If you were making an all in one flyer on fishkeeping....

[jetajockey]

What would it have in it?

I'm working on one of these and would like some input or suggestions.

I'd like to have these flyers stuffed in bags of people buying fish at a pet store. I want it to be chock full of basic fishkeeping information to help get people up to speed. So far this is what I have (extremely preliminary, off the top of my head)

The nitrogen cycle, brief overview of what cycling is and a few methods of doing this.

The necessity of water changes.

How to pick out a healthy fish.

Things to have on hand (liquid test kit, Prime/Amquel+/etc, python, salt, quarantine/hospital tank, etc)

A brief look at stocking, basic compatibility no-no's and stocking density no-no's.
Any other suggestions?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Maybe the fact that in a fish tank there is an upper, middle, and lower part to the tank and not to everstock each one? Im not sure

 

[mfdrookie516]

I would emphasize researching before buying. Obviously, you won't be able to cover everything in the pamphlet, and the store employees may not be a great source of info for every question.... but suggesting that they look online and know what they're getting before they get it would be a good idea IMO.

 

[phoebekatee]

There is an awesome chart on fish compatibility. It's obviously very long so you can just edit it to the most common ones.
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/freshwater_compatibility_chart.php
That was the link and this is my personal edited version:

 

[jetajockey]

Sounds good. Yeah, the employees are not going to be able to answer much at all, that I am almost sure of, at least at this point. There is going to be one guy running things in his spare time that has a good bit of experience (and happens to also work full time at a chain LPS) so he'll be a big help but I don't know what his hours are going to be yet.

I like the idea of a compatibility chart, I have a large one on order from Segrest that has pictures and everything, so I may just have the pamphlet point them to it instead, it just depends on how much space I have to work with.

 

[phoebekatee]

I was wondering if when you are done you could email me the leaflet? Sorry I know that it's a lot to ask but my LFS is so stupid! I would write copyright on it if that's ok? If you say yes I will give you my email, otherwise don't worry I completely understand and that it is your work!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

How to acclimatize fish and inverts.

 

[jetajockey]

I was wondering if when you are done you could email me the leaflet? Sorry I know that it's a lot to ask but my LFS is so stupid! I would write copyright on it if that's ok? If you say yes I will give you my email, otherwise don't worry I completely understand and that it is your work!

I can do that, no problem. I'll likely post it here so people can use it freely, it's being made with the intention of helping others so I'm glad to share.

How to acclimatize fish and inverts.

Great idea, adding it.

 

[HN1]

Acclimation is a good suggestion. Also, maybe a very brief write up on stunting to dispel the "they only grow to the tank size" myth.

 

[jetajockey]

Excellent Len. I'm going to have to find some real references on that subject though, some sciency stuff to pull from to help it's legitimacy.

 

[Scouser]

Basic info about the nitrogen cycle.

Focus on the harm a fish can come into if not done correctly, little scare tactics always help lol

 

[phoebekatee]

Ooh and common parasites! And the best equipment to buy e.g air pumps and conditioners! How would I download it? Do you know what would be so great; give each person in this forum a topic and page size e.g A4 portrait and let us make a full page of that topic, then send it to you to be merged and printed! Sorry- I LOVE all this creative stuff!

 

[jetajockey]

One of the things mentioned multiple times by customers was that they had broken down their tanks because they could never keep their fish alive. Ended up being two primary reasons for that, first, bad stock, buying fish from wally and unkempt chain LPS is often a bad idea, but second was their lack of basic understanding of fishkeeping. They were never told about keeping clean water, frequent water changes in the early stage of a tank, basic nitrogen cycle, stocking, etc.

So many issues can be remedied just by doing a water change every few days.

 

[jetajockey]

Ooh and common parasites! And the best equipment to buy e.g air pumps and conditioners! How would I download it? Do you know what would be so great; give each person in this forum a topic and page size e.g A4 portrait and let us make a full page of that topic, then send it to you to be merged and printed! Sorry- I LOVE all this creative stuff!

Lol I think that is more along the lines of a book. Trying to keep this thing small, short, and informational.

I'll see what i can do to get it pre formatted and put in a word document or something, we'll see.

 

[Scouser]

I really think that a web page dedicated to all this basic knowledge should be sponsored by a government, if only a local one.

It would help so many people who are new to the hobby and it would save going from place to place to find scraps of information.

Maybe something to look into I think lol.

 

[phoebekatee]

Ah shame..

 

[phoebekatee]

Oh and also most importantly link AA and some great posters e.g librarygirl who taught me my whole nitrogen cycle! Find some great contacts and link to their profile, it helped me so much! And not even being funny state that tropicals need a heater and colds don't, it's amazing how many dummies have made that mistake! And the different types of filters e.g gravel, carbon... And teach them how to use a syphon
Xx

 

[librarygirl]

This is a great idea Jeta! I think you have all of the major points covered. I create a lot of handouts and brochures for my library and I find it difficult to include a lot of information in a brochure as the narrow column layout can limit the amount of text you can include without it being too dense (and if you add images to spruce things up those take up space as well). Including links to valid, informational sites for things that would explain in more detail what you can't fit into a brochure (like the nitrogen cycle) might be a good option. I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[aqua_chem]

Spotting common diseases and what to do, or somehow directing people where to look.

 

[absolutangel04]

I think you need to make sure to tell them to follow the inch-per-gallon rule.


But on a more serious note, I think it sounds like you have the basics though over pretty well. Obviously you can't include everything, but the topics suggested sound really good.