Zoanthid Photo/Tank of the month?

[derekdelisi]

Considering the recent interest-spike in Zoanthids is it time we, like the nTOTM and TOTM, host a zTOTM or Zoa photo of the month contest? I'm sure there will be no lack of interest in this.

My personal opinion is a Photo/colony of the month contest, seeing as how 'zoa tanks' may be few.

D

 

[derekdelisi]

wow, 41 views but not one opinion. no support? Really? Thanks guys.

 

[RokleM]

My personal opinion is a Photo/colony of the month contest

:thumbsup: but there should be a minimum age or polyp count, or else it will be little different from the picture thread with tons of frags.

 

[derekdelisi]

Yes! And we could have months with varying themes? 1 month could be biggest colony, nicest blue, weirdest tentacles, largest progress shots, interesting morphs when two colonies meets, zoa vs. other coral shots ''strongest zoa contest" (i've seen shots with zoa climbing up montis or acros...

Options are there, any mods wanna take initiative?

 

[RokleM]

Or make it member driven. Winner of one month sets up the parameters and posts for the next month.

I will say this here and now though... we have plenty of "violators" who post pictures with a primary motivation of generating sales. If that occurs, this entire concept will be shut down with a quickness.

 

[Girly Gears]

Now that sounds like a good idea, and I dig on the member driven idea...

 

[derekdelisi]

Now that sounds like a good idea, and I dig on the member driven idea...

I'm going to wait to get enough opinions here, and then take initiative. I want input and ideas from everyone.

D

 

[organism]

imo majority of people with "the best" pictures are also going to be coincidentally selling what's in those pictures, and also people with zoanthid dominated tanks tend to largely fall into that category as well. Look at nearly every online coral picture competition, well over 90% of the time they're won by either public or incognito hobbyist vendors, because they're the ones getting the most photography practice by taking the most pictures on a regular basis.

You'd be hard pressed to find an average hobbyist with half the photography skills as a vendor. I was on the supply side for years and take magazine quality pictures now, and almost every time I post a picture up online I get pm's for people wanting to buy what's in it. That's in no name threads btw, without a high-profile picture contest that draws a ton of views and attention. Fact is people innately want to buy something that looks as awesome as possible, especially when there's lots of other people clamoring about how much they want it in the same thread.

There's already a Zoanthids photo thread that's doing fine, and it's hard enough already keeping all the vendors corralled into that one.

 

[derekdelisi]

Here at Reef Central, we believe that dialogs between participants should be conducted in a friendly and helpful manner. If you disagree with a posting, please express yourself in a way that is conducive to further constructive dialog. Conversely, when you post on any given subject, you must be willing to accept constructive criticism without posting a hostile or inflammatory response. Personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. Please work to insure that Reef Central remains a friendly and flame free site where everyone, especially newcomers, can feel free to post questions without fear of being unfairly criticized. Thank you for your cooperation.

 

[408Reefer]

Booooo!! This sounded like a great idea! Why does everything in this forum gets derailed! Lame

 

[gitsoe]

booooo!! This sounded like a great idea! Why does everything in this forum gets derailed! Lame

++++1 ...to many kill joys on this site

 

[frank the tank]

So since. U guys know. A lot.about. Zoas. How many head should u get a month? And i know many of the. Pretty ones. Grow. Slow. Is there. A way. To.tell or.knw?

 

[organism]

wow, 41 views but not one opinion. no support? Really? Thanks guys.

I'm going to wait to get enough opinions here, and then take initiative. I want input and ideas from everyone.

You sound like an idiot in each of these points.

Completely disregarding what Organism has to say, and basing myself entirely on the lack of attention this post has achieved, i'm abandoning this idea.

Wow, I didn't realize that you only wanted more "input and ideas from everyone" as long as they only fell into the category of things you want to hear so that you don't go into personal attack mode.

btw, everything I posted? Cold hard fact, based on years and years of seeing it happen. You can do searches online and see examples of everything I posted for yourself instead of thinking me disagreeing with you gives you a right to call me names. I get about 10 or so pm's a month for things I've posted pictures of, and sometimes I get so many with such outlandish price offers that it actually makes me feel like an idiot for not selling them. Again, that's with no name threads that get no attention, in a thread with lot of attention it's like vendor moths to a money flame.

 

[mallorieGgator]

Not too much of a fan of the idea myself. I don't think there are enough all zoa tanks out there and if you look around the forums you'll find incredible pics of the zoas already.

 

[derekdelisi]

Dear Mods,

If you're going to threaten me and punish me with 'points' than the crime better be worth the deed. Where has my post gone? When you kill somebody and go to jail for it the person remains dead.

Orgnaism, i'm still going to respectfully disagree with the points I initially quoted:

1) A ''majority" of people taking pictures of their corals aren't selling them. There are more people posting pictures than there are vendors, i'm 100% sure.

2) I don't know anybody who is selling zoanthids out of their Zoa-only display aquarium. That isn't the best way to grow zoas, and most don't do it that way. There is a serious difference between a display tank and a propagation tank in term so of appearance.

3) And lastly, no, I would not be hard pressed to find a hobbyist with good photography skills. Again, there are more people with both camera and zoanthids than there are people with cameras, zoanthids and a coral shop.

I have nothing more to say.

D

 

[organism]

Dear Mods,

If you're going to threaten me and punish me with 'points' than the crime better be worth the deed. Where has my post gone? When you kill somebody and go to jail for it the person remains dead.

That's a hornet's nest best left unshaken.

A ''majority" of people taking pictures of their corals aren't selling them. There are more people posting pictures than there are vendors, i'm 100% sure.

re-read what I actually wrote, the vast majority of people with "the best" pictures are selling them. Like it or not, that's reality.

I don't know anybody who is selling zoanthids out of their Zoa-only display aquarium.

Funny, I have yet to meet more than a handful of people with zoa-only tanks who aren't rabid collectors actively selling them. Maybe you should check clay-boa and see how that theory holds up... The zoanthids side of the hobby has gone pokemon, and it gets worse every month.

And lastly, no, I would not be hard pressed to find a hobbyist with good photography skills. Again, there are more people with both camera and zoanthids than there are people with cameras, zoanthids and a coral shop.

Then why are vendors the ones winning every single online photo competition? Look, it's simple math backed up by mountains of evidence, like saying who's a better shot, your weekend warrior at the range, or a special forces sniper putting 6,000 shots downrange every month of the year because it's his job?

Who would you expect to finish first in any competition? I know who I'd put money on because, like your average hobbyist photographer, you'd be hard pressed to find a hobby shooter who can consistently get the highest marks no matter what gear they have. Now imagine if it's a competition where people literally throw money at you if you have "the best" pictures, what caliber of competitors is it going to attract? Hopefully that clears it up a bit...

 

[KafudaFish]

So in 5 days we have gone from the OP wanting to start a zTOTM to calling another member an idiot and telling a mod how to do his job to the entire idea going away just because of specific statements concerning the possible misuse of the idea?

July has been a busy month I guess.

 

[mallorieGgator]

I think Organism is mainly trying to watch out for the posters on this forum. I don't think he's trying to bash anyone although it may seem that way to some people because a lot gets lost in translation over the internet. In all honesty, there are people that would jump on this with new named zoas in hopes that it could be used as a marketing tool. There are people that wouldn't do this and it's the vast majority of people. Some people just ruin it for the majority.

 

[organism]

Exactly, I'm not trying to jump on anyone, it's just that those competitions are like money showers for the small segment of bad apples who are extremely successful at exploiting them. It's a shame, but that's the hobby these days

 

[MUCHO REEF]

With all due respect, everyone should step back, take a deep breath and touch gloves. All minds have spoken and it's not worth getting into any trouble with the mods here by taking any more jabs.


Mucho