# December 2008 Tank of the Month: Michael Kloos



## hooha

*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.


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## Newt

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*

Nice job Mike!
I love the plant selection and layout.
Marvelous job for someone who just started in this hobby a year ago.

I want the USA members to notice what he is using for lighting: Mostly 4000K and some 6500K lamps.
Most of the europeans go with this lighting. I believe they are Philips CFs;as it has a plant in Holland.
Americans tend to choose what I deem 'Saltwater' bulbs. GO figure.

Like your kitty.

What is your GH?


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## gerard_zzz

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*

looks very nice (schitterende bak!)


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## mitra-hyderabad

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*

Lovely tank Mike. What about Co2?


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## btimmer30

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*

how do you get your diy co2 to produce so much?


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## NowMed

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*

great tank!!!! nice stand too


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## angusshippey

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*

Hi there

Stunning scape

Please explain why you use so many 840 bulbs? 
everybody tells me to use 865


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## Newt

*Re: December 2008 Tank of the Month - "Dutch Serenity" by Michael Kloos*



angusshippey said:


> Please explain why you use so many 840 bulbs?
> everybody tells me to use 865


Europeans tend to use lighting more towards the cooler end in the area of 4000K to 5000K and rarely exceed 6500K. These cooler bulbs tend to have more red light emitted and less blue.


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## bluerose

Im new to this hobby, having only started a few months ago. Im totally inspired by your aquarium Michael. I hope one day to have for myself such a mooi aquarium. Do you know of any aquarium clubs in the Netherlands that I could join? Im needing advice but prefer to be able to speak in person with someone.


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## ProAquatics

looks great!


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## willsr

I agree with you...

Beautiful aquarium will attract the people to see....
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