Love the idea, good luck to all those who are participating. Can't wait to see the finished results.

In their own category. I just started with a general list. I will make additions to what I've started already; so rics, mushrooms, what else?

I will also look at getting some firm rules out about trading items; e.g. your zoas go crazy and you want to scale it back a bit.

I believe its a group judging, like how we do the photo contests. We all get to vote in a poll.

- Theme's: Tanks don't need to be theme specific, but you are more than welcome to create a theme tank.
- Prizes are Gift Certificates that are divided 3 ways equally from the entry fees. (Best 5.5, Best 10, Most Innovative) I am working with a local vendor for an extra prize, that will be donated in support, but at this time, it's still undetermined.
- Judges will be ALL members of Canreef.com, criteria is what each person see fit when casting their vote.

Will the coral prices be listed in the rules eventually? It'd be easier than sifting through the thread :smile:

Yes, I will try to have prices made into a sticky.

I wanted to throw this option out there for those in Edmonton or coming to Edmonton. If anyone else with baby rics wants to trade for one of mine I have three, I'm keeping two but would love to trade for another nicely colored baby ric. Mine are flourescent orange with a bright green mouth.

Christy has the Contest Tank journal section up, if you want to make a thread in there with a list of all the prices and get her to sticky it for quick reference, that would be great.

Yea, there really isn't any guideline for that.. As long as you have decided to join, you can start on whatever DIY work you want. (Make sure you have a photo of your STOCK tank w/ some sort of item in it before modding the tank tho!)

The Canreef Nano Tank Contest subsection is open.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=146

Your build thread with a pic of the stock tank (w/ something in it ie: shoe, pop can, case of beer, etc) must be started by Oct 15.

when the forum for this gets set up maybe we could have acouple of stickey threads such as tank journals and LS to be priced. just an idea to try and keep things together. if pics of fish are posted with value then only one person would have to submit each fish.

we do hoever pay full price on new ls do we not? look for values on "old" migrated from another tank fish? just wondering if i decide to use my hectors goby what it would be worth? if i can find the little bugger.

Edit: sorry issed the most recent posts somehow. i see someelse was thinking tho

I've posted in ur tank journal regarding the Hector Goby and pricing.

id love to enter but the smallest tank i have empty is a 12 gallon so unless that will qualify i guess ill just have to come up with something for next time. if it will work let me know and ill give it a try

I read on one of the replies about needing to have water in it by Nov 15th for the first check point. Is this with LR and SW or can be be a fresh water test?

What are the checkpoints?

Oct 1st - Tank Picture before MODs
Oct 15th - Payment
Nov 15th - FTS with water
Dec 15th or ??? - ???

Hey guys.... I have to tell you that I've had my eye out for a Nano buildoff for a while (I dont really frequent nano-reef.com). I was a part of Reef.org's 2005 Nano Buildoff (It was my first saltwater tank wooo!), and came in 3rd in the contest:

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=971660

It was a lot of fun! I was thinking about joining this one until I read this thread... hehe. All this talk about budget and calculating spending and everything just seems far too complicated. Honestly I've come to learn in this hobby that you can spend thousands of dollars on equipment and coral and still come out with a tank that looks like poop, and some people can spend next to nothing and make a masterpiece. I think the general budget guideline is a great idea, and making people record their spending is also a good idea, but to go so far as to calculate the value of pieces of equipment down to the penny is a moot point (and wayyy too much math involved for me). I think if someone wants to spend $1000 on a 5 gallon then they can go ahead, but I can't honestly see being able to make a nano tank really spectacular just because you spent more money on it. Its all about being creative and talented!

Anywhoo just my 2 cents. If I had more time this semester I might be all for it! Have fun guys! I can already think of a million things I would do with a 5 gallon.... :D


-Diana

what about the possibility of flat rate item? regardless of brand things like heaters and filters should have a flat rate according to model.

Ie
Heater
50W $25
75W 30

Aqua Clear HOB
30 or < $25
50 $35

korialia
nano $20
1 $25

Skimmers
rio nano $30
Lees S $20
Lees m $25

And so on and so forth, just to take the guess work out of these manditory items

so due to lack of response im guesing a 12 gallon wouldnt qualify. oh well:sad:

These prices bring way more opportunity to what I was planning!

I was also thinking of fragging some corals. Like hammers or frogspawn.
Thanks

You could always just buy a 10g. they are like 25 bucks. To think that you would be spending 400 plus on other items/livestock anyways, it is kind of a waste not to enter because you have to buy a cheap tank.

i am thinking the frag prices may be low. Clams? this is a 300 dollar limit. what you going to spent 250 on lights and 50 on a clam? i thought the whole point of this was that it was to see what could be done on a fixed budget. with coral prices like these there is really no point in entering (makes possiblities far too endless). i thought this was a grow out tank. frags should be a min of 20 a Peice. what about those who are going with little coral? this kills them as they wont get a deal like that on LS. for those who are considering a species tank?

Im thinking 20 for a 5head reg zoas 35 for a 5 head rare zoa and so on. this again limits coral and gets back to THE NATURE OF THE BEAST which i thought was to see who could "Grow out" a tank in 6 monthes.

Just my opinion.

Frags will probably be where it is at. You can always gamble, get a chinese pendant from ebay, buy randolm zoa frags and hope they cover the rock work in 6 months :biggrin:









BTW, where the heck do I send my 20 bucks? I don't have paypal so I might have to send a money order. If not, I can probably do a CC transaction if the money collectors have a business or merchant account.

Everyone seems to be going a little too hard core lol.... The rules are stated. The idea is to keep it fun and based off the NR build contest.

Whats next.. are people gonna want to convert the 250 and 300 to canadian $ :P

Less thinking about ways to change it and more thinking about how your gonna be different :D

All i am trying to say that those who have Rare corals to frag can frag 15-20polyp zoa frag that would cost 300 on the market for the others and they could get it for 10? even if i spent the 300 on the market and could get them for 10 in the contest what does this have to do with a spending limit?. its begining to have nothing to do 300 out of pocket anymore!!

I may be complaining a little too much but i just dont feel that the frag prices are just. i had my entire tank mapped out based on fraging my coral and paying an "appropriate market value for them" cheap things mushrooms, very average zoas, etc ( and purchasing some and providing recepts) in order to spend more money on LS.

Maybe im out of line here but this $300 tank is slowly turning into a $700 tank.

Sorry i know its alot to take in but i am just thinking of keeping the playing field even.

whens the deadline to enter? i looked through all my misc. crap and ive got both a 5.5 and a 10, so theres a good chance ill be in. out of curiosity where does a person find a small enough halide for that though (without having to build it myself ).

customnano.com I think has some... but they are like 170 or something insane.

I've been out all day (picked up my 10G tank) and doing some running around, and get home and I had to laugh at all the comments on this and that and prices, etc... scuglass nailed it on the head (except for the $250-300 comment... that is in CDN dollars.. ;) )

It's pretty simple, the guidelines have been laid out, and it has been mentioned "If you don't feel you can participate with the rules/guidelines that have been laid out for the contest, your time and money is probably best spent on a tank you will enjoy and keep in the long run" (That comment is not being made to turn people away from entering, but I think it takes care of all the questioning)

This contest is suppose to be fun and to see what type of creative idea's you guys can come up with, not a challenge to see if you can "beat the system" and get everything for free.. LOL Yes, lighting is going to be tough with the budget, as I experienced this afternoon while out looking, but people always talk about how expensive this hobby is, and they are correct for the most part. This contest is going to show that you can create a kick-ass nano reef on a fixed budget.


ElGuappo, I didn't quote ur last msg, but you are right... Coral's need to be priced at the "fair market value" based either from the LS Buy/Sell section on Canreef, or J&L as they are the cheapest in Canada (except for maybe some of our frag vendors... :) )


This contest failed once over at NR before because of the same issues, and the guys organizing it over there this time, have come up with almost exactly what I have posted on the first post of this thread. I guess its a "Take it or Leave it" choice. :)

Oct 15, you must have a payment and a tank thread with a pic of your STOCK 5.5 or 10G AGA tank (with some crazy object of your choice inside it :mrgreen: )... No Nanocubes, no custom built frag tanks, etc... You can MOD the heck out of the tank, but you MUST start with a Stock one...

As for the MH comment... that's all out of my hands.. I found a great little unit at big al's today a 2x24W T5-HO Nova Extreme unit, couple inches to long, but for $89... it is prolly more than enough light for a 10G. :wink:


Also, to the person who asked about the "checkpoints".. lol

Oct 15 - Payment & Tank thread with a photo of your STOCK tank (with something in it ie: pet, pop can, etc.. this prove's the photo is recent. :) plus its cool to see what everyone decides to put in for the photo.. :D )

15th of Every month - FTS of your tank on that day.

April 15th, 2009 - Final FTS of your tank emailed to me. (This will be the photo used in the voting thread to determine our winners).

how much lighting would actually be required in a 5.5 or 10 gallon to keep sps
corals

Well said JD.

Being creative is where the fun comes in.

You and I have the same question...

I was thinking maybe 3-4 T5 bulbs, or 1 MH with a good reflector. I saw PFO reflectors come in 20" lengths, if MHs are for you. So that might work if you are doing a 10g. There are also some cool patterns out there for reflectors if you truly want to DIY it and make your own reflector?

Well, some bad news potentially... I may not be able to stay in the contest, I just re-injured my lower back (original injury occurred earlier this year). If I miss work, which I most likely will, which means no cash flow coming in (hourly wage job) I don't think I will have the funds to compete, let alone SETUP the tank (ie: lifting, moving, etc).

I'll keep you guys posted. :cry:

to bad! hope you heal quickly

:( Feel better! I sympathize with your lower back injury so much, they suck terribly.

ya.. i am actually STUCK on the couch... it hurts to much to move... :eek:

NOTICE:

I can now accept Entry fee's via Paypal. If you are going to pay via paypal, you can send your entry to j.digital@shaw.ca. If you do not have a paypal account please PM me and we will work out a different way for you to get your Entry in. Money Order would be the next best option.

Thanks Guys!

OH BABY....I'm so in. This will provide the perfect "pick-me-up" to counter the "selling-my-larger-aquarium" blues.

I'll do a 10G AGA and get you the money soon.

~Drew

Could we please get a sticky on the contest forum with the rules and prices for used corals. Would help to save time when looking for something specific.

Thanks

I don't think we are going to have that used price list... Mostly because of ElGuappo's post on the page before this one... We will use the "fair market value" as posted in the Addendum A on the first page.. I will make a copy post in the Contest Tank Section though. :) If you can not determine a "fair market price" (J&L or Canreef LS Buy/Sell) PM myself or michika and we will do our best to give you a fair price to deduct.

I was skimming NR and besides the fact that some people already have implemented designs i was thinking about :2gunfire: ...

I was looking at calculations.... if i have a heater or whatever lying around the house and the price is less than 15 does that qualify as free? or is it only stuff that makes life easier like thermometers/random diy pieces around the house ect. ?

There is also a guy doing (I think) exactly what I had planned... I'm not sure tho yet..

I actually PM'd someone regarding that type of thing, and he said that $15 rule is something they would have changed. Heaters, are well, pretty much a required piece of equipment in a tank, so it should have to come out of your budget, things like thermometers, glass cleaner (scrub brush or mag float) are the $15 and under type of items that fall under this rule.

Ps. Ill let you know if i choose the 10 or the 5.5 when I pick it up. I will decide at the store haha.

Heater for free may be a good idea?