[AGA Contest] Re: [AGA Member] Biotopes

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Wrong list, Roger!  You posted to aga-member... I'll redirect it back.

Regarding last year's winner... wasn't really as controversial as the
previous year, though I heard some secondhand grumbling from the folks who
beleive that because the contest is sponsored by the AGA, it should be
automatically biased towards planted entries.  I think it was actually the
only entry that all the judges agreed was a spectacular design.

  - Erik

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004, Roger Miller wrote:


> 
> I am interested in hearing what standards ya'll propose for biotopes.
> 
> Based on past experience, had I my druthers I would simply remove biotopes as 
> a category in the contest.  It appears to me that they need to be judged on a 
> basis that is substantially technical ("Is this a biotope?") and not 
> aesthetic, as is the case in other categories.  Answering the technical 
> question is not necessarily something that an aquascaping judge is qualified 
> to do.
> 
> If a biotope is to be judged on an aesthetic basis then perhaps biotopes 
> should be included with the various-sized gardens.  If they are to be judged 
> on some other basis then they need an entirely different set of judging 
> guidelines.  Setting up a different set of guidelines effectively creates a 
> separate contest for biotopes.
> 
> I know that the year I judged our decision on the winning biotope was 
> controversial.  Part of the problem being that the winning entry was not a 
> planted tank.  I recall that last year's winning biotope was once again not a 
> planted tank, so I imagine that the results were once again controversial.   
> I suppose that we could define our way around that little controversy by 
> insisting that the biotope entries must be planted.  That would eliminate 
> tanks that represent most of the worlds aquatic biotopes.
> 
> Just can't win.
> 
> 
> Roger Miller
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com

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