# introducing Wim from the Netherlands



## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

hi all,

After almost two years of regular lurking here I decided to say _Hello _to you all and introduce myself. The reason I have been hesitating so long is not that my English is lacking (just ask when I didn´t make myself clear), but mainly that I thought that I hadn´t much to offer to you.

That said, I learnt quite a lot here so it is only a polite thing to thank you for that 


My name is Wim van Velzen (Wim is short for Willem, the Dutch equivalent for William). I am 36 years old, work as a teacher and a part time photographer. I live in the Netherlands with my wife and two sons.

After years of having fish tanks as a kid, I started my first paludarium in 1999, building a larger one a year or so later.
We moved to our present home in 2004 and there I built the paludarium I present here.


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

Some technical drawings of the design:






































The land part (mainly peat and stones) rests on a acrylic plate in which I drilled small holes for drainage. Under the land part there is a water reservoir from which the aquarium filter pomps water, which gets back to the aquarium part with a small waterfall.

Lighting is now by two 80W T5 and 4 36W PL (all European 220V electrics).


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

Great tank, nothing like a little piece of the tropical jungle to take your mind off those cold Dutch winters. I see 1 fish, what are the inhabitants and how long did it take you to build this impressive display?


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

I have had Mantella expectata and M. crocea for over ten years now, but only a few remain now (I bought them as adults). Lovely aninmals though.
The reason I put two simular species in this one tank, was that the dealer was in financial trouble and wanted to get rid of these guys.




















Less of success where the Emoya lizards I had. After a year or so they just died.


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

Then there are some fishes (Hemigrammus erythrozonus , Amphiosemion austrilis, japonica shrimps)

And of course a lot of plants...

Echninodorus sp.









Anubias sp.









and the usual Orchids, ferns and Bromelias (esp Tillandsias)


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## Ed Holder (Sep 26, 2008)

Wow, Stunning work Willem! I'm sure your pictures will inspire people on these forums for years to come (Including myself)!

Ed


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

markpulawski said:


> Great tank, nothing like a little piece of the tropical jungle to take your mind off those cold Dutch winters. I see 1 fish, what are the inhabitants and how long did it take you to build this impressive display?


hi Mark, thanks! The snow is falling right now, so I can do with some greens and warmth indeed. 

I built this in a few weeks, but the thought process was of course a lot longer. Back in 2005 I had no digital camera and made just a few pictures. So I cannot recreate a construction journal or something. 

One thing though about the cork - I started with coco fiber, but it got waterlogged and grown over and it collapsed within a year. The cork is in a way quite nice, but I couldn´t fit as good as I liked, because the animals stayed within during most of the operation.


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

Ed Holder said:


> Wow, Stunning work Willem! I'm sure your pictures will inspire people on these forums for years to come (Including myself)!
> 
> Ed


Thanks Ed! For more pictures (and Dutch text ) see this Dutch forum thread.


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## Gh0stw4lk3r (Jun 5, 2008)

Hey wim, nice to see you here  when can we see your finished new project?
i really want to see it irl when it is finished..

as usual your pics and viv look stunning! 
Mark from NL


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

hi Mark,

I just read your thread here yesterday. You kept up the good work!

Please, just call to come here for a visit. The works for the latest tank are going well - I will show some of it here too!


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## Reefer420 (Oct 18, 2009)

another beautiful viv...amazing.


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## Geckoguy (Dec 10, 2008)

Welcome... Looks fantastic cant wait to see more from you!


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

thank you all! I´ll keep you posted (I am working on a new viv).


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## Newt1 (Feb 25, 2007)

Nice work Thanks for posting it


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## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

STUNNING work! Very nice tank!


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