EAPLC 2025 Results Revealed: 227 Entries Compete Across 8 New Categories
EAPLC 2025 Results Revealed: 227 Entries Compete Across 8 New Categories
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We are excited to bring you the latest update from Europe: The European Aquatic Plant Layout Contest (EAPLC) 2025 has officially announced its results. After a creative pause in 2024, the contest has returned with renewed energy, attracting a total of 227 entries and marking a significant evolution in its history with a completely restructured category system.
A Structural Revolution
The defining feature of EAPLC 2025 is the "modernization" of the contest structure. Moving away from broader classifications, this year introduced a refined system comprising 8 distinct categories. This strategic shift has ensured a fairer playing field and garnered enthusiastic participation across the board.
Statistics from this year show that the competition was fiercest in the Small (31-60L) and X-Large (201-300L) divisions.
Here is the breakdown of the 227 entries by category for EAPLC 2025:
1. Aquarium Categories
Six specific volume ranges were established to cover the full spectrum of aquascaping:
Nano (0 – 30 Liters): 11 entries
01 - Mes petits poissons - Thierry Fischbach - France02 - Dusks Embrace Over Yakushima - Agnieszka Schoeneck - Poland03 - Natures Breeze - Francisco Gomes - Portugal04 - Flooded forest - Alen Hodi - Croatia05 - Under the old tree - Asaftei Adrian Cri - Romania06 - Gemelli Diversi - Macovei Cristian - Italia07 - Mr Milan Hulka - Czech Republic08 - Cradle - Iris Audenrieth - Germany09 - Radiant Silence - Tom Mees - Germany10 - Secret canyon - Marko Zimonjic - Serbia11 - Betta Paradise - Thorsten Viljoen - Germany
Small (31 – 60 Liters): 45 entries (Highest participation)
01 - MIDGARD - Ismael Figueira - Portugal02 - Rocky shore - Tamas Fabian - Hungary03 - Beneath the canopy - Vico Friedsam - Deutschland04 - The weight of silence - Adam Dziadek - Polska05 - Branches - Sandor Matrai - Hungary06 - Before the Storm - Marcin Biedal - Poland07 - Red Heart - Aikaterini Tsiotsiou - Greece08 - Imaginarium - Francisco Gomes - Portugal09 - Echoes of the Wild - Filip Stefanovic - Serbia10 - Breaking dawn - Ludovit Markotan - Slovakia11 - Retribution - Robert Babi - Slovakia12 - A Stream of Serenity - Calvin Barborik - Austria13 - Antler - Marc di Pancrazio - Deutschland14 - Hakkai Stream - Tom Dienemann - Germany15 - Lets go to new realms - Iris Audenrieth - Germany16 - Smaragd - Erik Bensch - Deutschland17 - Golden Sunset - Tom Mees - Germany18 - Whispering Trail - Tobias Grb - Germany19 - Down the Stream - Jozef Scury - Slovakia20 - Vesper - Francesco Giampaolo - Italia21 - Little green flow - Pascal Germer - Germany22 - Depth of trees - Lang Viktor - Magyarorszag23 - Hidden Valley - Fabian Haack - Germany24 - Frhlingswiese - Daniel Schenke - Deutschland25 - Where Light Meets Silence - Bartomiej Chobot - Poland26 - Nightfall - Gabor Nagy - Hungary27 - Color Island - Lukas Lampl - sterreich28 - Fangorn Forest - Gabriel Jesus - Portugal29 - The wall - Andras Hollo - Hungary30 - ADA Cube Garden 45 P - Pavol Stefancik - Slovakia31 - Escalvadouro - Toze Nunes - Portugal32 - Tectonic Fracture - Jascha Gusmeroli - Poland33 - River Bed - Joao Fernandes - Portugal34 - The Land of Black and Green - Sven Kbler - Deutschland35 - Wildflower Meadows - Oluseyi Akintoye - Ireland36 - Slow flow - Christian Kischnick - Deutschland37 - Viking ship - Bjorn Anders Boe - Norge38 - Dancing in the Emerald Garden - Dawid Mucha - Polska39 - Rocky Roots - Helena-Kroot Haidak - Estonia40 - Little island - Jerome Rivera - France41 - Almost Dutch - Corne Spoon - Nederland42 - Aurora - Florian Raeder - Deutschland43 - Breakout - Kristof Bruyninckx - Belgi44 - Beeland - Jessica Fichtner- Hentschel - Germany45 - In My Beautiful Garden - Drazen Moraca - Bosnia and Herzegovina
Medium (61 – 100 Liters): 30 entries
01 - Birds Flight - Christoph Maisch - Austria02 - Valley of the reds - Asaftei Adrian Cristian - Romania03 - Nature Xscape - Tomas Eichler - Czech Republic04 - Alto Minho - CLEIR DUBOIS - Portugal05 - The New Dawn - Peter Chnurik - Slovakia06 - Riven - Jozef Scury - Slovakia07 - The Inner Light - Bruno Fiorenza - Italy08 - In the wilds - Valerii Nemashkalo - Ukraine09 - Sunrise Serenity - Jannik Ehrich - Germany10 - Haven - Tanja Pechhold - Germany11 - Harmony - Karsten Dnne - Deutschland12 - Wispering waters - Sergio Moya garcia - Spain13 - The Crown - Lang Viktor - Magyarorszag14 - Let it be - Stefan Krmer - Germany15 - Lucerna - Oscar Ruiperez - Espaa16 - Daydream II - Resat Hilmi Erdem - Trkiye17 - The Waking Forest - Takacs Zoltan - Magyarorszag18 - Sunken - Rasmus Wegerer - Germany19 - Enigma - Benjamin Nle - Deutschland20 - Dschungel - Philipp Steinbrck - Germany21 - The Green Frodoheart - Stefan Brandstdter - Deutschland22 - Adam Creation - Istvan Bartha - Romania23 - Innocence - Dmitry Shulyak - Belarus24 - Taa - Macovei Cristian - Italia25 - Flame Beneath the Canopy - Tom Mees - Germany26 - The Forgotten Valley - Ruben Santos - Spain27 - Venom - Anastassija Kalinina - Estonia28 - Green Oasis - Marek Kampf - esko29 - Valley of plenty - Dawid Mucha - Polska30 - The Pea Tree - Lloyd Jobson - England
Large (101 – 200 Liters): 32 entries
01 - Afterlife - Asaftei Adrian Cristian - Romania02 - Two stories - Alen Hodi - Croatia03 - Pride Rock - Christoph Maisch - Austria04 - The whisper of the stones - Jose Luis Catedra Martinez - Espaa05 - Random - Juan fco Aba serra - Espaa06 - Cradle of Mountains - Philipp Semla - Germany07 - Dragonscale Pass - Andrea Feliciano - Italia08 - Harmony - Gabor Nagy - Magyarorszag09 - mister - Jii mahel - esko10 - Between two worlds - Andrei Moisa - Romania11 - Drowned tree - David Perez - Espaa12 - LA GREVOLOSA - Bernat Hosta Rovira - Spain13 - Al filo del ocaso - Gustavo Palacio - Espaa14 - Memory - Jimmy Rey - France15 - A glance of summer - Clemens Jonas Derflinger - sterreich16 - The change of flow - Mark-Jan Fioole - Netherlands17 - Dancing Water - Sebastian Hopf - Germany18 - I do - Antonio Jose Fabero Sanchez - Espaa19 - Valley of Stillness - Lauri Mllo - Estonia20 - Origins - Pedro Moreira - Portugal21 - Space Odyssey - Kostas Koltouktsoglou - Greece22 - Painted Nature - Victor Schaenzle - sterreich23 - Dragon - Sylwester Maruszewski - Poland24 - Continuity of Nature - Elvis Hastor - Germany25 - aan - Macovei Cristian - Italia26 - Sunrise at the Coventinas fountain - Breogan Perez Fernandez - Espaa27 - Fire in the forest - Niklas Rath - Germany28 - Harmony - Manuel Hartmann - sterreich29 - Hold on - Koloman Ondruek - Slovakia30 - Reverse Flow - Jose Matias Sanchez - Spain31 - Flossengenossen - Christian Brandhorst - Deutschland32 - Whispers of the lush forest - Pascal Germer - Germany
X-Large (201 – 300 Liters): 43 entries (Highly competitive large tank division)
01 - River Echoes - Luis Cardoso - Portugal02 - Deep - Asaftei Adrian Cristian - Romania03 - Verdant Cascade - Karsten Dnne - Deutschland04 - Dark - Antonio Nikolic - Croatia05 - Down by the river - Thorsten Peetz - Deutschland06 - Wild Eleocharis - Rene Bieber - Austria07 - FENRIRSKOGEN - Ismael Figueira - Portugal08 - The Tsunami - Marcin Biedal - Poland09 - Last Chance - Dorin Florian Romaniuc - United Kingdom10 - Magic Glimpse - Jonathan Krause - Deutschland11 - Neon lights - Andrey Zakhartsov - Russia12 - BREACHED Cardamine Lyratas Refuge - Roberto Buenadicha - Spain13 - Silk - Florian Friedrich Bergerhoff - Germany14 - Old Forest - Albert Escrihuela Caceres - Spain15 - Eucalyptus country awakening - Ludovit Markotan - Slovakia16 - Dragons Mouth - Krzysztof Blizniak - Polska17 - Crosstown Traffic - Jean-Christophe GROSSET - France18 - sot el lliri - Alejandro Rios Martin - Espaa19 - Sunken Dam - Alexander Hecht - Austria20 - Two sons lifes - Victor Costa - Spain21 - Whispers of the Canopy - Andrei Moisa - Romania22 - Laugh Tale - Samuel Pachschwll - sterreich23 - Whispers - Przemysaw Wilk - Polska24 - Back to the Roots - Fabio Prata - Germany25 - Whispers of the Forest - Marcel Wehner - Germany26 - ancient forest - idomeneas stratakis - Greece27 - Levitation - Andras Fonodi - Hungary28 - First sunset - Daniel Martin - Espaa29 - Underskov - David Nrholm - Danmark30 - Across the silent rift - Bartomiej Chobot - Poland31 - Brazil - Marc di Pancrazio - Deutschland32 - Whispering Highlands - Andreas Mnwall - Sverige33 - Whispers of the Cryptic Canopy - Anita Schwarz - Austria34 - The perpetual twilight - Daniel Gonzalez - Espaa35 - Whispers of the wild - Nico Luchoro - Spain36 - Whispers of the Rift - Michal imek - Slovensko37 - Whispers of the Valley - Adam Woniakowski - Poland38 - Calm water - Andre Kussin - Germany39 - Between the woods - Jonas Ruhland - Germany40 - Juwel 240 - Richard Niedermeier - Germany41 - Two Islands in harmony - Hubert Stam - Germany42 - Ruber - Daniel Schenke - Deutschland43 - River Flow - Oliver Dorner - Deutschland
2X-Large (301+ Liters): 28 entries
01 - Erosion - Pavol Kulanda - United Kingdom02 - Paths Of Highlands - BOURDIN Ludo - France03 - Rolling River - Ismael Aguilar Soria - Espaa04 - Lost Woods - Alexander Hecht - Austria05 - Vibrance - Fabian Beck - Germany06 - First Sunset of November - Joao Pinheiro - Portugal07 - Currents - Marco Kowal - The Netherlands08 - Escaping from the Sunrise - Marcin Biedal - Poland09 - African Stream - Mario Schaufler - Austria10 - Trail of current Estela de la corriente - Cristian Strutu Climent - Espaa11 - Pulse - Salvador Macias Torres - Espaa12 - Release the kraken - Florian Breindl - Germany13 - Miracle valley - Milos Nikolic - Serbia14 - Diamonds in the sky - Jirka Pova - Czech Republic15 - Vitality - Albert Escrihuela Caceres - Spain16 - Pearls - Gerhard Rabenseifner - sterreich17 - Jakusima forest - patrik nemeth - Hungary18 - oasis of peace - Martin Moravek - Slovensko19 - Lost World - Raul Gargallo - Spain20 - Hidden aquatic realms - Benjamin Stofferus - Belgi21 - Oracle - Efrain Sequera Moreno - Spain22 - Giugiu - Kire Hajba - Portugal23 - Le royaume de Jade - Laurent GARCIA - France24 - Plantbased - Daniel Perdacher - Austria25 - Underwater Gate of Nature - Sawomir Gob - Polska26 - Peace of Westphalia - Kilian Vormann - Deutschland27 - El Desfiladero - Andres Gonzalez Cervera - Espaa28 - The Last Tree - Dawid Mucha - Polska
2. Paludarium & Wabi-Kusa Categories
Recognizing the art of emersed growth, these divisions also saw solid engagement:
Small (0 – 10 Liters): 24 entries
01 - Rootbound spirits - Karsten Dnne - Deutschland02 - Reawakening - Arzu Songur - Trkiye03 - CREEKBED 20 - Srinath srinivasan - Poland04 - Rotalas Crown - Tom Dienemann - Germany05 - Roots of Wilderness - Vico Friedsam - Deutschland06 - Cyptanthus Red mit der Orchidee im Moos - Jennifer Claus - Deutschland07 - Trinity - Jonas Loose - Germany08 - Little magical world - Tobias Grb - Germany09 - Master of Science in Management - Kamil Niedzielski - Polska10 - Green Throne - Ralph Bethge - Germany11 - A Root on the River Bank - Nazm Durmaz - Trkiye12 - Pathway Through Mother Nature - Jannis Weber - Germany13 - My Way - Stefan Brandstdter - Deutschland14 - Discover Minas Gerais - Stefan Krmer - Germany15 - A Tale of Two Leaves - Adam Dziadek - Poland16 - Fallen tree trunk - Adam Juhas - Slovensko17 - Green rocks - Christian Kischnick - Deutschland18 - A jug with a jug - Dawid Mucha - Polska19 - The Flowing Stump - Liam Kiefer - Germany20 - Canyon - Manuel Hartmann - sterreich21 - Cube of silence - Damian Fichtner - Germany22 - Swing to Eden - Ronja Hesse - Deutschland23 - Wabikusawunder - Julian Mehl - Deutschland24 - Waby Baby - Drazen Moraca - Bosnia and Herzegovina
Large (10+ Liters): 14 entries
01 - Fountain of Life - Andreas Ruppert-Flerlage - Deutschland02 - Shadow Bloom - Daniel Konrad - Switzerland03 - Hagakure - Sergio Maestre - Spain04 - Natures Bastion - Vico Friedsam - Deutschland05 - Koke No Yume - Karsten Dnne - Deutschland06 - Forrest Floor - Tom Dienemann - Germany07 - Disappearing Paradises - Stefan Krmer - Germany08 - Whispering Jungle - Tobias Grb - Germany09 - Green Mountain - Nazm Durmaz - Trkiye10 - AquaOrinoco - Joao Pinheiro - Portugal11 - Fr Sepp - Oliver Dorner - Deutschland12 - Austrian forrest - Mario Schaufler - sterreich13 - Echoes of the canopy - Adam Dziadek - Polska14 - Dark old wood scenery paludarium - Sabina Niedzielska - Poland
Celebrating the Community
The esteemed jury panel (including legends like Dave Chow, Jurijs Jutjajevs, and George Farmer) reviewed these 227 diverse ecosystems to select the winners. These numbers reflect not just participation, but the vibrant resilience of the European aquascaping community.
Award Ceremony & Looking Ahead
To celebrate this new chapter, an in-person Award Ceremony will be held on February 1st, 2026, in Vienna, Austria. The Top 10 contestants in each category are guaranteed a spot. The EAPLC team has also confirmed that this structured approach will continue into the 2026 season, with applications opening on June 1, 2026.
We invite all readers to explore the winning works across these newly defined categories on the official EAPLC website (https://eaplc.eu/eaplc-winners-2025).
Roberto Buenadicha’s aquarium is the only Spanish work in the published ranks 1–300. Its slender dark trunks, fine green planting and conspicuous pale fish make it a rewarding individual study. This instalment returns to the older Spain introduction through one photograph, keeping the scope small enough for the evidence available.
Only one French work appears in the published ranks 1–300. That gives this instalment a different task: a close reading of Jean Christophe Grosset’s aquarium, with the older country introduction as context. The photograph deserves attention for its own wood, planting and fish relationships, rather than being made to represent every French aquascaper.
Two Singaporean works appear in the published ranks 1–300, and they offer an unusually clear contrast. One makes open water and two main stones central; the other encloses a small rear opening within dense planting and roots. The pair is useful precisely because it does not support one simple visual label.
A low timber ceiling, blue-toned terraces and converging planted diagonals create three visibly different aquariums. Hong Kong’s represented works at ranks 1–300 offer a compact study of visual impact beyond the season’s leading awards. Looking at them closely is more informative than treating the cutoff count as a verdict on an entire aquascaping community.
A clear route through planted banks can feel quiet; a coloured ridge beneath a dark frame can feel theatrical. The four Italian photographs selected for this study offer both experiences. Together, they make a useful contemporary comparison with an archive that once placed particular emphasis on calm, enduring-looking compositions.
The four American photographs selected here all contain important wood structures, yet they do not produce one uniform wooded scene. A broad canopy, a low diagonal, a fine-leaved light window and an exposed timber subject organise attention differently. That variation lets us discuss design diversity through specific decisions rather than a broad national label.
A dark wooded frame, a rocky valley, a brighter mixed scene and green-covered root contours make this German selection particularly useful for comparison. The photographs share an interest in separating materials from the water around them, but achieve it through different outlines and lighting relationships.
Dense foliage, planted wood ridges and a low central route create different senses of distance in this four-work selection. The photographs are particularly rewarding when viewed through changes in leaf shape and planting height. They offer a present-season comparison with an archive that once described both graceful composition and more contemporary experimentation.
Three Thai aquariums in the published Top 300 present contrasting visual priorities. MAGIC LEAVES makes the water surface a signature; another work carries a route beneath planted arches; a third exposes rock peaks against rounded greenery. This small group gives a useful reason to look beyond the first shared award photograph.
The four Indonesian works published at ranks 1–300 offer a compact comparison. A coloured surface canopy, a dominant trunk, a dense grove and a wood-and-rock opening all reward close attention. The small group makes it possible to examine every represented work in this range, while keeping the conclusions specific to this season and cutoff.
A bright gap between broad wood layers, a fine-leaved canopy and a conspicuous individual fish offer three different entrances to this Malaysian selection. The photographs invite attention to the space inhabited by fish as well as the hardscape around it. They also show why a creator’s reputation and a new aquarium’s visual decisions should be discussed separately.
Enchanted Hills offers an immediately recognisable rock valley, with coloured planting and fish in bright water. Three other selected Brazilian photographs build their scenes around substantial wood. Seeing them together is a useful way to revisit a familiar label without asking individual creators to fit a single national recipe.
A pale path through hanging roots and a bright interval between exposed rocks can both make an aquarium feel spacious. Japan’s 2026 selection is rewarding because it places these different approaches beside richly planted foregrounds and coloured slopes. Six photographs offer a practical way to discuss variety within a familiar Nature Aquarium heritage.
The Grand Prize photograph gives this study an obvious first stop, but the comparison becomes richer when it reaches beyond the winner. Six selected aquariums show different ways of framing light with wood: unequal trunks, fine leaf curtains, successive arches and repeated vertical roots. Their interest lies in how each arrangement keeps a densely constructed scene readable.
Vietnam’s two leading 2026 awards both invite us into wooded environments. That is an interesting starting point for revisiting an archive which once associated the country strongly with stone. The most useful reading is not that one material has defeated the other. Six selected photographs show several ways of organising planted ground, open water and the route into a scene.
The CIAC 2026 Aquascaping Category results have received an official update. A results sheet distributed by the organising committee on 14 October lists ranks 14–119, extending the ranking information available beyond the image cards previously covered by AquaLibs.
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