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Entry Rules

In order to be officially involved in the Nano Tank Buildoff, you must email len@reefs.org to register. Make sure to include your Reefs.org UserID in the email. Registration deadline is April 30, 2005. Registrants will gain posting access in the Nano Reef Buildoff forum (a forum viewable by all).

Entries are limited to 1 per person.

Reefs.org will assign each registrant their own personal thread in which to post updates and photos. Note: The personal threads in this forum are intended as a diary of your tank's events. Please discuss other member's systems and ideas in the Nano or General Reefkeeping Discussion forums.

Schedule

Official start date is March 1, 2005. You may commence with the planning and purchase of equipment prior to this date, but the system must remain dry until 3/1/05. Systems must be filled and operational by April 30, 2005. The contest will conclude on December 30, 2005.

Official Rules and Guidelines

1. The total system volume is limited to 20 US gallons.* Entries may be set up in any fashion so long as the total volume does not exceed 20 US gallons. Volume is based on the maximum gallons any tank or device can hold, regardless of rock/sand/livestock displacement or whether it is full or not. For example, a 20 gallon aquarium that is half-filled will still be calculated as 20 gallons.

The volume within plumbing is excluded from the final calculation. All piping must be equal to or less then one inch in diameter, plumbed the shortest distance possible.

2. Participants are required to submit at least three photos during the course of the contest: a photo documenting the day the system is first filled with water, a photo at the midpoint (a date TBD), and the final submission photo. Submit photos in your own personal thread in the Nano Reef Buildoff forum. Photo documentation of all new additions is strongly encouraged, but not required.

3. Judging will be performed by an anonymous panel selected by the Reefs.Org staff. Judging will be performed based on the 3 required images, judged for creativity, overall presentation, and the health of the system. Judges are not eligable for contest participation.
Reefs.Org administrators are not eligible to win prizes.

4. There is no spending cap. However, documentation of new additions and purchases is recommended. This contest is designed as a collective learning experience; thus, all data is useful.

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The Nano Reef Buildoff is a contest of ingenuity and design as well as the overall husbandry of a captive microcosm. Be creative! Keep in mind the health of your tank's inhabitants is critical. Never endanger the health of the critters for the sake of aesthetics. Most of all have fun with the contest!

* Volume is calculated as length multiplied by width multiplied by height divided by 231. For cylindrical devices, volume is calculated as height multiplied by pi multiplied by r^2 divided by 231. All measurements are in inches.