# Sticky  On Writing Profiles...



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

There seems to be a lot of confusion about a few things regarding the profiles, so I hope to help clear up a few things in this thread.

The goal here is to make the best profiles on the entire web, so that Fishforums is the one against which all others are compared. We want to make FishForums the first place people go to find information, not only in the profiles but in the forums. To do that, our profile have to be the very best available. That is no small feat.

Don't rush the job. Take your time & do it right, really cramming the most accurate and interesting info into each profile as possible. Doublecheck, no, triplecheck your facts to make sure your info is accurate. Feel free to add your own personal experiences & observations & well. The goal is to provide the most complete info for each species so that surfers have no need to look anywhere else. 
That said, pictures can be a problem. If you don't have any original pictures of your own, try drawing them yourself. Fish really aren't that hard to draw. you can even trace a photo of a fish. Once it's converted into a drawing, preferably after being mirror-imaged, no one can sue over any unauthorized use. If that's not an option for you, then I suppose you can provide a link to Fishbase.org which goes to the page for that species. The photo must not open automatically in the profile to avoid bandwidth theft, but a clickable link which goes to the fishbase page for the fish should be okay. Do NOT provide links to other forums.
On that subject, do not cut & paste stuff from other websites. Write your own info.

Definitions:
I notice that definitions of some things are causing confusion, so here I'd like to go over the format & define some of the problematic items.
For an example of how a profile should look, sort of, have a look at the Leporinus faciatus sticky thread.

The headings should be in color, preferably blue. The other text should be black. This makes it easy to see the divisions of information. To make the headings blue, type {color=blue}in front of them & {/color} behind them, only use the vb [] brackets instead of {}, which will make them active, thusly turning that example into in front of them & . That makes it easy to read the profile.

Scientific names should be italicized using the {i} name {/i} tags. ( again using [] instead of {}. The first half of the name is capitalized and the second part is not. _Genus species_.
If you know what the name means or how it's pronounced, add that under the name in parentheses (). 

COMMON NAME-- 
SCIENTIFIC NAME--
DISTRIBUTION-- What is this organism's native range? That is, where does it call home in the wild? Is it common, or rare? 
HABITAT-- In what kinds of places does it live? What conditions suit it best? fast, slow, streams, or ponds, or reefs or estuaries? Clear, muddy, tannic? What kind of substrate or plants does it like to have nearby it?
SIZE-- maxiumum size in the wild & in captivity
TANK SIZE-- what is the smallest tank size which can confortably house it, and what works best?
DIET-- What does it eat? What do you feed it?
TANK ZONE-- What part of the tank does it like to occupy?
TEMPERAMENT-- is this thing mean or peaceful? Any peculiarities? Also, what is it compatible with and not?
CHEMISTRY:
-pH- the p is lowercase while the H is uppercase = pH. List the optimal pH range the fish enjoys in it's native habitat and the range you can away with in a tank. Sometimes it's not important, but sometimes it's critical.
Hardness- either an actual value or at least "soft" "medium" or "hard, or various combinations like "soft to medium." The native distribution area is usually a big help in figuring this out, but that can fool you sometimes. Lake valencia, home of the Diamond Tetra, for example, is peculiar in having a low pH while having hard water. Don't assume anything; triplecheck your facts.
-Temperature- temp range acceptable for normal maintenance, plus any peculiarities there may be
PHOTOPERIOD-- How much daylight the species should get each day for normal maintenance, and how much it should get during certain seasons. the distance from the equator should be a good guide to this. Equatorial area species need 12/12 as there isn't much seasonal difference, but the further away from the equator, the more the day/night cycle will shift during the year. Some fish don't care, but some absolutely depend on it.
SEASONAL CHANGES CRITICAL?-- This refers to spawning. Are any changes to the above parameters required to get the fish to spawn? Day/night, temp, and rainy/dry seasons can all have major effects on many organisms, while some don't care at all.
SENSITIVITIES-- is this organism especially sensitve to anything? Is it prone to pH shock or shimmy? Is it especially prone to any diseases? Any toxins? Any medicines? etc.. 
HARDINESS & LIFESPAN-- How tough or fragile is this organism? How long does it live in the wild & in captivity?
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION-- Details, please. What does it look like? How it is told apart from other similar looking organisms? Any little details like spines or hooks or weird teeth or anything? Provide as much info as you can dig up on it.
SEXES-- how to tell male from female
ACTIVITY PEAK-- diurnal, crepuscular, nocturnal? When is this thing active?
HABITS-- This is where things get interesting. What does this organism DO all day & night? Does it hide? Does it school? Is it a predator or a bully? Does it need dither fish to feel safe? Is it a smart fish which makes a nice true pet, or is it dumber than a box of hair? There is a lot of room for a lot of info in this section. 
SPAWNING NOTES-- How does this organism reproduce? What does it do, what does it need? How prolific is it? Is it easy or hard? Does it need anything specific, like a host species, a yellow floating leaf, a flat surface, some bushy plants, a cave, etc..? Does it need prior conditioning, and if so, with what? Does it eat it's own eggs? Does it do a little dance? Does it fight it's mate or other fish? LOTS of room for lots of info.
OTHER NOTES-- The other stuff. Compatibility with other species, usefulness like algae eating or substrate turning, odd trivia bits..whatever you can find.

Even after all that, there is still some stuff I must have forgotten. Feel free to add it. 

One more thing: please proofread your profiles for spelling , syntax, and grammatical errors. 

Finally, when people add info to your thread, remember to check to see if it's something you should incorporate into your profile. Also, feel free to add info to other profile threads you see; the system is set up this way to ensure that as much data gets gathered as possible, so by all means add data wherever you find that some is needed. If you know a little something about some species that someone else is writing a profile on, add your knowledge to that thread.


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