  Ferrimagnetic Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ (YIG) is the prototypical material for
studying magnonic properties due to its exceptionally low damping. By
substituting the yttrium with other rare earth elements that have a net
magnetic moment, we can introduce an additional spin degree of freedom. Here,
we study the magnetic coupling in epitaxial
Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$/Gd$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ (YIG/GIG) heterostructures grown by
pulsed laser deposition. From bulk sensitive magnetometry and surface sensitive
spin Seebeck effect (SSE) and spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) measurements,
we determine the alignment of the heterostructure magnetization through
temperature and external magnetic field. The ferromagnetic coupling between the
Fe sublattices of YIG and GIG dominates the overall behavior of the
heterostructures. Due to the temperature dependent gadolinium moment, a
magnetic compensation point of the total bilayer system can be identified. This
compensation point shifts to lower temperatures with increasing thickness of
YIG due the parallel alignment of the iron moments. We show that we can control
the magnetic properties of the heterostructures by tuning the thickness of the
individual layers, opening up a large playground for magnonic devices based on
coupled magnetic insulators. These devices could potentially control the magnon
transport analogously to electron transport in giant magnetoresistive devices.
