2022 contest?

[banasophia]

44 minutes ago, seabass said:

How about a March Madness NCAA style tournament where contestants are pitted head to head against each other?  The initial bracket will be determined randomly.  Each month Nano-Reef members will vote who wins the matchups and will continue on.

Haha well I do like the idea of voting for stuff… voting people out may be a bit hard core though… and again pretty sure I’d be at a fairly substantial disadvantage unless I joined under a pseudonym 

 

#akarenbyanyothername

 

 

Awesome logo though! We should use it for something? Maybe the calendar? 

[M. Tournesol]

What would be the criteria judged? Who have the most beautiful tank photos or which journal has the least grammatical errors?

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

6 minutes ago, M. Tournesol said:

What would be the criteria judged? Who have the most beautiful tank photos or which journal has the least grammatical errors?

It might work best if you waited for a period of time, before voting people off the island, Survivor style. 3 months? 6 months? Bracket in the final month, to determine a winner? I just worry about people dropping out after I crush them with my entertaining tank journaling and willingness to spend waste stupid amounts of money on corals. 

[seabass]

3 hours ago, banasophia said:

voting people out may be a bit hard core though

The way I look at it, there is usually only one winner anyways.  It's just a mater of how and when most people lose.  IDK, the tournament bracket format might help keep non-participating Nano-Reef members even more involved.  I could even see somebody setting up a Reef Madness Bracket Pool. 🤔

 

3 hours ago, banasophia said:

pretty sure I’d be at a fairly substantial disadvantage unless I joined under a pseudonym

I don't know, I'd probably consider you one of the more popular members.  But that being said, I was trying to figure out if there was a good way to run a reef contest anonymously.  However, I can't think of a really clean or easy way to do this without substantial issues.

[ef4life]

Survivor style - @Tigahboy getting the ax month one 😂

[ef4life]

Seriously though, I think the janky tank competition was one of the best for its super low cost of entry and it helps level the playing field.

 

maybe just use a petco 10g as the main tank for the competition. Only Fresh dry rock to start. Then sky is the limit on everything else. 

[CD_Scapes]

1 hour ago, ef4life said:

Seriously though, I think the janky tank competition was one of the best for its super low cost of entry and it helps level the playing field.

 

maybe just use a petco 10g as the main tank for the competition. Only Fresh dry rock to start. Then sky is the limit on everything else. 

Dry rock is terrible IMHO, way too easy to lead to dinos down the road. Have setup 6 tanks with dry rock and got dinos every time. The 3 times I started with live rock I got no dinos

[banasophia]

3 hours ago, seabass said:

The way I look at it, there is usually only one winner anyways.  It's just a mater of how and when most people lose.  IDK, the tournament bracket format might help keep non-participating Nano-Reef members even more involved.  I could even see somebody setting up a Reef Madness Bracket Pool. 🤔

 

I don't know, I'd probably consider you one of the more popular members.  But that being said, I was trying to figure out if there was a good way to run a reef contest anonymously.  However, I can't think of a really clean or easy way to do this without substantial issues.

Well haha I’m not for everyone, I accept that… my friends and my nemeses are considerable… I won’t name any names, but there are some that would surely vote me out immediately 😉😁

Doing a contest is a pretty big investment of time and money. I wouldn’t do it if I thought some that hate me could just vote me out for fun. There would be a serious risk of it turning into a popularity contest and I don’t really think that would be a good vibe. 
 

I would prefer to use voting as a means of engagement rather than elimination, so I think voting for different things the person does with their tank would be a more positive spin. 

[kimdawg]

Off the wall idea but, how about a nano tank with only a certain number of colors in it.  Example you choose the three colors and everything in it must be these colors including coral, fish, and any decorations.

 

[Tigahboy]

6 hours ago, ef4life said:

Survivor style - @Tigahboy getting the ax month one 😂

This sounds rigged. 

[banasophia]

8 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

This sounds rigged. 

Strategic 😉

[seabass]

7 hours ago, banasophia said:

I wouldn’t do it if I thought some that hate me could just vote me out for fun. There would be a serious risk of it turning into a popularity contest and I don’t really think that would be a good vibe. 

We've always had our members vote on who wins (and who doesn't).  I suppose popularity plays some role in it.

[I've never won.  Hey wait, what?  I always figured that my tanks just sucked.] 

I think most people would like to see someone win, and member voting seems to work out best.  Still, it's intriguing to think about a totally anonymous contest.

 

But I get what you're saying (that voting someone out early might ruin the fun for that participant).  Yeah, maybe... probably... but they could still keep their tank (or carboy) running.  However, what if we had some sort of elimination tournament (like REEF MADNESS) and still offered prizes at the end which everyone could qualify for (like best in show, best aquascape, and best budget tank/carboy)?  You could probably add most innovative or best DIY depending on sponsor participation.

 

12 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

It might work best if you waited for a period of time, before voting people off the island, Survivor style. 3 months? 6 months? Bracket in the final month, to determine a winner? I just worry about people dropping out after I crush them with my entertaining tank journaling and willingness to spend waste stupid amounts of money on corals. 

 Yeah, willingness to spend on corals can come into play; but setting limits has its drawbacks too.  So, having a best budget tank award might be the best way to deal with that.

 

A preseason might make also sense (like a month, or two, or even three, to get going) before the carnage begins.

 

7 hours ago, Frozen_Reef said:

Dry rock is terrible IMHO, way too easy to lead to dinos down the road. Have setup 6 tanks with dry rock and got dinos every time. The 3 times I started with live rock I got no dinos

I agree, leave the type of rock up to the competitors (at least for this contest).  But a dry rock competition might be something to consider down the road.

 

4 hours ago, kimdawg said:

Off the wall idea but, how about a nano tank with only a certain number of colors in it.  Example you choose the three colors and everything in it must be these colors including coral, fish, and any decorations.

Not really that off the wall.  We've had at least one contest which awarded for best use of color.  And we've had contestants which self limited colors.  I remember a Joker entry (purple and green).  Plus, I've seen some mostly brown ones too.

[seabass]

So just following up on the elimination tournament, maybe the tournament winner gets a Nano-Reef T-shirt (and possibly even a plaque), and the best in show gets a sponsor gift certificate.

 

Winning the tournament wouldn't disqualify someone from winning one of the other prizes.  However, only one "prize" per contestant would be allowed (so if you won best in show, you would no longer qualify for best aquascape).

 

Disclaimer: Prizes might not be available to international contestants.

[banasophia]

Are you serious right now, or are you just messing with me? 
 

1 hour ago, seabass said:

But I get what you're saying (that voting someone out early might ruin the fun for that participant).  Yeah, maybe... probably... but they could still keep their tank (or carboy) running. 

 

Might ruin the fun? Pretty sure it would ruin the fun. Who wants their tank to be voted out and be the loser??? 

I think I’ve made my perspective on this fairly clear, but just in case I haven’t: I think an elimination style contest seems mean spirited… people would be upset… no good would come from it unless the goal is to alienate people and make them sad and angry. 
 

Also, why would we offer prizes that wouldn’t be available to international contestants? 
 

I can’t really tell if you’re serious or just pulling my leg at this point? Don’t make me go full Karen on you! 😜
 

[seabass]

8 hours ago, banasophia said:

I think an elimination style contest seems mean spirited… people would be upset… no good would come from it unless the goal is to alienate people and make them sad and angry. 

I suppose that for equity's sake, we should just award participation ribbons to everyone.   IDK, I've never got why some Little League teams stopped keeping score.  In competition, someone usually wins and someone loses.  I mean, how exciting would it be to watch the Bachelor if nobody was ever sent home.

 

But maybe you missed my point.  I was suggesting that (even if you were eliminated in REEF MADNESS, or the tribe voted you out in Nano-Reef Survivor) the competition would continue on (for everybody), and everyone would still be eligible for all the prizes at the end of the competition.  People who got eliminated from the tournament would only miss out on the title of Champion (and a Nano-Reef T-shirt).

 

I'm not trying to piss anybody off here.  It's all about the fun.  Fun for the contestants, and fun for non-participating members.  I feel that sometimes we lose interest in having similar contests stacked one right after another.  I'm just trying to shake things up around here.

 

8 hours ago, banasophia said:

Also, why would we offer prizes that wouldn’t be available to international contestants?

International shipping makes it impractical to ship prizes outside the U.S.  Our sponsors allot so much for a specific prize and it can be cost prohibitive (and sometimes even not allowed) to ship certain items to other countries.  Plus a gift certificate from a vendor in the states might not benefit someone overseas.  This has been the case with all of our past contests.  Nothing new here.

 

However, international contestants would still be encouraged to participate.

 

8 hours ago, banasophia said:

Don’t make me go full Karen on you! 😜

Should I be scared?  I'm a little scared.

 

Christopher, I see what you mean.  This is hard stuff.

[Xj reefing]

I think that getting a community vote near the end of the competition is a good idea. A cool theme could be making a paladarium reef or a tide pool tank

[M. Tournesol]

13 minutes ago, Xj reefing said:

paladarium reef or a tide pool tank

a reef with halophyte plants 🤔

[Tigahboy]

11 hours ago, banasophia said:

Strategic 😉

OK. I guess I'm in then. 😎

 

Someone ping me when the contest is up.

[filefishfinatic]

we should do ultimate pico tank where everyone has to make the craziest pico possible with as much stuff inside. dry rock = automatic kick from contest

[seabass]

I just created a poll regarding a potential 2022 contest:

 

[filefishfinatic]

i also had the idea of a plywood aquarium with a actual window inside it 

[seabass]

34 minutes ago, filefishfinatic said:

i also had the idea of a plywood aquarium with a actual window inside it 

You often see these fiberglass tanks built for very large aquariums.  At a nano level, (while doable) they are a little less practical.

[ef4life]

5 hours ago, filefishfinatic said:

i also had the idea of a plywood aquarium with a actual window inside it 

An old jack Daniels oak barrel with a window could be really cool, but must have a working tap to be over the top 

[StealthPrix]

Im praying for a new contest, i didnt get to participate in the last one. My entry tank got stranded at work when we got sent to work from home 😞

[seabass]

Right now, I'm leaning more towards the forth option in my contest poll (any aquarium between 5 and 20 gallons).  Of course I'll have to discuss it with @Christopher Marks to see what he thinks.  But how about?

 

Nano-Reef Contest Almost Any Aquarium (NCAAA)

 

Using a REEF MADNESS bracket to decide one contest category prize.

This is just an added game which invites other members to become involved (and maybe help motivate contestants).  The game wouldn't affect the overall contest or the prizes offered.

 

We'll define "aquarium" as a vessel with at least one clear side.  While this would rule out 5-gallon buckets, it wouldn't rule out a carboy, if someone really wanted to use one.

 

While this competition might be harder to compare, it opens up a ton of possibilities (AIO tanks, standard tanks, tanks with sumps, DIY tanks and mods, as well as unconventional vessels and containers).  Some of the REEF MADNESS match-ups might be like the BYU Cougars vs Gonzaga, but that could be fun too.  Can you say bracket buster?

 

I think a couple of people might have hit on the key to making such a diverse contest a success, more prize categories.  I'm thinking something like:

• Best overall
• Best aquascape
• Best budget build
• Best use of self-imposed restrictions (like macroalgae, limited colors, limited species, no water, etc)
• Best theme
• Most innovative
• Best DIY
• Etc.

We have plenty of time to flesh out the categories and maybe even source (or make) the prizes.  Maybe even have a few ZONKs:

• Most algae or pests
• Cheapest build
• Worst luck...