Creative Container Pico Contest - Official Announcement

[Felicia]

@Christopher Marks, @pj86, and I are excited to announce the next official Nano-Reef community tank building contest...

The Creative Container Pico Contest!

Sponsored By

 

We've listened to the community's requests for a pico container contest and now we want to give everyone the opportunity to get their creative juices flowing to create unique pico container reefs! What do we mean by containers? We mean any container with a volume of 3 gallons or less (before displacement by rocks and sand) that is not a traditional tank or aquarium. Bowls, jars, and vases are all wonderful options, but your imagination is the limit in terms of the type of container! It just has to be 3 gallons or less in total volume, and not traditionally sold as an aquarium.

 

For this contest, we want to keep things simple and focus on creativity and the wonderful husbandry skills of the Nano-Reef Community. Everyone can choose their own equipment, but we are limiting the allowed equipment to the following items:

• 1 Container totaling 3 gallons or less in total volume that is not a traditional aquarium.
  • Note: Built from scratch or custom built containers are not allowed. Containers must be purchased and maintained intact with only minor modifications to seal the container, accommodate qualifying equipment, to allow ventilation, or to create a lid allowed.
• 1 Heater of any wattage.
• 1 Air Pump with accessories (airline, valves, air stones, etc.) and/or 1 Powerhead Pump for flow.
• 1 Single PAR LED bulb or Fluorescent bulb with an E26/E27 socket screw type in a light fixture of your choice. Your single bulb may be of any wattage or any color temperature.
  • Note: This rule has been modified to allow a single fluorescent bulb that fits in a standard household light fixture as an alternative to a single par LED bulb.
• Auto-top off systems and controllers are permitted, but optional.

Sumps, mechanical or chemical filtration (internal or external), skimmers, auto-dosing systems, etc. are not permitted.  All-in-one modifications and plumbing of any type are also not allowed.  We want to keep the equipment simple and focus on husbandry.  You do not have to use all of the allowed equipment (i.e. having a sunlit tank instead of using a PAR bulb), but you just cannot use any other, unapproved equipment. 

 

Many of you may already own these items or have them available around the house. Your container and equipment do not need to be new, but they must be DRY at the beginning of the contest.

 

There are no rules or budget limits in regards to stocking of your pico container, but use your space wisely! Have fun and let your imagination run wild!  Note: Your entry must be a saltwater aquarium.  No freshwater entries are allowed.

Contest Timeline: How To Enter

Official Start Date: October 2nd, 2017

The contest is open to any and all Nano-Reef community members starting today! In order to formally enter the contest, you must begin your pico container build by the end of the month on Halloween! This means that by October 31st you will need to have done the following tasks:

1. Sourced your qualifying pico container and equipment.
2. Started a new build thread here on Nano-Reef.com in our Pico Reefs Forum.
3. Shared a photo of your dry pico container in your journal with your favorite condiment inside. Sriracha anyone?
4. Posted an announcement of your entry into the contest here in this thread with a link to your build journal.

Contestants are required to post at least one monthly update to their build thread that will include a full tank shot in order to remain eligible, at the bare minimum. Your build thread must also include the tag "Creative Container Contest", so that they are easy to locate on the forums. There's even more incentive to maintain a detailed build thread because one of the winners will be chosen based on the best pico build journal. More details on winning categories and prizes is below.

 

Qualifying contestants will be asked to post a final synopsis and full tank shot in their aquarium journal within the final two weeks of the contest, which will be used for voting purposes. 

 

International entries are welcome with the disclaimer that the sponsors may not be able to ship prizes internationally due to customs and increased costs.  In the event that an international contestant wins, we will do our best to see if its possible to ship the prize internationally, but we make no guarantees.  Also, additional shipping costs may need to be paid by the international contestant if it is possible to ship their prize(s).

 

The contest will officially end on March 31, 2018 at 11:59:59 PM. This means a 6 month contest from start to finish. We wanted to give everyone time to get their tanks going and headed on the path to maturity before choosing the winners. Community Voting will begin on April 2nd, 2018.

Contest Prizes

There will be three winning pico containers chosen at the end of the contest by community vote. In the event of a tie, Christopher Marks will cast the tie-breaking vote. The winners will be chosen for the following categories:

 

1) Grand Prize – Best Overall Pico Container

Seneye Reef Monitor

Boyd Chemi-Pure Blue Nano (5 Pack)

Aqamai KPS Wifi Controllable Wavemaker Pump

Reef Glass Nano Protein Skimmer

Valued at over $400 and sponsored by:

 

2) Most Creative or Unique Pico Container

Custom Nano Box Pico Tide Light Fixture

Sponsored by:

 

3) Best Pico Contest Build Journal

$50 Gift Certificate to Reef Cleaners

PJ Reefs Latest Product - Mini Seahorses Kit - Valued at $350

Sponsored by:

Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors for their generous support of this contest!

 

Monthly Full-Tank Shots (FTS)

We will be starting a topic/thread within the pico forum that will contain the monthly FTS's throughout the competition and will be locked for editing so it won't get cluttered with discussion.  I will make a post for each month and will post all of the FTS's.  Each photo will be linked to the tank thread so you can easily go find more photos and get involved in discussion.  For each month, each contestant will get ONE FTS in the FTS thread.

 

In order to make sure your FTS's make it into the thread each month, you will need to PM me your FTS and a link to your build thread sometime before the end of the month each month.  The end of the month will be 11:59:59 pm on the last day of the month.  Please try to get your FTS and build thread link to me by that deadline each month.  However, we will provide a couple days leeway as needed since we know people may have travel or other extenuating circumstances throughout the competition. 

Resources

• So you want to enter, but don't know how to set-up a pico container? No worries! Community member @pj86 has written a new library article detailing the set-up and care of a pico container based on his extensive experience keeping pico jars. This is a great place to start for guidance and ideas! 
• Here's a wonderful article that Gena put together about performing a water change in her contest container.
• Need even more ideas and inspiration to get your creative juices flowing? Read through our collection of featured pico reef profiles! Here are two just to get you started, a bowl and a vase: 
• Please keep in mind our wonderful sponsors  when purchasing your equipment, supplies, and livestock. Links to appropriate equipment from our sponsor MarineDepot.com are provided for you below.

 

Heaters

Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 25 Watt Aquarium Heater with LED Display

Lifegard Aquatics Pre-Set Quartz Heater - 25 Watt

Cobalt Aquatics Easy-Therm Submersible Heater - 25 Watt

 

Air Pumps

Aqueon QuietFlow Air Pump

Tom Aquatics Stellar Air Pump

Air Pump Accessories

 

Powerheads/Circulation Pumps

Hydor Koralia Nano 240 gph

Cobalt Aquatics MJ400 106 gph

Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 4W Circulation Pump 180 gph

 

Auto-Top Off Systems

Auto Aqua Smart ATO Micro

Tunze Osmolator Nano

Innovative Marine HydroFill Ti

 

Controllers

Neptune Apex System

JBJ TrueTemp Digital Heater Controller

Hamilton Digital 24 Hour Digital Timer

 

Good luck to all the contestants!  We can't wait to see what you all come up with!

 

 

Contestants

Follow along with all of the builds throughout the contest in the monthly full tank shots thread.  One FTS per contestant will be posted each month throughout the contest.  All photos are linked to the respective build threads.

1. Gena - Gena's C.C. Pico Contest Build
2. vlangel - Dawn's shrimp chalet
3. Lula_Mae - Lula Mae's Creative Container Pico Contest Jar
4. kimberbee - Kimber's Pretty Pico
5. Harrisonbored - The Angler fish...maybe? (pico contest thread)
6. tanacharison - Tana's Pico Tower
7. schgr.cube - Brain Coral Pico - schgr.cube's creative container contest entry
8. Tamberav - Into the Shallows - Tamberav's C. C. Pico
9. Clown79 - Clowns Pico contest build
10. seabass - seabass's contest pico
11. Orangutran - Orangutran's excuse to reef at work
12. Sharbuckle - Sharbuckles Creative Container Pico Contest Tank
13. Farmboyreef - The Joker: Creative Container Pico Build
14. GraniteReefer - Live Free or Reef, a CreativeContainerContest tank
15. GunslingerGirl - Slinger's Ghetto-Rigged Cookie Jar
16. JoeR - Joe's 0.5 Gallon Post-Modern Pico Jar
17. Merthynia - 2 Gal Pico
18. OldManSea - OldMAnSea's Pico Shallow Reef Creative Container Pico Contest Tank
19. Boggers - Boggers CC contest tank
20. Coral_chef - Coral_chefs Mr. peanut C.C. Contest pico
21. Nickmcg - Nickmcg pico Creative Container Contest
22. cnseekatz - Chris' Creative Container Pico!
23. Droy008 - Droy's C.C. Pico Jar-o-nonsense
24. flatlandreefer - Flatland's Pico Contest Tank
25. duderubble - DudeRubble's Test Tube of Rubble, a Creative Container Contest entry
26. dmw913 - Denise's Skull Pico Creative Container Contest Entry
27. metrokat and Mariaface - The Girlfriend Pico: Getting Creative with Dongs...
28. skibum513 - Joe's Icy vase
29. lobster876 - Lobster876's Contest tank
30. TFish77 - Upside Down Pico Reef - Pico Contest Entry
31. fishfreak0114 - Fishfreak's C.C. pico
32. aio.tankhere - Aio.Tankhero's mason-pico-stein
33. ChristopherDido - Midwest Industrial CC Pico Reef
34. SaltyBuddha - SaltyBuddha's Floating Islands Pico
35. Friendly - Cam's Coral Condo Contest Pico
36. Tom@HaslettMI - My Pico Wants to Kill Your Mama
37. reefcrimp - reefcrimp's contest pico
38. teenyreef - Teenyreef's Teenycookie Jar
39. jahnje - Cambro Reef
40. alprejean - Try not to Wine
41. natalia_la_loca - Natalia's Art Project Pico Contest Build
42. spec33 - Spec's Spec Sized Tank
43. New_Here - New Here's Pico Tank
44. MedievalITGuy - The Mad Science Experiment
45. hinnenkm - Classroom Pico
46. ajmckay - Cephalapico - ajmckay's Creative container
47. damianita - Classroom Pico -Creative Container Contest
48. MrNanoReef - Phuong's Micro Atoll 1.5
49. sofrinat - Lava Lamp Pico "Lover's Coral"
50. Allaboutcorals - Allaboutcorals pico reef
51. boyscountrickybobby - light bulb CCPC

[Christopher Marks]

It's happening!  

 

We really wanted to make this contest accessible to everyone, many of you may already have a lot of the equipment on hand already. This really breaks it down to the fundamentals of reef keeping, we're excited to see what the community creates!

[HarryPotter]

Im definitely in!! Sounds awesome. Will start planning which container today  I am thinking LPS forest style, with a shrimp. @Felicia I can use a handful of live sand from my current display to help it start off? 

[Felicia]

4 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

Im definitely in!! Sounds awesome. Will start planning which container today

Yay!  I can't wait to see what container you come up with!

[Droy008]

Wow, what a great way to introduce a lot of people to an alternative form of reefing.

I'm very much considering giving this a try.

[Felicia]

11 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

I am thinking LPS forest style, with a shrimp. @Felicia I can use a handful of live sand from my current display to help it start off? 

Sounds awesome!  Yep, you can definitely use some live sand from your current tank to help start your cycle.  There are really no rules in terms of sand, rock, and livestock.  Whatever you can manage to fit in 3 gallons is free game!   The limitations are just on the type of equipment that can be used.

2 minutes ago, Droy008 said:

Wow, what a great way to introduce a lot of people to an alternative form of reefing.

I'm very much considering giving this a try.

That's the goal!  There are some lovely pico containers here on Nano-Reef, so we'd like to see more people try their hand at this alternative type of reef aquarium.  We'd love to see you enter!

[HarryPotter]

2 hours ago, Droy008 said:

Wow, what a great way to introduce a lot of people to an alternative form of reefing.

I'm very much considering giving this a try.

 

Why not try? Get a pitcher and a bubbler and start going!

 

You can get the neotherm 25w for $35.99   here instead of paying $58 by the way!

[Tamberav]

I will be joining in on all this... FUN! 

[gena]

Well, you all know I'm in

[JoeR]

I'm definitely in! I love my 3 gallon. I already have this bowl that I thought would be cool on my nightstand, should I use it or find something more unique? It's also less than a gallon....  probably half a gallon after sand and rock... so do I get bonus points for it being extra small lol? 

 

Maybe I should hold out for something more interesting and slightly larger

[pj86]

@JoeR I've always wanted to do a fish bowl, maybe something representing a low tide with some cool zoanthids. More to be viewed from above rather than the side.

[Felicia]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

I will be joining in on all this... FUN! 

Yay! 

1 hour ago, gena said:

Well, you all know I'm in

I know you were getting antsy!  

45 minutes ago, JoeR said:

I'm definitely in! I love my 3 gallon. I already have this bowl that I thought would be cool on my nightstand, should I use it or find something more unique? It's also less than a gallon....  probably half a gallon after sand and rock... so do I get bonus points for it being extra small lol? 

 

Maybe I should hold out for something more interesting and slightly larger

Very cool little bowl!  Decisions, decisions on the container front...Good luck!  Glad you'll be joining in the competition!

[gena]

Ok, almost forgot the last rule .  Here is a link to my contest build .....

 

 

[Tamberav]

No mechanical filtration allowed correct? Says no external filters but assuming it also means DIY internal ones?

[Felicia]

23 minutes ago, gena said:

Ok, almost forgot the last rule .  Here is a link to my contest build .....

 

 

I was about to text you to let you know you were missing a step.   Yay!  Our first official entry! 

8 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

No mechanical filtration allowed correct? Says no external filters but assuming it also means DIY internal ones?

Good question!  You are correct.  No mechanical filtration allowed.  Filtration will just be from your live rock, any macroalgaes, and water changes.  I'll re-phrase that on the rules post to be more clear.

[JoeR]

4 hours ago, pj86 said:

@JoeR I've always wanted to do a fish bowl, maybe something representing a low tide with some cool zoanthids. More to be viewed from above rather than the side.

Well if the top view could be considered the "front", I have an even better bowl for the contest... I planned on making it a freshwater planted shrimp tank, but who knows now. I'll take a picture tomorrow. My concern though would be surface turbulence disrupting the view?

 

defintely something to consider

 

...

 

are two entries allowed?

[HarryPotter]

Shallow huh? Glass cookie tray? Lol! 

 

I suggest getting the 25w neotherm from Chewy.com to save >$20, or perhaps ask MD if they can price match. 

[Coral_chef]

I just got off work so I'm tired can we get the "tank" wet anytime between now and Oct.31 or is Halloween the day we get the "tank" wet. 

 

I might enter!!

[Felicia]

10 minutes ago, Coral_chef said:

I just got off work so I'm tired can we get the "tank" wet anytime between now and Oct.31 or is Halloween the day we get the "tank" wet. 

 

I might enter!!

We'd love to see you enter! You just have to get your tank and equipment and post a photo of it dry with your favorite condiment to declare your contest entry by October 31st. You can get it wet as soon as you'd like or after October 31st. Just make sure you take your dry tank with your favorite condiment photo before getting it wet.

[Tamberav]

I may use a 2g vase/giant margarita bowl for mine since I have one. Wanted to do something more unique but the containers I wanted to use are are not even half a gallon and I'm not sure I can keep it stable.

[Lula_Mae]

Hooray!!!

 

Hubby and I picked this up at Walmart Sunday afternoon, looks like it wasn't a moment too soon!

 

[Coral_chef]

Kinda want to get an anchor steam container with a pour spout.  Easiest water changes ever. 

 

But am also looking into some cool geometric succulent planters. 

[gena]

3 minutes ago, Coral_chef said:

Kinda want to get an anchor steam container with a pour spout.  Easiest Easter changes ever. 

 

But am also looking into some cool geometric succulent planters. 

Easter changes

 

Ohhhh....geometric succulent planters sounds awesome!

[Coral_chef]

Lol @gena water changes 

[Tamberav]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GYL0X82/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A2VP2CMHUGP65Q&psc=1

 

I would love to do a reef in a tea-pot but 0.5g doesn't leave much room for corals/growth or even water.