CAPA 2009 Aquascaping Contest Results

The aquascaping contest results season is here, and hot on the heels of the IAPLC top 27 video is the results from CAPA, a French aquascaping contest (not quite sure what the acronym stands for, but I'd guess one of the A's is aquascaping). There are some repeats from the IAPLC 2009 top 27 results, but there are also some very nice tanks that we haven't seen yet (like the one above, I love the depth!). Like the AGA aquascaping contest, the CAPA is divided by tank size, so each class has a set of winners. You can view the top 3 of all classes, the Under 70L category, the 70-250L category, and the Over 250L category. Plenty of great aquascapes to spark your imagination!

Updated IAPLC 2009 Top 27 Aquascapes Video with Ranks

Spent the afternoon playing around with Picasa's built in movie maker and I put together this video of the top 27 aquascapes from this year's International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest. The aquascape in position 20 is missing, but all the rest are there, in high resolution glory! I hope the soundtrack and pacing is a little better than the other IAPLC 2009 video I found. You can watch a HD version, in a bigger format on YouTube. Enjoy!

International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2009 Video Emerges

This video of some of the top tanks in the IAPLC 2009 just popped up on the forums lately, and although the quality isn't the best, it shows a glimpse at some gorgeous tanks. A word of caution about this video: the transitions are fast, violent, and frequently nauseating. Someone had a little too much fun with their video editing software. I'll be posting some full resolution pictures of the top tanks shortly.

UPDATE: I've put together a slightly less harsh version, with ranks and in order. Watch it here.

Eheim Classic Cleaning Tip

Just a quick tip and word of warning for those of you who own Eheim classic canister filters. When I was cleaning out my Eheim 2217 and 2213 this weekend, I made the mistake of cleaning off the sludge and slime around the impeller and the impeller magnet. I plugged it back in and wow, it was loud. It seems the sludge and slime in there created a natural lubrication that kept it quiet. So when cleaning out your Eheim, resist the urge to clean out this sludge or you'll probably have a very noisy filter afterwards!

In order to fix the issue, I took some Vaseline and rubbed it around the impeller shaft and magnet. I plugged it back in and the noise was greatly reduced. With time, the sludge will build up again and it'll go back to its old dead silent running, but at least I know now to never clean it out again!