Guaging interest in a grow out competition

[CA2OR]

rules updated on first page. We should get rules decided on before running competition.

[CA2OR]

competition can alternate species without a problem, might make it even more exciting or interesting. I figured zoa's to start because they are a pretty simple coral and most can support them.

 

So what do we start with? I have some I could do or should we post pic's and decide as a group? As said before, the frags for the actual grow out will not always be high demand corals, leave that to the prizes.

Suggestions or opinions? Snowpunk do you want to post pic up of your idea? Either is fine.

[COReefer]

so are these corals going to get shipped. I figure each person's entry fee can used for that purpose?

[CA2OR]

For the initial one I would think that would be fine and we can judge how to do following ones off of that. Sound fair?

[CA2OR]

and of course with the prizes. We can even announce winner at a meet and if possible dispense prizes there, again for me that makes it a little more difficult as I don't get to many meets

[CA2OR]

I would think we will have to keep an eye on the shipping costs as the entry fee is designed to pay for future prizes and colonies.

 

I guess worst case senario you get a frag for $10. best case you win first place and who knows what you will get, yet, but I am sure it will be worth more than 10. That goes for first, second and, third places

[Rick]

I suggest trying to get sponsors to supply the corals for the contests. A different one for each contest. This would give them an extra route to advertising with a minimal expense. I think it's a great idea although I doubt I would have any chance of winning. (If the fee is low enough then it would be fun trying anyway) To promote PNWMAS membership have 2 different fees. Say $15 for non-members (forum members) and then $10 for actual PNWMAS members. While shipping all of them would make it more fair I think it is going to increase the fees when the fees could be used elsewhere. (Either for the PNWMAS if they run it or perhaps for prizes) Plus it increases the chances of a delivery failure. Perhaps any that are shipped could go out 2 days before allowing the rest to be picked up to kind of even up the competition.

[twogirls]

Sorry I missed this Eric, count me in!

[CA2OR]

That sounds fair. I don't imagine shipping on a 5 polyp frag is going to be very much. I have spoken to a couple sponsors, and am waiting to hear back from more, that have agreed to either donate a frag or two for the prize or give us a colony for cost for these competitions. I and hopefully others will give credit where credit is due for frags or other. That is how I figured it would assist the sponsors, by having their name next to a first place prize, for instance, and having it be a nice piece will show others what kind of stock they carry or what their selection is like. Might be a cheap form of effective advertising

 

I also agree with the possibility of separate fee's to promote actual PNWMAS memberships. But again, we have to keep in mind that sometimes these colonies that we are using may have to be purchased, although at a discount price, there is a price non the less. For instance, let's say Waves (not saying that they have agreed to this) says they will donate a monti, chalice, Zoa's, etc colony at cost, to be fragged and used as the GOF (Grow Out Frag) that piece would have to be purchased. And the remaining fee's funds would be used for shipping and any additional prize pieces. Does that sound right?

 

Please keep in mind EVERYTHING discussed thus far is open to change. I am only suggesting rules or process. Everyone is welcome to chime in with their thoughts or idea's.

[CA2OR]

Gotcha Twogirls. You haven't missed it yet. We are ironing out rules and the program before starting first competition.

 

I have to say the more I think about this the more interesting it sounds. Especially with using different corals. Should get quite interesting, because it will pretty much show what types of setup's are most beneficial to specific corals.

 

Would love to hear from some more sponsors(whistle). But I think we should have enough people to run the first one and maybe that will get some more attention. Think, the more involved, the better the colonies we start with, the better the prize pieces.

 

How long should be allowed for the grow out? Do we run short one's like 1 month? Or do we go with the 3 month? I think that the 3 would be better for a couple reasons. First, I think asking sponsors to donate a nice piece or two every few months is far more likely to succeed than asking every month. Second, it allows time for adjustments to determine most beneficial location, feeding method, etc. to get the best results.

[Rick]

Done right then I think you should be able to get the sponsors to donate the colony rather than needing to purchase it. For 5 or 6 entries then it may not be possible but if you can get say 50 people involved then that would make it worthwhile for a sponsor to donate. (The biggest thing here is that the sponsor needs as much visibility as they can get to make it worth their while) Unfortunately shipping is going to run close to $20 even for a single polyp if they are shipped out using overnight shipping. While ground shipping will likely get them there in one day for most even that is going to cost $5 to $10 each. While that doesn't sound like much it will add up fast. I.E. Either the fee needs to be higher (less entries) or the amount used towards future competitions will need to be less (Which means future competitions are less likely to occur). By making 2 different fees it helps validate the competition here even if the PNWMAS doesn't gleen anything directly. Indirectly it will result in more people signing up as members so it becomes a win win deal for both.

[coralreefaquarist]

i like that the entry fee will be dependant on if you are a member or a non member even know this contest isnt being held put on or etc etc etc...by the club(scratch)

[coralreefaquarist]

i dont love the idea of shiiping there is a lot of factors. who knows if a package sent to eugene will be treated as well and arive in a timely fashion compards to some one in washington who might get it deliverd perfectly. a polyp closed for a long time or possbly not making it due to shipping could have a big effect on how fast you can grow it out.

[Chief]

I want in. This sounds fun.

 

Jay

[COReefer]

i dont love the idea of shiiping there is a lot of factors. who knows if a package sent to eugene will be treated as well and arive in a timely fashion compards to some one in washington who might get it deliverd perfectly. a polyp closed for a long time or possbly not making it due to shipping could have a big effect on how fast you can grow it out.

 

i'll take the hit and have mine shipped as there is no way I can just jump up and run to portland to grab 5 zoanthids or however many. Would it be fair to ask for 2 days for the frag to recover from shipping before everyone else picked theirs up>?

[CCR]

I might be interested depending on what is finalized. Are we talking the number of polyps grown out etc.?

[twogirls]

i'll take the hit and have mine shipped as there is no way I can just jump up and run to portland to grab 5 zoanthids or however many. Would it be fair to ask for 2 days for the frag to recover from shipping before everyone else picked theirs up>?

 

I am with him.

[dsoz]

Here is an idea.

 

Charge people $15 to get in up to 10-15 people. I will put up polyps of my "blue zoas" as long as I get $5 per polyp on the deal.

The other $10 can be divided into half, with $5 for the next contest expense and $5 to the winner as a prize plus their choice of the sponsor "gifts". Second place just gets to take the next prize. etc.

 

Another option, is that I just won these a couple of weeks ago in an OIAB auction. There are not nearly this colorful in my tank, and I could let a bunch of them go for $1/polyp. That would allow more $ to go for the next round, or decrease the entrance fee.

(in my tank the purple skirt is more of a blah brown. The pink inside does have potential)

 

First place can be determined by number of polyps. In case of a tie, the two (or more) each take a picture and post it. As an audience, we judge the winner on color, size and vitality of the frag.

 

Frags will be made on a day specified (saturday or sunday would probably be best). It may be good to have it start with the June meeting that will be here in Oregon City. If we want it to start earlier, then we can make other arrangements. Now that I am off of school, it opens up a lot of opportunities.

 

This way, more people can get one of the "blue steel" zoas, and they can try their hand at growing out a difficult to keep zoanthid. The winner gets not only "bragging rites" but also gets to show us mortals how to propagate zoanthids.

 

I will step out of the first round if you use my zoas. I only have about 15 that are left to be able to use.

 

d

[COReefer]

hey if we did the blue steels, I could just cut a polyp off of mine, document with pics and not have to have any shipped to me. They are off of the same mother colony as the ones d has. that would work no?

[dsoz]

hey if we did the blue steels' date=' I could just cut a polyp off of mine, document with pics and not have to have any shipped to me. They are off of the same mother colony as the ones d has. that would work no?[/quote']

 

The only reason someone may object is that they are already acclimated to your light/system. Others would be getting a fresh cut frag put into a new system. They would have a greater "shock" value, and it may stunt their growth.

 

dsoz

[twogirls]

The only reason someone may object is that they are already acclimated to your light/system. Others would be getting a fresh cut frag put into a new system. They would have a greater "shock" value, and it may stunt their growth.

 

dsoz

 

My thoughts exactly Dennis!

[COReefer]

hmmmm yeah understandable. I didn't think about that. well back to the drawing board. I'll still take the hit and have mine shipped then.

[CA2OR]

Here is my idea. This will be long as it will address several issues.

 

1. Pieces used for grow out. As mentioned above there would be an issue with acclimation. I was going to use a colony I had of zoa's, which I still can, to start. But I think that the colonies should be purchased or donated from a store. For instance, I pick up a colony from Waves on the 13th, I would frag it on the 15th for competition prizes. I also think that no matter whether or not you already have some of what we are starting with you should have to use some from the same colony as everyone else involved.

 

2. Delivery of frag pieces. Following same set up. Frag on the 15th, ship to long distance competitors overnight on the 17th, make pieces available to pick up on the 18th to locals and competition would start on the 20th. I figure ship the day before so everyone gets their pieces on the same day. All remaining pieces of the colony would be sold or offered as an addition to say the 3rd place prize. If sold the proceeds would be applied to prize pieces, colonies, and shipping, which I will address later.

 

3. Timespan of competition. I figure that 2 or 3 months is a good time. Allow say 2 weeks for acclimation and healing, then the competition runs for another 6week to 10 weeks. This will give EVERYONE the same advantage\disadvantage with acclimation and so on. Pictures will be required frequently for updates. Cheaters will be banned from current and future competitions, posting frequent pic's should discourage as all will be able to see and speak up if need be.

 

4. Shipping. I think that for at least the first competition, if we have long distance competitors we could ship to a agreed upon individual and all those local to them can pick up from there. As Reefboy, for instance, has mentioned he would ship prizes pieces at no cost, or the entry fee money remaining will help, if not, pay for shipping.

 

5. Entry Fee. As I have stated before, the entry fee will pay for colonies and prize pieces. I would like to see any left over entry money and money from the sale of polyps not used in competition, to go right back into the next competitions pieces and colonies as this will only improve the quality and caliber of these pieces and the competition itself. A list of all involved will be posted on the thread for the grow out when it starts so all know who is involved and can get an idea of the money brought in so all is content with that as well. Honesty is going to be key all the way around in this competition.

 

6. Picking grow out colonies. I think it is only fair to put it to a vote before each competition. That way the competitors can pick what we are starting with. Any objections?

 

7. Sponsor interaction with the competition. I figure if we have several sponsors involved we can put into groups such as group A, group B, and so on. The groups would be asked like, Group A-First place prizes, Group B-Second place, Group C-colony. These groups would go on a rotation so "A" would do first place first competition, "B" second, "C" third. Then next competition "B" would be first place, "C" would be second, "A" would be colony. Or whatever.

 

8. Determining winner. I think winner should be based off polyp count. IF THERE IS A TIE, the contestants would split the prize and an extra or 2 may be thrown in. Same with second and third. Also maybe we have the first place winner also gets free admision to next competition. Just a thought.

[COReefer]

no future colonies would be store bought so all would have same advantage\disadvantage

 

great point.

[CA2OR]

Any objections\modifications or does everyone agree? It is important that we are all in agreement on these things. I want this to be completely fair. That and I wanna get this started.