Any interested person can become a participant of the contest, regardless of citizenship, nationality and place of residence. The contest rules are the same for everyone. Each participant has the opportunity to submit to the contest up to five biotope aquaria. Design elements in different aquaria by the same participant should not be the same. Only freshwater aquaria with salinity up to 25 ppt are accepted.

A correctly formed title should include: the visual characteristics of the biotope (1), the type and, if available, the name of the reservoir / watercourse (2), the toponym indicating the exact location of the biotope (3), the name of the country, where the biotope is located (4). Example: Wetland (1) creek (2) near the mouth of the Yangtze River (3) in Hunan Province, China (4).

A correct biotope description should include:

Visual characteristics of the underwater landscape: depth, relief, appearance of soil, stones, driftwood. If you have the exact coordinates of the biotope, specify them please.

Physical and chemical parameters of the environment: light, color, transparency, temperature, hardness, acidity of water.

List of aquatic organisms living in the specified biotope (including those used in your aquarium): reptiles, amphibians, fish, plants, crustaceans.

Description of the environment surrounding the biotope and factors that significantly affect the ecosystem. For example, branches of trees hanging over the water, etc.

Ecological aspects. They are taken into account when choosing the winner in the ECO Trophy category. If the biotope you have recreated is in danger, be sure to tell about it in your application form.

All the information specified in the description of the biotope should be confirmed by references to reliable sources of information. For example, photos, videos, articles, blogs, entries in social networks. If you have used books, magazines, be sure to include the title of the publication, the author, and the chapter in which the information was found. If you made a personal research, it should be published on any website, forum, blog or social media posts.

To evaluate the correspondence to the biotope and the viability of the system, we need a little information about your aquarium.

The volume and dimensions of your aquarium in liters and centimeters.

A complete list of inhabitants of your aquarium in Latin: fish, plants and large invertebrates.

Technical equipment of your aquarium: filtration, flow, lighting.

Decorations and grounds used: type, particle size, origin.

Water parameters: temperature, color, GH, KH, pH.

Interesting facts about your aquarium. Surely your aquarium has some special features. Tell about the most interesting ones, and also explain the controversial nuances that may affect your points.

High-quality photos are one of the most important components of successful participation in the contest. You are allowed to upload to your contest form up to six photos in a resolution of at least 2000 pixels by the longest side in JPEG graphical format. Each file should not exceed 4 megabytes. Blurred, fuzzy photos and photos with easily distinguishable defects are not allowed. We accept only uncropped photos with visible edges of the front glass. We will crop original photos (1) by the front glass of the aquarium (2) if there are plants above the water in it. ATTENTION! The members of the jury will evaluate only underwater part of your aquarium (3). The part above water can only affect the overall impression. Additional drawing and cloning parts of the photos are not allowed! If the organizing committee members or the members of the jury suspect that editing was used, the participant will be disqualified immediately. Colour and white balance correction are allowed only to compensate shortcomings of your photo. IMPORTANT! The main photo and video should not be published anywhere before the official publication on biotop-aquarium.info and on the official YouTube channel. Due to the transfering video and photo materials to the organizers, participant also transfering the rights to its futher use. When evaluating the quality of your photo, the following aspects are taken into account:

The photo should be clear and not too light.

The aquarium glasses should be clean. There should be no reflections on them.

The equipment should be hidden or removed when taking photo.

All listed aquatic animals should be visible in your photos. And "aliens" should not be visible.

The fishes should be located nicely and naturally. For example, they should form a beautiful school.