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The Tropical Fish Reference Guide v2.0 Copyright (c) 1993, Don MacElrath. All rights reserved. Introduction ------------ Thank you for trying The Tropical Fish Reference Guide v2.0. This software was written by an aquarist for aquarists. It's purpose is to provide a tool for the aquarist to make fish keeping easier. I had some ideas and changed some things around and hopefully this version will get a better response than version 1.0. I don't know what else to try. I think it's a nice program, it certainly has taken a long time to develop. Suggestions and comments are always welcome. I would like to get more people to participate by providing them with a means to share their experiences via NOTE files and articles. I do make mistakes. I would like to think that I make very few, but that's not usually the case. If you should find any errors, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do to correct it in the next release. Information as to how I can be reached is discussed later in this document. Eventually I would like to include scanned images, but has anyone checked the prices of color scaners lately? Shareware only works with YOUR support. Version 2.0 Features -------------------- Fish Library with over 400 entries. F3 Search mode. F4 Note files. F5 Name Analysis - Find out what those names really mean. Color coded index for "at a glance behavior compatibility". Plant Library with 90 entries. F3 Search mode. F4 Note files. Color coded index for "at a glance pH compatibility". Disease Library with 15 entries. F3 Search mode. F4 Note files. Notepad Create your own records with your favorite editor. 5 templates that you can customize. FISH.TEM - add your own fish records. PLANT.TEM - add your own plant records. DISEASE.TEM - add your own disease records. STOCK.TEM - Keep a history file for a particular fish. EQUIP.TEM - Keep a history file for a piece of equipment. 1 blank template. Importing or create ASCII text files. Record your water chemistry. Record your maintenance schedule. etc... Note: Not all features are available in UNREGISTERED versions. For more information on registration, see the file REGISTER.DOC. Disclaimer ---------- This software and information contained herein, is provided 'AS IS', without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. Although I have taken measure to insure that the information provided by this program is accurate, in no event will I be held responsible for any damages, including, but not limited to, any lost profits, loss of fish, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of this program. By installing or using this software, you acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. Requirements ------------ CPU: XT, AT (286, 386 or 486) VIDEO: EGA or VGA RAM: 640K depending on your editor requirements. OS: Digital Research DOS (Novell DOS) or 100% compatible such as PC-DOS or MS-DOS. The program was was compiled using Microsoft's QuickC version 2.51 on a 386/40 Mhz CPU with VGA under DR-DOS 6.0. For enhanced performance, this program uses direct video writes. Operating it in a multitasking environment could cause problems. Distribution ------------ The UNREGISTERED version may be distributed freely, as long as the following conditions are satisfied: It remains intact with all the original files, The files are not modified in any way, NO FEE is charged for its distribution. Installation ------------ This program is being distributed electronically via Bulletin Board Systems. The original archive format is PkZip 2.04g. You will need to use PKUNZIP v2.04g in order to extract the program files. If you do not have a copy of PkZip v2.04g, you should be able to find it on any BBS. But if you don't have it, I guess you can't read this document, can you? I get a kick out of programmers writing documentation that says that. I did it just for kicks. <grin> Step 1: Create a directory of your choice as follows: MD C:\TTFRG20 Throughout this document we will assume that you used TTFRG20 as the directory name. Step 2: Extract the program files to that directory. PKUNZIP TTFRG20.ZIP C:\TTFRG20 Step 3: Using an ASCII editor, modify the file TEDIT.BAT to use your favorite editor when creating or viewing notes. If your editor IS in your path, you could use a batch file like this: @echo off ted3 %1 If your editor IS NOT in your path, you could use a batch file such as this: @echo off c:\utils\ted3 c:\ttfrg20\%1 Notice the path was specified for the editor and the filename? That's important. TED3 was included in the archive in case you don't have an editor. I did not write that program. It is being distributed because it requires no fee for use, and it's very small. It is rather limited and I would suggest using a more powerful editor. I have also noticed that after using TED3, my keyboard slowed down. This is not a problem with TTFRG, but it has something to do with TED3. Step 4: IMPORATNT: Change into the directory before running this program. For example, at the C:\> prompt type: CD\TTFRG20 <enter> TTFRG20 <enter> Or, just create a batch file that will do this for you. See FISH.BAT for a sample batch file. Step 5: Enjoy. If you are having difficulty creating batch files, please consult your DOS manual. The "Main Menu" --------------- After successfully installing the program and getting it to run, you will be presented with the Main Menu. From here you have access to the Fish Library, the Plant Library, the Disease Library and the Notepad. There are two additional choices, the first being "Other" and the second is "Quit" which will take you back to DOS. To navigate around the menu, simply use the left and right arrow keys to hilight your selection. Once your selection is hilighted, press <ENTER> to activate your choice. Shortcut: To quit to DOS you can simply press the escape key <ESC>. The "Libs" (Fish Lib, Plant Lib and Disease Lib) ------------------------------------------------- Selecting any one of the libraries will bring up the appropriate INDEX Menu. You can use the Up/Down arrow keys to navigate through the listings. In addition you have the choice of using the Page Up or Page down keys to scroll through the listings faster. Once you have found your choice, just press <ENTER> to bring up the record. Along with providing some help, the status bar will also display the current record you have hilighted and the total number of records. These Index Menus are organized as follows: FISH - by Family, Scientific name (Genus), common name. See Appendix A for information about the FISH records. Colors - GREEN - Community. YELLOW - Semi-Aggressive. RED - Aggressive. PLANT - by category (1 - 9), Scientific Name, common name. See Appendix B for information about the plant records. Colors - WHITE (normal intensity) - Acidic. CYAN - Alkaline. Don't be mislead by entries appearing in CYAN. Some of them are also found in acidic waters. The majority of the plants in this software are acidic. DISEASE - by the type and then by the common name. The disease index is not color coded. See Appendix C for information about the disease records. F3 Search mode Pressing F3 will bring up the search prompt. Here is where you can enter some text to scan for. If this string is found, the record will be displayed. The status bar will be updated with the record number that is being processed. During the search, you can press any key to stop. In case of typographical errors, the search prompt is smart. It will remember what you were previously looking for and display it to you. This is useful if you were searching for something and nothing was found. You can just bring up the search prompt and double check your spelling. You can use the INSERT/DELETE/HOME/END/BACK SPACE/ARROW keys to make any changes. Note files are not included in the search. F4 Note file Pressing F4 will invoke the TEDIT.BAT file and allow you to create a note for whichever record you have hilighted. Depending on your editor, you can also import ASCII files from other users. If an entry has a note file associated with it, there will be a check mark "√" next to it. The notes are stored as follows: F######.NOT - Note file for the fish library. P######.NOT - Note file for the plant library. D######.NOT - Note file for the disease library. The ####### indicates the appropriate record number. A note file created for Chanda ranga would be F3.NOT since it is the third entry in the fish library. Please do not manually create these notes from DOS. If you do, the INDEX will not get updated and it could lead to some confusion. F5 Name Analysis This is only available while viewing a record. You can not access it from the INDEX Menu. You can also select this from the Main Menu under Other. I would like to point out that this feature is still in development so trying to use it to analyze disease names or plant names probably will not get any results. You can try, something interesting might come up. Let's say you are curious about the word 'stoma'. You could try and find a fish that has the word as part of it's name and then press F5, or you can just invoke the analysis routine from the "Other Menu". Like I said previously, this feature is still being developed and only has about 500 to 600 hundred definitions. It's could still be interesting to see if any matches are found. Just like the search prompt, the name analysis prompt is smart. It will remember the last thing you typed in, or the last record you viewed. The same editing keys can be applied here. Sometimes a listing of definitions will appear. If this is the case, you will have to piece the words together. It's not very difficult and I don't think it requires any additional explanation. Notepad ------- Selecting this option from the Main Menu will pull up a listing of files that you can create using any one of 6 templates. To create a NEW file, just hilight a blank record and press <ENTER>. The next step is to choose a template. These templates are just ordinary ASCII files that get copied to your note file before you create a record. Sample templates are provided. You can use your editor and customize them to your liking. All files that have TEM for an extension are templates. FISH.TEM - Fish Template Useful for adding a species that isn't covered in the FISH Library. PLANT.TEM - Plant Template Useful for adding a species that isn't covered in the PLANT Library. DISEASE.TEM - Disease Template. Useful for adding a type of disease that isn't covered in the DISEASE Library. STOCK.TEM - Keep track of your livestock. Things such as cost, date of purchase, behavior patterns, compatibility, etc. EQUIP.TEM - Keep track of your equipment. Things such as brand, serial number, type, cost, date of purchase, place of purchase, date of failure, etc. And then there is a BLANK template which is just a blank page. The sample Maintenance History and Water Chemistry entries were created using a BLANK template. Now that you have chosen a template, you will be prompted to give your record a file name. The hilighted menu bar will turn red and you can just type away. A title must be provided or it will abort and bring you back to the Notepad Index Menu. Make sure when you invoke your editor that you save the file, even if you change your mind and don't want to add an entry. Once saved, then you may delete it from the Notepad Index Menu. Please do not manually delete these files from DOS. Records can be deleted simply by positioning the menu bar over the appropriate record and pressing the delete <DEL> key. To view an entry, just hilight your choice and press <ENTER>. The menu bar will appear red and you can make any changes to the title. If you don't want to make any changes, just press <ENTER> again and like magic, your file will appear. In order to add another page, move the menu bar to a position anywhere on the last page and press Page Down <PgDn>. You will then be alerted that the end of the index file has been reached and asked if you would like to create a new page. Once a page is created, it can not be deleted. Tip: Why not find a blank entry in the notepad somewhere and merge this document into it? It'll be good practice. Ut-Oh If something goes wrong and the NOTE_LIB.IDX file gets deleted, a new IDX file will be created automatically. This new file will only contain 1 page and all the records will be blank. You can insert new pages just as you normally would by pressing Page Down. But how do you recover your records? Hopefully they will still be present on your hard drive. The following technique is used to name them: N#######.DAT The N stands for Notepad and the ####### corresponds to the record number. As an example, the first entry appearing in your index menu will be the file N1.DAT. When you press enter on a blank entry, the program will first check to see if the file exists. If so, you will be prompted to change the title. Remember, our IDX file was deleted so all the titles are blank. You must enter a title here. Anything will do. After you enter a title, the corresponding record will appear. You can always go back and change the title if needed. You really shouldn't have to worry about this because it shouldn't happen. In case it does, I thought it would be a good idea to explain how it works. Other Menu ---------- The only things that are in here are the Introduction (Disclaimer), the Name Analysis and The Registration routine. Additional Information ---------------------- If you need to reach me, you can do so via the following (in order of preference): Ilink : Aquarium conference, or any suitable conference will do. Internet: don.macelrath@inf.org Fido : Aquarium conference. Or if you would like to write, my address is: Don MacElrath 29 Hill Drive Pine Hill, NJ 08021 RE: TTFRG Please make a reference to TTFRG as shown above. Appendix A - The Fish Record ---------------------------- Name............: The common name. : The scientific name. Family..........: The family that the fish belongs to. Location........: Where the fish can be found. Size............: The maximum size the fish could reach. Aquarium life could keep the fish from this size. Behavior........: The general temperament of the fish. COMMUNITY: these fish generally get along with each other. It doesn't mean that they won't bother one another. SEMI-AGGRESSIVE: this behavior pattern is for the fish that should with other fish of the same size. If kept with smaller fish, there might be a problem. AGGRESSIVE: these fish are very hostile and will attack anything that gets in their way. It's important to remember that along with the behavior patterns, each fish has a unique personality. Temperature.....: The range of tolerant temperatures. Optimum temperature readings will appear in parenthesis. If the optimum temperature isn't given, it's probably somewhere in the middle of the range. Water Chemistry.: This field is for special water requirements. I think it's blank for most records with the exception being for brackish fish. Food............: Any special feeding requirements would be listed here. Sex Differences.: Easy enough, the way to tell males from females. : Breeding........: The size at which the fish starts to breed. : The best environmental conditions. : Breeding behavior such as live bearer, bubble nest or mouth breeder. If the fish is just a standard egg layer, the field is usually left blank. And possibly the length of time it takes the eggs to hatch. This is not the time when the fry become free swimming. : How parents should be handled with the eggs or fry. The categories are listed below. Parents should be separated from fry/eggs. If not given, you should assume this. Parents might need to be removed. This is a close as I'm going to get in saying that the fish usually takes good care of it's offspring. Make sure the parent fish are well fed. Female should be separated from fry/eggs. Male should be separated from fry/eggs. Remove female right away, male when fry appear. Remove male right away, female when fry appear. Parents should be removed when eggs hatch. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Any additional comments. Two abbreviations that you will see are, aka: also known as. cka: currently known as. Appendix B - The Plant Record ----------------------------- Name............: The common name. : The scientific name. Category........: The categories are list below. When viewing the records only the first line, 'quick summary', is given. Here, a more detailed explanation will follow each type. (1) Floating plants. These are small plants that float on the surface of the water. There may be some parts under the water, such as the roots or leaves. (2) Rooted surface plants. These plants usually take root under water, but grow above the water level. These plants aren't really suited for aquarium use. (3) Completely submersed plants. These plants are found completely under water. (4) Submersed plants with ribbon shaped leaves. These plants are under water plants that have ribbon shaped (Vallisneria) or thread-shaped (Eleocharis) leaves. These plants will flower above water. (5) Partially submersed, flowering above water. These plants have their leaves submersed and have a distinct petiole and blade. The Cryptocorynes can turn into a partly submerged to a terrestrial state, but they require a damp atmosphere. (6) Partially submersed with arrow shaped leaves. Stout plants with varying leaves; submersed; ribbon- shaped or lanceolate; floating and emergent lanceolate; heart-shaped or arrow-shaped. They are found in the partially submerged state, but also create paludal types. (7) Rooted with floating leaves. These plants take root in the mud and their leaves float on the surface of the water. They also flower on the surface of the water. (8) Long steams with leaves. These plants take root in the mud and are dependant on the life in the water. At times, their leaves may have contact with the air. Many aquarium plants belong to this type. (9) Mosses, ferns, etc. Stoneworts, mosses and ferns of different types. Natural Habitat.: Where the plants are found. Water pH........: Recommended pH levels. hardness..: Recommended dH levels. Temperature.....: The temperature in which the plants can exist. Lighting........: How much light is required. Compatibility...: This is only to give some ideas on the types of : plants that could be kept together. Sometimes they : are found in nature that way, other times they just might look good together. Always double check the water chemistry requirements, lighting, etc. Some of the plants that appear in this field aren't listed in the database. Not enough information was found to give them an entry. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Any additional comments Appendix C - The Disease Record ------------------------------- Disease....: The common name of the disease : The scientific name of the cause. Type.......: Type of infection: internal, parasite or bacteria. Symptoms...: Simple enough. : : : : : ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Any additional comments. Sometimes treatments are given here. It's been my experience to try and get commercial medications if available. I feel much more comfortable in knowing that the medicine has been proven to cure the type of disease. But then again, there are always going to be commercial medications that just aren't effective. You should always seek out a knowledgeable aquarist for help in diagnosing a disease and for the recommended cure. Misdiagnosing and mistreatment of a disease could be fatal. Be careful. Conclusion Well, that's about it. There are a number of files, I sure hope I didn't forget anything. Enjoy.