Welcome to the 2026
AGA International
Aquascaping Contest
Showcasing global aquascaping talent since 2000
Contest Open
August 1–October 4, 2026
View 2025 Results
The Aquatic Gardeners Association
Founded in 1997, the Aquatic Gardeners Association promotes aquatic plants in the aquarium hobby through education, conservation, and community.
Learn MoreView our aquascaping history
Visit our legacy portal to view past contests for enjoyment and to gain inspiration for your own aquascape, biotope, or wabi kusa creation.
View Past ContestsEnter your aquascape
Submissions for the 2026 AGAIAC are now open. Share your aquascape with the world.
Submit Your EntryA Message from the AGAIAC Committee Chair
Hello Fellow Aquascapers,
As always, the AGA strives to serve the community and watches for trends and what’s gaining popularity in the hobby. We pride ourselves on incorporating these findings into an ever-evolving contest that includes multiple facets of aquascaping and keeping aquatic plants. We also keep an eye on the past, and the core of where we all came from.
The change we’re most excited about this year is the addition of a new category, “Classic”, that will include aquascapes that take their inspiration from the early days of aquascaping, placing an emphasis on combining excellent horticulture skills and strategic, but less pronounced, use of hardscape. This is a throwback to the classic principles and moves away from designs with heavy hardscape and perspective emphasis, the entries which rarely get top rankings but (in our opinion) should be celebrated. We are very excited to unveil this new category and look forward to seeing what participation looks like in the first year! We also have removed the onerous requirement for entries to include the RAW image. While we still require it be made available if requested, the entry process will be much easier now than in the past.
We are excited to see what the community creates for this new class, as well as all the others, and can’t wait to share the results with you!
Bailin Shaw
Contest Committee Chair
New for 2026!
Classic Style
We've added a new class that hearkens back to the classic aquascaping style of years past. It's a more traditional style with a focus on plants more than hardscape, and rewarding artists who excel at growing and maintaining plants as well as creating less dramatic, more natural compositions.
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Come Grow with The Aquatic Gardeners Association.
Since 1985 the Aquatic Gardeners Association has been the standalone organization focused on promoting aquatic plants, education, aquascaping, and fostering the community of planted aquarium enthusiasts.
The Aquatic Gardener Magazine
Membership has its privileges—such as a subscription to the award-winning quarterly journal The Aquatic Gardener, available in both print and digital formats, access to the digital archive of all published issues as well as video from our convention speakers dating back 25 years. With more exciting projects on the horizon you’ll be part of a unique community of aquatic plant and aquascaping fans eager to expand our side of the aquarium hobby.
