yea! i agree. 5.5 would rock. plus, i already have a 10, so i don't want another.

So would it be PC for someone else to run this contest and still post on this site?

Your getting ahead of yourself a bit i think.If it happens it wont be like tomorrow.JMO

I think biotype would be cool too....also about someone else arranging the contest, as long as credit is given to nr i dont see why it would be a problem...the only thing is liability incase something goes wrong because of the money involved....thats bad publicity...i know its a reefing website and talk about publicity but you all know murphys law

This mighht sound silly,
Whats a bitotype?

A biotope is an aquarium that represents a specific habitat - for instance, an Indo-Pacific fore reef, or a Caribbean patch reef, or a seagrass bed, etc. All the inhabitants of the tank would be those found in that specific habitat. They tend to be simpler (in style, not difficulty), with a handful of endemic species, instead of the usual conglomerate typical of most tanks.

The difficulty comes in choosing livestock. Not only are you limited by a specific geographic range or reef type, but you also have to take into consideration the usuals of compatability, etc.

You mean you dont see those at your LFS??

LOL you got me

whats the problem here? We start a final poll, take the vote from that and call it official . Any suggestions on the questions?
Biotope, size, categories, .......etc

I guess if we get this going ourselves and find someone to be the "trustee" for the money and prizes we are all good right?

patience, you must learn. or NR contest you will have not.


give the mods a few days, they had said they wanted a break in-between and i think chris is a little short-handed right now(?). i haven't seen gil or oc in a while.

and i think they want to apply what they've learned from the nc and pico contest to be more streamlined and easier for everyone.

Mmm... streamlined... works for me. I just got back from the LFS, and it was an effort to postpone buying all kinds of junk for a new tank. If whatever contest pops up fits what I want to do, may as well wait for it.

SAVE UP NOW!!!

while they have their brake.... which is completly understandable... we can save up for the next contest... JMO

totally agree! plus, i need some time to come up with a couple hundred bucks for a new custom 5.5g tank


start recruting new mods too!!!

don't tell me about patience, i just missed the pico by a day, i have been waiting since then. It's not like the initial contest setup is hard, this isn't much work, so i don't want to hear that either. Just do it, i am so bored with lame forums. Not neccesarily here either. contests keep posts up

tell that to the people (me included) who plan on doing a fully custom contest tank worth keeping. true, buying an aga tank, throwing a few powerheads and a light on it and calling it a day would be easy, but is that the point of the contest? the contest should be a place to show your most innovative and experimental ideas, and see if it works! if you are bored with lame forums, get off your ass and go outside!

you got me wrong bro, I don't want a stupid power head and light tank,I also want a tank to keep. I didn't say setting up everyone's tank was going to be easy, ESTABLISHING A CONTEST IS. I already did a lil less than half the work.
And as for forums, nevermind I wasn't even talking about here, it was vented frustration, and I go outside plenty thanks!

I cannot speak for anyone else, but here's my piece: I would much rather sit on my hands and wait patiently for N-R.com to sponsor the next contest, whatever and whenever that may be, than to join a makeshift contest. It's nice to know the Powers are regulating things, instead of us peons regulating ourselves, you know?

sorry about the misunderstanding. i don't think setting up the contest is as easy as you think though.


exactly

self-regulating impairs your vision.

Nah, that's a myth. It does make your paws hairy, though.

"makeshift" is an insulting word. My only objective is to help expedite the process for a contest as far as number of people willing to join and entrance fee. I don't want anything "half-assed" as you imply.

Relax. Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat.

Just so you know, the "Mommy Mommy, can we have a contest? Can we have a contest now!!! How about now? Now!!!" approach is not particularly endearing.

Is it endearing now?!?!?!?! What about now?!?!?!? When will it be endearing?!?!?!?!

That was my point no need to rush it! Let it fall into place it will make it much better,more people will have time to get ready.

how bout now

Lets do a Red Sea 0.75g Cube contest

Like everyone who did not enter the last contest, I followed it pretty closely. Second, like many I have another tank that I am setting up/ is set up and space is limited. I like the idea of a cost basis tank that was mentioned earlier. One of the requirements would be listing costs. People could use equipment they already have but they would have to list it as the new cost. Almost everyone buys equipment online so that would be pretty consistent but the cost of shipping should not be a factor in the final cost. LR and other livestock varies too but pretty consistent.
Another consideration could be experience level. Have <1 yr, 1 - 2 yr, and 2+ or something along those lines.
I know that many people want to start now but I think that the contest should be finalized first and allow people time to get equipment and ideas.
Also not sure about the entry fee. What would it go to such as prizes etc.? Would it not be cool just to be able to brag?

cost brackets might not be a bad idea.

instead of Custom/Stock whatever, you limit costs as suggested.

you can have <$500, >$500, <$1000, and 'money pit'

Tiny,
Nice contest tank BTW.
I know this is an expensive hobby and all but $1000 on a 5 gal. tank is very skerry. Yes skerry was on purpose. I think my wife would just shoot me where I stood. My 95 gal with everything cost <$2K. Regardless, I think either cost, experience, or interesting idea (whatever that would mean) could be considered. Also, I too believe that time should be given to set up a proper contest. If it started in the next 30 days I would miss out again.
Another issue would be length of contest. Could that be something everyone voted on? That is unless the mods decided to finalize everything which would be cool too.

thanks, blind!

but i was thinking multiple sizes too. maybe up to the new oceanic 30g cube even. (we can bend the nano definition for a cool tank )

that way even if you get a number of different formats, there's still the cost limitations. i think you'd get more participation if more sizes and shapes are available to the contestants.

but you could fashion the rules in any shape still to allot for a Stock category again (simpler parameters) or all-out Custom (uber-reefing). it's a bit complicated when you think about it because you really don't want a complete free-for-all contest that would make judging and casual comparison a nightmare.

I do like the Nano Reef Contest,, But How the winners are decided I question,I have seen some pics That without question have been better than the so called "winner" in these contest, there is a "good Ole boy network" At any rate i enjoy the pics and there are much more important things to deal with then the integrity of the judging of Nano-Reef contest.

but the voting was public.

i really shouldn't comment because i participated in the contest but i thought it was as fair as you can get (the way it was set up to judge). i would've preferred to win but i'm leaving that to the final re-count of the disputed ballots from Florida.

awesome idea on the .75 gal. I don't want the contest to start tommorow as you believe, i am not that antsy, i just want us to come up with what we really want for a contest, these are some really good idea's. Let's pick out a size...?

I think thats a good idea about finding the size, doesn't mean we have to start soon but if we find the size than i know what to save for...

either 5 or 10 look at the votes

i voted for a 5. less saving for!

Yeh i voted for a 5 aswel,
weird thing is i have 2 brand new tanks giving to me one's a 10gal an ones a 5gal, an they where given to me about 6 months ago so im easy either way but 5.gal would be very cool

would be good for a 5

not too big and not overly small

and will 'probably' cost less to run in the contest

I would say a kind of Open contest would be good, and would probably work quite well... say 10g and under?

Here is my idea. 5 gallon contest, any shape you want. There are three categories. Under 200$, 200-300$, and over. You can determine this using one website such as drfostersmith or marine depot. When you write a list of equipment you must post price and a link for the product on one of three websites lets say. This is just for all equipment, NO ADD-ONS, and sand and live rock. We could just say 4.00 per lb for LR and .99$ per pound for LS. Corals and fish are up to you.
Alex

see the following post from last week and the response that followed. also, your numbers seem waaaaay low to me. everyone would be in the above $300 level!

I don't think cost is a good option to choose really. Say if someones light unit packs up half way through, then they will have to have the cost fo 2 on their budget, and if you want to upgrade equipment etc same thing.

I don't think cost makes a huuuge difference anyway, course you need money to set it up in the first place, but it can still look amazing with next to no budget.

I like nano kevs idea.

I like the 20g idea for a long term contest. Like how there was pico and nano cube. There could be 5 gallon and 20 gallon, or something such as that.
Alex

i like ReefApprentice's idea above^^^

I like this idea too, just don't know how many takers you'll have on a 20g contest. I'm not sure that money is the best way to subdivide things, but there should be some subdivision beyond the tank sizes. Cost is the only thing I could think of. It might also be neat to have a database of tanks (such as contest tanks) with their costs for new people to see, just to get an idea of the costs involved in this hobby. If anyone has a better idea as to how the subdivision should work, let us know! Lighting? Hobby experience? East coast - west coast?

oh... ill be setting up my 30g. Cube in a few days and plan to keep track of how much i spend for the tank for newbies

let's not start that stuff again! i still look over my shoulder whenever i hear a pistol shrimp snap!

and I will be the first to go

I like two sizes maybe 5 and 10, the two most popular votes. Have the 10 gallon be stock and the 5 gallon be open. This would keep costs down too. any specs on what we should base judging on up front?

best idea so far! i was pretty happy with the way the last contest was run. it really should be more about making tank progression than stuffing your most expensive corals in there and snapping a few shots, so i am all about a long term contest. the only other thing i could think to add would be a subcategory for the best equipment setup. that might encourage more people to go all diy crazy.

I agree thats a very good idea