Laurens, Bart

Bart Laurens was born in Palembang on Sumatra, Indonesia in 1947, at that time a Dutch colony. At the age of one and a half his parents brought him to the Netherlands, and so he regrets that he doesn’t remember a thing of his homeland. It was his grandfather who caused his interest in aquariums. When he was 8 years old he had his first tank. As long as he can remember he has always had an aquarium. He was 10 years old when he became a youth member of the Dutch N.B.A.T. [Nederlandse Bond Aqua Terra]. This year is his 60th year jubilee. Keeping an aquarium has always been a hobby and never became a profession. He doesn’t claim to be a scientist. His specialty has always been the Dutch Style Aquarium. Since 2007, he has had a large tank of 3.10m long and 65cm wide and 50cm deep; about 1,000 liters. He has always participated in the aquarium contests of the N.B.A.T. at a reasonable level and has won several awards. He lives in the Netherlands in Zoetermeer, near The Hague. He is a member of the local aquarium society: Paluzee. In 2015 he won the 3rd prize in the category “Dutch Aquascape” of the Aquatic Gardeners Association International Aquascaping Contest. Bart has also been working for several years with terrariums. He kept and bred various species of reptiles and amphibians. In addition, he has experience with the cultivation of all kinds of food animals, such as crickets, grasshoppers, fruit flies, cockroaches, butterflies and moths, stick insects, and common flies. He has given about 40 years presentations in The Netherlands on the field of terrarium and aquarium skills and maintains a website about his hobbies. He is an enthusiastic photographer and publishes many photos on the website. He has photographed most of the top aquariums in the Netherlands. In “real life” life he was a lecturer at the Hague University in Public Administration and Public Management. He was a study career coach and taught communication skills until November 2012. Now he is semi-retired. Presentation: Dutch Style Aquascaping