Our Tropical Tank

10/19/16
This year, we added a tropical tank to our project!  The tropical tank will provide a really nice contrast to our trout tank.  In our earlier post we described our trout (where they are from and more), but here is some interesting information about the Amazon River and why it is such a unique place for fish:

Facts about the Amazon River:

The Amazon has been described as is the greatest river in the world. Rich in history and surrounded by a wealth of mystery. Scientists, even today, have discovered only a small percentage of the millions of species of plants and animals that live in the rain forests in the Amazon River basin.     Located in South America right at the equator, the Amazon River drains the entire northern half of the South American continent. All the tropical rains that drain into the great rain forests of the Amazon are carried to the ocean through the thousands of tributaries (smaller rivers) which feed the Amazon.     More water flows into the ocean from the Amazon River than the combined output of the Mississippi, the Nile, and the Yangtze rivers. Of all the river waters flowing into the world's oceans, one fifth of that water comes from the Amazon.
An Amazing Discovery  Seven years after the Spanish Explorer, Vincente Pinzon, had sailed with Christopher Columbus, Pinzon put together his own expedition to explore the east coast of South America. His ship was 200 miles off the coast, when a strange phenomenon occurred.    In what seemed to be the middle of the ocean, the sailors dropped a bucket overboard and were greatly surprised that they were floating in fresh water. They were 200 miles from the Gulf of the Amazon and could see no land. They turned west and sailed toward the coast of South America to discover the huge mouth of the Amazon River.  This means that fish could live in fresh water, but look a lot like salt water fish!