The International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest (IAPLC) is the Olympic games equivalent for all aquascapers worldwide. Last year, aquascapers pit their talents against 1,603 competitors and the winner of the competition went home with USD13,034 or SGD16,255.
Just like the Olympic games, the entries for the IAPLC are categorised into countries and although rankings are based on the individual, there is quite a bit of national level organising from countries who have a strong aquascaping community.
The IAPLC has done much to further the development of the aquascaping hobby. This international competition, coupled with an attractive prize has been an effective catalyst for the hobby. Aquascaping forums see a surge of activity around early December as the majority of aquascapers plan for the competition while the professionals start much earlier. All this activity bring a buzz and excitement to the hobby. New comers are often taken up with all that is going on and it is a great way to get started in the hobby.
The superb aquascaping works by the top aquascapers will continue to have the same effect on the community as Takashi Amano’s initial works. Numerous aquascapers started the hobby after getting inspired by his works, the hobby today is constantly enriched because of the top aquascapes that are released annually due to the IAPLC.
Contesting in the IAPLC has been a great way to improve the art as it adds the necessary pressure and required planning that spurs improvement. Entry to the IAPLC is free and the 2012 contest has a deadline of May 31st. If you have never took part in this competition, we highly encourage it! Here are the top 27 aquascapes of IAPLC 2011 to get you inspired.
Here is the link for application into the IAPLC 2012: http://en.iaplc.com/about/application.html
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credit: The International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest | Aqua Design Amano
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