With the CIAC 2026 results scheduled for October 10, this is a good moment to revisit eight works beyond last season's podium. Each offers a different reason to pause, enlarge the photograph and look again.
This selection covers ranks 5 to 29 in the CIAC 2025 Aquascaping Group. The works appear in their official ranking order; their inclusion reflects our editorial interest in their visual variety. Here, “beyond the podium” means outside the top three, and all eight belong to the published Top 30.
Eight works to explore in the CIAC 2025 gallery
| CIAC rank | Aquascape | Creator | Country in the CIAC results | A detail to look for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Spring | Mawan Huda | Indonesia | A forest floor with room to breathe |
| 7 | Longevity | Kawin Arponiam | Thailand | The sculptural rhythm of exposed roots |
| 16 | Dark | Antonio Nikolic | Croatia | Fish visible against a shaded interior |
| 17 | Fénix River | Ismael Aguilar Soria | Spain | A luminous opening above a stony channel |
| 18 | Howling | Phạm Đức Mạnh | Vietnam | Layered rock faces and a living passage |
| 24 | Enchanted Valley | Fernando Moraes | Brazil | A green valley that rewards a longer look |
| 27 | No human has ever reached this valley. | Ali Rezaee | Canada | Hanging roots and bright planted terraces |
| 29 | Memories | Nguyễn Trung Hiếu | Vietnam | Diagonal wood softened by green growth |
Open the CIAC 2025 results and gallery alongside this article to compare these layouts at a larger size. Country labels above follow the CIAC results for this edition.
1. Spring — a forest with breathing space
Mawan Huda · Indonesia · CIAC 2025, Rank 5
Spring — Mawan Huda, Indonesia — CIAC 2025, Rank 5. Archived contest photograph.
The appeal of Spring lies in the space between its trees. Thick trunks and hanging branches establish the forest, while the lower planting leaves a readable route through the middle. Small pinkish plant accents interrupt the greens without competing with the hardscape.
Look first at the moss-covered canopy, then follow the lower wood across the foreground. Those two layers frame the interior at different heights. The photograph gives us the impression of standing beneath a forest roof, with a clearing still visible beyond it.
The fish on the left add another layer of scale. Their open swimming space makes the dense surroundings feel more expansive, and the exposed wood retains enough character to remain interesting beneath the planting.
For a wider view of this creator's work, visit Mawan Huda's AquaRank profile. Its records include Spring across several 2025 competitions, offering a useful way to follow one layout beyond a single results page.
2. Longevity — the character of exposed wood
Kawin Arponiam · Thailand · CIAC 2025, Rank 7
Longevity — Kawin Arponiam, Thailand — CIAC 2025, Rank 7. Archived contest photograph.
Longevity gives its wood a prominent voice. The large trunk on the left descends into a web of roots, while an arching piece further right creates a second point of interest. Their reddish-brown surfaces remain visible among the greens.
The roots stretch across the composition at several levels, connecting planted areas and drawing attention from one side to the other. A bright band of open water above the layout keeps the upper scene comparatively light, despite the weight of the foreground structure.
Pause over the relationship between exposed wood and small plant cushions. The foliage settles around the roots, allowing their bends, hollows and direction to remain legible. That balance is central to the photograph's sense of an old, established landscape.
Explore Kawin Arponiam on AquaRank for his competition history, or continue with AquaLibs' step-by-step feature on Longevity to see more of the work behind the finished view.
3. Dark — an underwater scene built around shelter
Antonio Nikolic · Croatia · CIAC 2025, Rank 16
Dark — Antonio Nikolic, Croatia — CIAC 2025, Rank 16. Archived contest photograph.
The name Dark suits the photograph's shaded interior. Branching wood and green growth surround a deep central recess, where a group of pale fish becomes especially noticeable.
Follow the heavy diagonal branch from the foreground toward the upper middle. It joins several layers of the scene, but the dark gaps beneath it remain important: they let us distinguish one structure from the next. Pebbles along the bottom provide a lighter edge to this sheltered space.
The fish give the composition an immediate underwater presence. Their bodies stand out against the shadow, helping the viewer read the open volume between branches. The resulting mood is intimate, with much of the attraction held inside the landscape.
On Antonio Nikolic's AquaRank profile, browse the photographs and records beside Dark. Looking across a creator's work can reveal recurring interests in structure, scale and atmosphere.
4. Fénix River — light above a textured channel
Ismael Aguilar Soria · Spain · CIAC 2025, Rank 17
Fénix River — Ismael Aguilar Soria, Spain — CIAC 2025, Rank 17. Archived contest photograph.
In Fénix River, the eye moves between two contrasting textures: the rounded stones of the lower channel and the fine, hanging growth near the surface. Substantial roots frame the sides, leaving a bright opening in the upper centre.
That opening gives the fish a clear backdrop. Below them, mixed stone sizes create a more irregular route into the scene than a smooth strip of sand would. Broad leaves, small plants and dark wood keep the riverbank impression varied at close range.
The photograph rewards viewing from bottom to top. The foreground establishes weight and texture; the upper opening brings light and a sense of distance. Together they make the scene feel like a small section of a larger waterway.
Visit Ismael Aguilar Soria's AquaRank profile to explore Fénix River and earlier works in his gallery.
5. Howling — rock layers animated by fish
Phạm Đức Mạnh · Vietnam · CIAC 2025, Rank 18
Howling — Phạm Đức Mạnh, Vietnam — CIAC 2025, Rank 18. Archived contest photograph.
Howling shifts attention to the horizontal layers of its rock faces. Green cushions sit on projecting ledges, while narrow leaves and scattered warm plant accents vary the surfaces. The central gap opens a passage between these substantial masses.
The fish are especially important to this view. A sizeable group occupies the lower central space, giving movement to an otherwise weighty, layered composition. Smaller flashes of colour further right extend that activity across the image.
Look at the exposed stone beneath the planting. Its strata remain visible, preserving the geological character of the scene. The pale substrate along the front provides a clean lower boundary, allowing the rock forms and their planted edges to carry the main visual interest.
Open Phạm Đức Mạnh's AquaRank profile to view Howling alongside his other recorded aquascapes.
6. Enchanted Valley — a landscape revealed gradually
Fernando Moraes · Brazil · CIAC 2025, Rank 24
Enchanted Valley — Fernando Moraes, Brazil — CIAC 2025, Rank 24. Archived contest photograph.
The first impression of Enchanted Valley is its abundance of green. A longer look reveals how much of its structure depends on exposed, angular rock. The darker stone faces define the valley sides, and smaller rocks interrupt the planted foreground.
A pale, irregular route can be traced through the low growth toward the back. Because parts of that route disappear beneath the plants, the viewer discovers the landscape in stages. Yellow-green and warmer foliage near the upper right add another change of texture and tone.
The bright opening above the central rocks gives the fish a visible place in the composition. This is a rewarding image to enlarge: the scene's small variations become more apparent once the broad valley shape is familiar.
Browse Fernando Moraes on AquaRank to place Enchanted Valley within his wider gallery and competition record.
7. No human has ever reached this valley. — beneath the hanging roots
Ali Rezaee · Canada · CIAC 2025, Rank 27
No human has ever reached this valley. — Ali Rezaee, Canada — CIAC 2025, Rank 27. Archived contest photograph.
This layout draws much of its atmosphere from the dark roots hanging at the sides. They frame a brighter interior of planted terraces, weathered wood and scattered stone. The title offers an imaginative invitation to explore that enclosed space.
Compare the two lower corners. The left contains broad, exposed wood surfaces; the right carries a more obvious cluster of angular grey stones. Their different textures make the foreground feel varied while the hanging roots hold the wider composition together.
Warm-coloured fish cross the shaded middle, adding a visible pulse of activity beneath the bright green growth. The contrast between the overhead enclosure and the illuminated planting gives the photograph its sense of entering a secluded place.
Explore Ali Rezaee's AquaRank profile for the archived work and further competition records. Canada is the country listed for this entry in the CIAC 2025 results.
8. Memories — movement through repeating diagonals
Nguyễn Trung Hiếu · Vietnam · CIAC 2025, Rank 29
Memories — Nguyễn Trung Hiếu, Vietnam — CIAC 2025, Rank 29. Archived contest photograph.
Memories is immediately recognisable through its repeated diagonal wood forms. Their rising tips give the scene a strong directional rhythm, while the green growth draped along them makes each piece feel connected to the planted surroundings.
A pale route threads through the lower middle. Its smaller scale provides a useful counterpoint to the large foreground wood, creating a place for the eye to travel after taking in the broader structure. Fine leaves at the base soften the transition to the substrate.
Look again at the dark gaps between the green-covered forms. Those intervals preserve the individuality of each branch and keep the repeated pattern readable. The photograph holds together through the relationship between direction, texture and the space left between structures.
Find more of the creator's work through Nguyễn Trung Hiếu's AquaRank profile, listed on AquaLibs under the name Hieu Nguyen Trung.
Give the next CIAC gallery time to surprise you
These eight photographs show how many different viewing experiences fit within one season. A shaded interior asks us to notice fish and shelter. An open valley reveals changes in scale. Exposed roots and rock faces invite a closer look at the relationship between hardscape and planting.
As the official CIAC 2026 schedule points toward the October 10 results, there is a useful habit to carry into the new gallery: pause on a work before reading its rank. Notice where your eye goes, what draws it back and which detail remains memorable afterwards.
For further viewing, revisit our six design lessons from CIAC 2025, then explore the CIAC contest archive and AquaRank. AquaRank brings published competition records and available artwork together through individual profiles, making it easier to keep following a creator after discovering one photograph.
Which CIAC aquascape outside the top three deserves another look? Share its title, creator or rank in the comments—and tell us the detail that made you stop scrolling.
Editorial note: Rankings, entry titles and country labels were checked against the published CIAC 2025 Top 30 list and archived photographs. The visual readings in this article are AquaLibs' editorial observations, rather than official judges' comments. AquaRank is an independent project. These are historical entries; this selection does not confirm participation in CIAC 2026.
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