# Amazon Tank



## Jaycee

I know that this question was answered in various threads in a roundabout way, so I apologize if I haven't been able to find a complete source that does exist on this site. I have looked pretty extensively.

I am curious, that in a more expert opinion, what type of substrate, rocks, and plants that I might look (and maintain more easily) for a South American style setup. I would like the mimic the natural habitat of Piranhas as much as possible, and while I already have my own ideas, I would like to consult before I make some big purchases on what I can be adding to my aquarium and maximize the ability to consistently maintain an ideal water conditions/habitat for my fish.


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## jp80911




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## CuzIsaidSo

From the looks of that video. Rake all the leaves in your yard in the spring and throw them in your tank.


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## Murphy18

Here is a pretty good amazon biotape, some different sizes driftwood/bogwood, no idea what those vine things are exactly but they look cool


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## Murphy18

I would imagine there would be a change of enviroment in different parts of the amazon and all the different rivers and tributaries, i cant imagine it all looking the same.


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## bigshawn

^^^^^I agree but thats a sweet looking tank.......


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## chaddfc

That is a sweet looking tank damn..... almost wish I wouldve went with sand..... Heres my tank....


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

depends on what piranha you are setting the tank up for and how "realistic" you want the tank to be... for a blackwater biotope tank, go with a sand and leaf litter substrate, peat for the blackwater effect, and lots of driftwood. for a clearwater tank, sand substrate, driftwood, and a few live plants native to the region.

here's a couple pictures of different scapes on my 75 gallon... the first picture would be more of a clearwater tank using sand, driftwood, and a few e. tenellus as ground cover. i never was able to get my hands on the rest of the native plants i was looking for before i decided to turn it into a blackwater biotope tank, which is what the second picture shows. the pictures aren't very good since i took them within a couple hours of completely tearing the tank apart for the new scapes, but you can get a basic idea...


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## T-wag

joedizzlempls said:


> depends on what piranha you are setting the tank up for and how "realistic" you want the tank to be... for a blackwater biotope tank, go with a sand and leaf litter substrate, peat for the blackwater effect, and lots of driftwood. for a clearwater tank, sand substrate, driftwood, and a few live plants native to the region.
> 
> here's a couple pictures of different scapes on my 75 gallon... the first picture would be more of a clearwater tank using sand, driftwood, and a few e. tenellus as ground cover. i never was able to get my hands on the rest of the native plants i was looking for before i decided to turn it into a blackwater biotope tank, which is what the second picture shows. the pictures aren't very good since i took them within a couple hours of completely tearing the tank apart for the new scapes, but you can get a basic idea...
> 
> View attachment 191222
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> 
> View attachment 191221


that first scape is so sweet


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

that first picture is pretty much the same type of look i'm going for when i get the new 75 set up except for the rocks... the blackwater tank looked much better than that picture after a few days, it just took awhile for everything to clear up after the change.... like i said before, it just depends on how "authentic" you want your tank to look


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## Johnny_Zanni

2nd pic has some sweet driftwood joe


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

i have quite the collection of driftwood... anytime i see a nice piece at the lfs or on the shore of a lake, i have to grab it... haha


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## Jaycee

joedizzlempls said:


> depends on what piranha you are setting the tank up for and how "realistic" you want the tank to be... for a blackwater biotope tank, go with a sand and leaf litter substrate, peat for the blackwater effect, and lots of driftwood. for a clearwater tank, sand substrate, driftwood, and a few live plants native to the region.
> 
> here's a couple pictures of different scapes on my 75 gallon... the first picture would be more of a clearwater tank using sand, driftwood, and a few e. tenellus as ground cover. i never was able to get my hands on the rest of the native plants i was looking for before i decided to turn it into a blackwater biotope tank, which is what the second picture shows. the pictures aren't very good since i took them within a couple hours of completely tearing the tank apart for the new scapes, but you can get a basic idea...
> 
> View attachment 191222
> 
> 
> View attachment 191221


Thanks for the input, it was most informative

Also, those are two very sweet looking tank set ups man!


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## Lifer374

Looking good Joe. 
What kind of grassy plants are those? Is that a recent pic? Are you having success with them?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

the grassy plants in the front are e. tenellus... i ended up ripping them all out of that tank because they were looking rough, but i think that's because i never really gave them a chance to settle in before i swapped substrates and moved everything around. i had gotten a bunch of it at the same time and put half in my 75 gallon and half in my 46 bowfront, the stuff in the bowfront is doing great and it's always been an easy grower for me in the past.


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## bigshawn

joedizzlempls said:


> depends on what piranha you are setting the tank up for and how "realistic" you want the tank to be... for a blackwater biotope tank, go with a sand and leaf litter substrate, peat for the blackwater effect, and lots of driftwood. for a clearwater tank, sand substrate, driftwood, and a few live plants native to the region.
> 
> here's a couple pictures of different scapes on my 75 gallon... the first picture would be more of a clearwater tank using sand, driftwood, and a few e. tenellus as ground cover. i never was able to get my hands on the rest of the native plants i was looking for before i decided to turn it into a blackwater biotope tank, which is what the second picture shows. the pictures aren't very good since i took them within a couple hours of completely tearing the tank apart for the new scapes, but you can get a basic idea...
> 
> View attachment 191222
> 
> 
> View attachment 191221


Ooo, nice love the scape now I wonder whats plants are native to the Rio Sao river hell I wonder what is the native forage for the prianha there


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

are you talking about rio sao francisco? i know there is e. tenellus there and floating plants such as salvinia... i could do some digging and find some more if you want.


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