were correct to that biotope, but some of the fishes shown where wrong, like Paracheirodon innesi which live in the Peruvian Amanzon. In addition it cannot be called ‘Rio Negro’, as this will never happen in that gigantic river, could have been called ‘Jufaris’ or ‘Upper Aracá affluent’. The 4th place is the best it should have been as the research was not satisfying.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): In short - one of the best biotope tanks I have ever seen. Especially the bottom is great - lots of leaves, twigs, and some plants in not a very good condition - exactly as it looks in the wild. It's only a pity that this aquarium is only 30 liters - it would look even better when having at least 300 liters or more. And the fish would also feel better having more space.

2. Llanos of Venezuela. Biotope for Ramirezis

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (2) The was done almost perfect to its biotope in nature (although correct name is Mikrogeopgagus ramirezi and the fishes shown were tank bred variants). Wrong is the water temperature (30-32°C maybe on the surface but not where the fish live) and they are never found in a pH of 4.5 and never in 7.2. If the decorator was there, than maybe his measuring equipment was not working well, pH of 5.2 to 6.5 is about correct and 25-28°C also. This is the only placement where I agree with the SA judging results.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): It is very beautiful, sunny aquarium. A lot of peaple are in love with the beauty of Microgeophagus ramirezi, but not in many aquariums they live happily ever after. In Internet you can find a lot of complaints about the short lifespan of these fishes, lots of diseases. Many people keep them, but if they create the right conditions? Look closely at this aquarium, it is almost a perfect aquarium for ramirezis. The substrate is a sand, there are plants, where the fishes can find a place to spawn, there is an open space for swimming and open bottom area where they can find food. The neighbors are Corydorases who live in the same biotope with ramirezis. However, there is a pygmy among them, probably by accident, the fish from the same continent, but from a different biotope. I still would like to mention an elaborate composition and a good selection of plants, but more dense Cabomba would be better. The driftwood on the left is excessive, it is better to remove it or to add a couple more to the left. I like the stones mimic the coastline, beautiful texture, it looks well with the sand, but is unlikely to meet the biotope. In general, the aquarium makes a good impression.

3. Black Heaven

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (35) The decoration of this biotope was quite authentic, but I gave it much less points why the fish community is wrong (no A. trifasciata lives in the Rio Negro no C. panda either – extreme far away and both live in complete different waters. And definitely the description of the biotope ‘Black Heaven’ is not good be more precise – biotope correct.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): One of my favourite tanks in this contest. Dark, clear, elegant. And very spacious.

4. Amazon cichlids in darkness

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (23) This is also a nice decoration, but the combination of fishes and plants is not correct to the ‘Amazon’. There lives no Dracaena sanderiana nor Scindapsus aureus, and nor Cleithracara maronii, nor Ivanacara adoketa can be found in the ‘Amazon’. The participant should give also (as before) a better biotope description, in the ‘Amazon’ like over 3500 different fish species, and there are 100,000 different biotope – at least.

5. In the shade of the forest of Porto Velho

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (14) The biotope is nice, although a little simple, but the fishes are not found in that area, nor P. scalare nor Paracheirodon innesi – far from it and therefore not biotope correct.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very natural looking branches with lots of dirt in the background.

6. Somewhere in Brazil

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (32) This again is a nice biotope but not having been specific name or location (Brazil is bigger than Europe) and in addition having a species which is not even found in Brazil (C. panda) only known from the Río Ucayali system, Huanuco State, Peru, and it does not justify a placement in the first 10.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Another tank with very natural and elegant feel. Dark, crystal-clear water (even though it's stained brown), balanced composition.

7. Aripuanã River, a tributary of Madeira River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (33) Another nicely made biotope, and also good description, except that there are no P. scalare and hardly P. pardalis in this biotope, better would have been for Inpaichthys kerri which lives endemic here.

8. South American Rio Tefe

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (22) Another nicely decorated biotope, but several fish and plant species cannot be found here at all. Never C. sterbai (only in the Rio Guaporé/Iténez), no Dicrossus filamentosus (only Rio Negro and Atabapo basins), no Echinodorus ‘ocelot’ (cultivated form), no Vallisneria americana, etc. 

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): When I look at this scape of the Rio Tefe I feel that the animals living in this must feel very at home. The rays of sunlight give a warm and special effect to this tank!

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): I like the way you have setup the roots, absolutely right for this habitat, but the E. ozelot is hybrid plant and the  Hydrocleys nymphoides is from Australia, it is easy to replace them with something from this habitat so as to approach the excellence.

9. The flow of the stream of the Içana River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (13) This is very nicely made biotope, but the decorator should have read my articles about the Içana, there Marcel would have read that almost none of these plants grow there, except Echinodorus amazonicus, Eleocharis vivipara, and also that the river has fine white sand.

10. Сoastal part of the forest river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (20) Very nice biotope decoration also very authentic, except for no precise location, that is a pity, as the biotope concept is about a near to nature copy of a real biotope.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): This small aquarium made ​​a strong impression on me. Everything in it looks very harmonious and natural. A massive driftwood covered with sand and a few of thin ones create a natural obstruction, but do not overload the aquarium, the driftwood dropped from above, gives a sense of near shore. Dry branches behind the back aquarium glass are very original solution, they give extra depth to visually expand the space, but do not introduce additional organic in the aquarium. But there are objections: sand would be better as a substrate, there could be gravel on it. Again, there are too many leaves on the bottom, they are not necessary for cardinal tetras comfortable life, but extra organics in the aquarium is also not necessary. Instead of oak leaves it is better to use dry almond leaves, in the aquarium they look just like fallen leaves, the species of which are difficult to determine. But there are no oaks in Brazil. The aquarium is too small for cardinal tetras, neon tetras would be better for a given volume. But while cardinal tetras have not grown, they look very well. It would be nice to add a couple of Hydrocotyles just floating on the water surface.

11. Rio Nanay, Shore

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (1) This is an amazing work should (must) have had the 1st place in South America, as it is very (extreme) authentic. All plants and the fishes (except for C. panda – but it is found nearby), are from this habitat. No one has had it so close/correctly done. Congratulations Marcin Mirkowski, it was definitely the very best in ‘South America’.

12. Forgotten pool

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (34) Very poor description, and these species do not live together.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): Quiet is the Ukrainian night. Transparent is the sky, the stars glitter. I have a strange feeling from this entry, as if I look not at the underwater landscape. As if somewhere near there is a forgotten village outskirts, and a broken bridge across the river, road from the village and a dark forest in the front. It is winter, quiet, lone fox tries to catch a mouse, the moon is not risen yet, and the stars shine so low that they can be easily touched by a hand. Everything seems to be well in this aquarim, decorations and fishes match well to the biotope, and the author put a lot of effort in the composition, but there is no biotope feeling. Perhaps there should be horizontal driftwood and leaves scattered carelessly, dead wood should be removed, and thin twigs added instead, finally there should be Echinodorus... Maybe, maybe... But I'm afraid in this case the aquarium will lose the charm that charmed me so much.

13. Amazon river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (30) The description is not correct and not good, no one could ever make a ‘Amazon River’ biotope, although the decor is very nice and certainly for Discus well made. But not S. aequifasciatus lives there (only S. haraldi – Blue and Brown Discus), as it is limited to the western Amazon.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): In my opinion this layout is overwhelmed by this large fragment of wood in the central part. It looks as if the wood is filling the tank almost completely, barely leaving space for the fish…

14. Basins of the Rio Meta and Rio Negro in Brazil

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (29) How can anyone do two complete different basin-biotopes merge into one? Especially if Rio Meta is a white water and Rio Negro a black-water river. In addition none of the 2 fish species lives in either. One should choose one small as exact as possible biotope to replicate.

15. Amazon Rainforest

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (28) Also this is a vast taken biotope-description and in the best case it could be applied to a giant public aquaria and not to a small aquarium. The decori s quite nice, although if ‘flooded’ it would have submerged trees with leafs on them. In addition never do such fishes as Hemigrammus rhodostomus, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus, Corydoras sterbai, live anywhere together (and none, except for Symphysodon sp.) live in the flooded forst ever (could not survive). But I must say for Discus it is well done.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): With dead leaves on the bottom this tank would be very interesting. It's a pity that Jurica had to remove them… She could add them at least for taking the photo…

16. Orinoco River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (17) This again is a very nice biotope-setup, but never ‘Orinoco’ River. First of all the Orinoco is a white water river (full of sediments), and secondly none of these fish species, nor plants, could survive/live in it. I suggest to study geography better as the biotope is well done. (B.t.w. all these fishes live in the Atabapo but not the plant.)

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Relaxing aquarium with healthy fishes, but it has flat ground, it needs some more roots or pebbles on the ground to be more realistic.

17. Rio Ucayali, blackwater jungle creek

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (11) Nice and well created, but again impossible Ucayali (white water river) and the Apistogramma could never survive there, hardly other small fishes.

18. Amazonian river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (36) This is the second ‘Amazon River’ in this section of the competition and one should never ever try to make a ‘Amazon’ biotope, as that is impossible. (see above). Make a small lake/stream/creek/pond biotope as close as possible to one existing in nature and make the description accordingly. This could be a Tefé Lake area.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Very beautiful setup, especially the roots. But the P. wingei doesn't live in the same habitat with Apistogramma, also Bolbitis and Ceratopteris are from Asia.

19. Brazil, Santarem region

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (25) Nice set-up, wrong combination of fishes (C. panda live 2000 km west of here) and plants. 

20. Swamp in the floodplain of the Paraopeba River. Minas Gerais. Brazil

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (12) Very nice and detailed description and also nice décor, nearly biotope correct, but P. reticulata is not a wild/natural form.

21. Amazon basin

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (26) Another poor ‘Amazon’ description (biotope). People must get away from trying to create an ‘Amazon’ biotope, a place where over 100,000 different biotopes and more than 3500 different fish species and hardly any submerse plant lives. Besides E. uruguayensis lives only in Uruguay and southeastern Brazil, and C. leucomelas only in Guyana.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Marvelous roots and nicely arranged, look very natural. For this beautiful aquarium I would prefer wild varieties of discus.

22. Backwater in the Araguaia River basin

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (5) This is an almost perfect decorated and described biotope, very close to nature and has in my points been very close to my other judged 1st to 4th, as all have been nearly perfect and only been apart by fractions of points. Only the Corydoras pygmaeus cannot be found here (far from it, in the River Machado, Rondonia), but beautifully done and I feel sorry the other judges did not understand your work and the details you have put into it.

23. Small forest river of the Apure River basin

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (7) This was another very nice near to authentic biotope with very good description of the Apuré tributary and also with the correct fishes, except of E. tenellus. I also gave fractions of points different to the first 6 of my judging. Congratulations and remember Mikrogeophagus (correct spelling).

24. Amazon, the mysterious river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (9) This was my 9th best of South America, simply because the biotope is really one which can be called correctly ‘Amazon’ (the only of the entire lot named as such), and simply because it contains the correct fishes which live in the mother of rivers – without any plant – and simply because it is as simple as that. Very well done and definitely deserved 9th place and not the 24th, for sure none of the judges knew the fishes and the biotopes in that mighty river.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Awww, such large fish in only 300 liters tank…?

25. Rio Lago Nhamundá

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (16) First of all it should be or Rio, or Lago (that is or River, or Lake) simply because there are world’s apart between the two biotopes. Secondly there are tank bred discus, which cannot be found in nature. Thirdly these are offspring of S. haraldi and S. discus. Only because the decoration and composition was well made it did not get further down in my voting.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Pretty setup of the roots, but you need more hiding places, also the ground is flat, with some roots on it would be more realistic for this habitat.

26. Amazon river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (30) This biotope is totally unreal and also the fishes are tank bred. It has very little to do with the biotope and if at all it should be called Lago Curuaí, not river and definitely not again ‘Amazon River’. Please read more, and possibly less in the Internet.

27. A small stream in the Rio Orinoco basin

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (8) Very nice and well-done biotope, and also as the other 1st to the 7th from my judging, a place definitely deserved (and cannot at all understand the other judges). You have done and described it correctly (the biotope), decorated accordingly only Poecilocharax weitzmani does not live there (only in the Rio Negro basin).

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very nice, sort of "optimistic" layout - bright and clean. A little bit too clean for a biotope aquarium, and there could be more decorations, to make the layout more 3 dimensional. But anyway, I like this layout a lot.

28. Nhamundá River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (19) The décor was pretty close to their nature in the Nhamundá River, also description is good, but the fishes are tank bred, and are offspring of the species S. haraldi, and in the river only S. discus live.

29. Lower Casiquiare river at its junction with Rio Negro

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (31) The one and only correct species to this biotope is P. scalare, all other fishes are found very (extreme) far from here. And the sand should be white.

30. Sandy backwater of Madeira River basin

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (15) The décor is nicely done, although not very authentic to the location, and much less the fishes, as none of the Corydoras is found there (C. aeneus is from Trinidad Island and C. pygmaeus from the River Machado, Rondonia. But still did not deserve a location so far low as given by the other judges.

31. Thickets of the Amazon

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (24) This is actually a simple, but nearly correctly done biotope with the plant and fishes living there, although many more and that is why I could not give more points, but still better than others. But please never write ‘Amazon’ as a biotope place.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very original idea, imitating natural hideout underneath emersed plants. In terms of aesthetics - it looks not attractive, because you can barely see the fish. In terms of imitating natural habitats - very good. But, again - such a small tank for such fish?

32. South America

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (18) Unfortunately this very nice and also near to authentic biotope has only gotten my 18th placement because of the name ‘South America’ (never write this – can never represent a biotope). If you had called it the biotope where A. rivulatus lives, it would have been even further up, as it is its biotope.

33. Rio Belem, smaller portion of beautiful river...

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (37) This has gotten – and must be – the last place of South America, as not one word is correct (not the fish names, besides being tank bred these are fantasy names), not the river color or habitat. I have no time to go into details, simply not a biotope.

34. Neon Lake

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (6) This is a really near to authentic biotope for P. innesi (neon tetra) and I have no idea how the others could come to such a placement in judging. Wrong is the Mikrogeophagus ramirezi (correct spelling), and it should be given a biotope name of the area border Brazil-Peru, a typical Neon Biotope what it represents. Well done, Jörg Obernolte.

35. Rio Ica - a fragment of the Andes

Heiko Bleher (Italy): Nothing of this decoration, nor the fishes or anything written has anything to do with the/a biotope in the Rio Içá region where I found the first red discus, Symphysodon haraldi in 1976.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Interesting and unique setup, but your tank its small for these fishes and your plants are from Africa.

36. Amazon stream theme

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (27) Also this ‘biotope’ is not correct, none of the fishes is found on the Amazon stream – only far away from it (and Mikrogeophagus ramirezi only in the Orinoco basin). The décor saved it also from not being last in my voting.

37. The Amazon River with big fish

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (3) This was by far the best of all ‘Amazon’ biotopes, and with the decorator of Amazon, the mysterious river it was the only one which could have been called ‘Amazon’ as they have placed authentic Amazon River fishes (species) into the biotopes, and decorated it correctly. This one for me was the 3rd best of all, because the assemblage of fishes is even more complete as well as the description and the biotope created. It is for almost unbelievable why it has received by others the last position. Incredible what was judged here. 

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): You have very rare, beautiful and healthy fishes but this tank looks small for all these monster fishes.

Africa

Heiko Bleher (Italy): Now, the third Part, Africa, has a few more judging placements similar (a few even are equal) to mine but others again have extreme exceptions – especially the first 9 are very different judged by the others from mine. Again I can only believe that several (or even none of them) have ever been to those African countries/places, (except maybe to the great lakes Malawi and Tanganyika) and not seen the biotope of fishes or know their habitat/location. Again my judgment of each one is always in parenthesis.

1. South shore of Lake Chad near the village of Sangaria

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (7) This is a very nice biotope and excellent description of Lake Chad and it feels like Vera has lived there. The biotope title matches and also the light effect is very well done. But the Polypterus found there is the large P. bichir.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): One of the best tanks in this contest. The imitation of natural light is great. But - my first thought was: "Wow, exactly the same habitat like the one I saw in Eastern Poland, near Łomża - in an oxbow lake of the Narew river. All (or almost all) plants are exactly the same. Instead of stocking this tank with Polypterus, Vera could stock it with Central European fish, and the effect would be even more stunning.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): It' is a beautiful biotope. Rays of sun broke through the lily leaves, lighted a piece of sandy bottom, frightened Polypterus and attracted the attention of a school of African jewelfishes. Looking at the entry, I do not have feeling that this is an aquarium. The underwater landscape looks quite natural, the aquarium is fascinating and takes us to a distant Africa in the underwater world of Lake Chad. If you crop the picture so that sides of the aquarium were not visible, there will be a feeling of underwater photo. The sand bottom looks very natural, with a slight relief, a few leaves lightly covered with sand give natural feeling to the wole landscape. This entry is a good example of the fact that there is no need to cover the entire bottom with leaves too make a biotope aquarium. The floating leaves of water lilies look elegant, they are used in the entries not frequently, but they give a special charm and natural beauty to the aquarium, and fishes feel protected from predators from above. The branches are successfully used to simulate the coastal bushes, Ceratophyllum looks naturally in the overall composition, sedges leave no doubt that this is a real natural body of water. It can be seen that fishes feel well in this aquarium, demonstrating their natural behavior. The fishes are from this particular biotope. The nice picture strengthens the emotional impact on the viewer. In my opinion, by the power of the emotional impact it is the strongest biotope contest entry.

2. Mouth of the unknown African river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (4) It was one of my favorites (as all of my 10 first Africa biotopes), unfortunately the description is poor and the fishes (only one species). In addition never so many Anubia species live in one single biotope – max. two. (And please give a more precise biotope location next time).

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Amazing tank with Anubias in prime condition! However, I had some difficulties when judging it, because, even though it is a beautiful aquarium, I'm not sure if such composition can be found underwater… It's actually more similar to "nature aquariums" created by ADA than to "real biotope" aquariums… Still - amazing work, and keeping all these Anubias free of algae must have been a difficult task requiring skillfull fishkeeper.

3. River in the tropical forests of West Africa

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (6) Also this is a beautiful biotope set-up and the combination of fishes is good (although very few species) and the plants as well. I just suggest to give a better (more precise) location of the biotope next time.

4. Forest stream in Cameroon

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (16) Nice biotope, but also not precise description of the same, nor any additional information (actually very poor), and only a single fish species. (I gave the same points as the placement 17).

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very nice small tank, with fish which can live in such small volume. Nice composition, and the substrate made of grains of various sizes adds more value to the natural feel.

5. Tributary of the Sangha River in the Congo River basin

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (1) This is a real and very well made near to authentic biotope of a habitat in the Sangha River basin. The fishes as well as plants and description are correct and it is my favorite of the African biotopes. I think the other judges did not evaluate it correctly because they have never been to the Sangha (and I was the first ever to explore it for aquatic life forms – long before Attenborough made the film in that region).

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): For me, this one has too many vertical and horizontal lines. These "rock cubes" on the left side don't look natural at all.

Elena Mazurek (Russia): It is a very nice biotope aquarium with a good selection of inhabitants. However, the stones are stacked somewhat artificial, in my opinion. Perhaps this impression comes from the large flat stones lying on each other. I would like to stir them up a little, to position them another way, or maybe it would be enough to add anubias between them. I would also like to dig the stones into the ground a little, so there was no feeling that they were just put here. It is important that there are shelters between the stones where adult Polypteruses can hide if there are several of them in the aquarium. Anubiases make quite dense thickets, where Ctenopomas may hide, waiting for prey. Ctenopoma acutirostra is an amazing in its adaptability. This species can be found in a variety of biotopes, from the fast-moving rivers to stagnant pools. I would like to see more Nympheas. Instead of Crinum kalamistratum, which is endemic to the island of Madagascar, it would be better to plant Crinum natans. 1-2 bushes of Crinum natans are able to create gorgeous thickets like giant Vallisneria where Ctenopomas would have hidden gladly. It would be another good idea to add several pieces of driftwood, I think that they would make the aquarium look more naturally and harmoniously, but without them it looks also good.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Beautiful aquarium but the rocks cluster in the left doesn’t look natural.

6. Lake Malawi theme

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (18) This is a well-decorated Malawi biotope with similar to the biotope components, but the fish community is not correct (several of these species do not live together in nature).

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): I like the way the stones are arranged, especially those on the right side. Large ones are supported by smaller ones, it looks very natural - chaotic, yet aesthetically pleasant.

7. Lake Tanganyika

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (22) OK, but maybe too simple and just too plain for a nature biotope, the person did just photograph his home aquarium for the contest and also therefore it should not be considered within the first 10 placements.

8. Coastal zone of the Congo River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (10) Very nice set-up, near to an authentic biotope in the Congo River basin, but should definitely have more fish species and better description of the location and habitat.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): This would be a very natural looking tank, but it is far too small for these fish!  And it could use some structural bacground, made of the same materials of which the decorations inside the tank are made, put in a box behind the tank.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): I like very much all the setup but the tank is too small  for these fishes.

9. Coast of West Africa

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (3) For me this was the 3rd best, simply because it is very authentic to the natural biotope of these endemic Mono scats. Marina really did her homework very well by finding an authentic mangrove-like tree and also the substrate is correct. You definitely deserved my placement in the Africa biotopes.

10. Malebo Pool Biotope

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (11) Another very nice set-up and almost authentic to a biotope in the Malebo pool area, only not really do these species live in the currant, more along the edges/bank. But well done and my points almost equal those of the other judges.

11. Lake Tanganyika Kasanga biotope

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (20) This biotope for Tropheus species is nice and good described, but very simple and missing other species for an near to nature biotope.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Exceptionally beautiful fishes in a nice setup, the liters are marginal for the species.

12. Lake Tanganyika

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (13) Well described and done biotope, but also very simple, and at least some of the many other species living in such a habitat should have been added.

13. Lake Tanganyika, the bay near Mpulungu

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (8) I have given for this biotope set-up enough points to be among the 10 best, because it is very authentic to the Mpulungu area, well described, and these species live here together.

14. West African Paradise

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (14) This is a nice aquarium decoration, but has very little (if not nothing) to do with a real biotope, also not the fishes (i.e. I discovered and introduced P. nicolsi from the eastern D.R. of Congo). My placement is the same as that of the other judges.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very nice composition of healthy plants - but it probably doesn't have much to do with natural underwater habitat in Africa… (still, fish apparently don't care at all).

15. The stream of the Niger River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (5) Alexander did a very nice biotope set-up and definitely also deserved to be among the first 10, only I am missing more fish species and a more detailed (better) biotope description.

16. Small pond becoming dry in savannas of East Africa

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (2) I had a real problem with this almost perfectly done biotope in comparing it with my first choice: Tributary of the Sangha River in the Congo River basin. Svetlana you did an almost perfect job, congratulations.

17. Cameroon, rain forest Kienke River region

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (24) Another nice biotope, but it seems to be set-up only to breed the Pelvicachromis species and not to the biotope where they live. Also missing other species living in that particular Kienke habitat.  

18. Forest stream in Cameroon

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (17) My judging points are almost same as to those of the other judges, and because of poor variety of fishes and also by not having a biotope place (or better definition), it did not arrive among the first 10. 

19. Autumn Underwater

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (12) ‘Lower Niger’, or better ‘Port Harcourt biotope’ would have been more appropriate and also some more fish species that live there (i.e. Gnathonemuys petersi, Pantodon buchholzi), but I still placed it further up (number 12), than the remaining judges.

20. Volcano cave

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (23) Unfortunately this is not a good biotope description (nor a good biotope title), and also not very biotope correct, the rocks for a ‘volcano’ are wrong and also not so well (nature-like) formed (seem to be cut rocks) and poorly decorated – try to do better next time. 

21. Colours of Africa

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (19) The title has nothing to do with any African biotope area. The names are not common and not the correct scientific ones and it is altogether an extreme poor description. The biotope set-up was not too bad. (And I placed you a little but better than the rest.) 

22. Deep water zone of Lake Tanganyika

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (14) Not one of these species is really a ‘Deep water’ one in Lake Tanganyika. But I still gave you a much better placement because of the more natural (deep) biotope setup.

23. Under the splitting rock

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (15) The nice set-up is more of a fantasy than a biotope, as such will not be found in nature. It was decorated to ones own taste, but not to a nature biotope and it has no real definition of any. Next time really try to do near to nature biotope with a perfect description (and still I gave you better points than the others).

24. Malawi – rift lake

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (26) Very simple and far from natural biotope, nowhere in the lake Anubias barteri grows, and especially not deep down from the surface. Also the rear should have décor, if it is to be a biotope. Try to set-up next time a near to authentic biotope and not photograph an existing aquarium.

25. Nirvana

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (25) My score is the same as all other judges, no such rocks found in the lake, the plants are not correct ones, and also the title is not appropriate – not a biotope.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): A good layout for these beautiful fishes but the aquarium looks very freshly, in a few months would be great. Anubias don’t belong to this biotope.

26. Shallows and backwaters of the Congo River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (9) I liked your décor Denis and placed you among the first 10, although Guppies are not found there (some places Gambusia holbrocki), and the placement could be arranged better – more natural. The fishes are good, live together, but also some more.

27. Mini Tanganyika

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (27) Jose, you unfortunately came last, also by my judgment, simply because it is not a biotope. Rocks will never be found in such a composition (too much in order), and no fish. Maybe for a training it is good.

Eurasia

Heiko Bleher (Italy): I must say that I had the hardest time in judging these fantastic biotopes made of Eurasian habitats, and none of the others continents were so close in points away from each other – from my judging the majority are only fractions of points apart of each other. Fantastic work, congratulations to almost all participants. Again my placement of each is shown in parenthesis behind the position given by the other judges.

1. Creek in Guangdong province, when time stops

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (1) Petra has done the most elaborate biotope and the closest to a typical habitat above Kowloon in the Guangdong Province, nearly perfect according to where the white clouds live. Congratulations, and also to all other judges as she deserved the first place.

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): I snorkeled a lot in China and this is a great layout. Very special.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very nice idea, very skillfully done. Too bad the leaves on the branch on land are dry - the contrast with living mosses is too strong, it looks as if the tree was somewhat sick or poisoned, adding "death" feel to this layout, otherwise very green and full of life.

2. Malaysian peat swamp

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (20) There is no question that this is a well made near to the authentic location of a biotope for the species mentioned, but as it is not as elaborated as many others, nor the description and details missing, it cannot (should not) be among the first 10 of this group.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Amazing tank. Aesthetically - it's terrible. I mean, nobody would set up such aquarium as decoration of the living room. Every guest would say: "Hey, your tank is leaking, you lost half of your water, and the plants on top have died!" But, in terms of imitating natural habitat, this is a very good tank, because this is exactly how the nature looks like in the swamps. (I have never been to Malaysia, but I visited Polish swamps and marshes, and got my clothes wet often enough to know what I'm talking about.)

3. Marshy stream, Phang Nga province, southern Thailand

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (7) Very well made biotope near to nature in the aquatic habitats in the Phang Nga Province and with the beautiful décor definitely deserves a placement among the first 10, but note: Egeria are not found here, nor (or very rarely) Ceratopteris cornuta.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): This is an interesting tank, however for me there is too much variability in it. Left side is composed mainly of stemmed plants, central part is formed by vertical lines of reeds, and the right side is rather chaotic and sort of "curly" because of the roots. I try to imagine when the tank would look balanced, and I think it would be when the right part would be removed, and replaced by composition similar to the central part. Then this tank would be great.

4. Under the waterfall of the forest river on Borneo

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (6) Anastasia made an excellent description of the habitat and a very nice elaborated work by composing this amazing biotope near to nature, but should have composed the species that really live together. Anyhow congratulations and you are fractions of points away from the other first 7 placed by me.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Is this tank really 65 liters? It looks very small - either there is a mistake in the description, or the rocks are too big for this tank. It looks as if there is barely any free space for water movement - and this is supposed to be a waterfall, so lots of water should move around, preferably with bubbles…

5. Stiphodon river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (28) This Frenchman really did a great job with the decoration but unfortunately has nothing to do with a typical Stiphodon biotope – far from it. Not one of the Stiphodon species lives anywhere in the region of the Indo-Pacific in a similar biotope, because of this fact and the missing detail of location and the mates it lives with, it could not have been judged among the first 10. Note that all Stiphodon species live purely in rocky fast flowing areas never within plants and do not hide under rocks in nature, only above (to graze) or along the sides. And never so many species live in one and the same biotope (almost nowhere two species living sympatric!). Like Stiphodon percnopterygionus from Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan, Guam, Mariana and Palau while S. auratus only known from New Guinea, Admiralty Islands, Halmahera Island, Bismark Archipelago, Bougainville, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Never saw them together (or any other 3rd species). And your Yaoshania is maybe Yaoshanicus, but it does not exist with this species name. And also the Cryptocoryne wendtii and Marsilea crenata never found with Stiphodon nor Sicyopterus. Still an amazing work and therefore my positive votes (contrary to all others).

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): This is a scene that I would like to see one day snorkeling and photographing these interesting fishes. Love it!

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): One of my favourite tanks of this contest - however, as in other cases, I had difficulties when judging it, because it is wonderful planted tank, but I'm not sure if it truly resembles natural underwater habitat… Yet, 900 liters - bravo!

6. Сoastal zone of Lake Matano

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (27) Contrary to the result of other judges this biotope compared to the others did not receive a placement in the upper ones, simply because it is very limited in its life forms (no fishes and hardly any plants contrary to the habitat in Lake Matano where these shrimps live), and also its the décor and background is not Matano Lake.

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): Lake Matano - I will never forget the moments snorkeling the shores of this wonderful Lake. This scape is a very nice homage to Lake Matano. Like!

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Judging by the pictures which I found in the internet - this tank imitates the natural habitat very well. However, something is missing here, and I'm not sure what it is… Either it's too small, or there is too little dirt, or maybe the surface of the bottom should be bigger - this tank seems too high for such "flat" layout…

7. The Summertime in a shallow North European pond

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (4) For me this was the 4th best of the Eurasia biotopes, because it is a beautiful, almost authentic biotope of a north European pond without any doubt. Congratulations Zanda, very nice work and  only fractions of points away from the others.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): In short - amazing, amazing, amazing. And I have no idea why it ranked 7th place, instead of the 1st place. This is absolutely my favourite tank, which shows that coldwater biotopes can also be very attractive (I guess this is how Central European lakes looked like when there was no agricultural pollution).

8. The island of Borneo. Plungpool under a waterfall

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (2) I had to give to Konstantin the second best place in Eurasia, although fractions apart from the 3rd and 4th, because it is really the same I have seen in Borneo recently (2011) and can appreciate the authenticity of his décor.  Very well made, you have done a fantastic biotope and I am very sorry the others gave you only 8th.

Chris Lukhaup (Germany): One of my favorites. I just returned from Sarawak / Borneo and this layout brings me back to one of my favorite places on earth. Thanks for this nice layout! Love it.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Very interesting tank, and probably lots of skills were needed to keep all these Bucephalandra plants in good health. However, I'm not sure if this is how natural underwater habitats of Borneo look like…

9. Privetnaya river

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (29) Unfortunately this position of Vera’s biotope I do not share, although it is nicely done and possibly biotope correct, the décor is poor and the inmates even less biotope appropriate. The trout lives in fast flowing waters. I like the biotope description and wished some more this would have had influence in the décor and the life inmates of this habitat.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Quite nice tank, with very interesting illumination. Slightly too small for Salmo trutta, but still, looks natural, and I'm not sure why it ranked only 9th place.

10. Small pond in Indochina

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (25) Alexei gave a very nice poem-like description but for too far from a real biotope and without precise location, therefore and because of the missing other species I could not give so many points.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): This tank is actually one of the best here. I know it doesn't look like one, but in my opinion it is. That's because of the bottom - full of dirt, and this is exactly how it looks like underwater. I can't stop myself from thinking that Alexei just uprooted some plants, and let all the dirt lay on the bottom, instead of sucking it out with the hose. However, even though it doesn't look particularly attractive from the aesthetic point of view, it is the most natural looking bottom in this contest!

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Nice effort, looks natural but these fishes needed some hiding places, the best option for this would be the surface plants.

11. Pond in the park area on the north of St. Petersburg

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (11) This my judging is the same as that of other judges, because a well done, good species living there together and also the plant-live is that of northern European ponds. Well done.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Interesting, looking good and natural - but too small!

12. Khwae Yai - the river of contrasts

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (9) The biotope is very well done according to the Khwae Yai River and I am very happy to see this, rarely anyone has done or chosen to do a biotope from this remote river. The down point, why I did not give more than the 9th place, was the fishes, they do not belong there, they are a tank bred form. (But I still was better than the other judges).

13. Stream in the forest of Sri Lanka

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (24) Nice habitat, not precisely to the mentioned biotope and also with wrong fish species (except for P. titteya), that is why my placement further down. (But like you also are only fractions of points away from the others, less than 1 point).

14. Forest stream with slow flow in the river Jelai-Bila

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (23) Nice biotope and Yuriy tried to do his best I believe, but in that river lives no C. cilliata (could never survive in such low pH – which is at its lowest pH 4, or 4.5 and not 3), nor both of the other Cryptos together and also no Ophipogon. Also the fish variety is poor for Kalimantan Tengah.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): This one is very good, I think very similar to natural habitat of Parosphromenus fish. Too bad the water is so cloudy - in a tank which is 1 month old it should be already nice and clear, stained brown with tannins.

15. Southeast Thailand

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (12) This is a very nice biotope and near to the authentic area, but missing a better detail description of species/inmates and habitat. And certainly the water is not neutral.

16. Ussuri River. Among the debris of the Ussuri region

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (16) My vote is exactly the same as that of others, which will say that the position of Vyacheslav’s is accepted by all, although it is for sure biotope correct. I can see that you did all you could and made a nearly perfect replica of that part of the Ussuri River with the fishes living in it.  But if it helps: you are only 3 points and fractions away from the 1st placed in Eurasia (this is how close most of you all were).

17. Backwater in the forest of Sri Lanka

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (21) Quite a work in decorating this biotope, but with wrong fish species (except 2), and so some plants, which cannot be found in Sri Lanka (i.e. C. wendtii). Try to study next time a more precise location is my advice.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Another tank which was difficult for me to judge. On one hand, a very nice classic planted tank, on the other hand - not very similar to any actual underwater biotope…

18. North shore of Lake Inle

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (22) Unfortunately I know this lake very well and introduced almost all fish species living along the north shore already begin of the 1980s (i.e. the former Inlecypris auropurpureus, and I. jayarami, Microrasbora rubescens, M. erythromicron, Yunnanilus brevis and many more), and know all the aquatic plants (of which none you have are from there), your placement was way down. Please research more next time, as you do nice set-ups.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Well, if someone had the opportunity to see how the reeds look like at the bank of the pond - then he would appreciate this layout. Because it looks exactly how it looks underwater - lots of stems, which are obstructing the view and make almost impossible to see anything. A very good tank, and I don't know why it ranked 18th. In my opinion it deserves at least the place among first ten tanks, even though it could be bigger.

19. Malaysia. Borneo swamp

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (5) I gave this nice small and well decorated – close to the natural habitat of this Betta species – aquarium a much better position than all other judges. The simple and close to nature of the species (where hardly any other fish lives) is very nice.

20. Forest stream in Southern Thailand

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (8) Also this beautiful and well-done decoration deserves a position among the first 10 with fractions of points away from the firsts. This tiny aquarium for Trigonostigma espei is perfectly done. Congratulations and sorry the others gave you such a position.

21. Bornéo

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (19) Nice decoration and I do not know what else to say; only that you are 2 and fractions of points away from the first, and in my judgement still better position as the rest of judges. But my suggestion is next time to make a more precise biotope description (Borneo is the 3rd largest Island and has hundreds/thousands of biotopes). Salu a Calais.

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): I like it a lot, only objection is the full white sand for this habitat.

22. Meilun – the river flowing between mountains and forests

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (13) Anna you made a nice biotope. Nicely done biotope, but the rocks/décor is not very natural and surely no marble in the river. Still I place you much better than the other judges (13 vs. 22).

23. Rain forest

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (3) One can see the tremendous difference between my judgement and that of the others: for me 3rd place vs. 23rd – almost unbelievable. Martina you did an excellent job, very well made, the only reason why you did not go even better from my point of view, is that you mix fish species from different continents (H. amandae from South America, rest from Southeast Asia (and shrimp from Japan), except Alternanthera and the Anubias species (Brazil and West Africa)). Congratulations otherwise for your great décor.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Two tanks (23, 24), equally difficult to judge for me. Beautiful planted aquariums, yet not much related to real underwater habitats. In fact I'm surprised that designers of these tanks chose to send the pictures to the biotope tank contest…

24. The Bukit Barisan – on the ridge slopes

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (18) None of the fishes or shrimp can be found even close to Indonesia, very un-correct, also none of the plants, except Microsorum. Therefore this cannot be considered a biotope. If ‘Indonesia’ first of all try to limit it to a certain (small) area, as the country is 5000plus km long and has 17,000 islands (with all different biotopes). Secondly try to be more accurate in describing an authentic biotope, as it is not. Still my votes are better than the one of the others.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): Two tanks (23, 24), equally difficult to judge for me. Beautiful planted aquariums, yet not much related to real underwater habitats. In fact I'm surprised that designers of these tanks chose to send the pictures to the biotope tank contest…

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): A beautiful aquatic garden but not a biotope aquarium, you have fishes and plants from different continents.

25. Under the bridge over a forest stream in Udmurtia

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (10) Also to Andrei I gave much better points (10 vs. 25), because for ‘under a bridge…’ this is very authentic, also it is not really a biotope from nature, but from a bridge (man made). But because the authenticity and the correct fishes from my side you made one of the 10 best.

26. Swamp on the island of Phu Quoc. Vietnam

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (26) A rare same vote of all judges. I believe because you placed tank bred Bettas in it (not close to nature), and also the décor is not nature-biotope-like. Try to be more accurate next time to what lives really there.

27. La Charca

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (15) Para un acuario mini es muy lindo, pero es realmente mini. I think you made this real nice, but it is an experiment and not really a biotope, therefore try next time not to ‘experiment’. Still you have much better votes from me (15 vs. 27).

28. Thailand betta

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (17) George, this is nice, but not really a biotope (Cabomba is not found in Thailand only America) and your description is really very poor. In addition it is a tank-bred-man-made Betta. I still gave better points because it is nice thought with the floating plants and one can find wild Bettas in a similar biotope (but with correct plants).

Dimitris Ioannou (Greece): Nice home for your betta, I would prefer the wild morph, also the Eichhornia crassipes is from South America.

29. South Asian Swamps, Solstice

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (14) You also received much better points from me than all the others. You placed South American fish into South Asian swamp and made a poor description, also repeating twice the same plant name writing the generic name wrong on the second account. Try to research better and do it according to an actual small piece of nature that’s exists.

Australia & Oceania

Heiko Bleher (Italy): I can hardly believe that in this group the judges did almost all agree on the same placements, see my location of each in parenthesis. But for all of you: each one is only one or two points apart, and the first four just fractions of a point – for all to see how well you did your ‘home-work’. Congratulations to you and keep up the great work.

1. Small tributary of the Mamberamo River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (1) Simply well done, very good research, all agreed. Congratulations Vera.

2. Near the tributary of the Lorentz River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (2) I had a real problem to decide if the nearly authentic biotope reconstruction of Nicolay or the one from Vera is to be the number one. Only the less than 0.2 points lower than Vera’s resulted from the fact that this rainbow fish (Melanotaenia ogilbyi) does not live alone, there are several Pseudomugil species, i.e. ivantsoffi, novaguineae, pellucidus, etc.

3. Сoastal area of the Kamusi River

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (4) This is again a almost perfect biotope décor, and as with Nicolay, I miss the partner-mates living with it, and in the case of the goby I introduced I also found there the Pseudomugil furcatus, today the most widely distributed Blue-eye fish from the few I brought back. They live together, (besides Melanotaenia rubrostriata species). Again by fractions of a point I had to give preference to Airat.

Piotr Kierzkowski (Poland): In my opinion this tank looks the most natural of all tanks in this category (even though plants may not originate from the desired region of the world). Planting is somewhat chaotic, which makes a very interesting 3D-structured space between stems of Nymphoides.

4. Backwater of mouth of the forest river, which flows into Lake Sentani in Papua New Guinea

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (6) I could not give the points the other judges did, as your description is not correct, nor most of your plants. This Glossolepis species lives ONLY in the Lake Sentani and not found in an affluent and never among Microsorum, or Cryptocoryne wendtii. They live among Myriophyllum, Potamogeton and Najas species, etc.

5. Backwater of a small forest river on the island of New Guinea

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (5) The same points of all judges. You did a very nice job of decorating, but you mixed species that never live in nature together: M. boesemani lives on the western end of the second largest Island on Earth, and M. multisquamatus on the other side. On my website you could have seen it. M. boesemani live ONLY with Pseudomugil reticulatus.

6. Small forest lake in Northern Australia

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (3) This was my third best choice and still is. The décor, rocks, plants, sand, everything is very close to nature biotope in northern Australia which I visited (and collected) since 1974. Again last month. Also you are fraction of a single point away from the other two. I do not know why the other gave you a 6th place, I can only guess that no one of the judges has ever been there. Well done.

7. Small river in the rain forest, Papua New Guinea

Heiko Bleher (Italy): (7) We all agreed on your unfortunately last place, I think because the Sepik is far (very far) away from the location where I found T. ocellicauda (in the Safia valley – extreme eastern PNG), and the poor description. Still nice biotope and similar to their habitat.