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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Next Nano-Reef Contest - Criteria Poll


seabass

2022 Nano-Reef Contest Criteria Poll  

44 members have voted

  1. 1. Which contest would you prefer to follow or participate in?

    • A 5 Gallon Bucket Challenge. Use a standard 5 gallon bucket or a 150 gallon salt mix bucket (modifications allowed) for your tank.
      17
    • Nano-Reef Carboy Contest. Use a 1 to 6 gallon glass or plastic carboy (in any orientation, with modifications permitted) for your tank.
      7
    • Standard rectangular (non-AIO) 10 gallon tank (20" long x 10" wide x 12" high), or the closest match available. Additional modifications, including AIO conversions, would be permitted.
      13
    • Any aquarium between 5 and 20 gallons. Additional water volume (via external sump or filtration) not to exceed the display tank's volume. No other equipment restrictions.
      17
    • Something else. Offer a suggestion below.
      4
  2. 2. Would you like to include an elimination game to determine a "Champion" (awarded a Nano-Reef T-shirt)? Either way, there would still be winners for Best in Show, Best Aquascape, and Best Budget Build.

    • No Champion (or champion prize). The other prizes would be determined in a typical fashion (where Nano-Reef members vote for the winners at the conclusion of the contest).
      18
    • A "Champion" determined via a Survivor style elimination (one contestant eliminated each week). All contestants will remain eligible for the other prizes at the conclusion of the contest.
      18
    • A "Champion" determined via a NCAA bracket style elimination (monthly head to head voting polls between remaining contestants). Everyone still remains eligible for the other prizes.
      18
  3. 3. Which (if any) of the following restrictions would you like to include?

    • None. Let contestants decide the direction of their entries.
      25
    • Contestants must hightight macroalgae and/or plants.
      5
    • Color restrictions (either specific colors, or number of colors).
      8
    • Species restrictions (either specific species/families, or number of species).
      14

This poll is closed to new votes

  • Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.
  • Poll closed on 10/16/2021 at 04:59 AM

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We've been discussing the possibility of having another Nano-Reef contest.  This poll is intended to help gauge where the community's interests might lie.

 

An open competition (like the 5 to 20 gallon aquarium contest) would give contestants more options, but make comparing (and voting for) the tanks more difficult.  Nano-Reef has never offered an additional game to determine one of the contest's prize categories.  And while I feel this kind of game would add a layer of fun and interest to the contest, a few people have voiced some concern.

 

The Survivor game would give contestants some time to acquire and start to setup their entries.  Followed by weekly votes to eliminate one contestant from the possibility of becoming the Nano-Reef Survivor Champion (and winning a Nano-Reef T-shirt).  However, even contestants which have been eliminated from becoming the "Champion" would continue on, and would still be eligible for the other prizes (like best in show, best aquascape, and best budget build).

survivor.jpg.3fe195e56be48f41faef6c92e0b77433.jpg

 

The NCAA March Madness game would also allow the contestants time to acquire their equipment, and start their journals, prior to the monthly head to head voting (ultimately resulting in one "Champion").  As in the Survivor game, people eliminated from the possibility of becoming the Nano-Reef's REEF MADNESS champion, would continue on and still be eligible for the other prizes.

reef_madness.jpg.7fba13de284a1a0c80107c5ce66bdf61.jpg

 

The Carboy Challenge, or Reef in a Bottle challenge, would consist of a 1 to 6 gallon glass or plastic carboy.  Contestants could keep the bottle intact, or cut, or modify it with access holes.  The orientation could be upright, upside down, on its side, or at an angle.  As a classic ship in a bottle, contestants could use spray foam, or painstakingly aquascape rock rubble through the neck with a long pair of tongs.  Note that there are also some wide mouth carboys.

IMG_5700__77474_480x480.jpg?v=1571609274  F1APBN8I03ODLDA.png

An upside down orientation could make for a water cooler reef tank, like in the 80's movie, Real Genius.  Equipment (air lines, heaters, etc) could be placed through the neck, or through an access made by the contestant.  A closed loop, or sump no bigger than the bottle's capacity (to contain equipment) would also be allowed.

 

The 5-Gallon Bucket Reef Challenge would consist of a typical 5-gallon bucket (or a similar sized salt mix bucket).  Contestants could either take pictures top down, or make a coral viewing portal out of PVC, acrylic, and a UNISEAL bulkhead.  A second 5-gallon bucket could potentially be used as an optional sump.

bucketreef3.jpg.a62d5285f077666a5e033e0439eb9fed.jpg  51wt5W 5TML._AC_.jpg

  • Like 3
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40 minutes ago, M. Tournesol said:

Could do the Bucket challenge if a 5 gallon mini pond is authorized.

I'd be cool with that as long as it's saltwater (probably would let brackish go too).  I could see something based on a mini koi pond, with a couple of fire shrimp (or even one or two clown gobies).  You could build up some rock work out of the water for some plants.  Or possibly some saltwater acclimated mollies or brackish guppies.

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I would prefer a contest around a "grow-out" documentation of a common frag(s), my two main reasons are listed below  

a. I don't have any interest in that "one more tank" worth of chores; but even if I do....

b. for a new setup just for a contest purpose - it takes a long time for the system to get past maturation process relatively speaking to the length of the contest itself, but even more so depending on each starting method.  longer time = more failures, waning interests   

 

If the goal is to encourage proper husbandry and general good reefkeeping - i.e. pest-algae-free, healthy, growing corals - frags growout contest seems more fun and can keep everyone guessing on the outcome.  This can be accomplished regardless of what type of tanks or equipment you have - assuming you have systems capable enough to handle the contest frags.  we can skip acros, or even sps altogther, due to their "more demanding" nature.

  • Like 10
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M. Tournesol
2 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

b. for a new setup just for a contest purpose - it takes a long time for the system to get past maturation process relatively speaking to the length of the contest itself, but even more so depending on each starting method.  longer time = more failures, waning interests   

Yes, but "b" could put reefer possessing a small aquarium (like me) or newbie possessing a young aquarium (like me) at disadvantage 😉.

  • Like 1
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NoOneLikesADryTang
25 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

I would prefer a contest around a "grow-out"

Battle Corals tried to do this on R2R a couple years ago, and hardly anyone made it to the end (Granted, it was SPS, which is difficult for most reefers, especially new ones.)

 

I think it would be hard for people to start with an equal footing, or having access to the same frags. Size of the frag, and locating the same species I think would prove difficult. 
 

With that being said, if a handful of us wanted to have a friendly completion on something like this, I’d interested in it. 

  • Like 3
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46 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

I would prefer a contest around a "grow-out" documentation of a common frag(s)

I'm not overly oppose to another grow out contest.  I believe there was one a few years ago:

 

GSP growing over a Chia statue (or aquarium decor) might be funny.  Maybe someone will do that in this contest. 🤔

 

46 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

I don't have any interest in that "one more tank" worth of chores

Yeah, I hear you.  I might hesitate to buy another standard 10 gallon tank, and find room for it.  I feel that's one of the reasons that these odd "tanks" might appeal to some.  First, the cost of entry is pleasantly low (and many of us have some spare equipment which might work for it).

 

Next, they would take up a relatively small amount of space.  And, they're temporary; I doubt that anybody will continue their 5-gallon bucket too far past the contest end date; they'll just transfer the rock and livestock into another setup.

 

But then there's the unique factor, ingenuity, and innovation that people would demonstrate to make their entries functional (especially the carboy option).

I see this particular contest as mostly for entertainment.

  • Like 5
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5 g bucket or Carnot has zero interest to me. 
 

I voted 5-20g, but would prefer a spec tank size that’s cheap and available to almost everyone. 
 

Eliminating sounds cool, but getting enough participation to the end will be a challenge. I think we had 60+ Participants for the 365 and maybe 1/3 made it to the end. 
 

and imo it needs to be a year long also

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16 minutes ago, ef4life said:

I voted 5-20g, but would prefer a spec tank size that’s cheap and available to almost everyone.

Sounds like you should have voted for the 10 gallon tank (which seems to better meet your criteria).

 

16 minutes ago, ef4life said:

imo it needs to be a year long also

At this point, I'm not 100% sure how long it would go.  I'm thinking (with two or three months to set it up before the elimination game starts) that it would be at least 9 months.  So maybe we're not too far off on this point.

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NoOneLikesADryTang
1 hour ago, ef4life said:

5 g bucket or Carnot has zero interest to me. 

If that ends up being the contest, I’m probably out as well. I don’t think there’s anyway I could talk the tank keeper in to having either of those set up in the living room. They also have very little interest to me. You can’t see anything but a top down view of the bucket, and the carboy would be covered in film algae in a couple of months, making it nearly impossible to see. 

  • Sad 1
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1 hour ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

If that ends up being the contest, I’m probably out as well. I don’t think there’s anyway I could talk the tank keeper in to having either of those set up in the living room. They also have very little interest to me. You can’t see anything but a top down view of the bucket, and the carboy would be covered in film algae in a couple of months, making it nearly impossible to see. 

Agreed. I'd love to see the wifes face when I told her I'm keeping a bucket of water that's hard to look at for months. Granted I wont participate either but as a viewer seems little hard to follow bc of photos.. and I didnt even know what a carboy was hahah. But I think the algae ridden sides would be hard to clean and look at...  

 

Glad @seabass is trying to get something going though. And don't mean to just poop on ideas with out any input or ideas. But just throwing in my 2 cents for what its worth🤣🤣🤣😁

 

I did enjoy a grow out contest with the same frags from the same vendor like before.. wouldnt mind seeing a pico contest or reef jar one again.. would cut down on costs for the folks entering 

  • Like 3
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1 hour ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

the carboy would be covered in film algae in a couple of months, making it nearly impossible to see.

Yeah, you'd need probably need a NanoMag or something similar.

 

If you watch the movie Real Genius, you can see that they cut a large hole in the top (actually, the bottom), which should be fairly easy to maintain.

 

3 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

wouldnt mind seeing a pico contest or reef jar one again

Depending on how you might do it, a carboy isn't that different than a cookie jar reef.  If you use plastic, you can cut it super easy.  However, industrious people should be able to even cut access into a glass carboy.  Heck, this one isn't much different than a cookie jar.

71F4jlZyN0L._AC_UY218_.jpg

  • Like 1
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NoOneLikesADryTang
2 minutes ago, seabass said:

Yeah, you'd need probably need a NanoMag or something similar.

Those work ok in between glass cleanings with a razor blade, but I would imagine in a years time, it’d still be pretty tough to see in. 
 

I do appreciate your outside the box thinking on this! I also really appreciate you taking the initiative on this to get something going here. Thank you SeaBass!

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1 hour ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

If that ends up being the contest, I’m probably out as well.

Well nothing is set in stone (we're talking about doing something in 2022).  This is mostly to see what people really want.  However, coming up with a consensus is like herding cats.

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Since people cannot change their votes in our polls, I'd be willing to start a take #2 on a poll.  But we'd need some good feedback on what people really want.  Any specifics?

 

We could certainly take the winner in this poll and include that (along with some other solid options) in the new poll.

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Nova Scotian

I’m just creeping this, really, but what about the acrylic bathroom storage boxes or something like that? Cheap, various shapes and sizes, and flat sides for easier cleaning? I know nothing about pico, but just trying to add any helpful ideas.

 

image.jpeg.042f20ac3d76d3f6bce10be8e63b0171.jpeg
serpadesign on YouTube is always doing things with little containers like this.

 

image.thumb.jpeg.dbca88c800dfce6a5b54c2731e921587.jpegimage.jpeg.719b034896ccb57f1c55534bc66fa4a4.jpeg 

  • Like 6
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NoOneLikesADryTang
27 minutes ago, seabass said:

Well nothing is set in stone (we're talking about doing something in 2022).  This is mostly to see what people really want.  However, coming up with a consensus is like herding cats.

Totally agree. I think someone (you, CM, a small group of NanoReefers, etc) will just need to end up making decision on it and move forward. If I were doing it, I’d try to make it as broad as possible (whatever tank/carboy/bucket you wanted to use for it) and move forward (maybe just a gallon range?) I’d be interested in following someone successfully using a carboy, but I could never talk the tank keeper in to it, but I don’t necessary think it should be disallowed as long as it’s within the gallon limits.  
 

I also think limiting livestock, or colors is a bad idea. If someone wants to do that, they should. It might be really cool to see a red and green only tank, but I wouldn’t want to be limited to that. 

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Sounds like there are more reservations with the carboy, than the bucket.  Obviously there would be more obstacles to overcome with a carboy.  However, I still think you could make something nice in a 5-gallon bucket.

 

Maybe a nice stand.

c559ee14ebc18429d7fb8d671b54c5bd.jpg

 

or a Bucket Dolly

61sbi7J3GDL._AC_UY218_.jpg

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2 minutes ago, seabass said:

Since people cannot change their votes in our polls, I'd be willing to start a take #2 on a poll.  But we'd need some good feedback on what people really want.  Any specifics?

I’d rather have a final nano reef  vote at the end and just prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd ranked tanks overall tanks. Then do a few fun side categories like best diy, rule breaker etc. 

 

tank size - I’m good with either a single sized spec tank everyone with be required to use, or give a small range of limits ex - 5-20g, no rimless, no aio etc, diy built tanks at required size are allowed etc.


For fun ideas maybe everyone has to  follow a - movie theme, predominant color coral, bare bottom only, etc

 

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growsomething

A pest nano tank?  It would be cheap and some ppl have made aptasia scapes look like a fantasy.  It could be fun to see how ideas end up turning out - or not!  No limits on the tank or equipment.  Some have used just an airstone.  Who would setup an expensive sumped system with high dollar lights just for aptasia.  And would it do any good.  

The point and goal would be imaginative designs while having cheap fun.  I'd follow most of those tanks!  wwtbd (what will tigaboy do?)

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The carboy is a cool idea but maybe too much of a faff to get good uptake... Likewise the reef bucket is a great idea too but I'll never be able to get it past my other half - I'm not quite sure how I'll get her to sign up to the idea of a glorified bucket in our living room for 365 days 😂

 

Just my two penneth worth but maybe a comp with restrictions on size ratios, or certain shapes. E.g. must be a shallow or tall tank, or perhaps non rectangular tanks? That kinda thing will maybe get better uptake. Sorry crap ideas, but will think on it some more lol!

  • Like 3
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filefishfinatic

we should do categories for each one so we dont have to speciffically do one thing. i like the idea of a random object but id have to find something cool to do it with. was considering fitting a fishbowl into a diver helmet. 

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32 minutes ago, filefishfinatic said:

i like the idea of a random object but id have to find something cool to do it with. was considering fitting a fishbowl into a diver helmet.

It's been a few years, but we did have a contest like this.

 

IDK, if there is enough interest, maybe we should do something similar again (which could potentially include carboys and 5-gallon buckets).

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M. Tournesol

Too classic and the contest was already made. Too strange and nobody will do it.

It must be aesthetically pleasing, a fresh idea/theme, and not too costly 🤪

Finding a good contest theme is starting to become a difficult task 🤯.

 

Is it possible to have the list of the theme of all nano-reef previous contests?

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