CIPAC Aquascape Contest Judging Criteria Explained

CIPAC (Concurs Internacional de Paisatgisme Aquàtic de Catalunya) is the Catalan-origin international aquascaping contest that has become one of Europe’s more respected non-IAPLC events. This CIPAC aquascape contest judging criteria guide from Gensou Aquascaping at 5 Everton Park unpacks how the judging panel scores entries, what the Spanish-speaking aquascaping community weighs heavily, and how a Singapore scaper can tailor an entry to the criteria without losing artistic voice. Understanding the scoring pillars lifts placement meaningfully.

Quick Facts

• Organiser: Catalan/Spanish aquascaping community, run from Spain
• Language: contest materials primarily in Spanish/Catalan, with English
• Entry format: photo submission, with dimensions and biotope categories
• Judging pillars: composition, naturalness, technique, originality, impression
• Panel: international judges including IAPLC and AGA alumni
• Typical window: spring to early summer submission
• Results: published online with detailed score breakdowns
• Culture: European nature-aquarium tradition, strong biotope respect

Composition — The Foundation Score

Composition is the single heaviest-weighted criterion. Judges look for golden ratio or rule-of-thirds placement of focal elements, clear visual flow from entry point to focal point, layered depth, and a balance of mass and void. A concave layout with two balanced hardscape “peaks” and a valley leading the eye inward typically scores well.

Weakness signals: centred single focal point without supporting elements, equal-weight left/right mass (kills tension), cluttered mid-ground, unclear foreground. Test the composition by converting your submission photo to black and white. If the tonal shapes still read with clear hierarchy, composition is working.

Naturalness — The European Bias

CIPAC, like IAPLC, carries a strong nature-aquarium heritage. Judges reward layouts that look like they could exist in a flooded forest or mountain stream. Overly ornamental or artificial shapes — toy-like trees, obvious glued coral fragments, repeating geometric stone lines — lose points.

Achieving naturalness means hardscape that mimics erosion, substrate that grades convincingly from coarse to fine (coarser in foreground troughs, finer on top ridges), and plant placement that follows ecological plausibility. Mosses in rock cracks. Stem plants in nutrient-rich back substrate. Carpets on flat expanses.

Technique and Plant Husbandry

Technical scoring covers plant health, algae control, water clarity, glass cleanliness, and evidence of mature cultivation. A tank photographed three weeks after setup rarely scores well on technique regardless of artistic merit — judges recognise the “just planted” look.

Carpet density is a specific tell. HC, Monte Carlo and Glosso should show a dense, even mat with no substrate poke-through. Stem plants should branch naturally rather than showing single tall spikes. Red colouration in Ludwigia, Rotala macrandra or Alternanthera should be achieved through light and fertilisation, not late-stage stress.

Originality — The Differentiator

With hundreds of entries using very similar Dragon Stone triangular layouts with Buce and moss, originality is how borderline entries break into the top 50. Use an unusual hardscape material (fossil wood, Elephant Skin Stone, raw gneiss), a novel composition (radial, inverted, emersed-hybrid), or a rare plant combination with genuine horticultural interest.

Originality for its own sake can backfire if composition suffers. Risk-taking that holds up to the other criteria scores highest. Copy-paste IAPLC top-10 layouts consistently score in the mid-pack regardless of execution quality.

Impression — The Subjective Finisher

Impression is the overall feeling the tank creates in the first 5-10 seconds of viewing. Judges average this across their panel after reviewing other criteria. A tank that scores 7/10 across the board but 9/10 on impression often outranks a technically-stronger tank that feels sterile.

Atmosphere helps. A sense of scale — achieved through small-leafed plants in the background, gradient substrate, and framing — tricks the eye into reading the tank as a miniature landscape. Mist or surface diffusion in the photo helps, though overuse signals trickery.

Biotope Entries and Documentation

CIPAC takes biotope categories seriously. Entries must document the reference locale, plant and fish species endemic to that region, and water parameters consistent with the biotope. A Rio Negro entry with Indonesian species disqualifies. Include a short bibliography in the submission text (recent field papers, documented collection notes).

Southeast Asian biotopes are underrepresented in European contests — a Singapore scaper has an authentic advantage here. A Kranji swamp, Sungei Buloh mangrove pool, or Peninsula Malaysia blackwater biotope brings novelty and regional credibility that Barcelona-based competitors cannot match.

Photography — Carrying the Scape Across

CIPAC submission is photo-only. A weak photo kills a strong tank. Shoot on tripod, lens at tank optical centreline, ISO 100-400, f/8-f/11 for front-to-back sharpness. Manual white balance from a grey card under tank light. Turn off all ambient room lighting to eliminate glass reflections.

Clean the glass inside and out. Remove heater, wavemakers and filter intakes for the photograph. Shoot multiple frames with slightly different focus points and blend in post only if your camera’s depth of field falls short on very large tanks — standard RAW development (exposure, WB, contrast) is fine, compositing is not.

Singapore Submission Logistics

CIPAC accepts online submissions. Singapore scapers compete on equal terms with Spanish, Italian, German and Japanese entrants. Submission deadlines land in European time zones — submit at least 48 hours before the portal cutoff to account for traffic spikes and timezone confusion.

Results arrive via the CIPAC website and social channels a few weeks after submission close. Score breakdowns per criterion are published, which is genuinely useful feedback for the next year’s tank. Singapore aquascapers with IAPLC placements in recent years have also ranked well at CIPAC — the skill sets transfer directly.

Related Reading

Aquascape Judging Criteria Guide
How to Judge Aquascape Competition
IAPLC Aquascaping Competition Guide
Aquascape Competition Preparation Guide
How to Photograph Aquascape Competition