New Contest! TOTM

[Ichthius]

Beginning this April, I will be holding Tank of the Month photo competitions. It's pretty much the same as POTM, but the photos can only be of your aquarium(s).

You will submit to me via PM the photo of your aquarium you would like to be entered into the TOTM contest. To qualify, you must have a minimum of 10 posts. **Don't post your photo here**

Just like POTM, the first 10 entries are accepted into this contest. I only accept your first submission and secondary submissions will not qualify.

The photos are then uploaded annonymously by me onto photobucket and posted in a poll for all of FishForums to vote on.

A chance to win another contest:

Those who enter the TOTM contest, if interested, can submit with their photo a list of their tank stats (see Info Needed). What will this do for you? You will be entered into the Best Biotope competition. This means you will be judged on more than just your photography skills but your fishkeeping and aquascaping skills as well.

Basically, the concept behind Best Biotope is to choose the submission that best recreates a particular aquatic area (a biotope). This gives you a chance to win based on your interest and skills in fishkeeping rather than on the greatest looking photograph. A panel of staff judges will critique and judge your photos to decide which entry best recreates nature. The results will be posted with the TOTM contest results.

And don't worry, even if you haven't put much thought into your aquarium, you may still have created an aquarium close to nature.

In case you're wondering just what a biotope is, here's a quick definition. When applied to aquariums, a biotope usually means a tank that recreates a specific place, with specific fish, plants, and water parameters. For example, you have an Asian biotope with gourami, java ferns, etc. Since those fish and plants all come from Asia or nearby, it's more of a natural/realistic tank. Another example would be a South American biotope with tetras or other South American fish and plants.

Info Needed for Best Biotope

PM to me:
Your Tank of the Month photo submission with the following information (fill out as much as possible).

1). Tank size:
2). Tank inhabitants (fish, snails, invertebrates, etc):
3). Plant species:
4). Decor (substrate, wood, rocks, etc):
5). pH and temperature:
6). Additional info (CO2 injected, lighting, etc):

Remember, these are two seperate contests with two winners, but you can submit all the information to be entered into both contests at once

Make sense? If you have questions, just ask me

[Buggy]

WOW Leah, you really went all out on this one. I can't wait to see the entries but I think I'll skip this one. I've seen some pics of some of the tanks on here and I don't have a prayer, so I'll just sit back and enjoy this one. lol
Good luck everyone!

[Ichthius]

Thanks, Rita!

Some of the staff and I thought this was a good and new opportunity for members to show off their skills in a way that really reflects their fishkeeping capabilities.

**I'm now accepting entries for the TOTM and Best Biotope contests**

And in case you were wondering, yes, you can enter the Best Biotope Contest without entering TOTM. It's just nice to have a photo attached to the information submitted for Best Biotope.

To enter TOTM and NOT Best Biotope: Just submit your photo for the TOTM contest.
To enter Best Biotope ONLY: Include Info Needed as well as a photo of your tank (doesn't have to be pretty) and specify that you are entering the Best Biotope Contest.
To enter BB and TOTM: Include your photo for TOTM and some or all of the Info Needed to be entered in both contests.

These two contests will be run in accordance with each other and results will be posted at the same time.

So, PM me those tank photos!