Alberto Sosa's Beniamino Aquascape

Beniamino by Alberto Sosa

Just a heads up of a fantastic aquascape over on Aquatic Plant Central, this little scape (about 10 gallons) by Alberto Sosa is incredibly detailed and interesting. The use of different sized and shaped leaves is top notch, and adds a lot to the aquascape. Check out full size pictures and details, including a plant map and technical details over on his post.

IAPLC 2010 Aquascape #134 Released

"Tamo daleko" by Slobodan Lazarevic of Serbia, #134 2010 IAPLC

And so it begins. After IAPLC rankings are published, there's always a slow trickle of entries released ahead of the ADA Party in October. Technically, contestants aren't supposed to publish their entries until the party is over as part of the contest terms, but "Octopus" has released his entry into the IAPLC 2010 contest early. Another of the up-and-coming Eastern European aquascapers, "тамо далеко," which Google roughly translates as "Far There," is a captivating aquascape. The aquascape ranked 134th out of over 1000 entries and uses rock very effectively to create a narrow pass up the center of the tank. One of the best parts of this aquascape in my opinion is the lighting, looking amazingly like the soft light of early morning. The only thing I don't like about this particular photo is the reflection off the surface of the water, since it takes away from the whole mountain-scape feeling. You can find a full list of flora and fauna in a post on APC.

IAPLC 2010 World Rankings Announced

Where the River Begins - Pavel Bautin

Although there aren't any pictures of the winning aquascapes that I've found yet (the aquascape above is just one of the winner's other aquascapes), the world rankings for the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest have been published. Congratulations to Pavel Bautin from Russia for being ranked number one! It's a bit of a shock to see someone from a country where aquascaping isn't traditionally as big as it is in other Asian countries place first, but the win, along with some great rankings for Polish and Ukranian aquascapers really shows how the hobby is taking off in Eastern Europe and Russia. Pavel Bautin does have a gallery of his aquascapes for his aquarium design company, and he is very talented. They look wild and full of life, and if his contest winning entry followed the same line, it's easy to see how he won.

The U.S. and U.K. rankings are few and far between, so get some ideas and get planning for next year's IAPLC!

Win an iPad from Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine

This is kind of cool...subscribe to TFH magazine's digital version for the iPad for just $1, and be entered to win an iPad. Not sure why you'd need an iPad if you were subscribing to the digital version in the first place...but you can subscribe to the regular print version for $28 and be entered to win that way as well. The video of the digital version above looks gorgeous, highlighting several planted aquariums, and the digital version comes with archives dating back to 2007. What better way to use an iPad than look at gorgeous pictures of aquascapes?

Anyone have a subscription to TFH? Looks pretty aquascaper-friendly!