tank of the month
 

Anyone see the tank of the month on Reef Central? Pretty crazy stuff. :biggrin:

We should have a tank of the month to stimulate discussion about different reefkeeping methods.

One thing I would like to see different from RC is the tank of the month should include normal hobbyist tanks, not the unattainable "perfect" tanks that real people with jobs, kids, school etc can not attain.

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So in other words a Canadian tank of the month?

yeah i agree... that said there are some pretty killer tanks in canada.

Sounds like a good idea, except Canreef is primarily a Western Canadian board, so we couldn't really call it a "Canadian Tank of the Month". How about calling it a "Canreef Tank of the Month"?

If the powers that be decide it would be a good idea, I have a few questions:

1. Who would be on the selection committee?
2. What criteria would have to be met by the aquarist to have their tank selected?
3. How long would the tank have to be set up in order to qualify?
4. This being a rather small baord compared to RC, do we have enough tanks of excellence to feature a tank each month?

Why do they have to be tanks of excellance? I think just showing off a tank a month of a reef keeper here that wants to show it off would be great =-)

I kind of agree with Nemain. I'm sure there are some reefers who are quite proud of their lets call them humble reefs and wouldn't mind showing them off. What if a check box was added to user profile. "Do you want to be concidered for tank of the month" or something like that and randomly picked each month. Once drawn you get pulled until all participants have been published. Then it would be re-visits to see how the tank has progressed.

Don't know myself, just kickin out ideas. But lets not forget that this might cost a certain somebody more in internet fees and we shouldn't expect him to pick up the tab. On a similar note, why don't we have an on-line auction of unwanted items, all proceeds go to Canreef. For instance I have a Lee's airstone skimmer that might go for $3 and cost $2 to ship. If the entire membership participated in this even at a modest level as above, it would add up to a fair chunk for the enhancement of this already great site. Any thoughts??

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I don't even know how the tank of the month works on reef central. Do they submit nominations or so staff members look around for them? Secondly I think the tank of the month generally goes to beautiful tanks that are healthy and relatively problem free. Size and age shouldn't be an issue. Lastly I think their are definately enough tanks to feature from Canreef. We have hundreds of members so finding one every month to feature shouldn't be a problem. Just by browsing the picture forum several tanks come to mind right away.

Nemain said: The picture forum is how we all show off our tanks, but a tank of the month would reward a specific tank that stands above the rest. Its all about striving to achieve greatness and recognition.

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True, but it's not a level playing field. A struggling student sure couldn't compete with a doctor or such on the amount they can put into the tank.
With the numbers in our membership the "best tank" approach could cause segregations within the community where you have the rich folk here and the ghetto folk there. I think from pic's I've seen each reef keeper has his own approach to what they are doing and what they want to achieve. I just think Tank of the month should be a reefkeepers chance to showcase what they have done and not have it be a contest where some skilled keepers can't compete due to lack of funds.

The staff on RC, keeps a lookout for possible TOTM, by watching the pics being posted, suggestions and so on.

I agree with the concept for us. I also agree with using all types of members tanks and not just the fancy dandy ones. :lol: Of course they can be featured tanks also. I still think they should be somewhat mature, with a decent coral growth, and size not an issue.

The ones I dont like, are bought tanks, not very old, that someone purchased all large colonies of sps for instance. I have seen these on other boards. It says look at my beautiful sps tank. :rolleyes:

Not sure what Titus would have to do for that to work, but we can see I guess. :smile:

TOTM
 

Would a "featured" tank be more useful and less dominated by the few great SPS gurus (You know who you are! :smile: ).
For example; tanks (or reefers) that are example of a "new" ideas, like changing to a bare bottom....a description of the technique, reasons for it , drawbacks , advantages etc (like high flow poss. because of no flying sand), decreased phos build up etc.
Or systems with Ca reactors vs. 2 part, skimmers or not,growing Acros under NO etc. (go Rich!!)...tech systems vs. K.I.S.S. systems, best example of a starting reef vs. getting longevity with out accumulation of phos ,detritus etc....plenty of things to highlight!...we only need twelve ideas per year! :mrgreen:
Then we can "discuss" it all month, track successes and failures etc.
....just food for thought, Cheers

i could build a nice layout for the presentation if canreef can supply the hosting space for it.

RDO wanted to feature my tank once a long time ago and asked for pics, so I sent them and they kinda went........thanks........but.......maybe some other time.... :lol: :mrgreen:

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Its not just about the money you can put into a tank, but the time as well. My tank would look a lot better if I had 3 or 4 hours a week extra to put into it.

I am interested in looking at different people's styles and techniques of reefkeeping, aquascaping, and how they stock their tanks. That is why I favour an ordinary person's type tank of the month, warts and all.

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I would love to see this on here, not that my tank could win. Maybe in a few years :biggrin: But it at least gives us all new ideas and something to strive for.


Robert

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A "warts and all" tank is useful as a learning tool for those of us experiencing the same or similar "warts". When featuring a "warts and all" tank, it would be useful to point out the warts, what has/is being done to overcome the warts, what the aquarist would do differently if they were to set up the tank again, etc.

I am not particularly interested in seeing large sps tanks with all the technical bells and whistles month after month, though these tanks are of some interest to me. Rather, I would like to see more tanks with PC or VHO lighting and the corals and fish that reside in such tanks, as well as nanos and 33g, 48g, 67g, etc. sized tanks to illustrate that all sizes of tanks can be aquascaped and stocked with an eye for beauty and functionality.

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So in other words its not a matter of "may the best tank win", rather than the most interesting or charactered (is that a word?) tank that gets the glory. Great ideas keep em' coming! :biggrin:

Just curious why 7 people voted no....

If titus is worried about bandwidth and space I can host a TOTM site that im sure me and willow can build in very short order. I would be more than happy to provide this free to give back to the community.

I personaly love the idea of doing every day reefs as well. gives me a chance some day :)

Yes, it would be nice to hear their opinion also.

I voted no by accident :lol: .

I think it'd be a great idea to see tanks that were put together by the average person... who actually have a realistic budget and works 40 hours a week. Like the others have said, I think we all as a whole would learn a whole lot more from each other if we could see a tank that has both great attributes about it, and flaws as well.

-Rich

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Then we should also have a worst tank of the month? :mrgreen: For that matter, how about an annual getto tank award? :razz:

I really like the idea of a TOTM, especially the idea that it does not have to be a GREAT tank. People could submit their their tank and whichever is chosen as the TOTM gets 'interviewed' by someone who then does a write up about the tank. This way 2 people are collaborating on the information given. The person who owns the tank may not think about some things that would be of interest to the community. Things which the interviewer might ask.

TOTM doesn't have to mean The Best tank chosen this month, it could just as well be the tank chosen to be focused on this month. Maybe this month its John Doe's tank, which has been running for 6 months and has a really bad algae problem. Lets get the pics up (sure they may not be pretty) and the history/write up from the interview. Now let the community comment/critique(in a positive way) what Mr. Doe can do to improve his setup, help control problems, etc etc. Everyone learns from it this way.

Then next month lets pick a GREAT tank. Show off the pics, write up/history. What are the elements contributing to the success of this tank, etc etc. And again the community can critque, comment, ask questions and again learn from others.

Just my thoughts.......

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Great idea! A Focus tank of the month. Now we're getting somewhere. So do any of the staff members want to take the initiative?

I hate the idea. Think of all the work we're all going to have to put into removing cyano and hair algae and glass scraping!!

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I was thinking a "Featured Tank of the Month" based on whatever criteria the volunteer committee decides to use. A peer voted/selected tank is the best way to go, I think.
I'm also too busy to take on much more, so I've suggested to the other mods we have members take this on, not staff. Suggestions to that end?

Hey Brad, I can fully understand the not wanting to take on yet another chore. (and we are thankful for what you do) But, I wonder how a membership run Feature Tank could be managed. Perhaps the addition of a staff member or two who's sole responsabitity is Feature Tank and nothing else. That might keep things running smooth, where a membership based would be hit and miss. JMO and kickin out ideas.

I think Doug has offered some time, so maybe in conjunction with a member? We're looking at options.

you can create a new user group for totm members. keep it with the same user title but give them access to a totm forum that is hidden from the public like staff forums are. This way what ever group does it they can do it in peace and harmony.

a simple structure would be all thats needed. one person with some php/html skills and some others that can write and have an artistic eye for design. could be done 100% by members with no problems at all.

Some good ideas there. A group of 4-5 members with perhaps a Mod who would 'Quality check' the final feature before publication. 1 person with some html/php to do layouts, someone who who like to do the interview (could be premade questions that are emailed, with an MSN follow up) another who would write the article, with help from the interviewer. This way its not all up to one person. The group doing could even change each month (or every few) if other people wanted a chance to participate. Maybe keeping 1 or 2 core people. Volunteers doing the June issue would be chosen early May and the work would progress from there.

Just more thoughts/ideas.
I would be interested in volunteering to help with this project.

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I want to volunteer but with no home PC yet and my contract almost up at work (my only access to a computer) I'm not the most reliable choice right now. If all goes well with it I'll be willing to help in the future.

Would it possible to simplify the process by having individuals create a profile of their tank to then be chosen by staff or volunteer members as the FTOTM? But then you don't get it fom anyone elses perspective...

or

Have the preceding months honouree choose the next winner.

Maybe have a couple volunteers from the major cities and towns meet up to take some pics and some notes about the tank.



A few more ideas to add to the mix. Lots of good ones out there. What do you think so far, Danny?

I voted no. :mrgreen:

It sounded like I would be under pressure at some time to take pictures....as you know I hate doing that because Alan will just say they are blurry anyway.... :razz:

Also, I thought originally it was like the RC/etc/etc scheme with the mafia tanks etc.

But you guys have some great ideas. Maybe we can target a feature tank when people talk about it....make them produce pics....RFT???

:razz:

I voted no as well.
Mainly for the same reasons as Deb.
I saw TOTM and I was already thinking of those tanks that are nothing less than speechless... :rolleyes:

Apparently most people dont want to see another RC TOTM showoff.
There are a number of good suggestions that I have read so far. And I agree that it should be more of a "Feature Tank Of The Month" if done at all. :smile:

so does this mean if someone has a really killer tank that we don't want to feature it?

nope only butt ugly tanks allowed!! :rolleyes:

What does a really killer tank mean to you? SPS so large it looks like it belongs in the ocean? :confused:

I dunno. I have seen so many different tanks that are all unique in their own way. Including here.

I think the best idea is for people to volunteer their tanks for feature tank for sure.

I think it means "variety is the spice of life", a feature tank that is poor, fare, good and outstanding should all have equal spotlight-it's a great idea! I also like the idea of the individual creating there own feature article with photo submissions-thus no one to judge-just everyone to give advice and learn :cool:

uh, yup :razz:

:lol: Colonies are selfish.

:mrgreen: :razz: