The Eel

The Eel

The eel is an elongated fish to Anguilla anguilla family. It is a ray-finned fish. Its dorsal fin is very long and runs entirely by. The eel is over 1 meter long. Males are not larger than 40 cm, females are therefore greater. The eel is very common in the whole of Europe and parts of North Africa. The eel has a preference for a muddy bottom, when danger threatens the eel rapidly bury into it. The eel is a night hunter, daytime he is hiding. The eel is widely fished and is therefore a major commercial value in the Netherlands. Smoked eel is a delicacy. I used a lot on eel fishing.

Overfishing

Nowadays it is unfortunately true that the overfishing of the eel. The eel now is in the danger zone. The recovery of this is still uncertain but not impossible. This is due to the long generation time of the eel, it takes two years before the young eels have reached the European waters. For the eel it would be better for a total ban when it comes to fish on the eel. The commercial fishing will not appreciate that, i think its an option for the return of the eel.

Habitat

The eel is found in all conceivable types of water ditches and small streams. Inside the eel has a large preference for sheltered places. The eel is often found in large numbers behind dams and other water inlets where the water is oxygenated and much food is supplied. He hides behind campshedding or between reed roots, or digs in the bottom. Also in the sea, the eel looks for places to hide, such as mussel beds or shipwrecks. The eel avoids waters where the bottom anoxic conditions may occur. Even heavily soiled parts are avoided. The eel is often more numerous as the water easily is accessible from the sea. The average size of the eel, by contrast, far upstream. A special feature of the eel is that it greatly narrowed by the gill clefts long time out of water and can survive that he has been wandering in (moist) country can move. In this way, the eel land barriers between different bodies of water. This enables the eel to reach isolated waters and to leave them in damp nights to go by land.

Food

The eel hunts mainly on mosquito larvae, mosquito pupae, clams and mussel and exotic basket mussels, amphipods and other small invertebrates. They also eat fish eggs and larvae of other species such as ruffe, perch and roach. Some provisions switching to a diet of fish they are larger than 30 centimeters. They are distinguished by the wide mouth, caused by a wide growth of the maxilla. The wide mouth eel or predator eel shows no genetic differences with normal eels and is a demonstration of the phenotypic plasticity of eel. An eel that wide mouth eel variation exhibits, has a much lower fat content.

Propagations, tensile

Most eels reach between five and fifteen years of residence in fresh water, by adequate food supply, its silver eel stage and then pull back to the spawning grounds. The eel is called a catadromous fish that grows in fresh or brackish water and propagates in the Sargasso Sea at large depth. The larvae migrate helped by the Gulf Stream to Europe. When the juvenile eels have reached a certain amount of fat in his flesh they called silver eels. The animals are fat, the eyes are bigger and they get a light gray color with a white belly, fins are larger and the skin is thicker. At present, the eels are not fully sexually mature. Further sexual development occurs during the trip to the Sargasso Sea by the upper water layers of the Atlantic Ocean. This trip is over 6000 kilometers long.

Fishing for eels
Fishing for eels is always a special experience, this strong fish will not without a fight let it hoist its self from the water to. Typically, a eel could reachabout 1.20m long and weigh upto 3 to 4 kilos. In closed lakes may be possible that the eel will be much bigger. What is the best bait to catch eels? Eels feed on fish, fish eggs and larvae sometimes prey. Also, they are not afraid to eat their own species. Suitable bait to use for catching eels, worms and small fish.

 Thats it for today. Cya and take care.

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The Perch

The Percidae family

The perch is a fish that comes from the family of real bass fish (Percidae), this species (perch) is a native species that is widely distributed in the Netherlands. The perch up to 60 centimeters long and 4.5 kilograms heavy. The perch could reach the age of 16 years. Relatives of these species include the pikeperch and the pos.

Commercial value

The perch is scattered over most of Europe and northern Asia, in lakes, ponds, wetlands, rivers and brackish water. The fish spawn from March to June in very shallow water, they sometimes lay 200,000 eggs in long ribbons reticulate. The young predatory fish often swim in schools and seeks his prey, he sucking his extendable mouth, along the shore or at the bottom. If the perch gets older he often solitary in deeper water. The perch is also one of the first fish that colonizes newly waters. In oligotrophic waters (lakes and sand pits), the perch together with the roach the dominant species. The perch is a sight hunter and thus clear water. He lives in general schools of some dozens of animals of approximately equal size. In these schools, a huge food envy occur where an alleged victim throughout the school simultaneously being hunted. The perch is a popular despite its spines prey of pike. Perch and pike are known for their cannibalism. In the summer, often very large schools with young perch for which their older counterparts a desirable prey. Even then chases the perch often in groups on the hunted fish. The perch is a very tasty fish. In the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century in the great border lakes lot perch by professional fishermen and anglers caught. Even abroad, the perch a popular table fish.

Fishing on perch

I remember it well into my teens, i went often perch fish at the IBM building, there was a very large pond and sat loaded with perch. I have dozens trapped there. Perch are voracious fish, everything fits in their mouths they eat on, several times I can not let my hook given because the perch hook far had swallowed. I solved this by cutting the line and the hook I let it sit. Where to find actually the Perch? Perch like to live above a stony bottom, near locks and dolphins, near and reeds and under overhanging shrubs. They eat small fish, various crustaceans, freshwater shrimp, caddis larvae, haftlarven, dragonfly larvae, and so many other larvae, water bugs of all kinds, and also ... earthworms! And, because the real hunters, they can be best captured with lures.

With lure fishing perch

You can use various types of fishing lures perch. Previously i went much perch fishing with a spinner. Nowadays there are various types of lures. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. I will name a few, the spinner, spoon, plugs, shads and twisters. If you want more information about the various types of lures i advise you to go to the local tackle shop, since they will be able to help you on additional information.

 This was it for today, a nice short thread about the perch. Cya and take care.

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The Pikeperch

Points of recognition of the Pike-Perch

The pikeperch is torpedeo-shaped and elongated and tapered head. Its color can vary from light gray to goldbrown. About his back there are lateral stripes towards the sidelines of the pikeperch, the colors are faint dark. The pikeperch is very common in the Netherlands and Belgium and the pikeperch is not threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN status. The length which a pikeperch could reach is about 1 meter and 20 centimeters. The pikeperch is a solitary fish and lives alone.

General

The pikeperch is mainly found in deep, open water, also in the rivers. I used to successfully fish for the pikeperch in Ijmuiden, near the locks. I was mostly fishing in the night hours with a drainage system of a large factory. This factory warmed cooling water discharged into the canal. Also, the pikeperch found in brackish water, Ijmuiden the sea and the locks give access to the ships. The walleye spawn from April to May. The males make in shallow water a pit that exposes the roots of aquatic plants. The eggs laid there by the female pikeperch and the male guards the eggs and with fin movements he provides fresh oxygenated water. The young larvae can not tolerate too high lightintensity and when exposed to it they can die of it. The young pikeperch eat small animals such as water fleas etc. The larger pikeperch has a preference for smaller prey compared with the pike, the pikeperch has a much smaller mouth.

Where does the pikeperch original came from

The pikeperch has its origins in Eastern and Central Europe. At the end of the 19th century the pikeperch was released in the Netherlands, to help out the fishery industry. The competition between both species (pike and pikeperch) is essentially limited because pike and pikeperch have very different prey preferences and hunting techniques. In clear deep water, the two species are also usually concentrated in large densities. Today, the decrease of the phosphate content of the water and bottom mud and a reverse trend seems to be the pike position in many places to have recovered well. On the lakes and the small rivers is the pikeperch position decreased significantly. Causes for this are less rich in nutrients from the water, but especially to intensive poaching and commercial fishing with gill nets may be the cause. On the big rivers, the pike position is pretty good . The pikeperch still clearly represents a significant economic value, due to the highly valued meat and because of the large number of anglers that with fairly advanced materials and boats on the species fished. A recovery of the pikeperch position is highly desirable from an economic standpoint. Ecologically speaking, the pikeperch is an exotic in the Benelux, but he has long been established and has its own place in the ecosystem taken without demonstrable cause damage.

How to locate the pikeperch

All places with soil obstacles. With this i mean every place on the bottom with some different structure; branches, freshwater mussel fields, vegetation, rocks, or even bicycle thrown into the water. Because of such obstacles to the soil surface is nothing to see, we rely on our own experience or that of other fishermen to find them. From a boat, and with the use of a fish finder, are easier to locate the places, where the way, we can notice the presence of fish. Better to locate all man made ​​visible obstacles. These are, bridges, locks, piers, shoreline reinforcement, construction poles, embankments, etc. The soil profile. This is the most difficult to locate without a fish finder, but here are the sites where we are the most attention to. The pikeperch would stay like the transition from shallow to deep water. This may be the channel, turning basin, down a bank reinforcement, or a deep well.

Pikeperch tips

Pikeperch fishing you could do in many ways, passive and active, with or without a float, with live or artificial bait. For all these ways to fish there is a typical fishing pole, which does not mean that you made ​​without the other can combine. The subsequent enumeration here is therefore only a guideline. However, there is no all-round rod to find which one can do everything.

Float Rod

Ideal length, around 3.5 meters for fixed and floats around 2.7 meters for sliding floats. Probably the most common pikeperch bait. When a float rod, the emphasis on a smooth action. You begin to feel the spine until it far into the handle is bent. One advantage is that you rarely lose your live bait when you throw. You can still choose a heavy and light construction for the rod. The light version is best used for small bait fish, while the heavier version previously used for large bait or dead bait.

Thats all for today, take care and cya guys.

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The Pike

Years ago

Years ago I fished every fall on the pike. Usually from mid september to december. I caught a lot, it was one of my hobbies. I did not even play football anymore, at least the training. If I had to train during the week, then I prefer to go fish pike. I had at that time fixed my cuttings. I never catch one meter pike though. Usually the largest one was around 85 centimeters.

Where can you find the pike

The pike is very common in the Netherlands and Belgium, you'll find them on the big lakes, small ditches, ponds and rivers. The pike is a predator with a torpedo-like shape and eat everything, such as relatively larger fish, young water birds, amphibians (frogs, salamanders), and crustaceans, pikes are cannibals and they will eat their own kind, if only it fits in his mouth. There are stories known which states that swimmers bitten by pikes. I have also learned that once you have girders and hunters. The hunters are generally thinner than the girders. The girders, lie still and shoot forward as a prey closes in. The pike approached its prey from below and once in his mouth, then the prey is reversed and the first the head goes in. The pike depends on his facial power, he hunts only by sight. If the water is cloudy and there are few shelters than smaller pike will disappear and remain on the bigger pike.

The propagation

The pike spawn in early spring, the eggs are deposited in shallow waters against aquatic plants, preferably flooded pastures. The eggs are totally unprotected and therefore fall prey to other water animals will find the eggs a delicacy. The pike is very loyal to his spawning and he will always return to its spawning grounds. The spawning itself takes several weeks and will be in phases, the females leave the area after spawning the males stay a little longer on the site. Young pike grow very quickly after the first growing season they are already between 10 and 30 centimeters.

Environment

Pike need enough protection to grow safely, as they are cannibals and competitors. Even relatively larger pike about 70 centimeters are been eaten by their larger counterparts. In a healthy marine life, plenty of small pike, hidden between the vegetation. In large ponds and lakes will live very large pike, a length of 1 meter and 30 centimeters is no exception. Some might be even bigger, but they are outliers. In short, clear and richly planted water is a gift for the pike, there are living their prey.

Sport fishing

I usually have fished from a boat using several techniques, which i did used regularly was towing or fishing with plugs and spoons. The drag was as follows: You throw your line out with live prey, of course, then you slowly row and go on until you see the pike have caught the prey. Of then of course you've caught the pike. On the line were usually a number of floats, if the pike caught his prey and you would be able to see where the pike went, you could see on the position of the floats, that the pike have its prey good in his mouth. You could see that as the line would expiry, then you knew definitely that you had hooked the pike. I also spooned often, usually from the waterfront, you throw your line in and then slowly turn your spoon inside. the turning around from the spoon gives the pike the idea that a sick or injured prey passed by him. The pike will not hesitate to attack. Today, many fish with plugs for pike, the techniques are improved in that respect. The very colorful plugs are formidable to see. Unfortunately I have no time anymore for this species to fish it is a beautiful sight if you've beaten pike on the hook.

Thats all for today, cya guys tomorrow, take care everyone.

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Daffodils in the Spring

Snow lies in the garden

The snow still lies in the garden, the trees have not yet their green color whether there radiates a yellow flower in your garden. It is our spring bloomer the Narcissus. The Narcissus is also a bulb and should be planted in the autumn. Narcissus belongs to the family Amaryllidecae. The name is derived from Greek mythology. Daffodils have a cold rest period in order to develop itself. The Daffodils come in various types and colors, pink, orange, red, white and spotted, double-flowered flowers with large yellow trumpets with bunches of yellow and white flowers. In contrast to the lily family comes to this family for underlaying ovary. You can leave quietly Daffodils naturalize, they multiply by itself and each year more flowers will come. Daffodils are classified in different categories. At this time, there are twelve categories maintained.

Mythology

 The famous tale from Greek mythology of Narcissus shows how the daffodil got its name and why the flower slightly bents forward. Narcissus was a very handsome young man by the sight of his own reflection in a pond so fell in love with himself that he could not let go of the long hours staring at this unattainable beauty and slowly wasting away. Eventually changed Nemesis him into a daffodil. The bent head of the daffodil resembles the bent head of Narcissus.

Tradition

 Narcissus has a rich symbolic value. In Eastern countries it is associated with the sad love, lovers who are separated, send together a daffodil as a token of their enduring love. Striking is the Arabic meaning of the word daffodil: servant. Very striking given the
slightly bent posture of the flower. In Western culture, the flower is just a symbol for the blind love for oneself, based on the Greek myth of Narcissus how the young man fell in love with his own reflection and eventually turned into a flower. The daffodil is traditionally strongly linked to the Passover, only a small portion of the flow is white or orange

Wild

 The Daffodils grows more or less in the wild in several countries of Europe and central Asia. There are about 150 species of the Narcissus, the subcategories are included. The cultivation of the Daffodils has been going on for several centuries. The Dutch are already, for some centuries, trying to improve and refine the Daffodils. Some of them smell very good. In the Netherlands you'll see in any city or village that Daffodils are planted in the verges of the roads and on the roundabouts, here are whole beds of daffodils planted. the municipalities Daffodils have low maintenance especially because they multiply themselves. The blooming of the Daffodils is between February and May. Also, the Daffodils can be planted in the shadow and he could possibly be planted in the gras. The intrest in wild species growing steadily, this has to do with the phenomenon that more and more wild plants disappear from our environment.

How do you plant the Narcissus

Daffodils are also useful for planting among groundcovers such as Vinca minor, Pahcysandra terminalis, Hedera and even Lamiastrum galeobdolon helix. Daffodils can be combined with early blooming perennials such as Euphorbia polychromatic, Beronia, Primula, Pulmonaria, Pulsatilla, Alchemila mollis, Brunnera macrophylla and late-flowering species of Helleborus. Another good use for them under bushes and trees with
transparent crowns. In the first place, varieties should be chosen which remain short, and does not produce too much leaf. The bins were on least 25 centimeters deep, but recommended is 30 centimeters. Excess water should be easy to implement. This means that a minimum of holes in the soil must sit. A layer of broken fragments of roof tiles or at the bottom will ensure that the plants do not receive too much water. If you're going plants, fill the container with potting soil to 10 cm below the rim. Press the bulbs in the ground carefully. They should be planted next to each other in away that the bulbs are almost touching. The bulbs will be not growing to become greater. Thereafter, the last layer of soil be placed on it. Of course, these bins put out. In the case of dry weather, they must be watered. Hard frost is a reason to put the pots inside into a frost-free environment. Another solution may be to the pots and containers is to rap them in plastic suits.

Care

• Cut diagonally the flowerstalk and put the daffodils in a clean vase with clean water.
• Do not put other flowers in the water where the daffodils are in it. Daffodils separate one for other flowers harmful mucus. The result is leaf burn with added flowers.
• After a few hours separating the flowerstalk of the Daffodils they no longer produce mucus, and may perhaps have some other flowers in the vase to. Again cutting the flowerstalk will be no new cause mucus and can easily be done.
• Clean water with a drop of chlorine provides the longest flowering results.
Thats all for today, cya next time and take care. Bye, bye.

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The Largest Flower Auction in the World

Into the flower business

I started working back in 1986 in the flower business. Before that i have worked over 6 years in the meat processing industry. I had seen it and the work did not please me no more. So I was looking for something else. At one point i ended up at the flower auction in Aalsmeer. Essentially, VBA, VBA stands for United Flower Alsmeer. I started working at a box holder, later in this topic i will explain what this means. In this topic i'll explain how the process works of processing the flowers and plants that later in the day will go to their consumers .

The flow

Every evening from approximately 19:00 hours, the first truckloads of flowers in the area of ​​the VBA lot. These flowers go directly to the loading and unloading platform's far to be discharged. There are different transporters involved in this, of course, the flowers at the breeders already cut and put on water. All of these growers are members of the cooperative flower auction. Anyway, if the flowers are unloaded, they are delivered on Danish trolleys and carts at auction. The latter are larger than the Danish trolleys. Afterwards, these carts are drawn as if this process is called the carts leave the loading and unloading platforms, through an auction trolley carts with these flowers will continue to transport.

The transport

The transport of the flowers and plants are done by VBA employees, any kind of flower has its own installation location to be brought to. The carts with the flowers to be placed at various cold stores they are clockwise prepared for the next morning. The VBA has several cooling cells. Cooling cells are pretty big to! There are also brought flowers to the Import section, these are flowers that came from foreign growers. These flowers are usually delivered in large cardboard boxes.

           The clock

At about 07:00 am in the morning, the trolleys with the flowers are going towards the clock, this process is automatically and processed via conveyors in the ground. In this way the flowers with carts at once bought by the purchasers of the box holders. All the flowers that are nothave been sold be rotated as they say, and be destroyed. The breeder in question, which saw its flowers will be rotated will get a fee from the VBA. I do not know exactly how much, but still a nice amount the consumer have to pay for it indirectly when they buy flowers at the florist. Then comes the next process.

The distribution

The division aims to further distribute the purchased flowers. This division occurred in streets, these streets are long paths in which the flowers are brought up to be further divided. The distribution will take place after the flowers come from the auction, so the clock where the flowers are sold. This process is completely automatic until the flower containers have approached the spot were they are distibute further more. From this point, the craft again, because the bought flowers should be in the streets. It takes about the whole morning to devide the flowers and to complete it. Then the flowers will be distribute further more with motorized carts to the box holders.

The box holders

The box holders have bought their flowers and their flowers are going to be prepared to be packed. The flowers are packed in cardboard boxes for later in the day. The trucks will bring the flowers to either to the airport or to the rest of Europe or throughout the world. A box holders is actually a company that have customers worldwide. I myself have a worked a while at a box holder and i have wrapped flowers into cardboard boxes and you learn a lot about flowers and how to look for something unusual, such as diseases and insects. Some flowers have to go to a gas chamber to kill the insects, because almost all countries in the world do not want to have exotic insects. The flowers are subsequently approved by the inspection service and they give a certificate that the flowers may be transported to another country. The working hours where sometimes quite long, you work an average of 10 hours per day.

The import

The import department is a separate part of the VBA. Here are the flowers brought over by the foreign growers. In this section, the flowers are extracted and put on water. It also asks whether the flowers have the condition, you have to think about insects, snakes and spiders (sometimes happens), combustion of the flowers (the flowers sit tight in a box and this creates a process by which the temperature rises in the box and the flowers can burn) and whether the quality is good. If all went well then the flowers put on the carts and they drove to the cooling cells the next morning to be auctioned.
This was in broad terms the entire process at the flower business. Meanwhile, the VBA and Flora Holland merged and they have joined forces and these two are became indeed the largest flower auction in the world.

This was it for today, I see you on the next blog.

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Strawberries

General

The botanical name Fragaria comes from the Latin word "Fraga"that means aardbeitje (strawberry). The symbolism is Strawberry mementary pleasure. In many old paintings is therefore the strawberry shown to momentary pleasure to symbolize. In the Netherlands, both the culture-as for the wild strawberry. Another name for the strawberry is, 'zomerkoninkje' (little summerking).
Most strawberry varieties are self-pollinating, so no cross-pollination is necessary. A good pollination by wind and/or insects, however, is necessary in order to obtain well formed, fully mature fruits. When the bearing varieties flower throughout the summer construction, flowering and fruiting place. Some varieties can flower construction in a hot summer more or less stagnant. This flowering varieties of each inflorescence usually only the first three to five fruit harvested. Then the flower stalk with this immature fruit removed to maintain fruit size. For good fruit set is a good pollination of interest. Not only wind, but also bees are important for good pollination. A race that cross-pollination with another breed needs is 'Mieze Schrindler'. The ripe red, orange-red or sometimey its strong aroma and flavor s white flower fruit is the swollen base topped with seeds (dopvruchtjes). It is called a false fruit.

Consumption

Fresh strawberries are very healthy because of their high vitamin C content (60 mg per 100g). In babies and very young children, eating fresh strawberries could cause an allergic reaction. So, start with small pieces of strawberry, so the body can get used to it.
Strawberries are widely used for making jam. This concept is usually frozen pulp used for, ready made from Poland. In addition, the strawberry by its strong aroma and flavor enhancer used in, among other yogurt. Of strawberries is often said that they are fattening, although this is unfounded, because in 100 grams of strawberries is only 7 grams of carbohydrates. In the Netherlands some people make strawberry wine. They say it taste good, i would'nt know i have never tried it before. In general most people are like strawberries. This is the sweet, mild flavor.

Cultivation

Strawberries are in the ground, under glass and grown under plastic. There are about 2000 ha open fields strawberries. By advancing and abandonment may in the Netherlands from late february to late december, so almost all year round, strawberries are harvested. Some breeders try this time to stretch even further to include year-round by making use of heating in winter and cooling in summer. Also, the addition of extra CO2, the yield for the better.

Increase

Strawberries can be vegetatively propagated. The plant forms runners (stolons) plants wich again formed. Also, these plants can again form suckers (a healthy plant can produce up to 10 suckers). For the normal growing these plants in the open in late july/early august planted. The subsequent year of these plants can then be harvested strawberries. In the professional cultivation after harvesting the plants destroyed and are re-planted. Individuals often leave the plants to stand there again the next year of harvest. This is not recommended, because the fruits are smaller and the faster the fruits bushy growth may be affected by fruit rot. The breeders use a strawberry plant only for two years after that the production of the plant will decrease. There are many different types of strawberry plants, someday i will go deeper into that.

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Discus

Beauties from the Amazon

The Discus fish (Symphysodon) is in mine opion the king amongst the freshwater aquarium fish. They are gracefull to see and they have lovely colors. They are also not easy to keep and they are more for the more experienced aquarium fan.
The habitat of the Discus fish is in the rainforest of Brazil, from the rivers Rio Negro and the Orinoco in the amazon area. They live in smooth streams, clear and somewhat low acid water. The Ph (acid rate) should be around 5. They are peacefull, calm fish how swim gracefull and slow. They are not comfortable in the company of busy and fast swimming fish. The best way for the Discus is to combine them with Characidae, Corydora's, Apistogramma's and Moonfish.

Fish to keep with the Discus

Characidae are tetra's, like the Cardinal, Neon, Emperor tetra. These fish also live in the habitat of the Discus. The tetra's swim in the middle of your aquarium and they hardly go to the bottom of your fishtank. Corydora's are little catfish, they live on the bottom and swim around scraping the left overs together that other fish forgot to eat. These fish are also nice to see. They are easy to keep and they don't need special care unlike the Discus.

Dwarfchichlids

The Apistogramma (Dwarfchichlids) is also excellent to combine with Discus. They to can get along perfectly with the Discus. I had them myself when i had the Discus in my fishtank, i also had the Cardinal tetra as companion fish. The Cardinal tetra is my favorite, unfortunatly not easy to breed, but cheap in the aquarium shop. It will be not for long though, because the Cardinal tetra are catched alot and their numbers are decrease rapidly.

What does a Discus fish need?

Back to the Discus, the Discus is not a small fish to can grow up to 25 centimeters. So, if you are going to decide to keep the Discus you have to consider that they need a large fishtank. They need at least 50 liters of water per fish and it's a school of fish to. You need to buy at least 5 Discus fish, when you just keep to they will feel miserable and they will get sick much faster. The Discus fish is not a cheap fish to buy, some will cost, depends wich species you want to keep, around 150 dollars per pare, thats the prize in the Netherlands. The Discus pollute his enviroment pretty well, so you will need a good working filter. Few years ago i had some Discus fish in my fishtank, i had also installed an extra filter (external).

Temperature, food, plants and decoration

The fishtank should be decorated with driftwood, amazon, plants and on the bottom you have to put sand. Under the sand you can place some peat. The peat will keep the Ph low. The temperature needs to be around 27 degrees Celsius. It's also necessary to refresh the water on a regular base. The Discus likes live prey alot, it keeps them busy and it will be good for the fish it's activity. The Discus needs varied food, so every day you have to feed them something else, live prey, dry food, or blisters. You can buy these kind of food in the aquarium store and its not so expensive to buy the food.

Ending

There is alot to tell about the Discus fish, for now i will keep it with this blog. I will add some more info about these beautifull fish in another blog.
Happy reading and take care.

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Dutch Count Floris the 5th

Famous person in the Netherlands

The count Floris the 5th was a very famous person in the Netherlands he lived his life back in the 12th century. Floris the 5th was born in the year 1254 on the date of 24th of june in the town of Leiden. He died in the year 1296 on the 27th of june in a small village called Muiderberg. Floris the 5th was count of Holland and Zeeland, later on in the year 1291 he became a count of Friesland (title Lord of Friesland). He was known under his nickname as the Keerlen God (God of the peasants).

His mother was Elisabeth of Brunswijk and his father was count Willem 2. Floris th 5th is directly related to the Scottish kingdom. His great- grandmother was Ada of Scotland and the father of Ada was an heir of the Scottish throne. So, count Floris the 5th could have be the king of Scotland. In political issues Floris allways try to make use of the connections with the fact that he was from Scottish descendants.

Count at the age of two

At the age of two Floris became count of Holland and Zeeland, his father was killed 6 months previously in the battle of Hoogwoud in the winter. Due the battle he lost his balance on the ice and he godown through it, he couldn't get out of the ice and was slaughtered by his opponents. It took Floris the 5th years to locate the place where his father was burried. At the age of twelve he became officially an adult and at the age of 14 years he married Beatrix van Vlaanderen (van Dampierre).

Complot

In 1296 Floris made a mistake with his English allied Eduard the first, over a conflict about the wool trading. Floris the 5th has choosen his French allied. They say that the English king had asked some nobels to capture Floris the 5th, so that they could send him to prison. During a falcon hunt Floris the 5th was captured by the nobels Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, Herman the 6th of Woerden, Willem van Zaanden and Gerard van Velsen. The news of his captivity was soon spread out amongst the population, Floris the 5th was highly respected and popular, and they came up with a plan to liberate Floris the 5th. When the nobles (Gerard van Velsen) with Floris the 5th have left the castle of Muiderberg on june 27th 1296, they stumble upon a group of Gooilanders from the town of Naarden. This group claimed Floris the 5th. After that Gerard van Velsen road back on his horse towards count Floris the 5th and killed him instantly. Floris the 5th was an easy victim, in his mouth they put an a glove and his both hands and feet where tied up and his fingers where splitten. When van Velzen pulled his sword out , the horse pranced of fright, by then Floris has lost his both hands at the first blow of the sword, he lost his balannce and he fell sideways from his horse, van Velzen walked towards Floris and cut him several times with his sword. After that van Velzen escaped with his followers. Floris was brought to his castle in Muiderberg, were he died of the 22 stab wounds.

Captured

Gerard van Velzen was captured later, tortured and brought to death. Gijsbrecht van Aemstel ( the fourth with the name from a well known noble family the Lords of Aemstel) and Herman van Woerden lived the rest of their lives as exciles and they have lost all of their posessions. Count Floris the 5th was burried (asumed)in the Great of Saint-Lawrence church of the city Alkmaar.

Marriage

Count Floris the 5th was married in the year 1269 with beatrix van Vlaanderen, from this marriage were born 9 children. Besides his marriage there was a bastard child called Catharina of Holland, with an unknown woman.

Back in the sixties there was on the Dutch television a serie about Floris the 5th. The actor who played Floris the 5th was Rutger Hauer.

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Keukenhof in the Netherlands

Keukenhof is well known

Today im going to say something about the Keukenhof. The Keukenhof is well know around the world. As you can see on the photo's that i have been added this park is nice, and if you ever come to the Netherlands this is a place you must have visited. You will be able to walk around the whole day and see how the flowerbeds are created, do visit also the orchid house, it's lovely to see all these different orchids. The park is very colorfull and some flowers do exually smell nicely. The park was designed by Zocher and sons, later Zocher designed the famous Vondelpark in Amsterdam.
The Keukenhof is a well known flower park in the Netherlands. The park is situated in the town of Lisse. The park it self is a part of the castle Keukenhof. The estate Keukenhof was founded in the year 1642 and it was build in the so called Keukenduin (kitchen dune) of castle Teijlingen. The Keukenduin has earned his name because of the food that was found there in those days, like wild, berries, cattle and herbs. These supplies were ment to be for the kitchen in castle Teijlingen. Thats why they called it Keukenduin. Later on, the inhabitants of castle keukenhof had rebuild the castle with some nice looking towers.

The Keukenhof foundation

At the present day the foundation of castle Keukenhof has the responsibillity to maintain the estate and to exploit it. The estate self has more then 230 acres of ground, and there about 18 state monumental buildings on it. In 1949 the northern part of the estate has been redecorated to become a permanent flower exhibition and it did open the gates for the public in the year 1950. Nowerdays there 91 participants (flower growers) who are actually involved in the yearly exhibition. In it's beautifull landscaped gardens there are more then 7 million daffodills, tulips, crocus, hyacinth, lillium and other flowers to be seen. The sight of these beds of flowers are beautifull and a must see when you come to the Netherlands. In the opening season there are several exhibitions to see and you will be able to make some tours around the park.

When is the park open

Because of the bulb flowers the park will be open in the late spring from the end of march untill the end of may. The park gets his visitors from all of the countries in the world, estimated about 75% is a tourist. In the year 2012 the Keukenhof has welcomed 875.000 visitors. Personally i have been there twice, its an experience that you will not forget. The park is very beautifull to see. Don't worry if you bring the kids to, theres plenty to do for the kids, there are at least two restaurants situated in the park.

Well i hope that you get an impression about the Dutch Keukenhof, if you come to the Netherlands do visit the Keukenhof.

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Tulips

The tulip is well known around the world. Its a great export product for the Dutch growers. Tulips are beautifull to see and if you see them grow in the snow, early in the spring, it gives you the feeling that the summer is coming. Did you know that there are over 100.000 different species of the tulip!!!

Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of monocotyledonous plants of the lily family (Liliaceae). Tulips were introduced in the western world by the Viennese ambassador to Turkey, the Ghislain de Busbecq, which he wrote about the flowers in 1551 in the Turkish Edirne had seen. Later he sent some seeds to Austria. The arrival of a cargo tulip bulbs in 1562 in Antwerp marked the beginning of the European tulip cultivation. The first documented examples were by Carolus Clusius planted by him from 1593 led Hortus botanist of leiden. The bostulp (Tulipa Sylvestris) is the only species in the Netherlands in the wild andhas become established since the 19th century

Cultivated Tulips

Tulips can not be grown in warm climates becouse they have a cold night and a cold winter need to grow.
Tulip bulbs are usually planted in october and november. The flowering period is from april to june. Besides the cultivated tulip know all the botanic tulip, wich is particularly suitable for the garden, because the bulbs in the ground can sit there and come back the following year.
The breeding of new bulbs is done by the fall(october and november) to plant tulip bulbs. The buttons between the bolrokken of these bulbs grow into new bulbs with the old bulb is used as food. The button next to the growing point is, the 'A'button, grows into a large ball that sell for flower production, or directly to consumers. The planted bulb contains the 'A'button, between his bolrokken more small growth buds, called B, C and E buds that develop into small balls (klisters).

The klisters sit at the big ball solid, and in the summer during peeling (the roots and remove old skin of the sphere) of the large ball picked. In the following autumn they again planted on the land, to grow into large sphere. In this way one loves a party tulips in position: the large spheres are used for flower production or sold directly to consumers and small bulbs are planted in the autumn. Over 75% of the cultivated tulip flower is intended for production at home or abroad. The rest is as bulb sold to the consumer or end up in parks and public garden.

The tulip has many random mutations that give new colors and variations. These mutaded tulips were once very valuable,because they have a new line for farming made possible with interesting new colors. They can also create new colors by tulips cross. They bring the pollen from one to another tulip pistil.
Some tulips ofa particular cultivar are striped or mottled in color. These effects caused by a viral infection of the bulb, and will not be transferred to a new generation that is raised from seed.

Tulip mania

In the 17th century (1630- circa 1637) arose in the Republic of the seven United Netherlands around the tulip a bizarre tulip mania, also called "tulip craze", tulip craze, tulip mania or bulb craze called were suddenly tulip speculative commodity. The craze was late 1636, early 1637 at its peak. In february 1637 the "globes market"as suddenly as they had arisen, many bulbs speculators were left destitute. Tulips were cultivated in all colors and art by painters such as Nicolaes van Verendael on still lifes depicted. Often there were lines on the flower not genetically determined but the results of a viral infection.

In this period are many tulips drawings.

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Another hobby of mine

KINGDOMS OF CAMELOT

Hello everyone,

Today im gonna talk about another hobby of my. Since june last year (2011) i started surfing the net and i came across an game thats played on facebook. At that time i was depressed, cos i just had lost my father, he passed away on my birthday may 26th. I was completely empty and i was working the nightshift, i said to myself that i must have a search for something to distract myself. To many memories came along about my father, he was, by the way a great guy and i do surely miss him. Suddenly i stumbled on my facebook page on the game Kingdoms of Camelot. So, after i did had a better look at the game i instantly liked it, it's a strategy game and i like these games. So, i sign up and started to play and im still playing it today. The game is about building cities and building an army. You can have 8 cities max. When you first start to play the game they provide you some goods like, food, stone, wood etc. Then after you have build abit you have to create you're embassey cos later on, you have to join an alliance. An alliance will protect you and give you support by it's members in the alliance. An alliance can have 100 members max and it's one big family, you have a chat possibility. So, that means that you be able to chat with other alliance members about daily issues or about the game.

What do u must build in you're cities;

First of all you need to set up your supply line, you have to create labors by building small houses inside your city. Outside you're city you build some food farms, mills for producing wood, build some mines for stone production and build some mines to produce ore.

Inside the city you build; Small cottages, baracks, an embassey (every city), castle, wall etc. After you have build the most of you're buildings then you can start to build the troops in you're cities. These are the basics. In later posts i will provide some extra info.

Being in an alliance gives you protection, especially when the alliance is going to war with an other alliance, it's great fun to be in war with another alliance. The adraneline will go up and it's very nice if u win the battle. Also can other members in you're alliance send some extra troops to help you out if you are under attack.

There are some special features in Kingdom of Camelots. You can buy gems and there is a throne room. If you don't want to buy gems you can also craft items in the fey spire. The fey spire provides alot of goodies that you will need to build you're cities up. The gems are basically for to grow faster in the game, you be able to buy alot off stuff for you're cities in Kingdoms of Camelot.

The throne room has alot of extra features, it's a bit difficult to explain, but the goodies that are available in the throne room gives you an extra boost to build ur troops up and some items will help you fighting a battle.

The game has giving me some good facebook friends, im still chatting with them on my facebook chat.

Ok folks thats all for today, soon im going to tell you guys more about Kingdoms of Camelot.

Happy reading and take care everyone.

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