Dutch Serenity
300 Liter Dutch-style aquarium
Introduction and Background
My name is Mike Kloos, and I'm from Holland. I started this hobby in November 2007 after a visit to a local zoo where I saw Axolotls. I wanted them at home so my first tank contained 2 Axolotls and almost no plants.
In January 2008 I saw some awesome Dutch tanks and wanted to try this too. I sold my Axolotls and the little tank, and bought a bigger tank. I built the case for it myself, and February 1st I filled it for the first time. This actually was the official start of my aquascaping hobby. I started with a lot of plants I received from another aquascaper that I contacted over the Internet. Soon, I had to decide which plants I liked for my scape and which ones didn't fit with my tank. A lot of plants were going in and others moved out. In the end, it looked like it does now.
The tank and I:
Front view:
Side view with my kitten looking at the fish
(almost not possible because the sides are closed):
Specifications
Size 120*50*50cm 300 liter bruto. Glass thickness 8mm
PH 6.8
KH 5
No2 0
No3 15
PO4 0.6
Lighting:
DIY
1e row: 1 x 30 watt 840 (front). 2e row: 2 x 18 watt 865. 3e row: 2 x 18 watt 840. 4e row: 2 x 18 watt 840 (back). Total is 138 watts, each row is scheduled by individual timers.
Lights-on schedule: 1e row 11:00. 4e row 11:30. 2e row 12:00. 3e row 12:30.
Lights-out schedule: 3e row 21:00. 2e row 21:30. 4e row 22:00. 1e row 22:30.
Total is 11.5 hours lights on and 8.5 hours on maximum strength.
Substrate:
Simple broker sand mixed with pool filter sand. I mixed some laterite throughout the sand; it contains a lot of iron.
Filtration:
Eheim 2217 1000l/h.
Building the case:
One of the first scapes:
Rescaping the tank:
Maintenance
Water changes are every Saturday, 25%.
Daily ferts: KNO3 10ml, PO4 1.5 ml, Profito 10 ml, Easycarbo 10 ml.
I clean the filter every month. I only replace the filter floss.
Fertilizers:
kno3 (stock is 50 grams in 2 liters of water)
kh2po4 (stock is 50 grams in 2 liters of water)
Easylife Easycarbo
Easylife Profito (micro elements)
CO2 - DIY 2 Liter bottle: 1 bubble/second during the day 1 bubble/2 seconds during the night. The heat of the light ballasts affects the bubble rate. It heats the bottle during the day and makes the CO2 produce faster than at night when the ballasts are cold.
Flora
1] Rotala rotundifolia 2] Sagittaria subulata 3] Microsorum pteropus 4] Microsorum pteropus "Philippines" 5] Limnophila aromatica 6] Nymphaea lotus "red" 7] Lobelia cardinalis "small form" 8] Ammannia gracilis 9] Bacopa monnieri 10] Blyxa novoguineensis 11] Hygrophila difformis 12] Alternanthera reineckii "rosaefolia" minor 13] Riccia fluitans 14] Microsorum pteropus "brassi" 15] Vesicularia dubyana 16] Pogostemon helferi 17]Hydrocotyle leucocephala.
Plant plan:
Fauna
20 Barbus pentazona
3 Trichogaster trichopterus sumatranus -1 male 2 females
5 Corydoras pygmeaus
2 Crossocheilus siamensis - 2
Neocaridina heteropoda 'red' (red cherry shrimp) - 50+
Flora/fauna pictures:
Final Thoughts
I'm very glad with the way my tank turned out. I never expected I could have as nice a tank as this when I started the hobby.
Big thanks to APC for choosing my tank for TOTM.
