The aquarium in the video above is an aquascape created by Oliver Knott which was inspired by the blockbuster movie Avatar. This aquascape was modeled after a setting of the movie called the Hallelujah Mountains, which float in mid-air, covered by lush jungles and connected to each other and the ground by vines. Oliver Knott is a highly regarded freshwater plant aquarist from Germany who has some serious skill, and we can just imagine that he set himself to design this particular aquascape the moment he saw the breathtaking scenes of the Hallelujah Mountains during the movie.

The tank containing Knott’s nature aquarium remix of Hallelujah Mountains is 250 liters, so about 60 gallons and it features a flat-screen television-background for sunrise, sunset and passing cloud simulation. Also consider that this tank was set up on the spot, for the “The Art of Planted Aquarium” 2011 competition in Hannover Germany. On a similar note, Knott also set up a smaller nano planted aquascape with a color changing RGB LED background, video after the break.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to the information about Symphisodon species, DiscusBook 01 also divulges on new dwarf cichlid and angelfish strains as well as some spectacular Loricariids suckermouth catfish. If you’re an avid discus fan or just want to know more about the Amazon from the point of view of an aquarium fish explorer, DiscusBook 01 is available from Discus South for £19.95, plus £2.35.

[via PFKmag]

Trochilocharax ornatus is the new official name of a new Peruvian tetra which was first imported for the aquarium trade by Aquarium Glasser in Germany. For a while this beautiful Characin was thought to belong to the genus Heterocharax or Tyttocharax but it was described into a genus that was erected just for this species, Trochilocharax. In the aquarium trade T. ornatus is being called the crystal rainbow tetra or the orange-tailed glass tetra. A male crystal rainbow tetra is pictured above, and there’s a picture of a female after the break. For more information visit Aquarium Glasser and the German description of the Crystal Rainbow Tetra is available in pdf.

Panaque armbrusteri is the official description of what has previously been called the Xingu Royal Pleco L27c. Photo by Lujan et al.

Panaque armbrusteri, P. titan and P schaeferi are three species of large plecos (Loricarids) which were recently described by Lutjan et. al in Revision of Panaque in the journal Copeia. Panaque armbrusteri is the new latin name given to what has been called the Xingu Royal Pleco, an extremely striking gold striped black fish which also has been known by the L-number of L27c. Panaque titan is the new name of a fish which looks very similar to the “Peru Green Royal Pleco”, L418/L27b although the type specimen was collected in Ecuador, a country which borders Peru.

Also belonging to the genus as Panaque armbrusteri is the Royal Pleco, Panaque nigrolineatus, one of the most popular large plecos available to the aquarium trade and the blue-eye, Panaque cochliodon. It is very exciting to see some new taxonomic work being undertaken on the very popular Panaque genus. Having more species of these riverine fishes officially described just reinforces the case for protecting biologically diverse river systems of South America.

The Black Ghost knifefish is an elongated freshwater fish that swims around by unudlating it’s long anal fin, much in the same way that some eels and brotulas do. Researchers from Northwestern University studying the motion of Black Ghost knifefish decided to build a robot model of the unusual fish. Ghostbot accurately reproduces the undulating motion of Ghost Knifefish and it has allowed the scientists to discover a jetstream motion of water that develops right underneath the fish as the undulations meet each other on the underside of the fish. Of all the fish to roboticize, we would have placed the Black Ghost Knife at the bottom of the list but the result is undeniable cool. Full video when you click on the header image.

One glance at the intensity of the red coloration on these Chilli Endler livebearers and it’s easy to see how these will likely become a very unique domestic strain of the once-wild strain of wild guppy. We just spotted the Chilli Endler in an AquaBid auction listing so we have no details on their origin and who is responsible for this fantastic strain. The completeness of the coloration and the residual bar and spotting are particularly attractive. If you have any info on the red Chilli Endler let us know what’s up in the comments.

Badis juergenschmidti male photographed by Ingo Schindler.

Badis juergenschmidti is a new species of Indo-Burmese freshwater fish from the family Badidae which was recently described from specimens collected in Myanmar. Badis juergenschmidti differs from similar Badis species by it’s distinct lack of an opercular spot, and the bright white margins of it’s unpaired fins. The largest specimen, the Holotype of Badis juergenschmidti , measures in a just under 35mm, or about 1.5 inches long. This may seem small but it is still much larger than other more diminutive Badis species which rarely reach over an inch long. A male Badis juergenschmidti is pictured above without any bars, but males appear to display this barring pattern at will. Badis juergenschmidti has already been spawned in captivity and it has been discovered to be a cave-spawning species with young being under parental care for about 7 days. Badis juergenschmidti was described by Ingo Schindler and Horst Linke in the latest issue of Vertebrate Zoology. More and larger images of Badis juergenschmidti can be seen on the Mesonauta website.

With plants as with corals, if you grow them well and in high density, your aquarium will invariably suffer from too much of a good thing. Case in point are these images of the aquarium I am currently overhauling with new substrate because my Eriocaulons have nearly replaced the substrate with the thickest root mat you ever did see. The plant that is mostly responsible for this corner of the clogged substrate is Eriocaulon “Aussie 2″ which has never yet flowered for me, therefore it gets uprooted and replanted much less frequently than say Erio ‘Japan’ or Eriocaulon cinereum. These picture represent just about a year and a half of intensive Eriocaulon culture and I’m just amazed at how much mass of roots the Eriocaulaceae can produce.

December 6, 2010 – Houston, Tx – Aqua Design Amano headquarters in Niigata, Japan announced an increase in cost of goods due to the inflation of raw material cost at the manufacturing level. The new prices were effective as of November 1st, 2010.

Costs in manufacturing, shipping and the declining value of the dollar versus the yen have caused increases in prices of the Aqua Design Amano product line in the United States, similar price increases in the past did not always lead to price increases for the end user and the price increase this year has been the result of a compiling effect in cost to provide the product.

However, for the sake of the consumer, the new prices for the ADA product line will not be in effect until January, 2011. We hope that providing this opportunity by announcing the price increase ahead of time will allow our customers to buy for the holiday season at the current price levels.

In addition, the new container order is scheduled to arrive in Houston on December 7th, 2010. Most out of stock items will be back in stock at that time for the holidays, and with the container, the new “Book of ADA” catalogue will be arriving and available for free to all ADA customers. This years ADA catalogue contains a wealth of information covering all aspects of Aquascaping, maintaining a Nature Aquarium, and visual inspiration from Takashi Amano’s latest creations. ADA clientele is not required to purchase to get their free catalogue – simply pay postage and you will receive one in the mail.

Aquarium Design Group is currently working on some exciting new ventures for ADA clientele and avidly building new infrastructure that promises to bring a new level of value to the Aqua Design Amano experience in the United States, expect more announcements regarding this effort in the coming months.

Aquarium Design Group is a distributor for Aqua Design Amano products in the United States, based in Houston, Texas. In 2010, ADG moved into a new facility to construct an entirely new retail experience for aquarium and aquascaping enthusiasts that prominently features the Aqua Design Amano product line. Completion is scheduled for early 2011. Aqua Design Amano is based in Niigata, Japan and is the provider of the Nature Aquarium and Do!Aqua line of designer aquariums and related goods that supports the Nature Aquarium philosophy developed by Takashi Amano.

Contact:

Frank Wazeter

Aquarium Design Group

frankw@aquariumdesigngroup.com

3520 S. Sam Houston Pkwy E.

Suite#100

Sera has a new CO2 reactor with a novel pinwheel design to break up the gas before it travels down the reaction body. CO2 and Ozone reactors are normally the type of device which is DIY’d or handmade into existence which is why it is so refreshing to see a different design for this often ignored segment of the aquarium market. The robust acrylic body is about two inches wide and ten inches long, near the top incoming water pushes the needle wheel to help break up the incoming gas into finer bubbles for quick and thorough dissolution. All of the connections of the Sera CO2 reactor are twist-off, the body, the intake and outflow and the gas inlet. Not sure when the Sera reactors will be hitting U.S. aquarium stores but when they land expect them to sell for $60 to $80.

Whether you want to dose carbon dioxide to your planted tank like the Sera CO2 reactor is intended, dissolve some CO2 before hitting the calcium reactor or dissolve some ozone before hitting the protein skimmer, the slim bottle design looks sleek and effective. We are currently using a hand made CO2 reactor on a Tonina Style plant tank that was cobbled from odd fittings and an old Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tap water purifier and we’d much rather see something this solid in it’s place. Amano loves to sell carbon dioxide diffusers for every small nature aquarium or planted tank out there but is planted tanks are strongly focused on aesthetic, why don’t more companies make external CO2 reactors? Better yet, we’d rather see a canister filter maker design a model with a built-in CO2 reactor, that would be the bomb.