Fishkeeping and The Web
They1 say that you can find anything on the web. Whilst this is completely true, I find it very difficult without hours of searching to find decent resources that I am entirely happy with.
When I first set up my new fish tank I, like one does, went searching to see what I could find on teh intertubes about the hobby.
My first few “finds” turned up the usual dead or really really old information. What I really wanted was a forum where I could get advice about my new hobby. Of course, the quality of these forums (fora?) differ hugely in quality too.
The first one I found had (like most of ‘em do) a Noob forum for introductions and beginners questions. Most of the replies to threads (mine included) went something along the lines of
Well, that tank’s not really big enough to keep any decent amount of fish. You really want an xxx gallon tank.
That’s not really helpful when I’ve already bought the tank, got the water in it and to be honest, don’t have the requirement (yet!) to buy a 4 foot long 55 gallon tank. Mine is a tiny 39 litre (8 gallon ish) tank that’s sitting beautifully in the corner next to the computer in the study.
So, I tried a couple more. More of the same unfortunately. Then I happened across Tropical Fish Forums aka TFF. I read a few posts and then a few more and then a few more. Next I know it’s 1.30 am on a school night. Ok, that one will do then!
So I joined (my username is Tropicoll - cool huh!), started my first thread and so far am really happy with the responses I have received.
One of the bits of advice from my thread was to be consistent with my log book notes.
For the uninitiated, fishkeeping isn’t just getting a tank, chucking some water in and hoping for the best. It’s much more complicated than that (yay, I like complicated!). Daily and weekly water testing and changing, fishless cycling and water quality monitoring. I read it suggested that fish-keeping isn’t about keeping fish as much as keeping bacteria. The good kind, not the bad.
So, the log book is an accurate record of testing for pH, Ammonia levels (fish poop!), Nitrites (converted by bacteria from Ammonia) and Nitrates (converted from Nitrites). When doing the fishless cycle (linked above) the guys on the forum like to see the results of the regular testing so they can advise the next step and easily see any problems that may arise as a result of the actions.
In my nerdy way I was trying to figure out how I could get my log book easily readable and easily referenced. Then I remembered everyone’s favourite - Google! Free, everyone knows it, well supported. Even better, Google Documents has a spreadsheet which can be filled in online, shared so the whole world can read it and easily linked to. So that’s what I’ve done!
The intention is that I will keep this log updated with every single test, change and anything else I can think of in the hope that it will be of use to me and maybe someone else…
- Who the hell are “they” anyway??? ↩
2 Responses to “Fishkeeping and The Web”
Dave - November 8th, 2008
‘Tropicoll’? Oh that’s very clever!!!
Freshwater or Marine? If it’s freshwater, don’t buy any Tiger Barbs - they eat everyone elses fins!
Collin - November 8th, 2008
It will be freshwater, I haven’t got the space in the tank to run it marine, especially with all the extra equipment that’s needed.
Fish haven’t been decided yet, but wil only be about 10 fish. If I want to go for some tetras then I will need at least 6 as they like to school. I want a Hasbora or two as well as they are cute little bottom feeders which will help clean the gravel in the tank. :)
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