April 2007 Avatar Contest Winner!

Samala · 04/06/2007, 10:02 AM

Its that time again! Team Reef Central (Team RC) would like to announce the results for the April 2007 Avatar Contest!

Congratulations to our winner Copps, who posted this beautiful photo as his avatar:

Avatar Contest winners receive a full year of Premium Membership as their prize. The results for these quarterly contests will next roll out in July and November of 2007.

The following other members were also nominated for the April 2007 contest. Weâ€™d like to thank each of them for their artistic contributions, and comedic relief:

Jessiesgrrl, bbehring, Whirley, Thorium, Tgunn, Reefshadow, reefer2005, Ooulophilia, Navyblue, Nait002, msman825, Melody, Jeffbrig, Hyperfocal, ERICinFL, Cubber, Chrisstie, Fishyvet, jlfnjlf, ctreefer, Randall_James, corals_b_4_bills

You can see each of the nominated avatars in the posts that follow in this thread.

--------

So, how do I participate?

Itâ€™s easy. In fact, you already do it. Choose a great avatar and make great posts to the discussion forums. Team RC members are already on the look out for candidates for Reef Central and Reefkeeping features like Thread of the Month and Tank of the Month. With this new contest in place, weâ€™ll be prowling for the best avatars as well.

What makes a great avatar?

Most of the avatars nominated by Team RC members for consideration in the first contest were excellent photos of corals, shrimp, crabs, fish and other aquatic life. However, the nominated avatars were not restricted to only the life in our aquariums. Photos of larger marine life were also represented, as were photos, drawings and cartoons of people and beautiful landscapes. Several were simply hilarious. The common thread they shared is that they impressed Team RC members.

From that initial impression, we nominated the avatars into the contest pool and Team RC voted for the best.

And the prizes are?

Fame, bragging rights and a Premium Membership to Reef Central. Whatâ€™s so great about Premium Membership? Plenty. Premium Members have an expanded capacity to use the Search feature among other things. And starting in 2007 Reef Central will launch several great new features just for Premium Members.

Nominations, how?

If you spot an avatar you love you can send a PM to a Team RC member with a link to the profile of the person with the great avatar. Weâ€™ll review it and decide whether or not to nominate it to the next quarterly contest. Youâ€™ll know if your avatar was nominated (in the future) to the contest by a PM from Team RC, so you can eagerly await the next round of contest results.

Reef Central members canâ€™t nominate an avatar directly, and wonâ€™t be able to vote on the nominated avatars. The contest is sponsored, run and decided by Team RC. Itâ€™s our way of recognizing members who make great contributions not only to forum discussions, but also to the scenery here at Reef Central.

--------

Congratulations again to Copps, our April 2007 winner!

Samala · 04/06/2007, 10:04 AM

jessiesgrrl

bbehring

Whirley

Thorium

Tgunn

Reefshadow

Reefer2005

Ooulophilia

Samala · 04/06/2007, 10:07 AM

Navyblue

Nait002

msman825

Melody

Jeffbrig

Hyperfocal

ERICinFL

Cubber

Chrisstie

Samala · 04/06/2007, 10:08 AM

Fishyvet

jlfnjlf

Ctreefer

Randall_James

corals_b_4_bills

Thanks again to everyone for making RC scenic!

>Sarah

SptfireXIV · 04/06/2007, 10:43 AM

Congrats Copps!

drummereef · 04/06/2007, 11:13 AM

That one deserves it. Fantastic shot.

mpoletti · 04/06/2007, 12:15 PM

Those are all pretty cool.

copps · 04/06/2007, 12:35 PM

Woo hoo! Thanks guys! This shot is almost two years old, but I still own all of these fish, with the exception of the moorish idol (yanked after eating my sps after being safe for months) and my yellow tang (who jumped and found one of my VHO ballasts where he promptly got fried... which I heard from upstairs)

Here's a blown up shot... this is feeding time in my reef and you could see the turkey baster at the top of the shot...

Looks like it smooth searching for me for the next year for free!

Thanks to RC for providing such a great service to people... and nice avatars everyone! I'm much more skilled as an aquarist than as a photographer or graphic designer...

Copps

drummereef · 04/06/2007, 01:06 PM

Wow, what a fantastic shot. Even better when it's blown up. Do you have a thread on your tank where we can get more infomation on it? Is this your TOTM tank (Sept 2004)?

copps · 04/06/2007, 01:23 PM

My wife and I had a house built that we moved into in December of 2004, and this system was an upgrade from my 65 that was TOTM here on RC. This system was recently featured on our local club board as TOTM and you could read a little bit about it here . The tank has grown in quite a bit since those pics were taken and I'll get some updated shots soon...

I usually frequent the reef fishes forum these days... you could check out this thread to see some of my recent passions...

Any other questions please feel free to ask!

Thanks again...

Copps

melev · 04/06/2007, 03:26 PM

Congrats John. I like the bigger image better.

Samala · 04/07/2007, 08:30 AM

Wow, the large format of that image is unbelievable! It practically pops off my screen!

>Sarah

corals b 4 bills · 04/07/2007, 10:34 PM

Hey! I was nominated! Thank you to the person that sent in my avatar My wife took the picture of my lawnmower blennie (RIP) he loved to be held, his name was Lil-Lil (littlle-little for those on medication), Thanks again (Drummereef?) and staff.

samson78945 · 04/08/2007, 01:04 PM

wow!!! that is an amazing picture! congrats on winning my friend

Misled · 04/08/2007, 07:10 PM

Very nice tank, fish and shot. Congrats!

cmb88 · 04/08/2007, 07:37 PM

neatoooo!! very nice!!

cschweitzer · 04/09/2007, 11:58 AM

The winning avatar almost looked fake...what a great picture!!! Blown up, you can tell it is a very unique and diversified tank...the avatar size barely does it justice.

RC should make all nominated accounts allowed to double-size their avatars for a year too

.

copps · 04/09/2007, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cschweitzer

RC should make all nominated accounts allowed to double-size their avatars for a year too.

Amen to that! Great idea... Samala? Possible?

chrisstie · 04/09/2007, 02:05 PM

Thanks for the nominations and what a wonderful winner! If you trimmed the image slightly so you can't see the tank equipment, you'd think it was a shot taken off of a reef out in the wild. Beautiful!

Samala · 04/09/2007, 05:28 PM

Hmmmmmm. Interesting idea. I can make an appeal to the reef gods and see what happens.

>Sarah

jfish298 · 04/09/2007, 09:02 PM

very nice. congrats!

howardofnova · 04/10/2007, 11:02 AM

Congrats sir!
Tanks where beautiful during your Tank Tour last month and picture show it well!!
Howard

fishyvet · 04/10/2007, 01:36 PM

Hey! I didn't even know my avatar was nominated! Well, I need to give credit to my highschool friend Daniel Miller who made it. He took on my little figure eight puffers when I left Pensacola FL to go to school in Gainesville. We've lost touch since but I still love the pic! Thanks for the nomination

scrmbld33 · 04/11/2007, 05:49 PM

congrats!!!! nice tank too

Hop · 04/13/2007, 02:06 PM

Well deserved! Great shot!

04/06/2007, 10:02 AM	#1
Samala Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,930	April 2007 Avatar Contest Winner! Its that time again! Team Reef Central (Team RC) would like to announce the results for the April 2007 Avatar Contest! Congratulations to our winner Copps, who posted this beautiful photo as his avatar: Avatar Contest winners receive a full year of Premium Membership as their prize. The results for these quarterly contests will next roll out in July and November of 2007. The following other members were also nominated for the April 2007 contest. Weâ€™d like to thank each of them for their artistic contributions, and comedic relief: Jessiesgrrl, bbehring, Whirley, Thorium, Tgunn, Reefshadow, reefer2005, Ooulophilia, Navyblue, Nait002, msman825, Melody, Jeffbrig, Hyperfocal, ERICinFL, Cubber, Chrisstie, Fishyvet, jlfnjlf, ctreefer, Randall_James, corals_b_4_bills You can see each of the nominated avatars in the posts that follow in this thread. -------- So, how do I participate? Itâ€™s easy. In fact, you already do it. Choose a great avatar and make great posts to the discussion forums. Team RC members are already on the look out for candidates for Reef Central and Reefkeeping features like Thread of the Month and Tank of the Month. With this new contest in place, weâ€™ll be prowling for the best avatars as well. What makes a great avatar? Most of the avatars nominated by Team RC members for consideration in the first contest were excellent photos of corals, shrimp, crabs, fish and other aquatic life. However, the nominated avatars were not restricted to only the life in our aquariums. Photos of larger marine life were also represented, as were photos, drawings and cartoons of people and beautiful landscapes. Several were simply hilarious. The common thread they shared is that they impressed Team RC members. From that initial impression, we nominated the avatars into the contest pool and Team RC voted for the best. And the prizes are? Fame, bragging rights and a Premium Membership to Reef Central. Whatâ€™s so great about Premium Membership? Plenty. Premium Members have an expanded capacity to use the Search feature among other things. And starting in 2007 Reef Central will launch several great new features just for Premium Members. Nominations, how? If you spot an avatar you love you can send a PM to a Team RC member with a link to the profile of the person with the great avatar. Weâ€™ll review it and decide whether or not to nominate it to the next quarterly contest. Youâ€™ll know if your avatar was nominated (in the future) to the contest by a PM from Team RC, so you can eagerly await the next round of contest results. Reef Central members canâ€™t nominate an avatar directly, and wonâ€™t be able to vote on the nominated avatars. The contest is sponsored, run and decided by Team RC. Itâ€™s our way of recognizing members who make great contributions not only to forum discussions, but also to the scenery here at Reef Central. -------- Congratulations again to Copps, our April 2007 winner! __________________ "Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!"

04/06/2007, 10:04 AM	#2
Samala Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,930	Nominated avatars! jessiesgrrl bbehring Whirley Thorium Tgunn Reefshadow Reefer2005 Ooulophilia __________________ "Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!"

04/06/2007, 10:07 AM	#3
Samala Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,930	More nominated avatars! Navyblue Nait002 msman825 Melody Jeffbrig Hyperfocal ERICinFL Cubber Chrisstie __________________ "Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!"

04/06/2007, 10:08 AM	#4
Samala Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,930	And our final nominated avatars! Fishyvet jlfnjlf Ctreefer Randall_James corals_b_4_bills Thanks again to everyone for making RC scenic! >Sarah __________________ "Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!"

04/06/2007, 10:43 AM	#5
SptfireXIV Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Harrisonburg, VA Posts: 1,247	Congrats Copps! __________________ Jason Current Tank Info: 120 Gallon Rimless SPS Reef

04/06/2007, 11:13 AM	#6
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	That one deserves it. Fantastic shot. __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

04/06/2007, 12:15 PM	#7
mpoletti You'll never walk alone Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sacramento, Ca Posts: 18,245	Those are all pretty cool. __________________ -Mark a.) I believe... The curse is a reality b.) Fish poop is your friend c.) Why chase numbers? #CoralsLiketoDisco #ReefSerenity

04/06/2007, 12:35 PM	#8
copps Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern VA Posts: 2,679	Woo hoo! Thanks guys! This shot is almost two years old, but I still own all of these fish, with the exception of the moorish idol (yanked after eating my sps after being safe for months) and my yellow tang (who jumped and found one of my VHO ballasts where he promptly got fried... which I heard from upstairs) Here's a blown up shot... this is feeding time in my reef and you could see the turkey baster at the top of the shot... Looks like it smooth searching for me for the next year for free! Thanks to RC for providing such a great service to people... and nice avatars everyone! I'm much more skilled as an aquarist than as a photographer or graphic designer... Copps __________________ - John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only

04/06/2007, 01:06 PM	#9
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	Wow, what a fantastic shot. Even better when it's blown up. Do you have a thread on your tank where we can get more infomation on it? Is this your TOTM tank (Sept 2004)? __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

04/06/2007, 01:23 PM	#10
copps Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern VA Posts: 2,679	My wife and I had a house built that we moved into in December of 2004, and this system was an upgrade from my 65 that was TOTM here on RC. This system was recently featured on our local club board as TOTM and you could read a little bit about it here . The tank has grown in quite a bit since those pics were taken and I'll get some updated shots soon... I usually frequent the reef fishes forum these days... you could check out this thread to see some of my recent passions... Any other questions please feel free to ask! Thanks again... Copps __________________ - John Coppolino September '04 RC TOTM January '11 RC TOTM Buy fish that excite YOU, and respect others' passions. Yes, we know, there's a cheaper and prettier fish than the one we’re talking about. Current Tank Info: displays are 1300 gallon SPS (8.5' x 6' x 42"), 240 gallon anemone, and 350 gallon fish only

04/06/2007, 03:26 PM	#11
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Congrats John. I like the bigger image better.

04/07/2007, 08:30 AM	#12
Samala Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,930	Wow, the large format of that image is unbelievable! It practically pops off my screen! >Sarah __________________ "Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!"

04/07/2007, 10:34 PM	#13
corals b 4 bills Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (Belmont). Posts: 2,381	Hey! I was nominated! Thank you to the person that sent in my avatar My wife took the picture of my lawnmower blennie (RIP) he loved to be held, his name was Lil-Lil (littlle-little for those on medication), Thanks again (Drummereef?) and staff. __________________ Reefkeeper - (ref-ke-per) n: Individual obsessed with placing disturbing amounts of electricity and seawater in close proximity for the purpose of maintaining live coral reef organisms. Current Tank Info: 29 gallon Bio Cube, HQI 150 watt Nanotuner~Vortech MP10W ES~Arctica Chiller~AC II~Tunze Osmolator ATO~ Tunze 9002 skimmer W/In Tank Cup~ Korallin Reactor W/PH Monitor~ Korallin Denitrator~APC Back-up~Phosban/Carbon Reactor.

04/08/2007, 01:04 PM	#14
samson78945 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: So Cal Posts: 267	wow!!! that is an amazing picture! congrats on winning my friend

04/08/2007, 07:10 PM	#15
Misled RC Mod Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Posts: 11,440 Blog Entries: 11	Very nice tank, fish and shot. Congrats! __________________ Jesse I'm not saying I'm Batman. I'm just saying nobody has ever seen me and Batman in a room together.

04/08/2007, 07:37 PM	#16
cmb88 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: northern, CA Posts: 205	neatoooo!! very nice!! __________________ SETTLE DOWN!!!! lmao Current Tank Info: 14 gallon oceanic

04/09/2007, 11:58 AM	#17
cschweitzer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UCF area, Orlando, Fl Posts: 3,163	The winning avatar almost looked fake...what a great picture!!! Blown up, you can tell it is a very unique and diversified tank...the avatar size barely does it justice. RC should make all nominated accounts allowed to double-size their avatars for a year too. __________________ Two fish are sitting in a tank...one looks over to the other and says, "I hope you know how to drive this thing!" Current Tank Info: 180G, mandarin dragonette, a leather, an acan, and a micromussa

04/09/2007, 02:05 PM	#19
chrisstie Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 4,727	Thanks for the nominations and what a wonderful winner! If you trimmed the image slightly so you can't see the tank equipment, you'd think it was a shot taken off of a reef out in the wild. Beautiful! __________________ You lookin' at my wrasse? Current Tank Info: I find it odd that there are children starving in this country and yet we euthanize millions of stray dogs and cats every year and then incinerate the bodies. Not only that, but we make it illegal to butcher the meat. -MarkS

04/09/2007, 05:28 PM	#20
Samala Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,930	Hmmmmmm. Interesting idea. I can make an appeal to the reef gods and see what happens. >Sarah __________________ "Seaweed is cool, seaweed is fun, it makes its food from the rays of the sun!"

04/09/2007, 09:02 PM	#21
jfish298 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 145	very nice. congrats!

04/10/2007, 11:02 AM	#22
howardofnova Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Falls Church VA Posts: 13	Congrats sir! Tanks where beautiful during your Tank Tour last month and picture show it well!! Howard __________________ Falls Church VA 90g RR WAMAS Membership Director Current Tank Info: 90g Reef w/20g sump

04/10/2007, 01:36 PM	#23
fishyvet Awaiting Email Confirmation Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gainesville FL Posts: 463	Hey! I didn't even know my avatar was nominated! Well, I need to give credit to my highschool friend Daniel Miller who made it. He took on my little figure eight puffers when I left Pensacola FL to go to school in Gainesville. We've lost touch since but I still love the pic! Thanks for the nomination

04/11/2007, 05:49 PM	#24
scrmbld33 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: south jersey 08050 Posts: 2,394	congrats!!!! nice tank too __________________ a left over shrimp shedding is not "a sicilian message meaning luca brasi sleeps with the fishes" fish are friends, not food Current Tank Info: 90gal salt, 2 250mh 14k hamiltons 2 110 actinic, 127lbs LR,50lbs tonga 70lbs indonesia 7lbs tonga branch asm g3

04/13/2007, 02:06 PM	#25
Hop Carpe Noctem!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 8,548	Well deserved! Great shot! __________________ Hop Current Tank Info: 300-gallon in-wall system (mixed reef)