Right, I've had a go at updating it with your revised info - have a read and let me know what you think I've upped the difficulty rating - is that a bit OTT now?

Is it actually a 'plec'? Am I totally wrong in thinking Baryancistrus and Plecostomus are different? The Cat-e Log says Baryancistrus is Loricariidae. Would it be better if I took out references to 'plecs' to avoid confusion with common names?

@ 2010 - I daresay we could convert the caresheets to PDF but I think that might take a little while

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Ah, my comments were written in response to the caresheet. Not written as a care sheet as such so it doesn't read very well.

Plec is really just a term for a huge group of catfish. It doesn't actualy mean anything of any consequence. It's an abreviation of Plecostomus as you'll know. Plecostomus and Baryancistrus are different genus.

As the common name is Golden nugget plec I'd leave the name plec in. :)

I wrote a caresheet for these elsewhere years ago. I'll PM you the link. :)

Thanks, will check it out later

Caresheets are deliberately kept short as the original intention was to allow people a side by side comparison of a few fish they may be considering without overloading them with info.

If someone ever wanted to do something in more detail about a particular species then this would be an article linked from the caresheet.

As someone quite new to the world of all things fish I find the care sheets very good. But as they are only care sheets I only use them as a point of reference before I go delving for more in depth info, sort of like an anchor point.. I think any care sheet for any animal should be no more than this. Would it not be easier to have some sort of disclaimer along these lines above the care sheets.

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The thread was started not to discuss the length of a care sheet but the innacuracies of this one which could very realistically result in the death of the fish.

As for the level of detail, I believe the more the better. It's perfectly possible to create a caresheet with a lot of information but with just the fundamantals being quick and easy to glance over giving the reader the choice to check out the basics or a lengthy read.

One issue with many caresheets (In general not on any specific internet resource) is that they become out of date. Many are written by amateurs who may have kept a species for a few years and based their info on their own experience whilst confirming a few facts via an old book.

Take a look at cardinal tetras, discus and guppies three highly popular aquarium fish :-

Cardinals, these are perceived to be a little delicate. Old literature states that they are wild caught and need soft acidic water to thrive. JMC Aquatics import wild caught fish, they keep them in static tanks and closely monitor them as the survival rate is not great. they need a lot of care when first imported. Phil, the owner of fish philosophy will tell you that his cardinals are bomb proof and easy to care for. The difference, his are cabtive bred in eastern europe and these fish have become hardier and more tolerant of water conditions. So at what difficulty do you rate the cardinal tetra on a care sheet?

Guppies, again the information on these fish is often out of date. Many people claim they are very easy to keep. The reality in 2011 is that these fish have become so inbred by the commercial fish farms looking to create new colour variants that the 'hardiness' has been bred out of them. Another factor which results in the deaths of tens of thousands of these fish is that they are now produced commercially in brackish water. During import they are then acclimated into fresh water far too quickly before ending up in an aquarists tank with in all likelihood different conditions. I know of at least one LFS local to here that has stopped selling guppies due to the high losses they experience due to poor quality inbred fish. So is it correct to call them an easy fish in a caresheet?

Discus, wild caught discus were considered difficult. These days, as long as they are acclimated correctly they are considered hardier than farmed fish by many. Inbreeding to produce different colour variants being the problem again. Discus farmed in the far east are produced in harder water than what wild fish are. The additional minerals improve growth. As for them being difficult to breed, this is a load of rubbish. They are very easy to breed. Just buy a group of juvenilles, feed them up and let them pair off. I bred them in ordinary tapwater as a teenager with nothing more than adding aquasafe. Most of the information written in discus care sheets is based on very old and outdated literature. There is a huge amount of 'snobbery' associated with these fish. As for what water conditions they require, always take advice directly from a reputable breeder as they will know what they will fair best in. Don't ever try and keep far eastern bred fish in the same water conditions as wild caught fish should be kept in. You'll probably kill them.

So in short, information about modern day farmed fish is often missed out of caresheets through a lack of knowledge and understanding by the author. The Seriously Fish care sheets are very lengthy, but do address the differences in requirements of farmed fish as opposed to wild caught in terms of needs and even some of the behavioural differences seen in some species. Which is why I personally think more information is better.

Maybe in these cases the caresheet should state 'This information relates to wild caught specimens only'.

I'm really against lengthy caresheets as people won't read all of it or not take it in. They are intended as a start point, possibly a few would be printed and taken to the LFS to look at actual fish as part of the decision making process.

I think they are also useful for people who come to the site with a tank full of fish and need to look up what they have and quickly see what might be incompatible.

Going into greater depth on wild caught verses captive bred for a species is definitely article subject. You'll find all sorts of views on this and they should be covered as part of the article and perhaps in comments.

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This has reminded me of something I'd completely forgotten - didn't we have some means of viewing them by mobile phone? I don't mean by the usual surfing method on smartphones, wasn't there something else you did? Or am I hallucinating? Wasn't the idea that if someone was in a shop and wanted a quick check on something they were thinking of buying they could use that system?

EDIT - crossed with Admin there. Accurate, concise caresheets have a better chance (IMO) of getting the message across when it's most needed. It would be interesting to have some more detailed articles linking from them though The goldy ones are a bit like that already, the caresheets are short but there are more detailed articles on care.

mobile site for caresheets: http://fishkeeping.mobi/

Works on very basic mobiles like my much loved 5 yr old Nokia.

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Believe me I've seen all kinds of views online, at SVAS meets and when importing and discussing with others who have experience of both types.

Sadly some people fail to understand how domesticated animals differ a lot from their wild counterparts. Especially fish kept for decades. I used examples of hardiness being bred out of fish and the opposire deeliberately to demonstrate how it's not a black and white subject. But people should be aware of the issues it creates. Buying guppies from a reputable UK breeder is a good idea. The UK guppy league had one of their events hosted at a SVAS event last year and Joe Public could buy high quality UK bred guppies at our auction. They are far hardier than the mass produced rubbish you'll find in the LFS these days. But most people won't be aware of this. Or even know that there are opportunities to buy top quality fish with a little research, instead they'll head for the nearest chain store or local LFS.

Deliberately seeking out captive bred cardinals from LFS who know where their fish come from (Not all do) will give the keeper a much better chance of success too. As they're a little more forgiving than wild caught examples.

Moving forward, the increase in popularity of hybrid species is rarely covered and so it would be nice to see more info online about the ever increasing number of hybrid catfish too. Otherwise first time newbies really will struggle to understand how to care for that 'Valentine catfish' they really like in the shops.