Tank of the month competition ideas thread

Way back on the forum the photo comp was about any pic but were categorized according to camera used ex phone, digital or dslr

 

I am with this...+1

 

Every comp entry should list what is in the tank and what was done, like ferts, co2, soil etc. Then the people who vote can see and make their own decisions. If I see a tank, no ferts co2 etc like a real beginner or not hi- tech and I see a hi - tech tank, I take all that in consideration before I vote. And if I see a tank with growth like the Amazon jungle and the guy/lady say's it's not hi-tech I know they're lying. Obviously you can't compare a hi-tech against a bare cichlid tank cause the upkeep, effort and money involved is not the same.

 

There is one thing... of all things mentioned so far... that I am prepared to be more lenient on..... and that is .... verification.... I will accept an entry.... if two photographs from different angles of the same tank are entered.... without the written verification..... But... keep your suggestions rolling......

 

I think that a themed monthly comp will be great!
So it is a surprise and something different every month, I personally wont enter FOTM if the first entry is a beautiful discus- just me I would vote for it too hehe
There are so many catagories to pic from:
Amazon fish
Biotope
Odballs
Hi tech planted
low tech planted
Malawi
Tank buster
Diy tanks
Rare fish
Breeding setups
Palladium
Beginner
It will be a surprise every month and as for pic quality we should ban @Linxie and @Broder with their fancy cameras and lenses and stuff......... Kidding:laugh:
pic "quality" shouldn't matter that much as long as you have a half decent shot of what you are trying to show?
I have to agree that the verification pic is a bit of a pita but either way is fine as I can see why it is important.

 

The more I think about it there are so many categories, you could merge the TOTM, FOTM and POTM into one comp and hold it for 2 weeks and in the space of a year you wouldn't repeat the same comp more than twice?
And the calender idea sounds good too!
-fish rooms
-ponds
-plant pics

so many topics......

 

I think taking the themed comp idea with all the categories currently mentioned and currently in use would work very well. I understand there isn't enough interest in the current comps to justify splitting them up even more, so by only having one comp per month you should hopefully get a lot more participation, especially if you rotate the categories say every 6 months.

I love Broder's idea of incorporating a random section into the comp and while Greg wants to ban us , I'm sure this will encourage more people to think out of the box when photographing their tanks/fish and to appreciate the beauty of the finer things. Perhaps have a category for Fish antics / Fish behaviour. I agree with Greg, this isn't about photo quality since this isn't a photography forum, however, I hope that this will inspire people to try take better photos... you don't need an SLR to take great photos

With regards to the verification pic, I understand why this is used, however it won't work with some of the categories. To me it isn't an issue taking a verification pic... and as long as the image is submitted before the comp closing date, surely it shouldn't be an issue? Don't be lazy

Or you could have 3 categories like we do now, and rotate them every 3 months, but instead of having those three, split them up even further... like this:

Fish:
Groups / Schools
Fish behaviour
Individual's
Monster Fish
Close-ups
etc...

Tanks:
High Tech
Low Tech
Non-Planted
Biotope
Plants
Random
etc...

Pets:
Portraits
Pet antics
Walkies
etc...

So each month you'd choose one of the major categories, then one of the sub-categories... next month the next main and sub cat and so on.

 

@GaryG needs the kudos there, as much as I would love the honours....

 

@GaryG +1 I like the idea of have different categories for every month it will give everyone a fair chance in my opinion and we must have like a sump of the month lol

 

I also like the theme idea... Just not sure that it will increase participation?

 

Well, a sure way of increasing participation would be to have prizes for the winners. Maybe some of the sponsors could help out.

 

I think to keep it fair it must be categorized one category per month and different and at the end you do best tank of year or somethings like that. You can't compare a mature planted tank to a newbe to keeping fish or a Malawi tank or a gold fish tank

 

Hi everyone....
I have been out action last 2 weeks and catching up on allthe news now...
Going through this thread, I feel like I created the Mod’snightmare when I started with the different category for tank of the monthsuggestion...
When I originally suggested this, I had a plainer andstraight forward reason for the suggestion and my reasoning was that there arebasically 2 important scenarios.
Firstly, we have the planted tank enthusiasts where theirpassion is to achieve the stunning planted tanks and scapes we see entered, Iam not implying that these members don’t have a passion for their fish eitherbut I do believe their main passion is achieving the beauty of the planted tanksand thus use fish which permit you achieving your goals.
Here, being a beginner or not, is the name of the game, inany other hobby or sport unless you buy someone else’s work to use as your own,you start off as a beginner and your passion, dedication, research and hardwork takes you up along the ranks. You want to compete with the best and makeyour way up and your pride and joy comes from how well or how much you improveyourself.
Taking this as I explained, it would then be nice to have a1[SUP]st[/SUP], 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] etc.. place and you can see your progress and howyou are improving yourself.

The second scenario is those whose passion is for fish thatdo NOT allow you to achieve the stunning planted tanks we see no matter howmuch work, money or dedication you have..... as no sooner do you place a plantin the tank it gets eaten or thrown across to the other side of the tank yet....you still try your best to have a nice tank that is beautiful to look at....being decorated with rocks... slate and caves.. driftwood.... and if necessaryeven the odd plastic plant or if you lucky a few plants tied to your rocks....etc...
These tanks deserve a separate category as, it is not due tolack of work or passion that these members cant achieve what others can withguppies, tetras.. etc...
This can be an open category where anyone can enter theirtanks, beginners, cichlid owners, etc.... and not feel intimidated by displaying theirtanks against the cream of the planted tanks
It is then up to each member if they want to enter this opencategory or if they want to enter and compete with the best of the plantedtanks.
These two categories would then also be done for the year
I see many other suggestions and topics have been raised andsome are great ideas and nice to have like.... a random category etc....andyes, we could run random different competitions to liven up the spirit or agood laugh..
It was never my idea to create a nightmare for @Cheetah.....haha sorry....
But... as I said, some interesting ideas have come up...