Each year an intense competition is held that you’ve never heard of — the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest. The highly competitive event is typically led by participants from Eastern Europe and Asia who vie to create the world’s best aquarium…
Whisper of the Pines, Serkan Cetinkol
Pilgrimage, Shintaro Matsui
These aquariums are meticulously assembled over the course of months or even years and are incredibly expensive to grow and maintain. Additionally, competitors need to be experts in various areas, including biology, design, and photography. In many cases, fish aren’t even part of the aquarium, though they can be seen in a few instances.
If spending several hours a week trimming moss is up your alley, here’s some inspiration to get you started…
Stairway to Heaven, Timucin Sagel
Forest Scent, Pavel Bautin
Pale Wind, Takayuki Fukada
Verve!, Chow Wai Sun
Way to Heaven, Dmitriy Parshin
Wild West, Stjepan Erdeljić
Untitled, Georgi Chaushev
Untitled, Francisco Wu
Untitled, Long Tran Hoang
Spirit of the Rain Forest, AJ Judy Prajitno Putra
Magic Forest, Chan Shih Hsien
After the Rain in Mountain, Katsuki Tanaka
Moment in Time, Nguyen Tien Dung
Ups and Downs, Nguyenthi Xuanthuy
The Late October, Piotr Beczynski
The Virgin Stream, Piotr Dymowski
Green Paradise, Quan Nguyen Minh-Green
Reaching, Robertus Hartono
Titiwangsa, Wei Cheong Chung
(via Colossal)