I think its better for this forum to run an annual competition rather than tank of the month. TOTM on APC looks a little bit of 'Show off our favourite people's tanks' to me as it is always the same people. I do think the members planted tanks pics could be tidied up a little though as there are some pics that the owner has obviously moved from their photopucket etc.
APC does a TOTM and then an interview with whoever the tank belongs to.
You could do 'interviews' though with people like George, Zig etc and others on here that really know their stuff. Fixed format questions so that other people can see the difference in opinions on several things between the top guys, differences in taste etc and a little about the kind of people that have gotten into the planted hobby like musical tastes other hobbys etc. This is one feature of APC I quite like.
Andy
IMO, the members planted tank section has sufficient information that constitutes the "interview" portion that you are speaking of, and it is under-utilized, I think. We've not had new scapes in quite some time. I really do agree that in some forums, the TOTM becomes a continuous showcase for tanks created by the same member over and over again. It can be unfair. I will work on tidying up the "Member's Section" and I'm considering merging George's wonderful topics into one thread, so members have the articles all in thread. The posts together, actually form a great generic article on setting up a planted aquarium. I think that rather than have the TOTM do an in-depth interview, this may be better suited for the possibility of an annual competition.
Does it have to be a competition? Could we not just have a tank of the month each month to highlight a particular tank? That way people can get more in depth into a particular tank and it will mean that its not the same people being shown all the time. A totm also doesn't necessarily have to be an excellent scape, rather it could be a tank that suffered heavily from algae to start with but that the owner overcame that, the article would outline how they did that and what they've learnt, etc.
Just my 0.02p worth
Sam
I see where you are coming from. The problem I could see with executing a TOTM is that we may run out of tanks to profile, and we would begin repeating ourselves. I do agree, however, that it could also be a tank that has overcome many obstacles. Perhaps a TOTM could spotlight that, and we could
also have the annual "competition" that Andy and I kind of like, where members can have their scapes seriously evaluated by a small panel of judges and scored as a sort of "stepping stone" to the actual competitions that exist. That may be a feasible solution. I certainly don't mind the extra work.
Having seen this topic presented in many other forums, I know how easily it can get out of hand lol
It is a great idea, and would give others ideas, however, I think it would be hard to classify a TOTM. Where would you start and how do you compare a natural tank compared to someone who may have tat galore or gimmicks (I say with my tropical tank with a marine look), or even someone who prunes their heavy planted aquarium every day. It cannot really be based upon looks alone as a planted aquarium would potentially win over a natural tank any day.
Also, one needs to consider newbies just starting off, knowing how far they may potentially be to getting to the stage of entering TOTM demoralise them? surely the point in case should be to encourage them.
Too....many.......variables......head...going.........to......explode......#pop#
Don't worry, I don't think your head will explode. So far, only a few mods are considering TOTM for the individual sections that they moderate, which in my case, the TOTM in this section would be limited to Planted tanks. I think the different varieties that you are speaking of would best be covered in a more general TOTM, which I think, would be too difficult for TFF to execute at this time. There are too many possible categories, and there will always be some category that is left out. SH and I are the only ones so far who are putting feelers out, and our sections are much more specific than others.
Breaking down into categories for TOTM (nano, beginner, regular, low-tech, high-tech) would, IMO, be too much of a hassle. Categories like that are better saved for a "competition" should we decide that we want one. In addition, TOTM should only represent tanks that have had pictures submitted for that particular month. We don't want a scape from a year ago winning just because the thread was bumped, which sometimes happens, especially when we are looking updates.
I am very pleased with the imput so far. The suggestions and feedback have been well-thought-out, and I'm considering things very carefully. We have a reputation for being very well-behaved in this section, and if something like TOTM and/or annual "competition" is implemented, I would expect that we would remain well-behaved.
Though only one person objected to a moderator entering, I would
not submit my tanks for any of the above being considered. Though I trust my fairness and objectivity, people could see my participation as a competitor as a conflict of interest. Besides, I have my journals to show my work and I think I would better serve as an administrator of the events or a judge should the need arise.
Just thought I'd comment, since I let this topic sit for a while. I wanted to see opinions first. I took a while to vote too, as I wanted to make sure opinions weren't swayed by what I voted.
llj