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My name is Scott Fellman, and I'm a total fish geek. Not a casual aquarium keeper, mind you-I'm a full-on, frozen- fish- food- in- the- family- refrigerator, wet-containers-all-over-the house kind of fish geek. If there's a way to cause water damage or frustration, I've mastered it! It sure seems like I spend a lot of time wiping spills off of the floor, scraping algae, and ungluing my fingers! Is it me, or does that seem oddly familiar to you ? I've been keeping marine aquariums since I was around 12 years old, and have kept everything from Anthias to Zebrasomas , with quite a few creatures in between! My specific areas of interest are reef aquarium husbandry, biotope marine aquariums, and finding new ways to stash away allof the hobby junk I've accumulated over the years. If you visit Bob Fenner's WetWebMedia.com website, you may have seen my responses on the “Daily FAQs” page, where I've been fortunate to help mentor hobbyists from all over the world since 2002. I've had several articles published in Freshwater and Marine Aquarium magazine, Anthony Calfo's “C Journal” , and several other online venues. I served as co-editor of WWM's “Conscientious Aquarist” online publication, along with Adam Cesnales. I was honored to provide contributions to Anthony and Bob's Reef Invertebrates book, and am fortunate to have cultivated friendships with so many wonderful hobby people over the years. In addition to doing presentations around the country at various hobby clubs, I am past President of my local club, the Marine Aquarium Society of Los Angeles County. When I'm not working at duplicating my little piece of the ocean in my own aquarium, I can be found in the ocean weekly, continuing my childhood love affair with my other obsession, surfing. I reside in the Los Angeles area
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ABSTRACT
The tropical oceans provide an amazing diversity of ecological niches, providing homes to countless life forms, all of which have adapted to these niches over eons of evolution. The term “biotope” is defined as a small area with a distinct set of environmental conditions that supports a particular ecological community of plants and animals. A “marine biotope aquarium” is an aquarium that is conceived and assembled to represent a specific environmental niche, such as a lagoon, patch reef, seagrass bed, etc.
The biotope concept for aquaria is not new; freshwater hobbyists have been constructing them for years (such as African Rift Lake Cichlid aquariums, Discus habitats, etc.). For whatever reason, we as reef hobbyists tend to assemble aquariums containing a wide variety of fishes, invertebrates, and plants from dramatically different environmental niches. While there is nothing “wrong” with such aquariums (we've all created them!), there are numerous benefits to assembling systems with fishes and invertebrates representing a specific environmental niche.
This presentation will provide a lighthearted, nuts-and-bolts overview of marine biotope aquariums. We'll discuss the advantages of biotope systems and examine some techniques and ideas that can help you to create unique and more natural-looking aquascapes. Then, we'll take a look at a few interesting biotopes that you can replicate in your own home, with detailed information on planning and assembling them.
If you've been in the hobby a long time, and are looking for something different to excite you, or even if you're a complete beginner who wants to start right out of the block with a different approach to marine aquarium keeping, the biotope concept might be just the thing! My fondest wish is that this presentation helps to inspire my fellow marine aquarists to set off on their own exciting new adventures in the hobby!
