Types of Aquarium Ecosystem Experiments

Experienced aquarists sometimes want to do something more interesting with their fish tanks other than the usual freshwater tropical, tropical marine or coral reef tank. Options exist for those who think outside of the box. You should have plenty of fish keeping experience under your belt before trying experiments with aquarium ecosystems. With any new aquarium project, you should do plenty of research beforehand.

  1. Biotope Aquariums

    • A biotope aquarium concentrates on a very specific ecosystem, so the aquarist sets out to mimic the water conditions, landscape, fish and plant life found in that environment as closely as possible. For example, you could create an Amazon River biotope or a Florida Keys coral reef biotope. Rhett A. Butler of MongaBay.com suggests a Lake Malawi of Africa biotope or a Thailand creek biotope as possibilities.

    Brackish Aquariums

    • Sea water maintains a specific gravity (one way of measuring salinity) of about 1.024 ppm (parts per million.) However, spots where rivers empty into the ocean have a much lower salinity. According to Bad Man's Tropical Fish, you can create a brackish aquarium to replicate a mangrove swamp complete with red mangrove plants growing over the aquarium. Other possibilities for brackish tanks include an estuary with high-flowing water or a salt pond with slow-moving water.

    Seagrass Meadow

    • Seagrass beds house numerous life forms in the wild, most notably seahorses and pipefish. Seagrass can grow in varying climates in an aquarium. Anthony Calfo of Reefland.com recommends the Atlantic seagrass called Thalassia testudinum as well as Manatee grass from the Caribbean for warm water aquariums. Eelgrass will thrive in cool water tanks.