Archivarium 2004

Carack · New Members Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI

After reading somewhere that I should keep a fish log/journal, I decided this was a really great idea. I am a complete beginner to the aquarium/fish-keeping hobby and would really love to learn as much as I can as I go along. So far I'm just logging away basic information on my fish and tank setup. Anybody else keep a fish log or something similar? I'd love to hear what sorts of information you keep and eventually I'd like to make this into a large album with tons of logged away information.

Does anyone have any good ideas how I should split up the logs? I was going to simply have a fish log with information on the tank that it is setup within. However, I think it might be more beneficial to keep a log of a tank setup and include information about the fish within the setup to get an idea how it works altogether. Any ideas?

benedictj · Advisors Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Location: new york, ny

I keep an Excel spreadsheet with all of my water parameters, water changes, fertilization and medication dosing. I also document when I add fish, any disease that turns up, and any breeding related stuff.

This has been extremely helpful to me in terms of maintainence. By looking at it, I could estimate how often I needed to change water (based on nitrate levels) as well as anticipate how long my DIY co2 lasts.
(I have 3 of these total, one for each tank).

dale · Regulars Joined: 10 Jan 2005 Location: Vancouver Canada

Hi Carack,
I keep a log of water parameters after each routine test. It comes in handy when observing trends or spikes and deciding what may have caused them.

I would keep a tally of how much I spend on the hobby but I have learned NEVER to leave such incriminating evidence around for my wife to see Wink

.
(darn, now I have to wipe the hard drive)
_________________
Think like a fish

mshortri · Regulars Joined: 12 Jan 2005 Location: Tampa, FL

For the first few months I kept an Excel spreadsheet too. As the tank stabilized and I saw the pattern of when I needed to do water changes, I gradually stopped keeping the diary. But it was a great, great learning tool.

One of the things I tracked on the spreadsheet was not only when I added a new fish or plant, but where I purchased it. I was able to see a distinct trend that I might not have noticed as quickly otherwise - nearly everything I bought from a chain store died or brought in disease (this was in the early days before I had a quarantine tank), and nearly everything I bought at the "good" LFS thrived.
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Maura