Almost forgot ... the legendary International Aquascaping Contest opened for entries' 2008 edition, entries that are closed September 15, 2008, so for those who wish to participate in the AGA contest a few days left, hurry!
I commend the ... glazed sweet aquariums Vosti (paludariums are accepted but not aquariums ... at least for now), clean picture and think, good lighting of the whole, no accessories visible in the tank, standing water (filter pump off), and maybe a schemino with plants in the layout, a kind of map of the aquarium, then top with view.

Joining costs only $ 5 and is generally friendly to deal with other hobbyists around the world. None of the readers, including this writer (Raffaele Galano), can battle for the podium for the first ... and I mean the first 200!
I hope to attend ... maybe with better pictures of them ... usually for these events because I always end up forgetting something ... a signature, a photo must have been of a certain size ... Deadline and find myself out of a contest ... classic.

Remember that you do not need huge aquariums to participate, there are 3 broad categories

• Aquatic Garden
• Biotope Aquascape
• Paludarium

and then 4 "size categories", ie those based on tank size in liters)

• Small (<= 25 U.S. Gal. / <= 100 L)
• Medium (25 ~ 50 U.S. Gal. / 100 ~ 200 L)
• Large (50 ~ 100 U.S. Gallons / 200 ~ 400 L)
• Very Large (> 100 Gallons /> 400 L)

You can also participate in a short nano freshwater aquarium, they are now prepared to hundreds in the Italian forum, so please do not hesitate and dive into the fray ... wishing you could also setting one up for the occasion. If you look at the aquarium of the previous editions will notice that some have clearly been prepared solely for the photos for the contest. I absolutely love it as a gimmick, too easy, but it is also clear how difficult it is to avoid it. Know that you be able to easily position yourself in the first place, not only for the fierce competition, but also because the judges are always very good, world-class aquarium, and then they too will recognize the penalizzerrano and in some way.