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Im interested in setting up an orinoco river biotype in my 180 gallon tank. It already has an oscar, a pleco, and a black aro(i know its not from the orinoco, but its an exception). I was thinking of getting some ornate pims, how many should i get? i'll be upgrading my tank in around a year to something like a 250 gallon. Can anyone tell me what an orinoco river biotype looks like? any ideas for my tank are appreciated.

Can anyone tell me what an orinoco river biotype looks like?

There is not really any such thing as a biotope aquarium. I prefer to refer to them as themed aquaria.

A true biotope is where you assemble species that would naturally be found sympatrically (literally side by side).

Any cross section of such a big river such as the Orinoco will give you dozens of different habitats. Even if fish live in the same stretch, they may never see each other in wild.

Fish will generally live in a specific habitat such as leaf litter, driftwood snag, open sand, crevices in rocks or in plants. You can often get all these habitats in just one cross section.

Also the river will change dramatically over its several thousand mile course, from narrow sections of rapids, to broad slow flowing areas.

By including some detail about the habitat you want to represent will help you a lot.

With the fish you suggest, I would go for the driftwood snag type habitat.

Also, its probably best if you use just the one membership account

Could i do a couple different habitats in my tank that would be close together in the wild? if not ill just go with the driftwood snag. as for the accounts, i share a computer with other people, and two of us have accounts, which is much easier if its fine with you.

Could i do a couple different habitats in my tank that would be close together in the wild?

Yes of course. You are only limited by your imagination.

I would stack up bogwood at one end of the tank all the way to the surface, and have open sand with a few scattered pieces of bogwood at the other end.

This would provide a good balance between hiding and foraging areas.

cool, thats what i was thinking. How about plants and what kind of sand?

The snag is likely to be in quite deep water with a quick current, so plants are unlikely to be present.

Anubius or java fern would would work growing on the wood, but these are from Africa and south-east Asia.

As for sand, go for fine "river", "silica" or "silver" sand.

Oscar,
You might find this article useful. It also includes a few photos of the Orinoco.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... cle_id=177
-Shane

i know all i need need now, thanks for all your help.