BIOTOPE AQUARIUM DESIGN CONTEST 2013
We present to you the results of Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2013.
Congratulations to all participants to excellent results, and thank you for your invaluable contribution to the development of the biotope aquaristic.
On pages of some aquaria you can find comments by the jury members. Just click on thumbnail of an aquarium and you will go to its page with its detailed description, photos and video.
Prize pool is EUR 2,400
Enjoy viewing!
Sponsor of the contest:
FINAL ROUND. RESULTS
The final round of Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2013 was held on November 20th-23th in St. Petersburg, Russia, during ZooSphere 2013 exhibition. The contestants had the aquaria, all the equipment, fishes and plants and had to set up their biotope aquaria during those three days.
1st place
Western Ghats – Chalakkudy river, India, 180 L
Croatia. Petra Bašić
2nd place
Ichetucknee springs, Florida, USA, 180 L
Russia. Anastasia Melnikova
3rd place
Coastal area of Essequibo river, Rockstone, Guyana, 180 L
Russia. Evgenia Moiseyeva
4th place
Malebo pool, above Kintele, coastal area, Republic of the Congo, 180 L
Russia. Vera Gladyshenko
5th place
Stream at the beginning of Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, 180 L
Ukraine. Nikolay Muzhichuk
QUALIFYING ROUND. RESULTS
During the qualifying round of Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2013 the participants sent to us the photos of their aquaria with the descriptions. On October 20th, 2014 the members of the jury chose five participants, who went to the final round of the contest to St. Petersburg on November 20th-23th, 2013.
1st place - 402 points
Creek in Guangdong province, when time stops, 385 L
Croatia. Bašić Petra
2nd place - 396 points
South shore of Lake Chad near the village of Sangaria, 140 L
Russia. Vera Gladyshenko
3rd place - 390 points
Malaysian peat swamp, 243 L
Poland. Jakub Kijak
4th place - 389 points
Marshy stream, Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, 300 L
Russia. Sergey Veriga
5th place - 381 points
Big cypress swamp, 40 L
Russia. Anastasia Melnikova
6th place - 379 points
Under the waterfall of the forest river on Borneo, 65 L
Russia. Anastasia Melnikova
7th place - 374 points
Stiphodon river, 900 L
France. Michael Reinke
8th place - 371 points
Mouth of the unknown African river, 250 L
Russia. Eugeniy Lukyanchikov
9th place - 370 points
Сoastal zone of Lake Matano, 30 L
Russia. Natalia Zakharova
10th place - 368 points
The Summertime in a shallow North European pond, 243 L
Latvia. Zanda Sejane
11th place - 368 points
Everglade, 40 L
Belarus. Yuriy Shamkalovich
12th place - 367 points
The island of Borneo. Plungpool under a waterfall, 250 L
Russia. Konstantin Pakhomov
13th place - 367 points
Privetnaya river, 220 L
Russia. Vera Gladyshenko
14th place - 364 points
Flooded forest area of the Rio Negro during the rainy season, 30 L
Russia. Eugenia Moiseyeva
15th place - 363 points
Llanos of Venezuela. Biotope for Ramirezis, 60 L
Russia. Anastasia Melnikova
16th place - 362 points
Small tributary of the Mamberamo River, 130 L
Russia. Vera Gladyshenko
17th place - 361 points
Black Heaven, 243 L
India. Achintya Shankar Adhikari
18th place - 360 points
Florida backwater, 60 L
Russia. Anna Tetereva
19th place - 360 points
Near the tributary of the Lorentz River, 60 L
Ukraine. Nicolay Muzhichuk
20th place - 358 points
River in the tropical forests of West Africa, 19 L
Russia. Vyacheslav Smirnov
21st place - 355 points
Small pond in Indochina, 100 L
Russia. Alexei Kovalyov
22nd place - 352 points
Forest stream in Cameroon, 45 L
Russia. Albert Vendel
23th place - 351 points
Amazon cichlids in darkness, 405 L
Poland. Rafał Stawowy
24th place - 351 points
Tributary of the Sangha River in the Congo River basin, 144 L
Ukraine. Tamara Davidova
25th place - 350 points
In the shade of the forest of Porto Velho, 200 L
Russia. Alexei Shabalin
26th place - 348 points
Somewhere in Brazil, 72 L
Serbia. Branislav Mandic
27th place - 347 points
Aripuanã River, a tributary of Madeira River, 300 L
Russia. Vyacheslav Veriga
28th place - 345 points
Pond in the park area on the north of St. Petersburg, 40 L
Russia. Svetlana Kirillova
29th place - 344 points
Khwae Yai – the river of contrasts, 25 L
Belarus. Aliaksei Kirhizau
30th place - 343 points
Lake Malawi theme, 700 L
Romania. Silviu Poiana
31st place - 342 points
Stream in the forest of Sri Lanka, 170 L
Russia. Anna Tetereva
32th place - 339 points
Lake Tanganyika, 700 L
Greece. Sakis Koumantzelis
33rd place - 339 points
Forest stream with slow flow in the river Jelai-Bila, 40 L
Belarus. Yuriy Shamkalovich
34th place - 339 points
Southeast Thailand, 140 L
Poland. Paweł Pomian
35th place - 338 points
Сoastal area of the Kamusi River, 40 L
Belarus. Yuriy Shamkalovich
36th place - 337 points
Ussuri River. Among the debris of the Ussuri region, 300 L
Russia. Vyacheslav Veriga
37th place - 336 points
Backwater in the forest of Sri Lanka, 140 L
Russia. Mikhail Golomysov
38th place - 336 points
Coastal zone of the Congo River, 60 L
Ukraine. Alexander Galusha
39th place - 336 points
Backwater of mouth of the forest river, which flows into Lake Sentani in Papua New Guinea, 170 L
Russia. Arseniy Kukushkin
40th place - 335 points
Backwater of a small forest river on the island of New Guinea, 170 L
Russia. Vladimir Shvedov
41st place - 335 points
North shore of Lake Inle, 119 L
Poland. Blazej Berner
42nd place - 334 points
Coast of West Africa, 150 L
Russia. Marina Rymar
43th place - 333 points
South American Rio Tefe, 960 L
Netherlands. Leon Bouwman
44th place - 332 points
Malebo Pool Biotope, 568 L
USA. Marcus Beilman
45th place - 331 points
Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, 24 L
Ukraine. Svetlana Goncharyonok
46th place - 330 points
Lake Tanganyika Kasanga biotope, 300 L
Greece. Nikos Gletos
47th place - 329 points
Lake Tanganyika, 60 L
Greece. Theodoros Kartsanas
48th place - 328 points
Malaysia. Borneo swamp, 60 L
Austria. Anton Lamboj
49th place - 327 points
The flow of the stream of the Içana River, 240 L
Russia. Marsel Yakhshegulov
50th place - 326 points
Сoastal part of the forest river, 20 L
Russia. Albert Vendel
51st place - 325 points
Rio Nanay, Shore, 540 L
Poland. Marcin Mirkowski
52nd place - 324 points
Forgotten pool, 175 L
Poland. Jakub Kijak
53rd place - 323 points
Amazon river, 610 L
Greece. John Boutos
54th place - 323 points
Basins of the Rio Meta and Rio Negro in Brazil, 128 L
Greece. Nikos Marinos
55th place - 321 points
Lake Tanganyika, the bay near Mpulungu, 100 L
Russia. Airat Ismagilov
56th place - 318 points
West African Paradise, 85 L
Romania. Emil Visan
57th place - 318 points
The stream of the Niger River, 54 L
Ukraine. Alexander Moskalyov
58th place - 318 points
Amazon Rainforest, 400 L
Croatia. Jurica Sostar
59th place - 317 points
Forest stream in Southern Thailand, 20 L
Russia. Airat Ismagilov
60th place - 316 points
Bornéo, 200 L
France. Emmanuel Bultel
61st place - 315 points
Orinoco River, 480 L
Greece. George Pantazopoulos
62nd place - 314 points
Rio Ucayali, blackwater jungle creek, 60 L
Greece. Thanos Bonias
63rd place - 312 points
Small pond becoming dry in savannas of East Africa, 6 L
Russia. Svetlana Kirillova
64th place - 311 points
Meilun – the river flowing between mountains and forests, 44 L
Ukraine. Anna Burkaltseva
65th place - 311 points
Amazonian river, 61 L
Poland. Adam Lebioda
66th place - 310 points
Cameroon, rain forest Kienke River region, 180 L
Austria. Anton Lamboj
67th place - 310 points
Rain forest, 300 L
Czech Republic. Martina Chválová
68th place - 309 points
Brazil, Santarem region, 465 L
Croatia. Tomislav Sobota
69th place - 306 points
Forest stream in Cameroon, 60 L
Russia. Anna Tetereva
70th place - 306 points
Autumn Underwater, 125 L
Greece. Tasos Fassaris
71st place - 305 points
The Bukit Barisan – on the ridge slopes, 285 L
Russia. Artyom Filippov
72nd place - 303 points
Swamp in the floodplain of the Paraopeba River. Minas Gerais. Brazil, 19 L
Russia. Vyacheslav Smirnov
73rd place - 303 points
Amazon basin, 500 L
Greece. Dimitrios Nikos
74th place - 301 points
Backwater in the Araguaia River basin, 20 L
Russia. Airat Ismagilov
75th place - 301 points
Volcano cave, 320 L
Greece. Stavros Amanatidis
76th place - 301 points
Small forest river of the Apure River basin, 20 L
Russia. Svetlana Kirillova
77th place - 299 points
Small forest lake in Northern Australia, 20 L
Russia. Airat Ismagilov
78th place - 298 points
Amazon, the mysterious river, 300 L
Ukraine. Sergey Filimonenko
79th place - 298 points
Rio Lago Nhamundá, 450 L
Greece. Stelios Litsios
80th place - 297 points
Amazon river, 500 L
Greece. Thanasis Papachristopoulos
81st place - 295 points
Colours of Africa, 270 L
Romania. Robert Marcas
82nd place - 292 points
Under the bridge over a forest stream in Udmurtia, 60 L
Russia. Andrei Glukhov
83rd place - 290 points
Swamp on the island of Phu Quoc. Vietnam, 19 L
Russia. Vyacheslav Smirnov
84th place - 289 points
A small stream in the Rio Orinoco basin, 54 L
Italy. Andrea Vannini
85th place - 289 points
Small river in the rain forest, Papua New Guinea, 16 L
Ukraine. Tamara Davidova
86rd place - 284 points
Nhamundá River, 300 L
Russia. Andrei Kazakov
87th place - 281 points
Deep water zone of Lake Tanganyika, 300 L
Russia. Yuriy Chikhachyov
88th place - 281 points
Lower Casiquiare river at its junction with Rio Negro, 200 L
Russia. Denis Rymar
89th place - 276 points
Under the splitting rock, 500 L
Russia. Artyom Filippov
90th place - 273 points
Sandy backwater of Madeira River basin, 20 L
Russia. Alexei Kovalyov
91st place - 273 points
La Charca, 1 L
Spain. Jose Angel Madrid Gonzalez
92nd place - 271 points
Malawi – rift lake, 320 L
Russia. Alexander Kozhukhov
93rd place - 269 points
Thailand betta, 60 L
Greece. George Pantazopoulos
94th place - 266 points
Nirvana, 450 L
Greece. Spyros Stavropoulos
95th place - 261 points
Thickets of the Amazon, 80 L
Russia. Marina Rymar
96th place - 257 points
South America, 300 L
Poland. Tomasz
97th place - 252 points
Shallows and backwaters of the Congo River, 250 L
Russia. Denis Rymar
98th place - 242 points
Rio Belem, smaller portion of beautiful river, 125 L
Spain. Jose Maria Naranjo
99th place - 240 points
Neon Lake, 240 L
Germany. Jörg Obernolte
100th place - 234 points
Cuba. Swamp. Platies, 19 L
Russia. Vyacheslav Smirnov
101st place - 232 points
Rio Ica – a fragment of the Andes, 230 L
Russia. Vadim Sharifulin
102nd place - 229 points
Amazon stream theme, 180 L
Romania. Silviu Poiana
103rd place - 228 points
Shallow waters of the river in autumn, 660 L
Russia. Eugeniy Lukyanchikov
104th place - 221 points
The Amazon River with big fish, 1500 L
Russia. Alexander Polimonov
105th place - 219 points
Mini Tanganyika, 1 L
Spain. Jose Angel Madrid Gonzalez
106th place - 216 points
South Asian Swamps, Solstice, 395 L
Russia. Roman Brazgin
107th place - 213 points
Nicaragua, 45 L
Russia. Albert Vendel
First of all I wanted to thank all participants and I want to add that almost all did a fantastic job and each one should be proud of his work and his research done to create such a beautiful most of them biotope – nature correct. And information from me to almost all: You should do better research before you finalize the biotope and text. Most of the errors which occurred were (in this order): firstly error in mixing species not found together in the named biotope (mostly fishes, but also plants); secondly the names/locations/area and geographic location of the decorated biotope have to be more precise; and thirdly the description of the biotope (which some made excellent, but some also missing most of it) should be more accurate.
It was an honor and a privilege to have had the opportunity to see how well European hobbyists approximate the biotopes inhabited by tropical fish all around the world. I know I am extremely lucky to have experienced this first hand in my travels, and am very impressed to see how beautifully your contestants have duplicated it. I sincerely appreciate your time and efforts in being a judge on this year’s panel.
First of all I’m glad to have participated in this event with so great response. I would like to congratulate the organizers for the excellent organization and all of the contestants for their participation. In our case now, the right biotope aquarium is a very difficult thing, often because it requires knowledge of the habitat we want to setup regarding fishes and plants, but also in decoration. Also the collecting of these is extremely difficult. However I saw some excellent aquariums. The level was very high and I hope in appropriate continuity in St. Petersburg. Since my knowledge on habitats is based on literature rather than personal exploration of them, my judgments were mild. Until next time…
The biggest surprise for me was that numerous tanks were too small for the fish kept inside. Also, some tanks were clearly not a biotope tanks – and I was not sure how I should judge them, because they were very good planted aquariums, but had nothing to do with real biotopes. I liked very much the organization of the contest – I mean, the form was prepared very good and careful, all titles of layouts were exactly the same as titles on the website, this was done very well.
We have all one thing in common. We love nature and especially all what is in and around the water. A little piece of untouched nature in our own habitat at home. The Russian Aquarium Design Contest is one of the most interesting ones worldwide with a great number of participants. I have been a judge in many contests worldwide and it’s never easy to judge especially if the people create these scapes with a lot of love and dedication. Nevertheless we have to decide who is the best in scaping, shaping and naturing these little glass worlds. I am always curious to see how creative people are and this time there has been a lot of good entries to look at. What I think is the most difficult is the Nano Competition. It is for sure not easy to scape a glass tank with very limited space. As an underwater photographer specialized in freshwater it’s a pleasure to look at the natural biotope aquariums. Some of them have been outstanding.
The quality test of the Biotope Contest is over. I was honored to evaluate entries as a member of jury. There was a lot of entries. Some mistakes were obvious: fishes and plants from different continents, selectively bred or species that inhabit different natural biotopes, but originating from the same region. It was not easy to judge. In particular, entries with an uncertain geographical name such as “Somewhere in Brazil” or a small part of a water body: “Under the bridge over a forest stream in Udmurtia”. I had to read some special literature and surf the websites. In the entries, where it was difficult to determine the accuracy of biotopes, I judged on the basis of the mechanics of biotopes in nature: location of the substrate and natural decoration in the aquarium, presence (or absence) of organic residues, amount of schooling fish, species diversity, correct selection of neighbors who occupy different ecological niches in particular biotope, and natural behavior of fish. On the basis of categories for evaluation, I judged strictly because in the quality test each contestant had plenty of time to create a natural biotope. The highest points (it is 50) were not given to anyone, because even in the most successful entries there were shortcomings. Of course it’s hard to get the substrate, rocks and driftwood of those places that you can use to create a biotope. But in any case they should be similar, simulate the native ones as accurately as possible. Therefore I reduced points for maple and oak leaves in tropical aquariums (at home it is possible, but not in the contest), mismatched colors and fractions of substrate, lack of inhabitantas on the photo, the only species of fish in the biotope rich in inhabitants in nature.
I want to congratulate all the contestants in the JBL Biotope Aquarium Design Contest. When I opened the web page and started looking at the tanks I asked myself smiling… “How were they able to create such extraordinary biotopes?” I looked at every picture. I tried to imagine myself replicating each aquarium and setting them up at home. I tried to think of the steps that I would have to take from beginning to end until they looked like the pictures on the website. My conclusion was that every biotope aquarium in the contest shows the dedication, the passion of its creator, and his/her ability to think beyond the aquarium.