I'm helping out the PTA at my daughter's school get ready for their school carnival this year. I was asked to make posters for the various game booths. From this I discovered they are planning a "goldfish toss" (where you toss rings and win a goldfish) booth, and was unable to talk them into another prize. I did get permission to make a fact/care sheet that we will tie on the bags of the goldfish. I don't imagine most parents will bother reading it or following the advice, but even if just a few do I'll feel better about it.
This fact sheet will probably only be one piece of paper, and I want it to give clear, easy to read, kid-friendly information that won't overwhelm people and keep them from even bothering to read it. I want to cover things like tank size and filtration, water changes (including tap water conditioning), feeding, and the nitrogen cycle. Obviously I won't have room to go into any of these in great detail, and if I did fewer people would be likely to read it. I know it is taboo, but I will provide a little info on how to keep them in a filterless bowl since people are going to try to do it, and mention that this becomes less and less acceptable the larger the fish gets. I'd also like to list a few recommended books and some websites.
Any suggestions on information you'd consider vital to something like this? I know ideally that the carnival would choose another prize, or that they'd at least give vouchers for the fish so that parents could buy the tank BEFORE they got the fish. However, the school has already placed the order for the fish and is not interested in any of these suggestions. So, information is the next best thing. I'm hoping it will introduce some people to the hobby and let them realize there is more to know about keeping fish.
This fact sheet will probably only be one piece of paper, and I want it to give clear, easy to read, kid-friendly information that won't overwhelm people and keep them from even bothering to read it. I want to cover things like tank size and filtration, water changes (including tap water conditioning), feeding, and the nitrogen cycle. Obviously I won't have room to go into any of these in great detail, and if I did fewer people would be likely to read it. I know it is taboo, but I will provide a little info on how to keep them in a filterless bowl since people are going to try to do it, and mention that this becomes less and less acceptable the larger the fish gets. I'd also like to list a few recommended books and some websites.
Any suggestions on information you'd consider vital to something like this? I know ideally that the carnival would choose another prize, or that they'd at least give vouchers for the fish so that parents could buy the tank BEFORE they got the fish. However, the school has already placed the order for the fish and is not interested in any of these suggestions. So, information is the next best thing. I'm hoping it will introduce some people to the hobby and let them realize there is more to know about keeping fish.
