This post is to announce my official participation into the stock portion of the contest. I encourage some of you guys to do the same. the cube has a lot of potential right out of the box and I think a stock tank can look just as good as any of the open category tanks.

ingenuity>fancy equipment

here are some pics of the cube, for you doubting thomases

box


top of box


surface skimmer working correctly


compartments


lighting is more than adequate for even lps


full tank shot



This tank is an exceptionally built machine and well worth the nominal 80 dollars. The moderators did a great job picking this tank and the sponsor is more than generous with the price. This tank has my full endorsement, and so does the stock portion of the competition. Consider this my warning to you suckas, Im gonna win


PS
The tank is going to house my black ocellaris pair for now until they are transfered to a 20gal sps tank. I will start my official project for the contest starting june first. (I'm not cheating )

and u are keeping your bio-balls? *gasp* lol.

good stuff. i look forward to seeing the "finished" product.

cheater.

let the games begin...

Uh oh, nips in da house!!!!

take it from user 1983. If there is no cause, there will be no effect. I'll log my progress to prove the point

oh yeah. i forgot, you like xenia.

official rules are up. BUMP!

you're so disqualified

Bio balls = automatic loss

no ammonia, no nitrate cycle. bioballs dont generate waste on their own. think before talking please.

max: Im testing for leaks

dont need live rock to test fr leaks

Nah, just "buy" a "new" cube.
{nudge, nudge wink, wink} :

just take everything out and things should be kosher??

funny that supernip was the one to point out that the new rules are up while she's already broken one of them!!

sweeties, dont you bother reading what I have to write? A gal just can't get any respect I tell ya. Im going to clean the tank out and restart it.

Posts like this make me think this contest should be interesting, in more ways than one. If I hadn't just bought a 12g nc, I probably would have picked up a 6g for this contest. Goodluck to those that take part in the contest.

Is it ok to put a green carpet and like four clowns in the tank like on the box?

where do you see four clowns? i think that's all reflection

Is that a clown floating in that bag in the tank...?

Cool little tank the stock contest will be a good one I think the real experience will come into play.

yeah clownfishes are in tank right now. moving to sps tank soon

ebin, gl

Just wanted to wish you good luck! BTW JAPAN RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't want to be negative b/c I know this contest is all in good fun, but how is adding water, rock, and fish before the start date not breaking the rules? It doesn't seem materially different than having an established tank, emptying it to take the start pic, and putting everything back. JMHO...

agree,

does seem A BIT unfair, but whats two-three days, dont think its going to make a huge differnce, maybe one zoanthid polyp differnce...

Good luck you!

who said anything about those things being in the tank when i start?

Hehehe, everyone seems a little on egde...

That's where the words "prior to" become very important.

I don't think anyone will be starting "fresh" so to speak. Most people will use precured LR and LS from other tanks or the LFS. They will take coral from their other tanks or the LFS. Even if he setup the entire tank and emptied it to take the pic with the veggies, then put it back in, it would be no different than holding everything in your main tank and moving it over after the start date except that it would have a higher chance of cycling again.

I'll be starting from scratch

nip, you're tempting me in this "stock" section, but... i must... resist... urges!!! X)

do it... DO IT!! nip needs a little more competition..

As opposed to... diving for their own coral? or twitching their noses and conjurring it up? I guess I'm missing the point here.

Should folks be able to bend or break the rules based on their own interpretation ("eh, it's no big deal") or should everyone have to follow the same standard? that's why the rules exist, people!

Right, but none of that stuff is explicitly against the rules (except the one about having the established setup)...

Like Calvin said, why do we have rules if they just get bent and broken?

so if I dont use any of the rocks, and livestock. and start with new water and cured rock from the lfs it wouldnt matter right? Dont forget rules are only general guidelines. Why dont you take it up with the admins, who are the makers of said rules and see what they say.

It's actually at least 18 days, if you look at the time stamp on the first post. You could completely cycle a new tank with cured LR in 18 days.

Really? REALLY?? Actually, rules and general guidelines are not at all the same. Cheaters often wish they were, though.

General guidelines are loose parameters ("eh, do it something like this"). Rules are much more strict and defined ("you must do it this way, you may not do it that way"). I don't see anywhere in the contest "rules" (yes, that is what they're called) that suggests that anyone can fudge on these at their own discretion. I wonder what other rules you are willing to break privately if you'll break this one so publicly?

Some of you are getting a little stressed with this. I was merely saying that no one is really starting from "scratch" so what would be the big difference between starting the tank, emptying it for a pic with the veggies, and storing everything you are gonna put into the nc6 in another tank and moving it all over after start day. I know one is against the rules, but the other seems just as beneficial. I am not trying to say anyone is breaking rules, I am just commenting.

The BIG difference, like you said, is that one is against the rules and the other is not. It's like taxes: if you simply don't pay, you're breaking the law; if you write it off and don't pay, it's legal. In both cases you're not paying and they're equally beneficial, but in the former you go to jail. Supernip obviously has another tank, so why couldn't she store the fish, LR, and water like you said and wait to start like all the other contestants have to? It's unfair to all the other entrants...

True...you could take the water...the rock and the fish out and start anew......but haven't you already begun the process of colonizing your filter media with the beneficial bacteria which should allow for a more rapid stocking. I would say that along with everything in the tank you should also replace everything behind the divider as well in order for it to be truly fair. As long as Nip does that, there should be no grief given to her.

There has been alot of discussion about rules and guidelines. There are those adament that becuase Nip's actions are agianst the rules, the tank should not be allowed...but remember...the actions were done before the "Rules" were established. For this reason it should not be disqualified. Again...as long as all media are removed, it should be allowed.

I'm sorry to keep playing devil's advocate here, but there actually was an announcement by Orange Crush back on May 9th, saying that the contest would run June 1 to Nov. 30. It's more than reasonable to expect that participants would know that they can't start the system before the contest even begins...

Folks, if you want bring this to the attention of the mods then do so. Stop cluttering this thread up.

I would like to applaud supernip for striking such fear in everyone.

If my eyes didn't deceive me, I thought she said she was just checking for leaks, as suggested in the very same rules everyone are up in arms over. ASSUMING she takes the water out of the tank, I fail to see an issue. I also find the gross accusations and character attacks regarding this issue reprehensible, especially considering the contributions she has made to so many forums.

This is the very same kind of pampered bickering and complaining Americans are reknowned for worldwide. Way to reinforce stereotypes.

*begins humming National Anthem*

Thanks for your contribution...

as a participant in the contest i don't want to express an opinion, but could a judge or mod please make a ruling on the issue to resolve this, so we know how the rules are being interpreted and the arguing can stop?

Im sorry I still dont see what the big deal is. this contest will guage growth and health. and growth is relational. If i start with one clove of gsp and it grows into a colony, ill get more points than if I stick in a colony and it doesnt grow at all. and that's what my pictures will demonstrate.

Ponder this if you will. you can enter the contest at any time. so if someone took their nc apart and took a shot. then placed it back together, 3 months into the contest would any of you complain?

Or what if someone decided to take a used cube and enter it, having started all over? I still dont see your angst. I will restart the cube, or would you prefer me to buy a whole new cube, and transfer stuff from this cube to the that one?


At any rate, Ive requested a moderator to address this issue.

or if it appeases you, Ill buy some cured rock. you send me some money to buy a new cube and i'll slap the whole thing together. yeah?

how about I start a month late?

Do you even see any corals in that tank? that have started to grow? that would possibly give me an advantage over someone who set up their tanks today? Or God forbid, took water and corals and rock from their 200gals thats been set up for 3 years and dropped that in their tanks right now. Cause that's within the rules and somehow what I did isn't fair. Even if I've on multiple occasions stated that I WILL RESTART FROM SCRATCH?

and did you even stop for a second to think I had to purchase a tank early, and post pics and what other nonsense i did so this contest would get some publicity?

And don't you consider the moderators of this site honest? or do you mistrust them, or think they're ignorant to a thread that has over 2000 hits and has this kinda controversy; that they'd allow me to cheat on their very first public contest and ruin the site's reputation?


honestly people, do you really think Im in this to win a larnie edition nanocube? Stop obsessing over my thread and concentrate on your cubes or you might end up wasting more time, lose and whine even more. K thanks. Im late for philosophy class now. I hope you're happy.:*(

Ruin this site's reputation? I think that is going a bit too far. It's just a contest, it's not like throwing the world series or point shaving in the forth quarter. Maybe everyone should just calm down a little. Yes, she did start early, yes that is against the rules, however, why does that consern anyone else besides her and the mods? Are you really that conserned that her 2 or 3 day head start is going to absolutely CRUSH you in some way? Leave it be, let the mods decide, it is there contest.

Actually, the rules are set-in-stone rules, not general guidelines. Believe me, I didn't work that hard to make guidelines. The biggest rule being not starting your tank until June 1. Sure, people can add stuff as soon as we announced, or even in another tank, take the picture, and dump their stuff bank in the tank. Nothing we can do about it. But as long as the June 1 picture is submitted, we're taking people at their words that they're following the rules of the contest.

Starting picture info:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=58764

So for those of you looking for a final judgement, here it is: Nip's tank will be allowed, provided he submits the starting date image. The judges will be looking at progression pictures, and they're looking at these threads. If it's the case, they'll see that nip got his tank cycled faster than most, and will take that into account when making final judgments.

Some of you have said that since the announcement said the contest start date was June 1, it should be obvious that nothing could be added before that date. However, we did allow people in the open category to begin modifying before that date. I think it's reasonable that people may have thought that the tank, no matter when it was started, would be judged on the growth starting June 1.

I think this is the fairest resolution to the problem, and I assure everyone participating that Nip's possible early start will not impact the final judging in any way.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to pm me. Thanks to the user who pm'd me about this so it could be resolved.

And finally, with all that said, please don't bicker in nip's thread anymore. Thanks very much.

deep why do you have to bring politics into it? so pathetic.