BAC2025 Ranking

BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest 2025 Ranking

8 Categories – 24 Winners

We are proud to announce the final results of the BAC2025. Thank you all the participants for your great job, BAC Jury members for your valuable inputs and our sponsors for support!

BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest 2025 Criteria

BIN (BIOTOPE IN NATURE) – 20 points  Evaluation Criteria (#) Points max.
Quality and reliability of the information about the original biotope 1. Description of the location: Environment; Terrestrial vegetation; Surrounding area; Treats to ecology incl. Photos/Video. 5
  2. Variety of fish, invertebrates, plants mentioned in the biotope meet the specified category and biotope type. 5
  3. Description of the aquatic habitat: Water chemistry, Substrate, Riparian zone, Underwater landscape. 5
  4. Bibliography/Sitography: quality of the resources. 5
BAM (BIOTOPE AQUARIUM MODEL) – 80 points    
Variety and System’s viability 5. Fishes, plants and decorations are selected properly to exist together for a long period of time in the aquarium: the aquarium size matches up with the species choice, their quantity and size. 20
Conformity to the BIOTOPE IN NATURE 6. Decor in the aquarium look as close as possible to stones, driftwood, soil, and other natural elements in the biotope. Aquarium space is used effectively, each species has its niche. Decor elements and plants are placed according to the biotope. 20
Natural beauty 7. The composition in the aquarium is balanced. The natural beauty of the biotope represented successfully. The accents are placed properly. 10
Quality and accuracy of the aquarium data 8. The description of the tank, incl. external resources, is accurate and can guide other aquarists through the re-creation of a similar biotope models (BAM). 10
Visual support 9. Quality of the visual support (foto, video). 20
MAX TOTAL SCORE   100
BAC: Northern America.

Category 1: NORTH AMERICA

JURY: LAWRENCE KENT, FRITZ ROHDE & JOHN T. BAXTER

AWARDS BY: FLUVAL, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL Score Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
1 Headwaters wetland, Pigeon River, Ontario, Canada Rui Sun Lawrence Kent 5 5 5 5 20 18 8 10 20 96 88.3
Fritz Rohde 5 5 4 5 15 15 8 8 18 83
John T. Baxter 5 5 5 4 15 15 10 10 17 86
2 Bayou Lafourche, Mississippi River, Louisiana, USA Jesse Domangue Lawrence Kent 5 5 5 4 18 18 9 9 17 90 82.0
Fritz Rohde 4 4 4 2 15 18 7 6 18 78
John T. Baxter 4 4 3 2 15 15 10 10 15 78
3 Escanaba River, Gwinn State Forrest, Michigan, USA Luke Manty Lawrence Kent 5 5 4 4 15 15 7 9 17 81 77.0
Fritz Rohde 5 4 4 3 15 15 6 8 16 76
John T. Baxter 5 4 4 2 12 15 8 9 15 74
BAC: Central America, Caribbean.

Category 2: CENTRAL AMERICA

JURY: MICHAEL KÖCK, JAIRO ARROYAVE & JUAN M. ARTIGAS AZAS

AWARDS BY: AQUAEL, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL Score Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
1 Shallow Backwater Pool, Río San José, Horquetas, Costa Rica Andrés Cordero Porras Michael Köck 5 5 5 5 19 19 8 10 19 95 94.3
Jairo Arroyave 4 5 5 5 18 18 7 9 19 90
Juan M. Artigas Azas 5 5 5 5 18 20 10 10 20 98
2 Unknown Stream near Playa Palma, Puntarenas, Costa Rica Andrés Cordero Porras Michael Köck 5 3 5 4 15 20 10 9 20 91 90.7
Jairo Arroyave 4 4 4 4 17 16 7 8 17 81
Juan M. Artigas Azas 5 5 5 5 20 20 10 10 20 100
3 Cienegas del Rio Lerma, Toluca Valley, México Amadeo Hernández Pérez Michael Köck 4 5 5 5 19 20 10 10 18 96 89.0
Jairo Arroyave 4 4 4 4 15 14 6 8 16 75
Juan M. Artigas Azas 5 5 5 5 18 20 10 10 18 96
4 Lake Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico Shivansh Rajpoot Michael Köck 2 1 3 3 15 0 1 0 5 30 57.3
Jairo Arroyave 3 3 3 4 12 10 5 8 15 63
Juan M. Artigas Azas 4 3 4 5 20 10 5 10 18 79
BAC: South America.

Category 3: SOUTH AMERICA

JURY: ROBERTO E. REIS, PABLO C. LEHMANN & ANTONIO MACHADO-ALLISON

AWARDS BY: OCEAN NUTRITION, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL Score Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
1 Caño El Pozo, Orinoco basin, Venezuela Walter Vazquez Roberto E. Reis 4 5 5 3 20 18 10 10 16 91 87.7
Pablo C. Lehmann 4 4 5 4 16 16 9 8 16 82
Antonio Machado-Allison 5 5 5 0 20 15 10 10 20 90
2 Río Atabapo, Guainía, Colombia
Luis Sequeira
Roberto E. Reis 5 3 4 0 18 16 8 8 10 72 87.3
Pablo C. Lehmann 5 4 5 5 18 19 9 9 18 92
Antonio Machado-Allison 5 3 5 5 20 20 10 10 20 98
3 Rio Do Sono, Tocantins, Brazil João Borges Roberto E. Reis 4 3 4 0 20 18 10 10 18 87 61.3
Pablo C. Lehmann 5 5 4 4 18 18 8 9 17 88
Antonio Machado-Allison 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 9
4 Blackwater affluent, Rio Ucayali, Peru Shivansh Rajpoot Roberto E. Reis 4 3 3 3 16 18 10 8 8 73 56.3
Pablo C. Lehmann 4 4 4 4 14 15 8 8 17 78
Antonio Machado-Allison 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 18
5 Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil Irineu Cechinato Junior Roberto E. Reis 0 0 0 0 15 18 8 10 12 63 48.7
Pablo C. Lehmann 0 0 0 0 14 15 14 5 14 62
Antonio Machado-Allison 5 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 10 21
6 Floodplain, Rio Paraconi, Brazil XianYu Chen Roberto E. Reis 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7.7
Pablo C. Lehmann 2 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 12
Antonio Machado-Allison 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
7 Floodplain forest, Nhamundá region, Brazil XianYu Chen Roberto E. Reis 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7.0
Pablo C. Lehmann 2 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 10
Antonio Machado-Allison 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
BAC: Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe.

Category 4: EUROPE

JURY: FRANCESCO DENITTOALEXEY MALYSHEV

 

AWARDS BY: BAP logo official
        BIN BAM MATERIAL    
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 Score Final Score
1* Rocky canals, Palude del Capitano, Puglia, Italy Alessandro Crudo Francesco Denitto 4 5 4 3 17 20 8 7 17 85 83
Aleksey Malyshev 4 4 4 5 15 15 9 8 17 81
*Single entry: Check out “Limits on BAC participation” in the Guidelines section.
BAC: Eastern Africa, Middle Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa.

Category 5: AFRICA

JURY: AD KONINGS & ANTON LAMBOJ

AWARDS BY: BAP logo official
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL Score Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
1 Moliwe River, Southwest Region, Cameroon Frank Reinders Ad Konings 5 5 4 4 18 18 9 10 18 91 84
Anton Lamboj 5 5 5 2 15 18 7 10 10 77
2 Sandy Ndole Bay, Lake Tanganyika, Zambia Kishalay Das Ad Konings 4 4 2 2 15 18 9 10 15 79 76
Anton Lamboj 4 4 4 3 17 15 6 10 10 73
3 Lake Tanganyika, Kigoma Region, Tanzania DionTre Speller Ad Konings 2 0 4 2 15 15 7 10 12 67 69
Anton Lamboj 4 3 4 4 18 14 6 9 9 71
4 Lake Tanganyika, Northern Province, Zambia He Xin Ad Konings 1 0 2 3 15 12 7 10 15 65 51
Anton Lamboj 4 3 5 4 5 3 3 5 5 37
BAC: Eastern Asia.

Category 6: EASTERN ASIA

JURY: SUN KAI & ZHOU HANG

AWARDS BY: San Francisco Bay Brand– Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL   Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 Score
1 Unnamed Stream, Shiwandashan Mtns., Guangxi, China Yunfei Long Sun Kai 5 5 5 5 20 18 9 9 18 94 89
Zhou Hang 4 5 4 4 18 16 8 8 17 84
2 Shangqinhuai Wetland Park, Nanjing, China Yunfei Long Sun Kai 5 5 5 5 18 18 8 8 18 90 78.5
Zhou Hang 4 4 4 4 14 14 6 5 12 67
3 Li River tributary, Guilin, Guangxi, China Shivansh Rajpoot Sun Kai 3 5 5 5 13 13 7 7 17 75 64
Zhou Hang 3  0 3 4 12 10 5 6 10 53
4 Unnamed Pond in Zengcheng, Guangzhou, China Jinyi Mai Sun Kai 5 5 5 0 15 15 6 6 15 72 59.5
Zhou Hang 2 3 2 3 10 9 4 4 10 47
5 Mountain Stream, Hainan, China David Taylor Sun Kai 3 5 2 5 13 10 3 3 10 54 52.5
Zhou Hang 3 3 2 3 10 10 5 5 10 51
6 Qi Stream, Beijing, China Siyi Wang Sun Kai 5 5 5 5 10 5 2 2 5 44 49
Zhou Hang 4 3 4 2 10 11 5 5 10 54
BAC: Central Asia, Southern Asia, Western Asia.

Category 7: SOUTHERN, CENTRAL & WESTERN ASIA

HANS-GEORG EVERS & FRIEDRICH BITTER

AWARDS BY: JBL, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL   Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 Score
1 Lake of the Societies, Kolkata, India Debanjan Banerjee Hans-Georg Evers 5 5 5 5 20 18 7 10 8 83 86
Friedrich Bitter 5 5 5 3 18 18 9 9 17 89
2 Munchingiputtu Stream, Andhra Pradesh, India Protim Sarkar Hans-Georg Evers 5 5 5 5 20 18 8 10 15 91 84
Friedrich Bitter 4 4 5 4 16 15 6 8 15 77
3 Kunthipuzzha River, Kerala, India Asier Murga Arteta Hans-Georg Evers 5 5 5 5 10 15 6 9 15 75 80.5
Friedrich Bitter 5 5 5 4 17 16 8 9 17 86
4 Puddles of Malini River, Kotdwar Uttarakhand, India Abhineet Prakash Anand Hans-Georg Evers 5 3 4 3 18 18 9 5 18 83 78.5
Friedrich Bitter 4 3 4 2 15 16 7 7 16 74
5 Nethravathi River, Mangalore, Karnataka, India Dhiraj Shetty Hans-Georg Evers 5 4 4 3 5 18 9 5 18 71 73
Friedrich Bitter 4 3 4 3 15 16 7 7 16 75
6 Lake Shyamkhola, Kolkata, India Debojyoti Mondal Hans-Georg Evers 2 2 4 5 14 14 4 8 15 68 72.5
Friedrich Bitter 4 4 4 3 16 15 7 8 16 77
7 Lefraguri Swamp, Brahmaputra basin, Western Assam, India Devagya Uikey Hans-Georg Evers 3 5 3 5 15 15 5 5 10 66 72
Friedrich Bitter 4 4 4 4 16 16 7 8 15 78
8 Subansiri River tributary, Arunachal Pradesh, India Shivansh Rajpoot Hans-Georg Evers 3 5 4 5 15 18 4 5 10 69 69.5
Friedrich Bitter 4 3 3 4 15 14 6 7 14 70
BAC: Southeastern Asia, Oceania.

Category 8: SOUTHEASTERN ASIA & OCEANIA

HEIKO BLESSIN, HEOK HEE NG & GREG MARTIN

AWARDS BY: JBL, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
Entry # Entry name Participant’s name Judges BIN BAM MATERIAL Score Final Score
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
1 Suoi Cat stream, Quang Dien district, Vietnam Nguyen Thi Kim Khoac Heiko Blessin 4 5 4 4 18 18 8 8 17 86 86.6
Heok Hee Ng 3.5 4 3 2 18 18 8.5 8 16 81
Greg Martin 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.5 18 19 9 9 19 92.9
2 Swamp pond, Kapuas river, West Borneo, Indonesia Mohammad Arief Rahman Hakim Heiko Blessin 5 3 4 2 19 19 9 10 19 90 81.2
Heok Hee Ng 3.5 2.5 4 2.5 16 15 8 8 16 75.5
Greg Martin 4.5 4.5 4.2 0 18 17 7 6 17 78.2
3 Sungai Kolok Floodplain, South Thailand Alejandro Rios Martin Heiko Blessin 5 4 4 4 17 18 9 9 18 88 79.9
Heok Hee Ng 2.5 4 4 4 18 16 8 7.5 16 80
Greg Martin 4 4.2 4.5 4.5 16 12 7.5 7 12 71.7
4 Stream in the Aik Seruk area, Location 1, Sijuk District, Belitung, Indonesia MAA Rafsanjani Heiko Blessin 4 3 4 4 15 18 9 8 17 82 79.1
Heok Hee Ng 3.5 3 4 3 16 18 9 8 16 80.5
Greg Martin 4.2 4.5 4.4 4.6 15 15 8.5 7.7 11 74.9
5 Danau Sentarum, Kapuas River Basin, West Kalimantan, Indonesia Emre Açıkgöz Heiko Blessin 5 4 4 4 10 16 6 7 15 71 78.7
Heok Hee Ng 3 4 4 4 18 16 7.5 8 17 81.5
Greg Martin 4 4.5 4.7 4.9 17 17 8.5 9 14 83.6
6 Upper Sungai Ciliwung, West Java, Indonesia Noer Sarifah Ainy Heiko Blessin 4 4 4 4 15 17 9 8 17 82 77.2
Heok Hee Ng 4 4 4 3 16 18 8 8 17 82
Greg Martin 4.5 4.5 4.6 0 12 15 7.5 7.5 12 67.6
7 Stream in the Aik Seruk area, Location 2, Sijuk District, Belitung, Indonesia MAA Rafsanjani Heiko Blessin 4 4 4 2 12 17 9 5 18 75 76.4
Heok Hee Ng 3.5 3 4 3 16 18 9 6 16 78.5
Greg Martin 4.2 4.5 4.6 4.9 15 15 8 7.5 12 75.7
8 Danau Sentarum National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia Duc Nguyen Heiko Blessin 4 5 5 5 4 14 16 8 8 69 75.0
Heok Hee Ng 3 3 3 4 16 16 8 8 15 76
Greg Martin 4.7 4.6 4.6 2.5 17 14 8 8.5 16 79.9
9 Wetland near Hopong, Shan State, Myanmar Klementina Keresztes-André Heiko Blessin 3 3 4 2 10 11 6 6 10 55 73.9
Heok Hee Ng 4 3 4 4 16 16 8 8 16 79
Greg Martin 4.5 4.7 4.4 4.6 19 18 8.5 9 15 87.7
10 Rawa Pening swamp, Central Java, Indonesia Arih Setyo Nugroho Heiko Blessin 1 2 0 0 8 10 7 6 8 42 67.6
Heok Hee Ng 2.5 3.5 3.5 2.5 18 16 8 8 16 78
Greg Martin 4.6 4.5 4.2 1 17 17 16 8.5 10 82.8
11 Huyen Tran Princess Lake, Hue, Thua Thien, Vietnam Châu Viết Khá Heiko Blessin 3 2 3 3 5 5 5 6 7 39 62.0
Heok Hee Ng 3.5 4 4 3 13 16 8 7 16 74.5
Greg Martin 4.4 4.5 4.5 3.5 10 18 8.5 5 14 72.4
12 Creek, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Viet Nam Abhineet Prakash Anand Heiko Blessin 3 3 3 0 6 7 4 6 6 38 61.4
Heok Hee Ng 2 3 3 3 16 12 7 8 17 71
Greg Martin 4.2 4.6 4 0 17.5 18 8 7 12 75.3
13 Dambri Stream, Lam Vien Plateau, Lam Dong, Vietnam Võ Tất Thành Heiko Blessin 4 4 4 3 14 10 5 8 16 68 59.8
Heok Hee Ng 4 2 3 3 16 10 6 7 16 67
Greg Martin 3.8 3.5 4 0 7 5 3 7 11 44.3
14 Tam Giang lagoon, Phu Vang district, Hue, Vietnam Nhan Nguyen Bao Heiko Blessin 2 2 3 0 8 17 9 6 12 59 58.5
Heok Hee Ng 3 2 3 2.5 14 18 8 8 16 74.5
Greg Martin 3.5 0 2 0.5 0 7 8 7 14 42
15 Middle Sungai Ciliwung, West Java, Indonesia Ananda Elin Humaira Heiko Blessin 0 0 0 0 8 8 5 7 8 36 37.7
Heok Hee Ng 0 0 0 0 14 15 6 7 15 57
Greg Martin 0 0 0 0 6 5 2 4 3 20
16 Sawangan Lake, West Java, Indonesia Sri Ayu Lestari Heiko Blessin 0 0 0 0 5 6 4 5 4 24 36.7
Heok Hee Ng 0 0 0 0 12 15 6 7 15 55
Greg Martin 0 0 0 0 5 8 6 5 7 31
17 Raja Musa Peat Swamp
Shammah Chandran
Heiko Blessin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19.7
Heok Hee Ng 0 0 0 0 15 13 5 6 0 39
Greg Martin 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 5 0 20
Sponsored by
Fluval, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
JBL, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
SFBB, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
OCEAN NUTRITION, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest
AQUAEL, Sponsor of the BIOTOPE AQUARIUM Contest