Well I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to work out that this month we are all in for a very special treat. A treat I am very proud to be a part of. Jan Willem's tank is a masterpiece!!! To be honest, little more needs saying when introducing such a system. Sure, seeing as it's tank of the month and all, ofcourse it's going to be one of the very best, but this tank is so much more.

A stunning no expense spared system designed and run by an enthusiast of exempliary measure. Not only has JWRE had the pressures assosciated with this being his first ever reef tank (that's right, first!!!) but also the pressures of building such a system in the foyer of one of Amsterdams plushest hotels.

Think about that for a second. When you built your first reef, or maybe you are right now, how confident would you be to share it with others, not for advice and critique, but as a display on show to the public? How happy would you be to not only have this tank on display but to work on it in front of passers by and paying customers. Just how careful would you have to be to make sure that what you are creating will be just as beautiful as the incredible setting that is the ground floor of the hotel Estherea. Get it wrong and you ruin a stunning ambience, get it right tho, and, well, you end up being introduced by a warbling monkey like me as Tank Of The Month on Ultimate Reef.

As you can probably work out, this tank is set inside a wall and is viewable from both sides. The total tank dimensions are 255cm x 70cm x 70cm with a full height weir central against one end pane. The scaping is essentially two large rock walls either end sloping into a central bommie which is constructed by placing drilled rock over a vertically mounted pipe. The structure is totally central to the tank and so swimming and coral growing space has been kept to as large an area as possible, either side of the rock work. Being able to see straight through the tank and having the rock positioned so, really deceives the eye into seeing a far wider tank.

The aquarium sits opposite the hotel's reception so for all the lucky guests that are staying, this pretty much is the first impression they get of the hotel, in fact, trying to take pictures of this tank is not an easy task since every 5 minutes, yet another family huddle in front of it so old grandfather Bloggs can take a family snap for the scrap book. The other side of the tank has soft leather couches adjacent to it, not 10 yards from the bar area. So guests are invited to get a coffee or glass of wine and just sit and admire the display whilst soft classical music is piped through invisible speakers. It was amazing that in the time we were in the hotel, the sheer number of admirers that these couches attract. They must need re-upholstering on a seasonal schedule.

I think it is fair to say that this tank brings a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. Not least us in our ivory tower of reefing knowledge, but the layman walking past that doesn't know a goldfish from a tennis racket, all are stunned when face to face with this system.......which undoubtedly is the point!

The display is soully lit by 16 T5 tubes, that's all, no halides! The system is nearly 30 inches deep, contains some of the brightest and healthiest SPS and LPS you are ever likely to see, and it is all lit with fluorescent tubes. A year ago I and others were lucky enough to see this system on a Dutch tank tour. Jan Willem had not long changed over to T5's then and although his tank was stunning, you'd be a fool for not even slightly thinking that the previously used halides had done all the hard work. A year on and this clearly now isn't the case. Corals still grow at warp factor 9, colour is mind boggling, nothing is lost with the use of T5's, nothing at all.

The light units themselves are ATI Powermodule 8x54w units. These pendants both contain 8 tubes a piece and have built in cooling fans increasing standard efficiency by up to 20 %. But you know what, as nice as it is to squeeze every last drop from a unit, to really get your money's worth and as nice as it is to save 20% on your electricity bill, just look at them, they are beautiful pieces of engineering.

The Powermodules contain 10 x KZ coral-light and 6 x KZ fiji-purple and run on a schedule of 13 hours from 10:00 in the morning through to 23:00 in the evening. '13 hours? you sure?' I hear you ask. Ah yes, you see this is Jan Willem's tank, there's bound to be a spicy twist.... "My lighting is controlled by my GHL Profilux as they are dimmable, it takes 2 hours in the morning to come up to full strength and 2 hours at the end of the schedule to dim back down". Nuff said really.

It's almost a shame they are hidden away behind a false wall. I suppose this is the difference between having an aquarium in your fish room and an aquarium in the foyer of your business, your average tourist doesn't care for lighting erganomics, more fool them!

It is very important to note before we go any further that the unique design of the rockwork allows for fewer pumps to keep the rock clear. Exposed on three sides Jan Willem has managed to get perfect flow with just two Tunze 6201 streams on a multi controller, one either end. This has meant that he has the perfect balance, turbid laminar flow near the surface, around the SPS, and lower more lagoonal flow in the lower reaches, ideal for the LPS he keeps. You would really struggle to spot what we would call a dead spot. Flows vary all over this tank and this has been taken carefully into account with the placement of all corals.

With the rock peaking and troughing as it does and the corals placed where they are, you realy don't notice the streams like you do in other tanks, totally unobtrusive.

Filtration in this tank is combatted in two ways. Live rock takes up the traditional 'Berlin Method' of Biological filtration. Plenty of rock with excellent flow combatting any detritus build up well. In true Berlin style a protien skimmer is employed, a Korallen Zucht Revolution Large. This monster sits down in the sump room and is piped to a waste bucket to save emptying. The 'Revolution' is a farely new design as far as skimmers go, it's conical shape and efficient pump means that it can handle significantly more waste than its appearance would have you believe. It runs on it's own air injection system which means that these skimmers are deemed 'plankton friendly'. The skimmate you get is not as thick in most cases as the traditional needle wheel skimmer we all know and love. This method is a growing favourite amongst 'zeo-heads' and Jan Willem is convinced that placing this skimmer on his system is one of the best things he ever did even though it replaced the much sought after BubbleKing 300 internal. Jan says he was struggling to keep elements in check, he believes that the BubbleKing was removing essential elements as well as waste, the plankton friendly Revolution has made it much easier for him to maintain stability. If none of that convinces you, take a look at the pictures, it's bright orange for heavens sake...........woof!

In addition to the Berlin Method, Jan Willem is a fully paid up member of the zeo heads utilising the full range of the zeovit products. In the sump under the main display rests a 5 litre Zeolith Reactor full of zeolith stones, these are manually pumped daily in conjunction with the zeovit system. These stones are changed once every 6 weeks. In line with this, Jan Willem also runs 2 litres of active carbon changed every 4 weeks.

Heating of this tank is very simple, with an enclosed hood and with the entire system being inside the centre of a bustling hotel, the tank maintains a high temperature anyway, as a result, Jan Willem has but 2 Jaeger 200 watt heaters, and these only come out of the cupboard in winter.

Cooling is maintained mainly by an Aquamedic Titan 500 plumbed in down in the sump room. This chiller maintains a steady temperature of 26 degrees.

Right, now, I hope you are paying attention as this is about to get all kinds of confusing for those not au fait with the probiotic systems. It's probably easiest if we just list what he puts in, never been all that good at au fait meself so chances are I'd get it wrong anyway.

Daily:
2 ml of Zeo-Start.
10 drops of KZ amino acids
20 drops of Kalium Joded Fluor
20 drops of Stylo Poci glow (daily in alternate weeks)
20 ml of Coral Xtra
10 ml of B-Balance
10 ml of Potassium

3 times a week:
20 drops of Zeo-bak
20 drops of Zeo-food
4 ml of Sponge Power

Weekly:
10 drops of KZ Iron


Phew......now add to that the carbon changing and the zeolith changing and all the plunging, it's fair to say he has his hands full.

Jan Willem prides himself on his upkeep of this tank, don't forget, this is his first reef tank. He is actually more widely known for his stunning tropical tanks, in fact one infamous Dutchman once said to me "Jan WIllem has without doubt one of the finest reefs in Holland, but his Tropical Aquarium, is one of the finest in the world". That's all well and good but this is UltimateReef not UltimateTrop... I can't even bring myself to say it. Sufficeth to say, Jan Willem maintains a stonking reef tank and it certainly gets a lot of his attention, tanks don't just look like this by accident.

On top of the lists of potions he adds and the maintenence listed in previous sections, Jan WIllem also religiously does a 10% change every 2 weeks. That's 200 litres every fortnight made up of RO water and KZ Reefers-Best salt. This salt is preferred by Zeo-heads due to the fact it mixes well with good parameters, but the vital part? It has low dKh, straight out the box, between 6 and 7 degrees as I understand it unlike other popular salts which often mix closer to 10.

Jan Willems pride and joy, as far as fish go, is his beautiful Sohal Tang (Acantharus Sohal). It is by far his favourite fish and has been with him for some time. Given that it has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible to obtain Sohal Tangs these days, only serves to make this specimen even more special.

The following is a list of what is hopefully, all of Jan Willem's fish, bit hard to tell though.

Yellow Tangs x3	Regal Tang	Sailfin Tang
Sohal Tang	Naso Tang	Kole Tang
Anthias x8	Iridis Wrasse x2	Half Lip Wrasse
Perc Clown	Sargent Major Damsels x2	Starki Damsel
Green Chromis x2	Flame Angel	Magnificent Foxface
Scarlet Hawkfish	Long Nose Hawkfish	Scooter Blenny
Manderins x2	Royal Gramma	Algea Blenny
	Funky Unknown Red Fish (possibly a dottyback!)

just some of the corals, Jan Willem has no real list per se, so this is more of a Roy Walker off 'Catchphrase' moment, 'say what ya see....'

SPS Corals
Acropora Florida	Acropora Millipora	Acropora Valida
Acropora Efflorescens	Acropora Formosa	Acropora Nana
Acropora Tenuis	Montipora Capricornis	Montipora Undata
Montipora Capitata	Montipora Digitata	Montipora Confusia
Seriatapora Caliendrum	Seriatapora Hysterix	Stylophora Pistillata
	Pocilipora Damicornis

LPS Corals
Blastomussa Welsii	Blastomussa Merletti	Caulastrea
Funghia	Hydnophora	Goniopora
Tubastrea	Turbinaria Peltata	Lobophyllia
Acanthastrea Lordhowensiis	Alveapora (branching)	Goniopora
Plerogyra	Favia	Favites

Boxing Shrimp x3	Cleaner Shrimps x7	Peppermint Shrimps
Sand Sifting Starfish x7	Turbo Snails	Acro Crab
Tuxedo Urchin x2	Maxima Clams x11	Duresa Clam

When writing this I have been happy to complete the sections, one after the other, writing from memory, from pictures, from notes and from additional mails from Jan Willem, it has all been a pleasure, but to write 'Final Thoughts' on a system such as this????? I don't think it fair, I don't think that truley I am worthy of such a task. You've seen these pictures, chances are you'd already heard of Jan Willem and his wonderous tank, what on earth can be added here to hit home just how special it is? I mean, if you haven't got the message yet that this is something special, you are seriously not going to get it at all.

Jan Willems tank is an incredible delight, but it's much more than that, the setting it is in makes it all the more incredible. Sure, it would look great in your living room, or better still mine, but sat in the foyer of such a beautiful hotel, it just completes the whole experience. As reefkeepers we are pre-programmed to appreciate the corals and the thought that has gone into the system design, it is all too easy of us to go overboard nerdy and miss the bigger picture. Jan Willem keeps some of the finest fish and coral you ever will see, and in tip top health, but he also creates a thing of beauty that every passer by can appreciate, and that's no mean feat.

If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam, or within 100 miles of it, you would be doing yourself a huge injustice to not pop in and see it for yourself. Jan Willem is genuinely one of the nicest guys around, more than happy to take the time to walk you through and see the system, I am sure that he would have no qualms in me saying that if you did want to pay him a visit, just drop him a pm and arrange a date. Although he blushes when you compliment his system, you can tell that he gets just as much joy from watching others soaking in his tank as he does from knowing that it is all his.

This is an incredibly nice tank owned by an incredibly nice man in an incredibly nice hotel, what's not to like? Seriously, it's the whole package..... and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why he was voted UltimateReef's Tank Of The Month for April 2008!