aquarium portrait | AB RAS
Front view of the 145-gallon (550-L) Dutch aquarium.
reef in tulip land
here is nothing like it in the rest of the aquarium
world. The Landelijke Huiskeuring, a fiercely competi-
tive national aquarium-hobby event in the Nether-
lands, where the judges are known to visit competitors’
homes, scrutinizing the aquascaping aesthetics, the
health of the fishes and corals, the biological bal-
ance of the aquarium, and the overall design of the
system. To win is the equivalent of an Olympic feat.
Martin van ter Meij has won it twice.
As with many aquarists, Martin’s fascination
with the marine underwater started in childhood.
He has been involved in the hobby for more than 30
years. Frequent excursions to the aquarium-hobby
shops of Amsterdam led him to make a profession
T
the aquarium of Martin van ter Meij
out of his hobby, and nowadays he runs his own small
business called Aqua Care and helps other people plan,
set up, and maintain their aquaria. At a time when the
breeding of coral fishes was not nearly as widespread as it
ALL: A. RAS
The stony corals include numerous rarities, for example
Micromussa amakusensis.
