WITH MOST aquarium shows out of the window for this year, all eyes have been turned to the most renowned aquascaping contest of all. If you aren’t familiar with it, the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest (IAPLC) is the brainchild of the late aquascaping pioneer Takashi Amano, who quietly and singlehandedly started the modern planted tank revolution through the 1990s, before founding his business Aqua Design Amano.
Amano started the IAPLC at the turn of the century, to showcase global efforts in aquarium design and aesthetics. Those earliest days lured in a few hundred applicants, but the popularity has increased dramatically, with well over 2000 eager aquascapers now entering annually.