Continued : Mangrove Biotope Aquarium at Godrej Ecology center at Vikhroli in Mumbai India.

The tank with water and initial fish. The fish are Tilapia that were caught by fisher folk in the creek.

The smaller tank visible here was used to acclimate the mud skippers that were introduced into the tank.

The mud skipper in the tanks area that is very shallow. The mud skipper has its eyes out of the water here. These were also collected at the creek by fisher folk.

A mud skipper in the WET area. This area has just enough water to keep the sand wet. The mud skippers were seen here mostly after introduction. They also stuck to the glass sides to keep out of the water initially.

Introduction of the main action figures. The brown fiddler crabs. These were also collected at the creek by fisher folk. Avoiding the crabs huge pincers was a juggling act in itself. My mistake actually as i should have planted all the mangroves before introducing the crabs. People take note these guys are not afraid of anything that comes near their chosen spot. There are 5 Tilapia, 7 Mud skippers & 9 Brown fiddler crabs when this photo was taken. You can see three of the fiddler crabs above the water level on the rocks.

Close up of the Tilapia fish in this tank. You will see a fiddler crab on the rock above the fish to your right.
 Please pardon the glare from the flash.

A Fiddler crab trying to hide between the rocks.

Fiddler crabs sitting on the rocks. Three is a crowd. All three of them seemed to like the same spot.

This photo is of the tank once all the inhabitants had settled.

Mangrove Biotope Aquarium at Godrej Ecology center at Vikhroli in Mumbai India.

Mangrove Biotope Aquarium was made for:

M/s.Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd. Mangrove Section, Pirojsha nagar, Vikhroli, Mumbai 79.

The size of the tank is: Length: 72 inches ( 6 feet). 
                                  Width: 30 inches ( 2.5 feet). 
                                  Height: 36 inches ( 3 feet).

The glass thickness is: 12 mm.

Glass is: Toughened glass.

 

The tank was made on 3/4 th inch PVC pipes as the floor was not level. The tank was left to cure on the floor for 7 days. The white pieces are pieces of thermacol put in place to avoid damage to the glass edges when the tank was to be lifted on to the stand in the background.

It took 8 persons to lift this tank on to the stand. The stand itself took all 8 of us to move to the pillar that you see in the photo. The stand is 3 feet tall.

Finally the tank is in place. The tank was left to completely cure on the stand for 14 days. A total of 7 days on the floor and 14 days on the stand was the total curing period given for the tank.

Tank being set up. Total calcite sand used was 300 kgs. Rocks used were 130kgs. This was a very uplifting experience indeed.