Surprise fact: Vietnam is a perennial powerhouse when it comes to aquarium design.
The annual International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest (IAPLC) is the largest planted aquarium contest in the world. Here, aquarium designers are judged not only by their creative displays of aquatic plants, but also the longevity their artificial ecosystems provide for their residents.
In 2013 (Ngo Truong Thinh), 2011 (Tran Hoang Long) and 2009 (Nguyen Tien Dung) Vietnamese “aquascapists” took home first prize for their beautiful designs, netting nearly $10,000.
As we await the announcement of this year’s results, let’s take a look back at some of the winning projects from the past few competitions.