What do you base your contest votes on?

[GaryE]

We get pretty good choices in our TFF contests, and I often find it hard to decide. The criteria I use are personal, just as yours are, but I'm curious about what other members look for. I vote in every aquarium based contest, to encourage the showing of what interests us.

Here's what I look at for tanks:
a) the clarity of the image. I don't need a professional shot, but is the glass clean and are the fish and plants easily visible?
b) the community (for tank of the month). I have a prejudice toward regional tanks. I like tanks with fish from one geographic area above tanks with mixed continents. It's a personal taste, but it takes work to assemble and I admire that.
c) Lots of healthy plants. Or, if not, a clearly stated reason why not. Some fish hate plants, or love them as food.
d) Arrangement. I like a tank that has depth and shape - lines of perspective. My own tanks are messy affairs, but in a contest, I would generally avoid a riot of plants with no consideration for open spaces. Is there artistry in the set up?
e) fish choice, beyond geography. Is the tank overcrowded looking? Are there big fish in small spaces with nowhere to swim? Is the tank "humane"?

For the fish contest:
a) Is the fish healthy, and does it look close to an ideal representative of its species?
b) Is the fish well bred? This is my controversial one, because I don't like hybrids or fancy, line bred forms of fish.That's just me.
c) Is the photo clear enough to get a great look?
d) I'm influenced by the rarity of the species. I like seeing new or odd things. But they have to be very healthy and well cared for.

So that's me. What about others here? What do you look for in contest photos and write ups?

 

[Magnum Man]

I have a lot of similar values... I like "fish" tanks, I can appreciate the work that goes into a highly planted tank, but feel there needs to be a balance of open space, and places for the fish to swim... it's a personal thing, I enter a lot of contests, and I often like mine the best, but I don't vote for my own, so I look for something new to me, or interesting, or a newer member to encourage them... I do find clarity nice, but in my case, I rarely clean the glass, if there are biofilm eaters in the tank, and getting pictures of tanks, that have fish that frequent shaded jungle streams can be challenging...

as far as fish , I like unusual fish, and also generally avoid the very line bred, or man made genetic crosses, though I do have a few...

 

[emeraldking]

What do you base your contest votes on?​

Simple...! It just has to appeal to me...

 

[Fishkeeper123]

We get pretty good choices in our TFF contests, and I often find it hard to decide. The criteria I use are personal, just as yours are, but I'm curious about what other members look for. I vote in every aquarium based contest, to encourage the showing of what interests us.

Here's what I look at for tanks:
a) the clarity of the image. I don't need a professional shot, but is the glass clean and are the fish and plants easily visible?
b) the community (for tank of the month). I have a prejudice toward regional tanks. I like tanks with fish from one geographic area above tanks with mixed continents. It's a personal taste, but it takes work to assemble and I admire that.
c) Lots of healthy plants. Or, if not, a clearly stated reason why not. Some fish hate plants, or love them as food.
d) Arrangement. I like a tank that has depth and shape - lines of perspective. My own tanks are messy affairs, but in a contest, I would generally avoid a riot of plants with no consideration for open spaces. Is there artistry in the set up?
e) fish choice, beyond geography. Is the tank overcrowded looking? Are there big fish in small spaces with nowhere to swim? Is the tank "humane"?

For the fish contest:
a) Is the fish healthy, and does it look close to an ideal representative of its species?
b) Is the fish well bred? This is my controversial one, because I don't like hybrids or fancy, line bred forms of fish.That's just me.
c) Is the photo clear enough to get a great look?
d) I'm influenced by the rarity of the species. I like seeing new or odd things. But they have to be very healthy and well cared for.

So that's me. What about others here? What do you look for in contest photos and write ups?

For me, in TOTM I will choose a nicely planted tank with fish that I like or are unusual. For TOTM I will go for a healthy looking unusual fish or a species that I like.

 

[gwand]

For TOTM, I enjoy a natural look that aims to replicate the home environment of the fish. While I appreciate the aesthetics of a perfectly aquascaped, variegated botanical garden look, I don’t value it once fish are added to the environment. For FOTM, I’m looking for a vibrant, healthy looking fish with a touch of attitude. The fish should approach the idealized version of the species.

 

[CassCats]

1) has to meet the fish needs. (Suitable habitat, shelter, space, etc)

2) visually appealing, which is not strictly one thing because this varies based on persons personal preference of style. While I prefer natural type environments, I also appreciate different styles that I normally wouldn't do. I will lean slightly more towards natural scapes, but this isn't super strict for me.



That said, i often just browse the entries and choose the one that my eyes are drawn to most. Same goes for fish and pet contests. I'd also vote for all of them if it was possible