New Project, lets have a nano competition!

[hobbes]

Hello guys, I was thinking to promote nano reefing, and the special touch of it, lets have a nano competition!

Basically, not just a put in corals and take a photo(becos anyone can do it),

but more on the most growth(for corals) and the health of the fishes in it?

Basically, maybe we can set a a standard of tanks like below 2feet, and set a water volume limit. Maybe we can brain storm this alittle.

Maybe this can take place over the year, maybe starting on JAN 2006. so we have all the time to cycle our waters and all.

Better still if we can standardise the tanks

And monitor our tanks on a website monthly.. like a blog.

I'm sure new reefers, or even professional reefers will gain somethin out of this..

very raw idea.. but i think its good.

Cheers

Hobbes!

[ckevin]

Great idea! Best if there are at least 30 tanks in competition.

For tanks not larger than 22 gals only

The following are suggested guidelines

1)start from scratch(compulsory)

2)Best to start with frags. Not compulsory.

3)Tanks with more than 4 coral casualties or replacements will be disqualified.

4)Reefers may opt to link their nano to huge sumps or current reefs for added stability. (eg. 15 gallon with 3 ft sump)

5)Reefers are expected to upload updated pics at least once a month.

6)Reefs will be judged on overall aesthetic balance. eg. color combination, coral size in proportion. Health of corals.

7)reefers should not be penalised for not having state of art equipment.

8)The first full tank pic with all corals in will be uploaded a month after competition starts to allow slow acclimatising/introduction of coral.After which, No further change of rock work and not more than 4 re-positioning of coral is allowed.

8)All SRC moderators will vote and decide on winning entry. Their decision is final.

9)We can get a sponsor for this. (heavy responsibilities: scrutinize every entry to spot for violation of competition rules)

10)We can send invites to reefers in nano-reef and other forums. Of course, we need experts to analize if pics are doctored or photoshopped. Heavily doctored pics will be penalised.

11) Progress pics and comments/questions should be separated to make viewing and judging easy.

I am sure this project will be exciting and does not burn too big a hole in the pocket .

Hopefully we can have a Amano in Reef.

[iantoh]

hey guys, below thirty gallons so i can join la!

[elimmel]

hey guys, below thirty gallons so i can join la!

yah yah , below 30G la.

also, start from scratch abit problem for some of us.

how about not more than 6mths old?

[nakazoru]

How about pooling a entrance fees as the grand prize for the winner?

Also if starting from scratch, then it will be good to fixed the equipment to be used. Then in that case we can request some LFS to provide those fixed equipment at a discounted prize. Also can ask them to sponsor some consolation prize.....

Fixed Equipment Suggestion:

1. 2 x 1.5 X1.5 ft tank with sump preferably with stand

2. 2 x T5 HO

3. Fixed brand Skimmer

4. Fixed brand Powerhead

5. Fan/Chiller

6. DI/RO filter (share by all participant)

The rest, freestyle:

1. LR

2. LS

3. Sand

4. Filter Media

5. Coral/Anemone

Pool: 50SGD per entry

Selection of winner: 1 year.

Count me lah. But must set up a organising committee soon... Otherwise everyone forget liao. Tank site visit for all SRC members monthly, good SRC outing.....

[nakazoru]

Great idea! Best if there are at least 30 tanks in competition.

For tanks not larger than 22 gals only

The following are suggested guidelines

1)start from scratch(compulsory)

2)Best to start with frags. Not compulsory.

3)Tanks with more than 4 coral casualties or replacements will be disqualified.

4)Reefers may opt to link their nano to huge sumps or current reefs for added stability. (eg. 15 gallon with 3 ft sump)

5)Reefers are expected to upload updated pics at least once a month.

6)Reefs will be judged on overall aesthetic balance. eg. color combination, coral size in proportion. Health of corals.

7)reefers should not be penalised for not having state of art equipment.

8)The first full tank pic with all corals in will be uploaded a month after competition starts to allow slow acclimatising/introduction of coral.After which, No further change of rock work and not more than 4 re-positioning of coral is allowed.

8)All SRC moderators will vote and decide on winning entry. Their decision is final.

9)We can get a sponsor for this. (heavy responsibilities: scrutinize every entry to spot for violation of competition rules)

10)We can send invites to reefers in nano-reef and other forums. Of course, we need experts to analize if pics are doctored or photoshopped. Heavily doctored pics will be penalised.

11) Progress pics and comments/questions should be separated to make viewing and judging easy.

I am sure this project will be exciting and does not burn too big a hole in the pocket .

Hopefully we can have a Amano in Reef.

Item 3 seems too harsh for newbie also hard to enforce.

Item 4 seems like cheating for nano tank.

I think this competition is to introduce the reef keeping to more people and get them interested.

If possible can have 2 category, for beginner (<3 year experence) and advance (>3 year experience).

No professional reefer allowed to participate. (I meant LFS and workers).

It is best be organised by some LFS, and also maybe can make a expo at the end of the contest (Selected tanks). This becomes our SRC annual event... First in the world, think about it....

We have dogs shows, how it is time for Reef shows...

[elimmel]

No professional reefer allowed to participate. (I meant LFS and workers).

this point is very impt.

have you checked out the sps nano tank at harlequin?

uses mh light and the skimmer is.....

[nakazoru]

this point is very impt.

have you checked out the sps nano tank at harlequin?

uses mh light and the skimmer is.....

Where is harlequin? Maybe should take a look...

Can't wait for someone to start registration process...

To kick start registration, For now:

1. Nakazoru

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

[elimmel]

harlequin marine

17 cavan road

singapore 209850

tel 63965659

www. harlequinmarine.com

err... no relations to the shop and not advertising for them

[Alvin Tan]

u mean only new tank can participate???current tank can anot???

[nakazoru]

Now still Tok Co*k sing song lah. Not concrete.

[jem]

plan to do my nano soon..

but not playing corals..

can still participate?

[ckevin]

Fixed Equipment Suggestion:

1. 2 x 1.5 X1.5 ft tank with sump preferably with stand

2. 2 x T5 HO

3. Fixed brand Skimmer

4. Fixed brand Powerhead

5. Fan/Chiller

6. DI/RO filter (share by all participant)

Nakazoro

Bro..fixing equipment stifles the competition lah. Some people keep sps, 2xT5 where got enough? If i use 250w Mh over my tank and only use T5 for pics, how can you tell rite? If i use tunze and only put up some crap powerhead during site visits you also cannot catch what. .

Starting from scratch only refers to inhabitants and coral stock in the tank. Of course it need not be from scratch.. tanks can be judged based on the first pic you submit for entry. So ten year old reefs also can participate. Just make sure it looks good a year from now. Anyway i think half a year is more appropriate.

Everything else like stock choice (LPS/SPS) and equipment must free style.

I understand you are trying to standardize everything as much as possible but hey.. everyone has their own budget and preference. Very difficult one. Later still must restrict only 12hours light hours ..only 2 water changes max a week..cannot use high end salt mix becos some reefers cannot afford..

Beauty contests never stipulate what the contestants must eat or drink or how many times they can shit. After they win, they can accredit whatever regime or nutrition they have benifitted from.

If they don't win..fun is the name of the game.

You mentioned about rule no. 3 being too harsh. Well.. the contest is for a year. Point is awarded for growth and health of life stock. Without that clause, isn't it possible for me to fix up or change out my unhealthy corals for a better standing when it is nearing the final assessment? Like that not fair. But of course we can increase the casualty/replacement number to 50 or 100 if our reefers are so incompetent.

But then, so many casualties only mean they don't understand reefing. Then no reason to win, agree? We have touched on this topic in another thread started by Blue heaven.

Why are there so many reefers giving up

Also , I don't see how clause 4 is cheating. It is just a matter of convenience and added stability should owners of large reefs want to participate.

If we are opening up the competition to other forums, i don't think it is feasible to impose entry fees. If base on local entries, I don't think there will be enough quality tanks to even justify my talking co*k here. Also the experience and beginner category thingy is not practical or rather too much complications. This should be an open category competition.

Don't take it personal. I am just overwhelmed by the potential of this competition.

But interestingly i don't see any response from any moderators. I shall stop contributing till further encouraged. Otherwise this thread will jus degenerate into another Kopitiam talk co*k and banter thread.

[BFG]

Maybe, instead of using newbie and experience category, you could replace it with stock or modified tank set like what nano-reef was doing. 1st, need to standardise the equipment like tank. Nano-Reef uses Nano cube made by JBJ. There is the 6 gallon, 12 gallon and 24 gallon tankset. All we need to do 1st is to choose which model to be used in the competition. Once we have chosen the size of the tank, then we categorise it as stock or modified tank. Those who do not want to spend too much can go for the stock category while the others can go for the modified ones where anything goes.

For sponsorship, maybe someone can talk to JBJ distributor here in SG to offer discount for the tankset. The people competing in this competition would have to keep the tankset for awhile. Or maybe provide the prize for the winner of the 2 category.

To prevent cheating, we could use next year tankset model from JBJ( if it is agreeable). From reading some thread in Nano-Reef, those tankset have different improvement done every year.

[hobbes]

Good idea BFG, but maybe we could do our "own" way but lets leave da option open, cos its really interestin to see all sorts of shapes and dimensions and all...

Hello guys, as you can, its really a good idea!

Some of you have really poured in some of your suggestions which are really good!

Some or so so but all in all, lets all make it FUN, and yet get new reefers interested, and also ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER, so show that reefing isnt flying a rocket

As most of you have suggested, making a standard is important, but we also must consider the fact that everyone has a budget, like me.. i got a tight one!! so does iantoh!

1. Below a fix volume. (if you have a sump, total vol. must still meet the requirements)

2. ANY filtration or equipment is allowed.

3. Coral casualties or replacements will NOT be disqualified

4. Everyone's tanks should start from BARE.

5. Corals can be added within the first two months only. (May change this abit)

A monthly report of our personal tanks will be done, pictures would be best.

All tanks will be shown off at the end of six months.

Our focus will be on GROWTH and HEALTH! on corals and LS.

Now lets get down to debate on the tank size! Cause I really want it to be as nano as possible!

[elimmel]

BFG, pretty good format to follow.

btw, got your nanocube yet?

what's your nick over at nanoreef.com?

[hobbes]

nanoreef rawks. but lets get back on topic guys =]

[nakazoru]

Nakazoro

Bro..fixing equipment stifles the competition lah. Some people keep sps, 2xT5 where got enough? If i use 250w Mh over my tank and only use T5 for pics, how can you tell rite? If i use tunze and only put up some crap powerhead during site visits you also cannot catch what. .

Starting from scratch only refers to inhabitants and coral stock in the tank. Of course it need not be from scratch.. tanks can be judged based on the first pic you submit for entry. So ten year old reefs also can participate. Just make sure it looks good a year from now. Anyway i think half a year is more appropriate.

Everything else like stock choice (LPS/SPS) and equipment must free style.

I understand you are trying to standardize everything as much as possible but hey.. everyone has their own budget and preference. Very difficult one. Later still must restrict only 12hours light hours ..only 2 water changes max a week..cannot use high end salt mix becos some reefers cannot afford..

Beauty contests never stipulate what the contestants must eat or drink or how many times they can shit. After they win, they can accredit whatever regime or nutrition they have benifitted from.

If they don't win..fun is the name of the game.

You mentioned about rule no. 3 being too harsh. Well.. the contest is for a year. Point is awarded for growth and health of life stock. Without that clause, isn't it possible for me to fix up or change out my unhealthy corals for a better standing when it is nearing the final assessment? Like that not fair. But of course we can increase the casualty/replacement number to 50 or 100 if our reefers are so incompetent.

But then, so many casualties only mean they don't understand reefing. Then no reason to win, agree? We have touched on this topic in another thread started by Blue heaven.

Why are there so many reefers giving up

Also , I don't see how clause 4 is cheating. It is just a matter of convenience and added stability should owners of large reefs want to participate.

If we are opening up the competition to other forums, i don't think it is feasible to impose entry fees. If base on local entries, I don't think there will be enough quality tanks to even justify my talking co*k here. Also the experience and beginner category thingy is not practical or rather too much complications. This should be an open category competition.

Don't take it personal. I am just overwhelmed by the potential of this competition.

But interestingly i don't see any response from any moderators. I shall stop contributing till further encouraged. Otherwise this thread will jus degenerate into another Kopitiam talk co*k and banter thread.

Hellooo;

Thanks for the lengthy reply, had to spend a bit of time reading... Good to see the suggestion coming. I will not dispute any of your points, as it does make sense from many different point of view. No right or wrong, you know.

The suggested committee should settle these regulation for us. Not the contestant fix regulation and ask committee to follow.

Just one point, I find interesting:

If one contestant wants to spents lots of money restocking/rescaping or even hire professional to win the contest that do not have a large prize money. Its really alright to me.

Lets enjoy reefing...

[nakazoru]

Now lets get down to debate on the tank size! Cause I really want it to be as nano as possible!

If "Nano" is the theme, then use volume as category:

<12G group

<24G group

>24G group....

Suggestion only

[ckevin]

If one contestant wants to spents lots of money restocking/rescaping or even hire professional to win the contest that do not have a large prize money. Its really alright to me.

Sea cucumbers

Read my posts again. You have misunderstood my intentions. It may be lengthy but it should give you some insights.

Pls pm me should you need to discuss on this issue. Help keep this thread productive. Any more rebuting will not be entertained in this thread.

Many thanks.

[tayhonglee]

heyyy.....this is a great idea!

my suggestion is that the nano be a real nano. somethiing like below 10 gal. maybe a 1 ft cube? the smaller the better.....for one thing, theres a lot less space to scape, so skill in making the tank look pleasing becomes very important. equipments generally do not have to be very expensive to take care of such a small tank. something like a weipro and power compacts and a diy auto top up are more than enough.

i think that thats the only limitation that we need. lights and equipment and sumps and livestock and husbandry are all up to the individual.

also, im in agreement with allowing the nano to be linked to other tanks. i love marine life, but if i were to get even more equipments, my wife is going to skin me alive. hahaha.....it might be an advantage, or maybe not.....i sure wouldn't link up my nano to a fowlr tank crammed with tangs and toher poop factories.

I don't think prizes are important, but maybe AT might consent to allow the winner and runner ups to have a permanent link on this forum, sort of like a pinned up featured aquarium thing. maybe a pinned up thread with a title like THE BEST NANO IN SRC... i think in this case recognition is more rewarding than monetary awards.

what do you guys think?

[hobbes]

Lets start small and simple... lets just have one category, below 10.1G.

There will be no limitations of equipment used (water vol. rule applies)

There is no limitation of the type of corals and fishes, the theme will be GROWTH and HEALTH.

So from SIMPLE things to mushrooms... to SPS. Doesnt matter how complicated the coral need or whatever.. the whole thing centers around GROWTH and health

And of cos, alittle presentations and creativity.

Prizes isnt that important, but we can work this out.

And I still think corals can only be added within the first two months from the start date

Cheers, tell me what you guys think.

[ervine]

For tanks not larger than 22 gals only..

Haha.. i was quite confused when I read that... not larger than 20 gals (I thought you meant girls)...

anyway why not standardise the tank size? then have like "starter kits" for all contestants.. so everyone starts on a level basis...

then up to them to config by themselves... can have different categories, eg.

1. most DIY-ed

2. most "money is not an issue"

3. best aquascaping

etc etc....

[iantoh]

hi guys, real cool idea to hold a nano comp.

thing is, might this not inspire reefers to start a separate system which they might not wish to keep post the competition? perhaps you guys could do a nano-comp not so much in the RC "buildoff" fashion where everyone starts from scratch, but more like an aesthetics and growth through a period of time sort of thing, then people with established systems can join in, which will increase participation, lower livestock replacement/endangerment, etc, and allow reefers to minimize costs, and also, minimize the likelihood of coral replacement, fish sales, etc after the comp ends.

anyhows, good luck for the comp guys.

[Achilles Tang]

I need sometime to see how it can all work out... sorry guys... I'm swamped with work at the moment but I like what I see here... you have my support!