Summer should have nothing to do with it. If you can't keep the tank going in the summer, you shouldn't be setting it up.

Ok here are my thoughts, I wasn't going to get into this originally and hey maybe I still won't, but I'll run the contest if you guys need someone to do board stuff and moderate etc.

OK here goes:

I think there should still be the main categories of stock tanks. If you guys want a custom tank category then thats easy to do, set a limit on price or just do glass only.

IMO nano tanks are less than 20gallons, thats just me.

I also think that 6 months is a good timeline. I mean really, are you guys just wanting to set these up and then take them down? Lets face it, anyone who knows what they're doing (or even not knows what they're doing) can throw a bunch of livestock into a newly setup tank, take a photo and then tear it down. Whats the point of that? I thought it was points for creativity and design as well as keeping stuff alive? Personally, I think the big challenge is keeping stuff going in a small water volume (anyone seen my caulerpa factory lately, its a freaking challenge, let me tell you).

Budgets, well I dunno, this seemed to be a contentious issue last time. I would find it much more challenging to come up with a neat theme/design on a limited budget rather than go whole hog and have scads of money to throw into this thing. I guess a larger budget than last time but not overly? Perhaps a set budget for equipment and one for livestock and not have them interchangeable?

Ok those are my thoughts. Feel free to tell me to get lost if you like. Remember I wield the ban stick though :razz: (just kidding of course!)

I would get in on this one. last one i was going to but it would have set back my 60gal and i have been iching to get a nano going again upstairs.

I do think 6 months is a decent time line

set the rules down, i shall be waiting to hear what is going to happen

I like the idea of 3 months with another 1 month for setup. 6 months is too long. To ensure the contenders are creating sustainable systems no livestock can be added or removed in the last month.

I also think the budget is silly, all it did was cause arguments and problems. Bottom line is you don't have to spend a lot to have a nice tank, and prices vary dramatically. Contenders should still record the budget and I think people will be more impressed with a system that cost very little but still nice.

At the very least only apply a budget to the equipment (all equipment) and allow a free budget for livestock.

Also volume wise, total system volume 20 gallons or less. Any tank, custom or stock. A large percentage dropped out because of tank failure, cheap 10gallons with thin glass are bad news, I'm surprised mine is still holding. No connecting other systems, that is an unfair advantage as stability is main challenge for a nano.

Would there be a minimum size? i.e would pico tanks in the 2 to 5 gallon range qualify?

catherine... feel free to run with this one... more power to ya! :lol:

I think as long as the volume is the same in the contest its all good. who cares about the shape.

As for the money factor, its a contest. the whole point is to challange yourself in creating something gorgous with a budget. imo i would up the budget a bit and only have it for livestock. I think $500 on livestock should be good. Also the whole point in the 6 month deal is to let the tank mature. I know in 3 months a tank can look good, but thats from buying AAA coral.

sphelps, your tank is gorgous but at my LFS that stuff would add up really fast.

I think if the contest set specific volumes or tanks like the last one I would be less likely to participate (not that my participation is a deal breaker for the contest :razz:). I think it might be fun to run it more open and set a maximum volume like 20 gallons or 24 gallons etc. and see what people come up with. I have a couple pico builds in mind (have just begun one in fact) that I could enter but they are not standard tanks.

lol see the last issue with the previous contest was adjusting your volume of the tank (not total including sump). Say if it was set at 20 gals, you could do any diamention that you can as long as it was 20gals instead of a standerd 10gal.

I guess we will just have to see how everything turns out. My next set of days off i am going to clean up my 20 tall. it has been iching for a softy tank for a while now.

I agree.

IMO keep it simple then this time. I had all kinds of idea earlier but forget it...

Just set a max tank size, max budget (one for equipment and one for livestock) and a deadline. Keep with the monthly photos or just let people fly with their builds and post how they want like the regular build threads.