Tank Of The Month

[Themuleous]

I think the idea would be to a have a TOTM in each forum, so that if you were not into planted tanks, you could participate in the cichlid TOTM for example, or marine, or whatever interested you

Sam

 

[8inary]

despite the tone of my previous posts, I do actually think it is a great idea, though, things will need considering carefully.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I think instead of an actual compitition they should just pick a tank to highlight each month. It could be as mentioned before for beating algae, much improved, great new scape, a really good start(beginners), or just an awesome tank.
This way people that would not ordinarily enter a compitition could be involved too. Just watch the threads and journals for the one that stands out the most or improves or changes the most each month. Then it could be congrats to the ones that have it under control and encouragement to those who are still trying hard to get there. This way everyone get a chance to be recognized for something, and you won't have to worry about running out of tanks to pick. There is always something going on with the struggles and changes our tanks go through. There are also tons of reasons a tank could be chosen.
This way no one has to be jealous either. You wouldn't be saying one is necessarily "better" than another... just that they have done a good job for one reason or another. The ones that don't get picked one month shouldn't get upset, because there is a good chance they could be next. With it being every month it should make for less issues because someone that wants to be picked would have 12 chances per year instead of just a few. That should make them hold less of a grudge against the others when they are picked.
You get the thrill of winning without the stress and jealousy of compitition. It also gives everyone a chance no matter what their skill level is.

Once a year you could have a real planted tank compitition.

That should cover everything for everyone. You have encouragement for the new or struggleing, a pat on the back for the ones that are starting to get it right, congrats for those that are just awesome, and the compitition too.

So... When do you want to start?

 

[aaronnorth]

I think the idea would be to a have a TOTM in each forum, so that if you were not into planted tanks, you could participate in the cichlid TOTM for example, or marine, or whatever interested you

Sam

That would be good

 

[purplekaz]

I agree with a previous post that it would be a good idea to have a newbie TOTM section.
It would feel a little hopeless for us new-to-fishkeeping to have our tanks compared with those who have loads of experience.
It would also provide encouragement to improve.

The emphasis should be on fun though. It shouldn't end up a die-hard competition, but more a bit of a laugh.
Maybe a "photo of the month" that could be either a fantastic planted tank, comical shot of a fish etc.

 

[8inary]

i am not sure how many active members there are on here, maybe if there could be a members totm, highlighing a 'random?' member's tank and commenting upon the set up and what it contains etc.

lets say all who wish to take part (newbies included), send in their tanks pics and comments and each month/week if possible? one is picked

 

[George Farmer]

The main problem is cheating.

Public votes are almost impossible to prevent potential false results i.e. registering numerous usernames to vote.

A panel of judges would be better.

Different categories may work well - but deciding on the boundaries etc. will likely cause issues i.e what defines a newbie?

The idea is great, but implementing it is very hard and will involve a lot of work indeed. This is why TFF stopped it in 2004.

Good luck.

 

[backtotropical]

I think the best way is for the mods to select a tank every month. There could be a feature on the tank with an article written by the tank owner and then members would be free to comment.

This would eliminate the problem of cheating and the same tank winning time and time again.

Obviously, once the mods select their TOTM, they would ask the owner whether they are willing to participate, and if so, on with the article. If not, another tank would need to be selected.

I suppose it's not really 'Tank of the Month' so much as 'Featured Tank of the Month' with a different tank featured each time.

Cheers

BTT

 

[TribeOfShroom]

I think the best way is for the mods to select a tank every month. There could be a feature on the tank with an article written by the tank owner and then members would be free to comment.

This would eliminate the problem of cheating and the same tank winning time and time again.

Obviously, once the mods select their TOTM, they would ask the owner whether they are willing to participate, and if so, on with the article. If not, another tank would need to be selected.

I suppose it's not really 'Tank of the Month' so much as 'Featured Tank of the Month' with a different tank featured each time.

Cheers

BTT

Now that sounds a lot more sensible

 

[George Farmer]

BTT talks sense.

APC do this also.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Interesting results...

 

[lljdma06]

The main problem is cheating.

Public votes are almost impossible to prevent potential false results i.e. registering numerous usernames to vote.

A panel of judges would be better.

Different categories may work well - but deciding on the boundaries etc. will likely cause issues i.e what defines a newbie?

The idea is great, but implementing it is very hard and will involve a lot of work indeed. This is why TFF stopped it in 2004.

Good luck.

I agree, that would be the main problem. I like the panel of judges much better.

BTT talks sense.

APC do this also.

Yes, but my biggest problem with APC is that the same members are profiled repeatedly. At least that is what happened when I visited. BTT's basic plan, however, is quite sound, and would solve a lot of problems. It would also be much less labor intensive. I'm also sure that since most of us are aware of APC's tendency, we here, would probably avoid picking the same members. In all fairness, it easier here to avoid that pitfall, as TFF is a generic forum and APC is limited to Planted Tanks. BTT, I'm going to quote your idea in the Mod section and see what they say.

I'll leave the poll open for a few more days to invite commentary and then close it. The other mods can then see the final results. We are pretty divided at this point. The new mods tend to want it back, though in a limited capacity, while mods who remember what TOTM was like are pretty much against it.

 

[backtotropical]

Yes, but my biggest problem with APC is that the same members are profiled repeatedly. At least that is what happened when I visited. BTT's basic plan, however, is quite sound, and would solve a lot of problems. It would also be much less labor intensive. I'm also sure that since most of us are aware of APC's tendency, we here, would probably avoid picking the same members. In all fairness, it easier here to avoid that pitfall, as TFF is a generic forum and APC is limited to Planted Tanks. BTT, I'm going to quote your idea in the Mod section and see what they say.

As my idea seems to have been met with general agreement (in principle, at least), i thought i'd try to expand it a bit.

Should this be implemented forum-wide, the mods would take on the responsibility of picking a tank to feature each month, and ensuring that the same tanks / members are not featured over and over. I think this would be key to the success of it, as if certain members / tanks were featured time and again, i'm sure it would end in complaints and grief. It should also be varied between cold-freshwater, tropical community, tropical marine, planted, oddballs, african cichlids, american cichlids, planted nano, marine nano etc etc for the same reason. As you say lljdma06, it shouldn't be too labour intensive.

Should it be implemented only within the planted section, the responsibility would obviously fall with lljdma06 / Lateral Line.

Either way, i suggest that a seperate section / sub-forum should be set up for the purpose, 'Featured Tank of the Month' or such like. It may be best if the full membership are permitted to post in existing threads within the section, but only mods can create new threads. This would ensure that all topics in the section are relevant to the section.

As a follow up idea, maybe a logo could be issued in the signature of the featured member saying 'My Tank is The Featured Tank of the Month' or something. Maybe not? I'm sure someone will approve / dismiss this idea.

I like that it is not a competition this way, but still an honour to be chosen.

I look forward to the possible implementation.

Cheers

BTT

 

[backtotropical]

Bump!

I'm interested to hear other opinions???

 

[5teady_2012]

I like the idea.