How many of you use a log?

[JosephMCorbett]

Just curious. I use a notebook to write down everything - new arrivals, maintenance, behavior, test results, deaths :(, changes, anything.

[Emg]

I keep telling myself that I should do that....but I somehow never get around to it.... :rolleyes:

It's a really good idea though.... :thm:

[greendeltatke]

I just started keeping fish a month ago and I immediately started a log, mainly to use up a very ugly blank book I got for my birthday. The log has been very helpful as I get my schedule established. I can look up what I fed them when, dates of water changes, etc. I really don't think I would remember details without it. During cycling it was invaluable. I think it should be part of the standard newbie advice to keep a log.

[cbass179]

I keep a log of all parameters of each fish. That way i know which fish would be a good friend or foe. I also like to study the behavior of each fish too. Keeps me busy.

[Kasakato]

I use the log in the back of my test kit booklet. Im lazy. Anything else is put in my Palm handheld.

[sublime1184]

Oooops I voted other, than realized I use a regular calendar.. :duh:

[mishi8]

I keep a log. It's pretty boring stuff, though, since I'm still fishless cycling. :eek:

I tried a demo of Maquarium http://www.everydaysoftware.net/maquarium/ It looks interesting...could be a good way of keeping detailed info that is easy to access, plus you can make graphs. :D The demo only allows 3 days of entries though, so I couldn't get a good feel for it, and am hesitant to pay the shareware fee at this point. I'll stick to the old fashioned note keeping for now. :)

[FisheyLisa]

I started it just to keep tabs on cycling. I hate logs for anything. I never used to even write down homework assignments in high school- well I did, it was just in relaly random places, like my book cover or another subject's book cover or my hand...ooops washed my hand! Logs the best though, because there have been numerous times when I couldn't remember how many days ago I fed my frogs or I looked back to see how long something happened for. Once you get old, al lthe days and weeks seem to run together;)

[Raskolnikov]

I use a MS Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my tanks.



.

[Oddball~]

What??? Keeping tracks on tanks? Every Sunday or Monday is water change day, I watch for ich & other diseases, Wednesday is "go to PetLand to test salinity and parameters" day, and every day (usually) is feeding day.....

[Dragon Queen]

I have mine on the computer but I just started a few weeks ago to keep track of my water parameters and how long fish have been in qt. :dive:

[tuvok]

I use a program called, "Advanced Diary". I mostly take notes on test results (when I remember), maintenance and what ever else strikes me as noteworthy.

[RTR]

Simple calendar - I could keep track of what has been done and what needs to be done without it.

[lquinsey]

My log was invaluable while doing my fishless cycle. There is no way I could ever remember all those numbers, and it will remind me to be patient the next time.

[suby7272]

I have written a computer application onto which I record
1. Date of arrival
2. Fish Name
3. Price
4. LFS
5. Picture etc

It has a "Analyze" button which gives me a break up of
1. how many fish purchased so far
2. how many are living
3. how many are dead
4. monthly breakup of expenditure on fish purchase etc etc :p:

[Bmeasure]

I have written a computer application onto which I record
1. Date of arrival
2. Fish Name
3. Price
4. LFS
5. Picture etc

It has a "Analyze" button which gives me a break up of
1. how many fish purchased so far
2. how many are living
3. how many are dead
4. monthly breakup of expenditure on fish purchase etc etc :p:

Very interesting approach! I would value that ability very highly in the record keeping field of fishkeeping.

I don't keep notes on anything except my fertilizer dosing for planted tanks. I have a "basic" or "generic" dosing regimen that has been suggested by most experienced aquascapers here, and it will be adjusted to meet the needs of my tank as time dictates! I am still on the basic formula that Plantbrain outlines (50% water changes and set dose for max amount of uptake, then restart weekly). I am working with that and will figure out how things work out for me.

What would be great is for some more aquascape-experienced programmers to design some different programs for use with dosing regimens. There are two that I know of now, but both could be better, IMO (Chuck Gadd and Riverix). Not trying to insult, just saying that it could be made easier for newbies to plants (even though I've been doing plants for about 2 years). It would be nice to make a program that would be able to input each persons choices of nutrients and keep track of those over time (like a log-book), but also be able to show the "suggested dosing rates" for any fert. This would help people be able to keep track of their history with fertilizing.

[Blinky]

I have a lousy memory, I find a log is really useful when it comes to things like making sure I've dosed ferts on a particular day, looking back to find out how long a plant/fish has been in the tank, how many days I've been treating for a disease, when I need to change the water or make up new CO2 mix. It's also great for writing down things like the name of the disease guru I spoke to at the LFS (and which LFS it was!), or where I found a particular plant :)

[rohnds]

I have written a computer application onto which I record
1. Date of arrival
2. Fish Name
3. Price
4. LFS
5. Picture etc

It has a "Analyze" button which gives me a break up of
1. how many fish purchased so far
2. how many are living
3. how many are dead
4. monthly breakup of expenditure on fish purchase etc etc
Great minds think alike. I wrote a small db package using MS Access and Visual Basic. My main purpose to keep track of my water chemistry and be able to chart and analyze and see how they behave over a period of time. I also designed an alorithm to calculate the inches of fish you could keep, given the dimension of the tank and taking into account such things as frequecny of your water change, filter types and water chemistry and few others (which will be my secrect to the algorithm).
Like your, thsi db also keep track of fishes in your tank, when they dies, when they were introduced, how much they cost, when and where I bought them and why they died. I also record the symptoms they displayed prior to their death and what I used for treatment, if any.

About few months back I converted this db package to Oracle. Now I am thinking about creating an ASP to placed on the web. (that is in the future)

Rohn

[daveedka]

Hah !!! I think I've found a realm where I'm more neurotic than RTR :D :D

I keep excell spreadsheets. I have one for each tank that shows purchase dates and sources for all critters, one for all plants with the same info, and notes. I keep a spreadsheet for water testing results, and fert dosages as well one sheet for each tank. In addition I keep a spreadsheet for data specific to any experiments I'm conducting so when I get ready to anylise results I'll have accurate info. In addition to all of that, I have note pads and a calendar for each tank. I Guess being a troubleshooter and problem solver by nature, I am nervous about losing info that may help me down the road some time. on top of all of that I have several hundred articles and e-mails I have saved to file in the event that the internet loses them. I have often thought of just printing them up and putting them in an indexed binder but that would sort of defeat the purpose of owning a good computer. All of my info is stored redundantly in two seperate hard drives as well as backed up on CD. I am required to do this with work information, and the habit spills over to my hobbies also. The scary part of all of this is that I constantly feel like I don't record enough information, and I am well known for having a memory for detail that defies belief. With most things I work directly from memory, and only check my notes and Data when I am questioned or when something doesn't add up for me. Now after having said that I really feel like a Geek.
dave

[reiverix]

There are two that I know of now, but both could be better, IMO (Chuck Gadd and Riverix).
What would you like to see added/changed? I'm pretty much finished with the H2Overview program but my fert calc is open to suggestions.

[RTR]

Daveedka - wait until your tanks are tallied in dozens. I do not track details of water chemistry or feeding or individual fish, there are too many tanks. Despite having been married to Excel and Access for too many years, I have at least partially recovered. :cool:

All I track on most tanks is the partials and filter upkeep, and some of that is done on Post-its on individual external filters. Internals are on the calendar.

Experiments are logged via hard copy. Again too many years of the FDA. At least I don't sign every page anymore. :)

Non-recurring info does get noted - including much of dosing in planted tanks - until it becomes routine, or needs to modified for a given tank, then if routine at standard intervals it gets dropped, only changes from SOP are noted. If dosing is being changed from SOP, the changes are noted and tracked until a new SOP is set. New plants are noted at introduction and perhaps some comments while I learn them. Once they are routine, they too are dropped from notation. Ditto for new fish.

I definitely use the processes from the lab to work on my fish-keeping, but I absolutely refuse to allow my hobby to become work. Why do you think that I am so resistant to high-tech tanks? :dance2:

[Remmy]

i bought a small notebook a few days after i started my tank having read on forums that it is a good idea to keep a log
so far i havnt really had any use for all the info ive jotted down, but its nice to know how long you've had such and such fish/plant or whatnot

[SnakeIce]

Most logs I see won't fit in the tanks I have, best I can do is some small drift wood branches or roots..... Oh wait, not that kind of log. :thud:

I write out stuff I am trying to get to a routine or figure the ammounts for that routine but once set may or may not get saved depending on where I write it down. Not getting a dedicated note book and moveing several times is the cause of that, but somewhere I have some notes on the fish and other aquisitions I've made.

[mogurnda]

I have a log of the reef. From it's start as a 20 gallon FO, to its transformation to a nano, and finally to the 90 gallon. A little over 4 years of handwritten notes, some entered into excel, plus compulsively stored receipts. The log has been handy on occasion, the receipts have been invaluable for remembering where and when I got things.

I have tried logging the planted tank and mantis nano, but I guess I only have energy for one tank's worth.

[Bmeasure]

What would you like to see added/changed? I'm pretty much finished with the H2Overview program but my fert calc is open to suggestions.
Basically, I would want a downloadable program that can be stored and adapted to each person. Gadd's fert calculator can be downloaded (as I've had it for about 2 years now), but it doesn't contain very many types of fertilizers. I love how detailed and easy to use his system is, and would like something similar, but just more complete. The ability to enter in your weekly or monthly dosing/water change schedule would be great if you could save the new info to your computer (not have to re-enter everything each time).

I have been using fertilizers that simply aren't listed on Gadd's system (he only lists 6 fertilizer compounds. I would like additions of various optional compounds also listed. Don't know if this is confusing, but for instance: Potassium Nitrate, Mono Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Sulfate are just 3 options you can use for Potassium (I have a pound of each). The options I have for dosing PO4 are: Enema products, Triple Phosphate, or Mono Potassium Phosphate. Get my point? It would be extremely user/newbie friendly to point everyone to one chart that lists them all (if possible) and if you could even add to it if people found or mentioned another compound via downloads.

Once you got all the compounds listed you could list "suggested dosing amounts" for a specific ppm or mg/L (both is better). Another thing that is confusing when there is no calculator is how much K is in KNO3 vs K2SO4? Which one adds how much K and how much Nitrate or sulfate (ppm or mg/L).
If we could get this all in a chart that we could keep saved as aquarium A, B, C, etc. to keep track of them separately would be awesome. Each of our setups requires different maintenance sometimes, and it would be nice to have a terrific fertilizer calculator and log chart that would keep each of them straight for us.

Just another thought would be a graph that could approximate our fertilizer amounts in the water during the week (what ever time is between water changes) based on our testing the water directly after water change and dosing, then we enter enter in how often we fertilize each compound and again enter in the measured test readings directly before a water change. That would be a great visual aid to people who are having difficulty knowing when during the week to re-dose a compound (and if necessary).
Let me specify a bit:
Day 1: water change (list %), dose ferts to desired levels and test this.
-----Graph starts at reference,lists each fert (maybe color coded)
Day 2: (Assume no dosing)
-----Graph drops proportionally for each fert
Day 3: (assume that we dose again)
-----Graph adjusts up the chart each fert added (proportional with ppm)
Day 4: (Assume no dosing)
-----Graph drops again
Day 5: (assume dosing 3rd time -for really high light tank)
-----Graph again adjusts upwards
Day 6: (no dose)
-----Graph drops
Day 7: (no dose)
-----Graph drops

Bye the way I do know that it would take at least 1 week of entries before a fairly accurate graph could be shown! I'm sorry this is so long! This graph could help us to figure out if we are dosing too quickly or slowly during the week. For instance to dose on Wednesday instead of Tuesday (maybe only a couple of ferts, etc). I hope you understand my wishes. I'm sure they can be done, it may just be more work than someone is interested in doing. This is just my ideal program (for the moment! ;)

[Bmeasure]

By the way Riverix, I lost your web page. Could you put your link in your reply please? thanks.

[Holly9937]

wow you guys are fancy :eek: !!! Then again, I have plastic plants so I can see how it would be handy with dealing with fertilizers etc. Probably a great idea anyhow, I've been lucky enough to only have minor problems, and I do like the other post said, vacuum/water change on Sunday, feed, thats about it. Tank is about stocked, so I don't have new additions very often. I guess whatever works right :hi:

[pjfish]

I track everything that happens to my tanks. I've learned thru the years that it's better to have too much info than not enough. If there aren't any problems, then just ignore it. If there are problems, you can see what's happened and maybe make better decisions.

[reiverix]

ok Bmeasure I'll have a think about all the stuff you mentioned. My site is in my signature. If you download just the fert calculator (I think I called it H2O Buddy, lol) you can add/edit/delete your own fert entries. For now that means editing the XML file but I will get round to having the program do that stuff. It also works by molar mass so you can enter basically any compound you wish.

[Shekoi]

...even though only started it today. i've put columns like live food, new fish, dead fish, new bulbs, water changes, filter clean etc. then under i've put dates of when i last did them.

i've also got note pages where i can write anything that i need to remember.

Should be very helpful.

[flyfly]

I voted other, cuz I used to use one but felt I was being too anal and quit.

[led_zeppelin]

yet another old post

[XSeaNX]

I have written a computer application onto which I record
1. Date of arrival
2. Fish Name
3. Price
4. LFS
5. Picture etc

It has a "Analyze" button which gives me a break up of
1. how many fish purchased so far
2. how many are living
3. how many are dead
4. monthly breakup of expenditure on fish purchase etc etc :p:

heh sounds like a good Idea however Id rather not track just how much Ive spent in fish alone let alone FOOD COSTS etc.

[flyfly]

yet another old post

A little over a month! Anyway, I saw the date before I posted... I just thought that using a journal might come in handy for ya, Leddy! :idea2:

[BessieMcIntosh]

I'm not organized enough to keep a log of everything. I think I'll try it though.

[Pretender]

I just keep a log in Excel. I have columns for different parameters for when I test them and a "notes" column for indicating when I've added fish, changes to equipment, etc.

[Aries]

For Fish only logs - I track every time I test the water (before and after water changes) and what/when I dose for ferts. The sheets are linked to each other so I can determine what I should dose (based on predermined levels) based on the testing results.

I do not track new fish or fish loss since it is far and few between that they stocking numbers change. I also do not track what is fed because it is a regular schedule and that is memorized.

As for fish purchases, my accounting spreadsheet (like a checkbook) tracks all that for me (granted I must assign the correct account to it :)).

All these are using advanced Excel calcs and some VBA.

Yes I am a computer geek :joke:

Aries

[Patricia]

After years of hit-or-miss aquarium tending, I bought a computer program for aquariums; it gives me templates, access to data bases for fish, invertebrates (this had only one critter in it, so I'm adding to it as I go along), and plants. With eight tanks running, with different species of fish and inverts, each tank has different needs. The templates for each tank make it easy to keep track of expenses (which I'd rather not know), income (soon ... my LFS is interested in buying some of my baby Pomacea Bridgesii ...); water parameters: I have to make sure the pH and hardness stay up with all those growing baby Brigs; water changes, plus additives (fertilizer, liquid carbon, calcium, and medications) when needed. There's even a Notes section for each tank, where I can record my observations and thoughts. Best of all, I don't have to worry about where the danged notebook is ... or about dripping water or coffee on it!

[Roan Art]

Cool, this thread has a six month shelf life :)

I use an aquarium software program, Aquarix.

Roan

[patoloco]

I tried to keep a log in my tank, but it would not fit.

http://gold.mylargescale.com/DaveCrocker/log_train_3.JPG

Sorry... couldn't resist....

[fish_breeder_05]

A combination of 1 and 2. I write plans to improve the tank in the future down. As far as scientific names and other misalanious things, such as oddballs, breeding habits and such. pelvicromis pulcher, melanochromis johanni, melanochromis auaratus,synodontis euruptus, synodontis angelicu, geophagus brasilius, petrollium scalier (Iknow, its mispelled, but for some reason thats how I always pronounce it), tetraodon mbu. those are just off the top of my head

[MrPpers]

I use an Excel spreadsheet and use ReefCon 2000 software.