Website For Fish Newbies

[LauraFrog]

Hi guys!

I've noticed that there isn't really a one stop site for people to find out basic information about fishkeeping, and that a lot of them assume knowledge about cycling, filters, fish species etc. So I've decided to fill the gap, cause I've got the time (I'm bored) the inclination (I'm sick of people getting wrong advice and killing fish) and the knowledge (I hope).

The name is a tossup between The Right Fin (like stepping out on the right foot, I think it's the better one) and Best Fin Forward. ATM I'm thinking The Right Fin because the subtitle is 'advice for new fishkeepers' or something similar. Opinions? Which, or have you got something else entirely that might be better?

I'm going to include these sections on the navigation:

Setting Up
Is Fishkeeping For You? (realistic summary of time and money involved, risks ie pets and young children)
Choosing A Fish Tank (shape, size, location)
Choosing Equipment (filtration, lighting, heating)
All About Live Plants (recognising non aquatics, which newbies should choose, whether they are for you, basics of CO2)
Setting up and Decorating (fish don't like living in bare glass boxes. Wash stuff before you put it in the tank. ETC)
All About Cycling - A MUST READ. (About the biological cycle, common bad advice from pet stores and why it doesn't work, why you MUST do it properly, why zeolite/ammolock aren't a permanent solution)
How to Cycle an Aquarium. (Fishless with ammonia, fishless with food, fish in.)

The Fish
Stocking Your Aquarium (checking things like adult size, water hardness requirement, temperature, aggression. Recommended max stocking. Fish newbies should not buy ie discus. Fish not community compatible but sold as such ie oscars. Fish that need special environments ie brackish fish, chocolate gouramis. Fish that are predators ie pantodon.)
Buying Fish (choosing healthy fish, transporting fish, acclimatising fish to the tank)
Feeding (choosing a food, how much and how often to feed, varying the diet with supplements ie bloodworm)
Tank Maintenance (weekly-monthly-yearly, how not to overclean a filter, etc)
I'm Going Away (what to arrange for the fish if you're leaving.)
When Things Go Wrong (saving people from little panics ie heater busts up, power outage, fish get sick. What NOT to do ie randomly pour the first medication you lay your hands on into the tank)

Fish Species
Large list of fish species with ideal water parameters, tolerated water parameters, and basic care. Organised by groups: Barbs, tetras, danios, rasboras, livebearers, catfish, etc. Thsi will be far more attractively laid out so it doesn't look like 'information overload' but here's the information I'm including, ie for a platy it would be:

Common Name: Platy
Species: Hybrid, mainly Xiphophorus maculatus and Xiphophorus variatus.
Adult size: 2.5-3 inches/6-8cm; often sold as juvenile; dwarf form (1.75in/4cm) sometimes available.
Colour: Huge number of colours and strains available.
Difficulty: Extremely easy.
Tolerate fish in cycle: Yes.
Sexing: Anal fin of the male is modified into a copulatory organ, a penis like structure called a gonopodium. (diagram) Male may be smaller and slimmer than the female.
Breeding: Livebearer (gives birth to live young approx 30 a month.) Breeds with no assistance from aquarist. Fry well developed at birth and can be raised on crushed flakes. Females can store sperm; no male required for breeding.
Temperament towards its own species: Social but does not require groups. Keep all males, all females, or 1 male to 2 or more females.
Temperament towards other fish species: Very peaceful.
Community tank: Ideal, but will eat eggs and fry.
Feeding: Greedy, ensure that shyer fish get enough to eat. Vegetable based diet ideal. Thrives on almost anything.
Ideal pH range: 6.8-7.6
Tolerated pH range: 6.2-8
Ideal hardness range: 100-300ppm
Tolerated hardness range: 30-300ppm (AFAIK 300ppm is hard water, right?)
Ideal temperature range: 23C-28C
Tolerated temperature range: 19C-32C

Etc.

Fish Diseases
Including some diagnostic tools to pick common diseases and detailed profiles, with photos and treatment guidelines, of common diseases. Also some information on a good precautionary first aid kit, a basic hospital tank setup that IMO every fishkeeper should have, and a guide to the humane euthanasia of tropical fish.

Tools
The calculator I have started on will be the first - it's basically aiming to prevent overstocking.

Links and Contact
self explanatory.



Can anybody think of something important I have left out? Any suggestions at all will be very welcome. At the moment I'm building the (complicated) layout.

 

[drobbyb]

I think it's a great idea. As far as the name I'll cast my vote for Best Fin Forward. It just sounds better IMO.

 

[OldMan47]

I think there is a need for just such a site. You could link to some place like fishbase for the fish data rather than create your own just because there are so many different fish that you will never have time to set up even a small percentage. A good approach might be some suggested stockings for different sized tanks with links to the fishbase data for each fish in the list. It would let a person look for a stocking they like and then link to the details for each of the fish. I would think that the hardest part of setting up a new fish keeper site would be trying to stay unbiased in the postings. I have some strong likes and dislikes in fish that I am sure many other people do not share. I would hate to set up a new fish keeper with my prejudices and then have them walk into a LFS and encounter lots of people with entirely different tastes. It really is just a matter of taste, not a real problem with the fish I like or don't like. The same can be said of equipment. I have a strong liking for Rena products but lots of people will tell you Eheim or Fluval or Marineland or Tetra-tec are the best and each person thinks they are right. They are all wrong and I am right. You can see how that statement would come across. How do you really keep the "me" out of your advice?
Just thought I had better get that question in front of you so that when you start you can keep it in mind while writing your advice for the newbies. I find my own advice in this forum changes depending on what a person is trying to accomplish or what their circumstances are but a newbie almost never has a preferred direction so letting their questions guide your answers is even harder.

 

[tenohfive]

Personally I think such a website exists already - its called 'New to the hobby' section of TFF. And alot of stuff is covered in the pinned topics, including Miss W's guide to setting up a tank.

When I started in the hobby I used thinkfish.co.uk which covers most of the points you've mentioned, with a good database of most commonly sold fish. It didn't tell me (though the CC was a good effort) how to get a good mix of top, middle and bottom dwellers, and having too many of one can lead to overstocking - even if its with the 1 inch to 1 gallon rule (for example.)

I came here because I can always rely on experienced fishkeepers tailoring a response to my level of experience and individual circumstances.


If its something you want to do, it certainly won't do any harm and may be of benefit to some. But I don't think theres any substitute for TFF for people new to the hobby.

 

[LauraFrog]

Oh, no way, I totally agree and I'm planning to plaster it with links to TFF. But I think there's just a need for less technical information.

What I really wanted to do with this was have flyers or brochures with similar (although shorter) information as the website, and have it distributed by LFSs and in boxes with new aquariums. The problem is, the sort of LFS that will display brochures telling people they need to cycle their tanks and that they shouldn't overstock it are the sort of LFS that aren't going to give people bad advice in the first place. I think new aquariums would be a good place to start - flyer in the box. This came up on one of 5teady's rants about bad advice from LFSs a while back and I've been thinking about it and starting to write it.

Anymore votes for the name>? I can't make my mind up! lol

 

[tyyrlym]

I like Best Fin Forward.

 

[Sarette]

I like Best Fin Forward also

 

[tenohfive]

I think new aquariums would be a good place to start - flyer in the box. This came up on one of 5teady's rants about bad advice from LFSs a while back and I've been thinking about it and starting to write it.

You'd need to get in contact with the manufacturers then, and its quite possible that the middle management person who makes that decision will think you're talking rubbish because they don't know any better. Its in their best interests for fishkeeping to seem simple, so leaflets suggesting otherwise might not go down too well.