# IAPLC 2022



## Geoffrey Rea (27 Aug 2022)




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## LondonDragon (27 Aug 2022)

Still catching the Top 40, see Pavol made the top 40, awesome  still 30 to go!


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## John q (27 Aug 2022)

Wow, some amazing scapes, thanks for posting.


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## Aqua360 (27 Aug 2022)

Had no idea the results were today, I walked into Horizon Aquatics and the staff/customers were all watching it 😂


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## Yugang (28 Aug 2022)

Absolutely amazing.

If I were allowed  one point of criticism, I would say that several tanks would look better if there were no fish at all. These winning tanks make me dream away as if I were in a big mountain fantasy world, but then these oversized 'birds' with their fins seem a bit disproportionate and actually do not add to the experience for me.

I would be happy to see a separate category where the tank is created to celebrate the beauty of the fish, and plants in a more natural role.

EDIT: With 50 points awarded for 'Recreation of natural habitat for fish', it is probably not a good idea to go without any fish. Perhaps that's why fish are sometimes kindly invited to hide in the dark, or position themselves at the very back on the horizon when taking the picture.


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## PARAGUAY (28 Aug 2022)

Some amazing creations😍anyone not sure what's a focal point is think the winner explains it. Nice to see a few UKAPS members up there in the top 100 too


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## Tim Harrison (29 Aug 2022)

Some very decent NA scapes, my favourite is Samurai ranked 48. And like Paulo said, good to see Pavol in the top 40,  very well deserved.
Otherwise, no real surprises, diorama wins the day again, with the top scapes just being better executed versions of most the rest of the top 100.
Although the scape ranked 4 is an extraordinary choice.


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## castle (29 Aug 2022)

When I get back to my laptop I can share some notes, a couple of stand out tanks, a few which were obviously flooded shortly before image. 

I don’t think IAPLC and I align with what I like from a “nature” aquarium tho


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## Geoffrey Rea (29 Aug 2022)

World Rank 83, Creation, by Shuji Ota was memorable:





There were some strong NA entries.


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## John q (29 Aug 2022)

I actually quite liked this one.


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## ElleDee (29 Aug 2022)

Every year I'm so impressed by the talent and effort of the entries, but I wish the judging encouraged more creativity and risk taking. I'm fine giving up some points for execution in exchange for more excitement and drama. I will say that 48, 83, and 5 stood out to me as well, among others.


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## Aqua360 (29 Aug 2022)

In regards to flooding right before taking the picture, this kind of feels like cheating to me, part of the challenge of aquascaping is maintaining their forms underwater, it's infinitely easier emersed, especially if avoiding purely aquatic plants


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## castle (29 Aug 2022)

Alrighty, 1 interesting, 1 questions. 1 fav:

.65, I don't exactly love this scape but those floating leaves are really adorable. And I want some. It's a little meh at the front, and front left but still I like it.





.56, I think there is some devious play here. The plants in the bottom right, look like a 4 leaf clove, or the emergent form of Marsilea. I will add, that lump of mossy wood on the left, which reminds me of like a sunken whale is 👍👍👍👍





Here it is growing in my greenhouse:





Might not be the same to be fair.

Finally, my favourite:






.48, Sunken lumps of wood have got me this year.


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## plantnoobdude (29 Aug 2022)

castle said:


> the emergent form of Marsilea


Marsilea sometimes does that submerged, you can see the regular circular leaves as well if you look around the tank. 

Otherwise agree with your comments on the scapes.


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## Geoffrey Rea (29 Aug 2022)

As an aside, if you can view the rankings on a proper TV on YouTube, rather than on your phone, you’ll find a lot of clever details you missed the first time around from viewing on a phone. There’s some real nut job level of detail gone into some entries, hats off.



ElleDee said:


> Every year I'm so impressed by the talent and effort of the entries, but I wish the judging encouraged more creativity and risk taking.



🙌🏼

They’re all risking something to some extent. Most wouldn’t enjoy maintaining the standards seen. But completely agree that the judging leads the design rather than the other way around.

Some big names missing from the top 100 this year though… that was a change.


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## PARAGUAY (30 Aug 2022)

Look at some and maybe it's just me but ex. No 48 love this one and very much like the Josh Sim style. So you can see how the contest influences. I like more of the Brazil ones this year too, a bit more plant and wood anout


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## Wookii (30 Aug 2022)

Tim Harrison said:


> Some very decent NA scapes, my favourite is Samurai ranked 48. And like Paulo said, good to see Pavol in the top 40, very well deserved.
> Otherwise, no real surprises, diorama wins the day again, with the top scapes just being better executed versions of most the rest of the top 100.
> Although the scape ranked 4 is an extraordinary choice.



I share the same sentiment - I've just scanned through the top 100 entries and it's all a little "meh". I like No. 5 and No. 48, and maybe No. 52, and, erm, that's about it.

I appreciate the huge technical accomplishment of many of these tanks, to create the hardscape and planting, and appreciate that it represents massive dedication and attention to detail, but on the whole I just don't think many are that 'nice' to look at! I certainly wouldn't choose to have many of them in my own home, but I guess that might apply to a lot of abstract art, which is what many of these entries represent.


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## Tim Harrison (30 Aug 2022)

There was an interesting discussion on Jurijs' Instagram.
Many of the comments (some from UKAPS members) reflect the opinions here.


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## Geoffrey Rea (30 Aug 2022)

Live review of the IAPLC from Green Aqua:


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## ElleDee (30 Aug 2022)

Tim Harrison said:


> There was an interesting discussion on Jurijs' Instagram.
> Many of the comments (some from UKAPS members) reflect the opinions here.



That's really interesting. I have seen the judging rubric, but didn't understand about the preselection process. (That may have been in the results video, but I skipped all the talking bits.)

I just wish I had a sense of whether or not these opinions are reflected in the aquascaping community in the countries that dominate the contest. The regional differences in the hobby are fascinating to me in general - part cultural, part material (availability and affordability of goods), part ephemeral trends and influences that have limited reach due to language barriers. And I wonder about these influences in the contest.


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## Tim Harrison (30 Aug 2022)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Live review of the IAPLC from Green Aqua:



Kinda shows how the contest has become somewhat polarised and confused. Where the desire to appear true to the original NA ethos is perhaps at odds with creative freedom.  

There isn’t a simple solution and I think the IAPLC will continue to be controversial. However, there is a danger that it will eventually cease to be relevant if it doesn’t make up it’s mind exactly what it wants to be.


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## shangman (30 Aug 2022)

I think IAPLC is about showing off aquascaping as a craft rather than an art - adhering to tradition with technical building and growing skill over creating something personal which says something really interesting. That isn't a bad thing, I love craft, but I don't think people should be looking to it for bold new ideas because they simply aren't appreciated. It's clearly about strictly adhereing to an established aesthetic, each year it's more of the same which starts to get a bit boring even if the individual scapes are very skilled. I honestly think friends and amazing UKAPS members I've seen that enter have made better more beautiful more fish-happy scapes not for the competition than for it, it seems to limit people rather than push them to make their best. I guess it's a fun experiment and way to try something different for yourself, but I wish there was a better competition tbh that allowed more imagination and variety, and most of all: good habitat for fish and their natural behaviours. Fish always seem like an afterthought in these tanks and it does them a disservice.


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## plantnoobdude (30 Aug 2022)

shangman said:


> Fish always seem like an afterthought in these tanks and it does them a disservice.


In this sense, I always find going through AGA results much more pleasing, especially the biotope section. But even the “aquatic garden” section, seems to have a bigger focus on fish keeping than the iaplc does


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## ElleDee (30 Aug 2022)

shangman said:


> I think IAPLC is about showing off aquascaping as a craft rather than an art - adhering to tradition with technical building and growing skill over creating something personal which says something really interesting. That isn't a bad thing, I love craft, but I don't think people should be looking to it for bold new ideas because they simply aren't appreciated. It's clearly about strictly adhereing to an established aesthetic, each year it's more of the same which starts to get a bit boring even if the individual scapes are very skilled. I honestly think friends and amazing UKAPS members I've seen that enter have made better more beautiful more fish-happy scapes not for the competition than for it, it seems to limit people rather than push them to make their best. I guess it's a fun experiment and way to try something different for yourself, but I wish there was a better competition tbh that allowed more imagination and variety, and most of all: good habitat for fish and their natural behaviours. Fish always seem like an afterthought in these tanks and it does them a disservice.


I think you're spot on with the craft vs. art distinction. I was thinking about this topic while driving and had the thought that the judging reminded me of the state/county fair - no one is breaking any new ground in the blackberry jam category, but I expect the winner is very good jam indeed. 

IAPLC has the added burden of carrying on Amano's legacy. I know not everyone has agreed with how they have chosen to do this (and I don't have an opinion on that myself), but I imagine it's got to discourage them from going in a completely new direction. 

There's no making everyone happy, especially when the final product is a ranked list several thousand entries long. I think the ranking system is both fun and a bit silly, but from a structural standpoint it's natural to identify entries that you feel are over- or underrated.


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## Aqua360 (31 Aug 2022)

on the note of doing right by the fish, check out these entries in the biotope contest, these are stunning






						BIOTOPE AQUARIUM DESIGN CONTEST 2022 – Biotope Aquarium
					






					biotope-aquarium.info
				




p.s not attempting to derail the thread!

On my previous note about the flooding of emersed scapes just to take a picture of the contest, it just feels like the next thing after the whole photoshopping in previous years, that goes towards putting people off entering.


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## Yugang (1 Sep 2022)

How about a contest  for tanks that are in public spaces, like schools, hospitals, offices, airports, community centres?
Could be good for the promotion of the hobby, mainstream, complementary to the IAPLC elite class.
I'm not a purist, forgive me for posting in this thread


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## Wookii (1 Sep 2022)

Aqua360 said:


> on the note of doing right by the fish, check out these entries in the biotope contest, these are stunning
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I'm a huge fan of the BADC, and there are some really stunning and atmospheric tanks in the competition this year. 

I think it would shake IAPLC up no end if entrants had to submit a video of their tanks too!


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## PARAGUAY (1 Sep 2022)

Yugang said:


> How about a contest  for tanks that are in public spaces, like schools, hospitals, offices, airports, community centres?
> Could be good for the promotion of the hobby, mainstream, complementary to the IAPLC elite class.
> I'm not a purist, forgive me for posting in this thread


It's a good community thought but your going to get all different types rock only, fancy goldfish ,Malawi tanks etc. Even the planted may need tlc unless the set ups had a installer maintaining them . There was a suggestion of dividing the IAPLC into a nature aquarium and diorama sections  but don't think ADA would want that.


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## Aqua360 (1 Sep 2022)

Wookii said:


> I'm a huge fan of the BADC, and there are some really stunning and atmospheric tanks in the competition this year.
> 
> I think it would shake IAPLC up no end if entrants had to submit a video of their tanks too!


Good suggestion!


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## Geoffrey Rea (1 Sep 2022)

Throwaway thoughts…

Somewhere in all this, it is perhaps forgotten that the IAPLC is an international competition, hosted by an extremely homogeneous nation. Why would you expect international ‘wants’ to factor in how the competition is run…? Who pays to run this?

They’ve shown movement by changing the judges to be a more representative international panel. But still, it doesn’t appear from a loud minority, that people understand the judging in any shared way.

There already exists plenty of competitions run around the world, that cater to other styles, trends and judging criteria. Why aren’t they as popular as the IAPLC?


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## Wookii (1 Sep 2022)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Somewhere in all this, it is perhaps forgotten that the IAPLC is an international competition, hosted by an extremely homogeneous nation. Why would you expect international ‘wants’ to factor in how the competition is run…? Who pays to run this?



That is a very good point. With the title "International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest" it is easy to get drawn into the fantastical idea that it is an open and not-for-profit event without corporate vested interest, when the reality is it is simply part of the ADA marketing machine. It's a great way to make a brand ubiquitous when that brand is so deeply imbedded in an event like this, that people easily forget its even there.



Geoffrey Rea said:


> Why aren’t they as popular as the IAPLC?



I can only speculate that this again relates to the first point - they simply don't have the same funding and corporate backing to generate as much exposure and interest?


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## Yugang (1 Sep 2022)

PARAGUAY said:


> It's a good community thought but your going to get all different types rock only, fancy goldfish ,Malawi tanks etc. Even the planted may need tlc unless the set ups had a installer maintaining them . There was a suggestion of dividing the IAPLC into a nature aquarium and diorama sections  but don't think ADA would want that.


Don't get me wrong, I like IAPLC a lot, and the contributions are amazing. But as so often happens, and perhaps especially in Japan, the good is taken to an extreme.
These IAPLC pieces of art are created in secrecy, mostly taken down and destroyed after pictures taken. And then next year, competition again, new pieces of art that are enjoyed for real by one or two, pictures taken, tank destroyed and we all watch and comment the award movie again.
Permanent displays on the other hand are gifts that keep giving. That I still remember seeing a tank in a hospital as a child says a lot to me. These talented scapers have so much more to give than a 2 MB slide on YouTube.
Just food for thought, admittedly not a fully developed idea. Next year we will have same discussions on IAPLC 2023 pictures, so I tried to bring a new thought for some variation on the theme


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## Ernesto (1 Sep 2022)

PARAGUAY said:


> No 48 love this one and very much like the Josh Sim style.


if i understood correctly last night while YT binging for iaplc 2022, the No 48 Kinan Hong Sim ist "the artist formerly known as Josh Sim". 
Sorry but cant find the link anymore....


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## John q (1 Sep 2022)

Ernesto said:


> if i understood correctly last night while YT binging for iaplc 2022, the No 48 Kinan Hong Sim ist "the artist formerly known as Josh Sim".
> Sorry but cant find the link anymore....


That would appear to be the case. No48 Samurai.


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## dw1305 (1 Sep 2022)

Hi all, 


ElleDee said:


> no one is breaking any new ground in the blackberry jam category, but I expect the winner is very good jam indeed.


Perfect and another one to add to UKAPS list of <"unusual analogies">.


Yugang said:


> These IAPLC pieces of art are created in secrecy, mostly taken down and destroyed after pictures taken. And then next year, competition again, new pieces of art that are enjoyed for real by one or two, pictures taken, tank destroyed and we all watch and comment the award movie again.
> Permanent displays on the other hand are gifts that keep giving. That I still remember seeing a tank in a hospital as a child says a lot to me.





Wookii said:


> I think it would shake IAPLC up no end if entrants had to submit a video of their tanks too!





Aqua360 said:


> On my previous note about the flooding of emersed scapes just to take a picture of the contest, it just feels like the next thing after the whole photoshopping in previous years, that goes towards putting people off entering.


That would be fairer, but I guess people are always going to "game" a competition, whatever rules exist.

cheers Darrel


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## Geoffrey Rea (1 Sep 2022)

Yugang said:


> Next year we will have same discussions on IAPLC 2023 pictures



Yup 👍🏽

Just for fun @Wookii going to change the names of the comp and the organisers:



Wookii said:


> That is a very good point. With the title "International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest" it is easy to get drawn into the fantastical idea that it is an open and not-for-profit event without corporate vested interest, when the reality is it is simply part of the ADA marketing machine. It's a great way to make a brand ubiquitous when that brand is so deeply imbedded in an event like this, that people easily forget its even there.



That is a very good point. With the title "The Great British Bake Off" it is easy to get drawn into the fantastical idea that it is an open and not-for-profit event without corporate vested interest, when the reality is it is simply part of the Channel Four Television Corporations marketing machine. It's a great way to make a brand ubiquitous when that brand is so deeply imbedded in an event like this, that people easily forget its even there.

They’re ruining cake!!! 😂 😝 😂


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## Ernesto (1 Sep 2022)

Wookii said:


> I think it would shake IAPLC up no end if entrants had to submit a video of their tanks too!


a mandatory picture that must show off at least one front edge and sideview of the tank would be a really nice upgrade for the evaluation, in my opinion. Don´t know if this was ever subject for iaplc.


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## Wookii (1 Sep 2022)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> That is a very good point. With the title "The Great British Bake Off" it is easy to get drawn into the fantastical idea that it is an open and not-for-profit event without corporate vested interest, when the reality is it is simply part of the Channel Four Television Corporations marketing machine. It's a great way to make a brand ubiquitous when that brand is so deeply imbedded in an event like this, that people easily forget its even there.
> 
> They’re ruining cake!!! 😂 😝 😂


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## John q (1 Sep 2022)

Just to add to my above post rather than edit it:
This isn't the fist time Sim Kian Hong has entered the comp, I suspect Josh wasn't the name given to him by his parents. Lol.


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## LondonAquascaper (1 Sep 2022)

My personal opinion (and thats all it is) - is that all of these dioramas are samey and in some ways unsettling. 

Samey because they all use the same formula to get the same result. Sand foreground,  big piece of wood, rising towards the back, stems at the rear, sand path, lit focal point, job done. Unsettling because they enter the uncanny valley where they are both full of nature, and yet obviously totally and utterly unnatural.

In 2020 things did seem to be going towards the natural style again, but that seems to have reversed this year. However, what we do now have is many other fabulous competitions for followers of different types of aquariums - I am sure we will see these garner more and more attention as time goes on, and IAPLC will become its own niche of ultra preened tanks with insane hardscape.


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## PARAGUAY (1 Sep 2022)

Ernesto said:


> if i understood correctly last night while YT binging for iaplc 2022, the No 48 Kinan Hong Sim ist "the artist formerly known as Josh Sim".
> Sorry but cant find the link anymore....


😯


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## chrisjohnson (2 Sep 2022)

plantnoobdude said:


> I always find going through AGA results much more pleasing, especially the biotope section.


This sounds interesting. How can I find out more!


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## plantnoobdude (2 Sep 2022)

chrisjohnson said:


> This sounds interesting. How can I find out more!











						AGA Aquascaping Contest
					

View all 22+ years of entries to the AGA International Aquascaping Contest, and get the latest info on this year's contest.




					showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org
				




“View past contests”

Then the years all come up, click what year you want to see.

Then it gives you the choice to choose between aquatic garden, Dutch, biotope, and so on. Click what you want to see, and it’ll show you the entries in that category that year.


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## Miniandy (9 Sep 2022)

Can't understand how the scores are achieved by some of the scapes. The top 40 appears jumbled and out of order. Anyone else struggling with progression through the list?


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## Courtneybst (9 Sep 2022)

Miniandy said:


> Can't understand how the scores are achieved by some of the scapes. The top 40 appears jumbled and out of order. Anyone else struggling with progression through the list?


I dunno about the top but I think the entries I've seen after rank 100 seem very random.


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## castle (9 Sep 2022)

Courtneybst said:


> I dunno about the top but I think the entries I've seen after rank 100 seem very random.



I think they print all the submissions out, they lay them on the floor. Everyone at ADA gets 100 beans. They’re then tasked with putting _n _beans on the submissions they like the most. 

Problem is someone just absolutely loves chaos, so puts 100 beans on something that looks non-good to us, but is 100 beans to them.


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## Tim Harrison (9 Sep 2022)

castle said:


> Problem is someone just absolutely loves chaos, so puts 100 beans on something that looks non-good to us, but is 100 beans to them.


That makes perfect sense, especially if the beans obscure the image. Next guy comes along and thinks this must be good and deposits even more beans obscuring it even more. . .
But seriously folks, it doesn't really seem to make an awful lot of sense. Some of the best scapes didn't even make the top 100. And the scape ranked 4 seems completely random and out of place.


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## Miniandy (10 Sep 2022)

Tim Harrison said:


> That makes perfect sense, especially if the beans obscure the image. Next guy comes along and thinks this must be good and deposits even more beans obscuring it even more. . .
> But seriously folks, it doesn't really seem to make an awful lot of sense. Some of the best scapes didn't even make the top 100. And the scape ranked 4 seems completely random and out of place.


I agree with you on #4, but I actually stopped watching the stream at #5 - not that it was necessarily the most juxtaposition-scape and probably the straw that broke the camels back - for me it was #6 which just looks so out of place.

Having eagerly waited for this over the summer, I found this year more than most left me wondering what's going on and completely deflated. Having said that, there are some truly wonderful layouts once again.

Disclaimer; I say all this, an armchair warrior of sorts - although not my intention, fully in the knowledge that I am totally unable to create anything of this level.


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## Aqua360 (10 Sep 2022)

Miniandy said:


> Disclaimer; I say all this, an armchair warrior of sorts - although not my intention, fully in the knowledge that I am totally unable to create anything of this level.


You're still allowed an opinion


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