Now for some of the animals living in this superb biotope recreation. This is my Mexican flatmate Carolina attempting to communicate with a huge Arapaima gigas...using a metro map! These guys share the enormous right-hand pond with loads of other species large and small (check the massive L091 at the bottom of the pic) and it was just wonderful to see these creatures living in an environment that truly does them justice rather than cramped into a display tank to satisfy the paying public:
Arapaima head...bigger than that of a human!:
This pic shows just how realistic and colossal this display is. The Hypostmous in the centre of the shot is well over 30cm long. Look at the layers of detritus on the bottom. The blue dots you can see are some of what must be 1000s of cardinal tetras contained in this section. I had a brief conversation with a member of staff who told me that most of the smaller fish are reproducing at will in the tank so any that are eaten are not of any real concern as their numbers are actually increasing! Also take note of the red-tailed cat at the back of the pic...there are a few of these in the tank and we sat and watched two of them having an amazing territorial battle for ten minutes or so, shooting up into midwater and so on. The tank is big enough to cope with a good number of the enormous territories required by this species. It's only when you see this kind of natural behaviour up close you realise just how unsuitable these creatures are for the home aquarium....
Couple more shots of the front of the display:
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