Zierfische & Aquarium 2007 – Aquapress

Germany – Duisburg, 3-7 October 2007

This was the 10th edition of what is said to be the largest Ornamental fish and aquarium exhibition and conference worldwide. The active Norbert Zajac who claims also to have the world’s largest pet shop near by the exhibition centre in Duisburg, Germany, did it again. Over 30 000 visitors came, appreciates the incredible variety of decorated aquarium and were able to buy everything existing in the hobby, from every major manufacturer. Aquapress Publishers were also present – as always…

This worldwide unique event lasted this time for five days and included the 11th Cichliden Tage (11th Cichlid Days – organized by the DCG, the German Cichlid Association, of which Heiko is also a member). Andreas Spreinat decorated a giant aquarium with a Malawi Lake Biotope of 10 000 litre (above) and Heiko decorated a couple of authentic nature biotopes (below). The DCG decorated a vast quantity of aquariums with cichlids from all three continents – an immense variety of habitats, of which below you can see a few, also some of the outstanding fishes displayed during the 19th Zierfische & Aquarium Exhibition and conference, where Heiko Bleher was the only one to hold 5 lectures

_{The Aquapress Publishers stand with Heiko Bleher and one of the biotope aquariums}

_{One of Heiko’s two authentic biotopes represented a small corregó were he found the species of Moenkhausia costae and an un-described Hasemania species. Two beautiful tetras living in groups in a shallow smaller stream with white sand and some round rocks, driftwood and Echinodorus inpae growing submerse during the rainy season. Above some details of the habitat and the M. costae swimming in groups}

_{Here Heiko created a habitat of his recent (2007) rainbowfish-discoveries from the Aru Archipelago in Indonesia. A fast flowing creek with clear water with some drift wood, a few rocks and white sand. There were Melanotaenia sp., Morgurnda sp., a new Pseudomugil sp., and we can also see Chilaterina fasciata, here a pair, male is the lower and the female the upper (left), and also a beautiful Melanotaenia sp. (but both latter he found in the Kiunga region)}

_{Another authentic biotope aquarium was decorated nearby ate the stand of Stefan Gohmann – a real Anostomus anostomus habitat as found in the Essequibo river system in Guyana. One can see that the fishes immediately started to grace on the driftwood in the currant feed on the alga head down (why they are also called head- stander). This is exactly as in nature, the entire decoration}

_{Also at the stand of Stefan Gohmann was another authentic biotope: one of small tetras and bottom living characoids, such as Parodon or Characidium species. They live in Amazonia mostly over sandy ground with few aquatic plants and with lots of driftwood were species like Copella nattereri (left) and Nannostomus marginatus (right) live more near the surface}

_{At the stand of Juwel company there were more very nice, almost biotope correct, aquariums. From the top: a neon habitat (but maybe to many rocks); a Corynopoma riseii biotope, which was almost correctly decorated to nature; a very nice Melanoataenia boesemani habitat almost authentic; and a Puntius habitat of India-Sumatra, which was the least authentic of the four (the Microsorium are only found in New Guinea and the Echinodorus in South America, one Puntius and the Danios are from India, the Puntius sumatranus from Indonesia)}

_{The AKZ organized a stand with lots of small biotopes, such as habitat as were fishes live in nature – and they showed mainly dwarf cichlids. Here just two of those: a beautiful red tail Apistogramma agassizii (left) and an A. viejita…}