Record keeping

[clovenpine]

I'm realizing now after two months that I wish I'd kept better records during the setup process. When I added new fish/plants, when and how many fry were born, etc. I'm sure I could recreate some data by looking at receipts, but I'm definitely planning to create a spreadsheet when I start my next tank!

Is anyone else a nerd for documentation? Tell me about your tracking tools and methods!

[DaveSamsell]

8 minutes ago, clovenpine said:

I'm realizing now after two months that I wish I'd kept better records during the setup process. When I added new fish/plants, when and how many fry were born, etc. I'm sure I could recreate some data by looking at receipts, but I'm definitely planning to create a spreadsheet when I start my next tank!

Is anyone else a nerd for documentation? Tell me about your tracking tools and methods!

@clovenpine, Check out this good post by @Daniel:

 

[jordon]

I write down everything like when ive started tanks, parameters, when I have done waterchanges or added chemicals, when I got fish when they've had fry and how many theyve had. I have a list of everything ive bought for my fish room and im glad I did as I find myself reading through it daily. Having 12 tanks can get very confusing sometimes and i generally forget what I had done on them after a few days lol. I highly recommend keeping records of EVERYTHING. 

[Fishkeeper125]

Nice. I gotta start record keeping.

[Bill Smith]

I use Trello. It's massively helpful and very easy for me to keep track of tank events:

[Mikey Walnuts]

I really suck at record keeping but I find the easiest way for me is simply taking pictures and video. Pictures I generally just keep in my camera roll and I can scroll back to find hatch dates and such. For video I’ll usually ramble on about what’s going on, plant names, etc and then post it to YouTube. I hate the sound of my own voice and don’t feel like they’ll get traction but it has really helped me in keeping track of things. I wish I had the self control to keep actual documentation but this will do for now 

[Ceiora]

I decided to go the route of paper and pen. Yesterday I sat down and tried to get as much down as I could remember and today I did the actual water testing to see how it would work out. I think I like the setup.

[Daniel]

7 hours ago, Ceiora said:

I decided to go the route of paper and pen. Yesterday I sat down and tried to get as much down as I could remember and today I did the actual water testing to see how it would work out. I think I like the setup.

What a beautiful set of notes! I like how it includes fish names.

[Streetwise]

That notebook reminds me of science class as a kid. Starting in maybe 4th grade, we had to keep notebooks from our studying, and lab work, and they were probably 50% of the grade. If you really wanted to do well, you would rewrite your entire notebook before turning it in, correcting every mistake, and improving the formatting. It was a massive effort, but very effective, and it doubled your chances of memorizing what you needed for tests.

[siniardem]

22 hours ago, Bill Smith said:

I use Trello. It's massively helpful and very easy for me to keep track of tank events:

This is absolutely amazing! I a constantly check on tanks so I am not sure if I could be this dedicated.