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PAROSPHROMENUS PROJECT

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JBL Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2014

Home Forums Global Undetermined JBL Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2014

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  • #7027
    Sergei
    Participant

    As I can see there are many people on this forum, who try to make everything for their fishes feel comfortable in an aquarium, so I think this contest will be interesting for you. Please take part in the 4th Biotope Aquarium Design Contest!
    We accept entries: July 1 – August 31
    Evaluation of the entries: September 5-25
    Results of the 1st stage: October 1
    Finals of the Contest: November 26-29
    Prize pool: 2,400 Euro
    Categories of the Contest: North America, South America, Africa, Eurasia, Australia & Oceania

    To enter the Contest in one or more categories you need only to fill in a form until August 31, 2014, where you need to enter your personal data, information about your aquarium, as well as to upload 4 photos of your aquarium and a photo to confirm your authorship. Please read the Contest rules!

    After evaluation by members of the jury the results of the 1st stage will be published October 1. The winners will be invited to participate in the finals which will be held in St. Petersburg during ZooSphere exhibition November 26-29, 2014.

    Finalists from other cities and countries will be paid if needed for their accommodation and € 200 for their travel.

    On our website you can find the results of the contests 2011, 2012 and 2013, examples of biotope aquarium set up and photos of nature biotopes.

    Mr. Bleher is in the jury as usual. Last year it was very interesting. You can easily find the video report on our site.

    #7028
    Pavel Chaloupka
    Keymaster

    Wow, Ivan Mikolji in the jury B) . So bad no one does simmilar job with Asian localities. If anyone is interested to see great stuff, check his youtube channel. For example this: [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X22kKZ98oCY&list=TLcZXi2jMUVZ1R60YBhG2DwxdJrP-o4nt3[/video]

    #7029
    helene schoubye
    Keymaster

    Yes, its really interesting, – but why is noone making it with the asian localities :)?? .. I have seen a tank once with boraras maculatus in a competition, – it was so well done, and I think it won a prize.

    But I guess ours would become too dark to see anything B)

    #7030
    Pavel Chaloupka
    Keymaster

    Yeah, we would have to distribute halogen lights to the jury and all the visitors. :cheer: Of course, what I wanted to point out from Micoljis work were those endless hours of underwater footage from the localities. But its true, that most of those that would be interesting for us are probably to dark of blackwater even though I am sure he would be able to scratch out something from it with his professional equipment and willigness to snorkel even in quite a cold water.

    #7031
    Peter Finke
    Participant

    This is a serious posting.

    These “contests” are typical events of the commercail aquaristics, this one is sponsored by JBL. We as aquarists keeping and breeding fish that do not feed on artificial foods, that are not adapted to tap waters, waters that exclude most of the decorative plants of the commercial “beautiful” tank, which exclude the bright light of those tanks, and which could be managed without most of the modern equipment of the aquarium industry (mine even without any filters) should be happy to be as independent as an aquarist could be from the marketing interests of these sellers of things and mentality, which is largely useless to blackwater aquaristics.

    The main interest which is behind these events is commercial: the propagation of the “beautiful” aquarium which attracts the masses and helps in selling equipment. Every year new form of equipment are presented that make aquaríum keeping still more easy or pleasant; turuely it serves the interests of the producers. I do not think such contests to be of any value for us. I did not found the Parosphromenus project to serve such interests in decorative aspects only. They allure contesters by money, not by the interest in preservation of biodiversity. The project was founded in order to serve the interests of highly endangered fish and the preservation of their habitats, not the interests of an expanding market of decorativ aquaristics. Most Paro tanks are not decorative and will not be ranked highly by such people who serve the interests of big business and not of the dying biodiversity of south-east Asian rainforests.

    This is a point of principle. Our forum is open to anybody, but we dislike marketing ideas to be propagated by it. Let them be performed, but not by the means of a project centered on the ideas of opposing the tragedy of transforming huge areas of the highest biodiversity on earth into agrarian oil palm country. Those events concerning aquarium design are not responsible for this, but they serve other interests than that of the project. Therefore I ask all to stop the discussion on this in this forum. People who are willing to take part of such events should do that, but our forums are no stage for them.

    Let us try to get this clear without excluding anybody or any posting from our project. Mr Musyupick should have read the texts on the background of this project before advertising that JBL-event. An Pavel should be concious on that, too. Until now our website was free from commercially driven ideas. The steering group will meet in less than three weeks at Hamburg and discuss these matters, too. Presently, I am not able to say what the result will be. But I do not exclude that we shall draw severe consequences if the majority thinks that our ideas, our aims and our profile is marred by the hobby market or by anybody who is not able to differentiate between interests of a non-profit organization and those of a mass-market.

    Personally, I should immediately draw the consequence of leaving my child at once as its scientific supervisor if there is no other way out. Therefore, this is an earnest issue. Until then, I ask all to leave it as it is, and not to start a discussion which marres the frontiers between a serious NGO-activity and activities of the hobby-market which are not part of our intentions.

    #7032
    Bernd Bussler
    Participant

    I also think this is not an issue for our forum. 90% of all fish do not live in a beautiful habitat, at least not what we humans Rec Indians as well.
    Paros live in Blackwater, are barely visible and thus not suitable for exhibitions.

    #7034
    Sergei
    Participant

    Ok, not to be “Mr. Musyupick” and to make everythng clear please let me introduce myself. My name is Sergei Anikin, I am a translator working for Unitex Company Group, Russia. Yes, as you fairly enough mentioned this, the main sponsor of our contest is JBL. But our “contest” is made for those who does not want to have at home an aquarium with underwater garden, but likes to see a part of real river. The main judge in our contest is Mr. Bleher, who does not work for any company. He wants to make biotopes popular. Fishes should feel comfortable in an aquarium. And not to be like birds above the flooded forest. Fishes shoud be at home in an aquarium. All the judges where chosen by Mr. Bleher, who is sure that these persons will not promote any products. They will evaluate the knoledge of aquarists. An aquarist should make a great research first for keepig fishes successfully. This is the main purpose of our contest. People payiing so much attention to fishes as you are should know this for sure I suppose. If our contest is not interesting for you, ok, please delete the thread and forget about it. I do not want you to buy JBL products, I really think that you are succsessful enough to show your sucsess to others and to teach other aquarists how to keep fishes correctly.

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