Wikipedia:WikiProject Aquarium Fishes

 {| style="background-color: transparent;" 

Introduction
Welcome to the Aquarium Fishes WikiProject !!


 * Goals
 * Improve Wikipedia's coverage of fishkeeping and aquarium fishes.
 * Create guidelines for articles about aquarium fishes in addition to the existing taxonomical guidelines of WikiProject Fishes.


 * Scope
 * The project covers all articles about fishkeeping and aquarium fishes.

Announcements

 * (13 December 2006) created WikiProject Aquarium Fishes. --Melanochromis
 * (1 April 2007) introduced Aquarium Fishes Awards --Melanochromis
 * (3 June 2007) the AQF monthly newsletters is now delivered by R Delivery Bot --Melanochromis
 * (26 April 2009) created the Aquarium Fish Portal. (Please see below for links.) --Drew R. Smith
 * (2 May 2009) please nominate articles for Did you know...? and Good Article at the talk page. --Tryptofish

Related WikiProjects
Here are some other WikiProjects you should know about:


 * WikiProject Biology (our great-grandmother)
 * WikiProject Tree of Life (our grandmother)
 * WikiProject Marine Life (our aunt)
 * WikiProject Fishes (our mother)
 * WikiProject Sharks (our big sister)
 * WikiProject Aquarium Fishes (us !!)

Note that most of the articles we are working on are overlapping with WikiProject Fishes. A number of articles are also overlapping with WikiProject Marine life or WikiProject Sharks.

Members
Please do not hesitate to join Aquarium Fishes WikiProject. Just add your name to the appropriate list below. It's ok if you're new to the aquarium fishes. Everyone was a newbie once!! And it's ok too if you are new to Wikipedia. We all can help guide you with article writing/editing.

Active members
Please list your name here if you plan on being an active member of the WikiProject:
 * 1)  I have had experiences with many freshwater aquarium fishes and a few marine fishes. My favorites are the cichlids, particularly the mbuna. I used to breed Siamese fighting fish, angelfish, convict cichlid, peacock cichlid, and several mbuna cichlids.
 * 2)  Into saltwater for over 10 years, now with 3 marine aquariums.  A 72 gal for shallow water SPS, what some would consider experimental since only lighting is T-5s.  A 30 gal with T-5s for zoos, polyps, LPS, and softies.  A 20 gal "micro" for showpiece frags, overly sundrenched with a 175W halide.  A huge aquaculturist, I'll frag any coral for fun if someone wants to see it for their first time.  Even with SPS corals, my goals are self-sustaining environments capable of surviving long periods without maintenance.  I don't feed any fish in any tank, ever.
 * 3) I enjoy raising small tropical fish and goldfish, and have kept an assortment fish for 10 years. My main interest is goldfish, which I keep in a small pond. There's not much to my fish raising other than my 20 gallon tropical tank, which has been here since the very first tetras I owned.
 * 4)  My spouse and I have 2 nano reefs and 2 freshwater tanks.  I wish I could say I am some kind of expert, but I am still very much a newbie.  I did, however, write the yellow clown goby article (that's my little Odie in the pic), and the Strawberry crab one, too.  I also greatly revamped the List of marine aquarium fish species article.
 * 5) . I'm a newbie. I will try to contribute in what I learn. Especially Corydoras.
 * 6)  I'm always hanging around fish articles and stuff anyway, mind as well make it official. I've kept aquariums for several years, but mostly I have read and researched about many species and continue to do so.
 * 7) I have 2 tanks, a 60 litre, and a 180 litre, and have been keeping fish for nearly ten years, and tropicals for two. My particular interest, however is in aquarium plants.
 * 8) I have been keeping and breeding tropical fish since the mid 1970s. I am currently the President of The Fair City Aquarist Society in Perth, Scotland. I have been contributing to Wikipedia for a few years on a small scale.
 * 9) I've been in the hobby for almost all of my life. My favorite fish sepcies are Loaches and Gouramis.
 * 10) Goldfish, koi, gouramis and catfish enthusiast. Aquarist since late 2006.
 * 11) I’ve been keeping fish since I was five. I’m interested especially in fresh water (not goldfish) and brackish fish.
 * 12) 60 gallon tank, freshwater, love tetras, live plants, etc.
 * 13) Many years of experience with captive fish. Primarily interested in saltwater, although I have a lot of knowledge with both. (two tanks: 1 planted, 1 reef)
 * 14) Experience with tropical aquarium fish with particular interest in puffer fish (freshwater and brackish) and loaches.
 * 15) Interested in freshwater river fishes, loaches, bottom feeders
 * 16) I'm very, very new to caring for aquarium fishes, but have always had a strong interest in them. As I learn, I will contribute where and when I can.
 * 17) Way too many tanks, most of which are way too small. Fortunately so are my fish: I breed Endler's livebearers and red cherry shrimp, and also have a small Amazon biome tank and a few tanks of other fish that caught my interest.
 * 18) I have been fishkeeping since August 2006, and I hope to share my knowledge with others interested in fish. I feel a sense of responsibility to helping fishkeepers properly keep fish. I hope that anything contributed under this project will be useful to aquarists.
 * 19) Been keeping fish since Feb 07. Currently have three tropical tanks, and a coldwater tank. Trying to slowly increase the quality of the articles, by correcting grammar, and spelling mistakes and the like. Will also add photos to the commons of the breed of fishes I have. I also am, and will find good images of different breed's of fish on FlickR under compatible Creative Commons licenses and port to the commons, and to pages needing them.
 * 20) (talk) 02:45, 22 February 2008 (UTC) I have kept fish for over 30 years.  I am a member of the North Jersey Aquarium Society and BAP Chairman of the Jersey Shore Aquarium Society.  I currently have 4 tanks, including one devoted to Tanganyikan fish.
 * 21)  biology student, had experience in a pet store, and personal tanks.  Good for copy editing.
 * 22) ReefWonder (talk) 18:49, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
 * 15:44, 22 September 2008 (UTC). About 10 years experience, especially interested in freshwater and heavily planted tanks. Knowledgeable about biochemistry. I'm happy to help with copyediting, so please just let me know if you'd like my help.
 * 1) Mr. Moto11 (talk) 23:11, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * 2) Has a 29 gallon planted tank, and several years experience with a 40 gallon reef and 100 gallon fish only marine tank. Also completed undergraduate majors in Biology and Chemistry.
 * 3) keeps mainly Pterophyllum altum and Symphysodon discus, has some 1000 gallons worth of Orinoco and Amazon cichlidae and loricaridae, 35 plus years dedicated to the hobby and undergraduate studies in Aquatic Biology in Venezuela, Translator of Scientific Documents and Administrator at www.finarama.com, the website of The Angelfish Study Group (TASG).
 * 4)  Flowerhorn Activist
 * 5)  I specialise in freshwater but also keep a marine fish and corals. I actively help with a number of clubs in UK and online.
 * 6)  I'm finishing my bachelor's degree in marine biology and have eight tanks in my dorm room. I mostly keep freshwater systems but I also work at a marine laboratory with thousands of gallons of saltwater tanks. My collection of fish includes wild-caught (in Florida) and store-bought fish including eight types of South/Central American cichlids, jewel cichlids, an orange chromide, a white-cheeked moray, a polypterus, an archerfish, and a green-spotted puffer; as well as various rainbowfish, barbs, sunfish, loaches, gobies, and catfishes.
 * 7) One small freshwater tank, very ordinary fish (assorted tetras, cory cats), for about 20 years.
 * 8) New to freshwater tropical aquariums, have a 100 liter tank - keeping Catfish, several varieties of neons and platys.
 * 9) New to Wikipedia, semi-new to freshwater aquaria. My focus of interest is fancy goldfish and catfish. I'm into photography as well and can contribute with macros and close-ups of fish.
 * 10) Dancingturtle8205 (talk) 20:52, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
 * 11) Joining my first WikiProject!  Thanks for the direction, Tryptofish.  Gonna start by hopefully improving Aquarium and adding some images to the List of marine aquarium fish species.  I've maintained a variety of marine aquaria throughout the years ranging from 5-150 gallons.  Looking forward to helping however I can.
 * 12)  I've had about 5 years experience maintaining aquariums, including a 12g nano reef aquarium. I'm mostly a fan of high-diversity community biotope aquariums that simulate natural environments as closely as possible within a closed setting, and have a fondness for Cyprinids. I learned most of what I know from spending 3 years at an aquarium forum community. I'm currently saving up for college, where I hope to earn a PhD in Field Ecology. Currently only running a 5g SE Asian picotope.
 * 13) New to Wikipedia, but thought that since I like fish and am currently expanding my fish-tank system, this would help me learn about fish and Wikipedia at the same time.
 * 14) 3 years of exsperiance with 2 current freshwater tanks on the go containing tetras, harliquins, corydoras, catfish, pencil fish.
 * 15) has decent experience owning, reading about, and working with aquariums.
 * 16)  I am a Breeder situated in South Africa. Breeding many different Freshwater aquarium Species and will share my knowledge related to our local conditions/experiences.
 * 17)  Keeping fish of all kinds since 1980, pet store experience, I think all mentions of the critter after the lead should read G. species, since I am a scientist.  Looking forward to see how this project group operates.
 * 18)  I am a relative newbie to the reef keeping hobby and am eager to improve the quality of Wikipedia's information related to the species comonly found in reef aquaria. I will likely concentrate on improving or adding marine invertebrate species, listing pages and photo sourcing.
 * 19)  I mainly upload images and I will try to improve some articles.
 * 20)  Been in the reef aquarium hobby for 10 years.  Help out with a large university reef aquarium in between my classes.
 * 21)  Im a newbie, I will try to learn and improve everything I can about aquarium fish!
 * 22)  An experienced hobbyist in Texas, USA specializing in the cichlids of Central America since the late 1980s; also interested in marine reef, North American natives, livebearers, and African cichlids.
 * 23)  I have been keeping fish for over 7 years now, and keep Electric Catfish (hence, my username) and knifefish.
 * 24)  A dwarf pufferfish enthusiast. On the hunt for kuhli loaches now.
 * 25)  Hope for a 3,000 gallon tank with arapaima eventually.
 * 26)  I'm an aquarist residing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I have been keeping exotic aquarium fishes for the last 8 years. Since then I have been gathering knowledge and experience equally regarding almost everything important related to freshwater fish keeping and breeding. I look forward to work in this community by serving as much as I can.
 * 27) I have a 150-gallon marine aquarium in my household, so I am aware of some fish species and have access to books
 * 28) I am chairman for the Swedish national union of aquarium societies.
 * 29) I'm a student pursuing genetics (and possibly viruses sometime down the line) with an active interest in aquarium fish. In particular, livebearers and betta fish.
 * 30) Sarr Cat (talk) 01:56, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
 * 31) Just getting started with Wikipedia, and about one year in to a marine aquarium which is fish-only with live rock, upgrading to coral.
 * 32) I have been in the hobby since 1991. My specialty is B. splendens and have bred and raised over 20,00 bettas for sale to the general public.
 * 33) Been in the hobby for almost a year I ended up getting stuck with two goldfish from the fair. As I know now caring for fish is incredibly rewarding and fun.
 * 34) I've been in the hobby for several months now. Working on getting rid of how-to sections in articles.
 * 35) Have a platy/molly tank set up and starting another community tank soon. If anyone is available to help me with editing it, would help I am new to wikipedia.
 * 36) I've been in the hobby since 2005. My main interests within the hobby are air breathing, large predatory freshwater, and oddball fishes.
 * 37) Have a 225 litre tank with various small fish such as Tetras, Guppies, and a Betta.
 * 38) Studied Marine Biology in high school and kept 5 tanks each with different species in class. Also own fish tank with Bristlenose Catfish. Massive animal enthusiast.
 * 39) I've been a freshwater aquarium hobbyist for many years. I generally like species-specific tanks particularly for angelfish and shell dwellers.
 * 40) -joined 26 November 2022
 * 41) -joined 18 December 2022
 * 42) I have kept a wide range of freshwater fish. My personal favorite is the gulper catfish.
 * 1) Have a platy/molly tank set up and starting another community tank soon. If anyone is available to help me with editing it, would help I am new to wikipedia.
 * 2) I've been in the hobby since 2005. My main interests within the hobby are air breathing, large predatory freshwater, and oddball fishes.
 * 3) Have a 225 litre tank with various small fish such as Tetras, Guppies, and a Betta.
 * 4) Studied Marine Biology in high school and kept 5 tanks each with different species in class. Also own fish tank with Bristlenose Catfish. Massive animal enthusiast.
 * 5) I've been a freshwater aquarium hobbyist for many years. I generally like species-specific tanks particularly for angelfish and shell dwellers.
 * 6) -joined 26 November 2022
 * 7) -joined 18 December 2022
 * 8) I have kept a wide range of freshwater fish. My personal favorite is the gulper catfish.

Inactive members
Please list your name here if you plan to edit fish-related articles only infrequently, but still want to be kept up to date with work on this project. If you are inactive on Wikipedia for a period of one year, then your name may be moved here from the active list.
 * 1)  I'm particularly interested in North American aquarium species, and promoting the keeping of local fish everywhere.  Interested in rainbow darter, centrarchidae, and American cyprinidae.
 * 2)  I've been an aquarist for over 30 years now. My most recent success involved breeding three generations of Panda catfish from 2003 onwards. My current main aquarium includes those fishes alongside a shoal of Cardinal Tetras and Otocinclus Catfishes. I'm hoping to acquire Anomalochromis thomasi Cichlids in the not too distant future - this is a species I kept as a teenager, then it disappeared off the radar for 25 years or more where I live, and now I have found a supplier. Basically, if it has fins, I'm a fan, though sadly my budget doesn't run to marine fishes yet, because one group I would love to try my hand at is the Dwarf Angelfishes of the Genus Centropyge.
 * 3)  Have kept fish for 30 years, main interest is Danionins of which I keep and breed more species than most people (including me) had heard of 3 years ago! Started on Wikipedia a year or so ago when I found Category:Fish was a mess with about 500 assorted articles on it and sorted the categories into a structure which involved editing thousands of pages. My main other contribution is the Danionins site written to provide some information on these species which are largely unreported by specialist books.
 * 4)  I have 2 tanks, a 60 gallon and about a 20 gallon. I really like the species Corydoras. I like catfish in general, but Corydoras in specific.
 * 5) I'm a Rift Lake cichlid nut, with one Malawi tank, a Tanganyika tank and a Tanganyika shell-dweller tank at present, plus a clown loach tank that doesn't have a single cichlid in it. I live in Cairns, Queensland and get to head out to the Great Barrier Reef frequently, and I'm thinking about starting to do reef fish and Far North Queensland native freshwater, but first I want a few more Rift Lake tanks. So far you can blame me for the Nimbochromis polystigma and Synodontis multipunctatus articles.
 * 6) I'm a rainbowfish hobbyist and breeder. I run a rainbowfish site, Bowheads!, as well as a general aquarium site named Aqua Facts. I've seen more than a few mistakes in the Wikipedia rainbowfish article, which bothers me. Ergo, I will fix them.
 * 7)  My main interest are cichlids from Lake Tanganyika. Since my native language is German, you will know me by the trail of interwiki links. Occasionally, I will also translate English articles to German.
 * 8) I have 3 tanks (one with a turtle). I have 56 red wags, and a plecostomis! Also, I would really like to raise a nano reef.
 * 9) My primary interest is in saltwater systems, and marine chemistry/biology more generally
 * 10) Has 2 tanks and 4 discus
 * 11) 10 years experience exclusively with freshwater fish. Main experience is with community aquariums but know  angelfish well. Current main interest is cichlids.
 * 12) 35 years off and on with tropical freshwater aquaria. Main interest is local Queensland Eastern rainbowfish, keeping and breeding. Currently have 3x200l tanks, Eastern rainbowfish, Goldfish, and community planted (gourami & livebearers). Sporadic Wikipedian.
 * 13) Have over 10 tanks, current largest is 225 gallon saltwater.  Have kept sharks in the past, but no longer have the tank.  Plan on getting a 3-5 thousand gallon tank eventually.
 * 14)  I currently have a 10 gallon freshwater aquarium with a pregnant guppy(named betta. blame my fiance.), a swordtail (the dad), five tetras, and a Chinese algae eater(vicious little bugger). I've been researching violet gobies, seahorses, and other non mainstream fish to decide what to get next.
 * 15)  I currently own 7 bettas, 6 angelfish, many neon tetras and black neon tetras, zebra danios, a gourami, and gold fish. I have also owned other fish before.
 * 16) I own 1 Siamese Fighting Fish and hope soon to be able to get more:)
 * 17) I have a tank and a pond. My main interest is in fish filters. I've built many of them for fun.
 * 18) I kept aquariums since childhood
 * 1) I kept aquariums since childhood

Member template
User Aquarium Fishes Feel free to use this member template in your user page.

Newsletter
Active members automatically receive the project's monthly newsletter in their user talk pages. Non-members can also subscribe to the newsletter here.

What you can do – Organizing

 * Identify articles, lists, and categories that are related to fishkeeping and aquarium fishes. There are at least 24,600 known species of fishes, but a small proportion of these are commonly kept aquarium fishes. When you do find them, please place WikiProject aquarium fishes in the talk page of those article. In doing this, you are not only directing our members to those articles, but also directing potential members from those articles to us !! The template you posted will appear like this:


 * Categorize the articles taxonomically. It will make it easier for editors to browse or find a fish. See the full list of existing taxonomical categories here. Here're shortcuts to some common categories:
 * Category:Characidae (any characins except tetras)
 * Category:Tetras
 * Category:Cyprinidae (cyprinids other than barbs, carps, danios, chubs, or rasboras)
 * Category:Carp
 * Category:Goldfish breeds
 * Category:Danios
 * Category:Rasboras
 * Category:Cobitidae (most loaches)
 * Category:Poeciliidae (mollies, guppies, platies, swordtails)
 * Category:Callichthyidae (corydoras and other callichthyids)
 * Category:Loricariidae (suckermouth armored catfish including plecos)
 * Category:Cichlidae (all cichlids)
 * Category:Osphronemidae (bettas, paradish fishes, and most gouramis)


 * For other articles that is not taxonomical (articles that are not about a particular species, genus, family, or group of fish) you might want to put those articles in one of these categories:
 * Category:Fishkeeping
 * Category:Fish diseases


 * Categorize the uploaded images, especially those that are not from Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons images are already categorized in Wikimedia Commons).


 * Add stub templates. Stubs are very short articles. Most fish articles, unfortunately, are still stubs at this point. They need to be marked up with the appropriate stub template at the bottom of the article. This will identify articles that need to be expanded. The currently defined stub templates are listed below. New stub templates can be created as required though generally 35–50 articles minimum are needed for a new stub template. Please note that new stub templates should be proposed for discussion prior to creation at WikiProject Stub sorting/Proposals.

The page counts were last updated on November 17, 2011.


 * Trick:  click at each category above in the table and see if there are any stub articles you want to expand.


 * Update the lists. We maintain several lists related to aquarium fishes. These are:
 * List of aquarium diseases
 * List of brackish aquarium fish species
 * List of brackish aquarium plant species
 * List of freshwater aquarium amphibian species
 * List of freshwater aquarium fish species
 * List of freshwater aquarium invertebrate species
 * List of freshwater aquarium plant species
 * List of marine aquarium fish species
 * List of marine aquarium invertebrate species
 * List of marine aquarium plant species


 * Again, there are at least 24,600 known species of fishes. We can't possibly put every fish in the list. Don't put a fish in the list just because it can fit a tank. Focus on more well-known fishes that are available in the hobbyist trade.


 * Add pictures of aquarium fishes. The articles in general are seriously in needs of good pictures. Use Wikimedia commons. Find an appropriate taxonimical category there then add the fish picture with caption that identifies the common name and scientific name. You might want to start at the category Actinopterygii or ray-finned fish (see link in the box). If you have problems finding the exact category of identifying your fish in the picture, just post it in the discussion section of this page, other members can help you identify the fish.


 * Keep in mind that Wikipedia is very strict about copyright and/or the license. Your own pictures are the best. If the picture is from a public domain or is a U.S. government work, it's also useable. When uploading, declare where the picture is from, and/or copyright status and/or the license.
 * See current picture requests here.


 * Identify pictures when requested. Or just browse Wikimedia commons for unidentified, wrongly-identified or uncategorized images. Give common name and scientific name, and place the picture in the appropriate category. You can also help putting up pictures in the articles too. This Actinopterygii article has a helpful taxonomical list that can be a good tool.

What you can do – Writing/editing

 * See the format guidelines here.
 * See current writing/editing tasks here.


 * Create articles. You can create an article about any fish but the more well-known aquarium fishes should be given prority over the rare ones. Before creating, make sure the article doesn't already exist under a different name (another common name, scientific name, or included in the genus article, etc.). You can also request other members to create an article about a particular fish or topic.


 * Expand current existing articles, especially the stubs. You can find stubs by looking into associated categories as shown in the table above.


 * Copyedit articles that are badly written. Fix grammar, convert to "wikipedia" style of writing, and reformat according the guidelines provided in the format guidelines section.


 * Collaborate on the designated article of the week/month. You are encouraged to suggest an article for the next collaboration in the discussion section.
 * The current collaboration is fishkeeping

What you can do – Assessment
Articles may be assessed by placing Template:WikiProject Aquarium Fishes on the articles talk page. Articles can be viewed by quality assessment at Category:Aquarium Fishes articles by quality and by importance assessment at Category:Aquarium Fishes articles by importance

Guidelines – Article format

 * Fish articles have a specific format to follow. See WikiProject Fishes for general guidelines on writing about a fish (species, genus, family, etc.). We provide additional guidelines specifically for the aquarium care of fish


 * Most fish articles begin with a taxobox. Goldfish breed articles begin with a breedbox instead (see an example here). On the right is an example of a species taxobox for black ruby barb. You can easily modify this to another fish. The taxonomy information is provided by fishbase. See more information about references in the references section below.


 * Taxobox asides, ideally an aquarium fish article should be organized in the following format.


 * 1) Introduction paragraph (mention of trade names, alternate names, etc.)
 * 2) Range or geographic distribution
 * 3) Physical description, including sexing, size, weight, and age
 * 4) Habitat, diet, and related information
 * 5) Aquarium care
 * 6) Popularity, hardiness, availability, general introduction
 * 7) Behavior in captivity, aggressiveness
 * 8) Tank set-up, tankmates, temperature, pH, salinity, water requirements
 * 9) Feeding
 * 10) Breeding, more details on sexing
 * 11) Diseases and treatments
 * 12) Varieties, breeds, colorations (if different breeds have significantly different behaviors or require different care, you may want to move this topic up)
 * 13) Mentions of related species, how they are different or similar
 * 14) Other aquarium care information
 * 15) Other importance to humans (game fish, fishing, etc.)
 * 16) Conservation status or invasive species status
 * 17) Other noteworthy information (Avoid lists of miscellaneous information)
 * 18) References
 * 19) Gallery


 * Many of the current aquarium fish articles already follow this format to some degrees. Others have a messy format and need a serious revision.
 * Here are some examples of the better organized articles:
 * Panda corydoras, this is a species article
 * Yellow clown goby, this is a species article
 * Dwarf gourami, this is a species article
 * Striped Raphael catfish, this is a species article
 * Panaque, this is a genus article
 * Here are some examples of articles with a formatting problem:


 * Fire eel (as of 29 November 2006)
 * Kribensis (as of 3 October 2006)


 * A note about aquarium care sections: It is important to avoid violating WP:No original research when writing this kind of content; be sure to provide sources (see Aquarium care references, below). These sections often attract concern from other editors due to WP:NOTHOWTO. One way to avoid that problem is to avoid language that sounds like advice about aquarium care. Instead, use language describing common aquarium practice, according to source material. Thus: "Most aquarium hobbyists take care of this fish by..." is preferable to "The way to take care of this fish is to...".

Family vs. genus vs. species vs. breed vs. group

 * Family articles tend to have very broad contents. Aquarium care shouldn't go much in details here. Usually, it's good enough to have a medium-sized section that mentions members of the family that are popular aquarium fishes and some brief generalization of the fishes in aquarium.
 * Example: Cichlids (as of 7 December 2006)
 * Genus articles are usually short and should have generalized aquarium care of the fishes in that genus. Sometimes it can go in much details, and in situations that the genus has only one or very few similar species, the genus article may replace species articles completely. In such cases, aquarium care section should have as much details as possible as if it's a species article. Also mention the differences/similarities among species and if the hybridization across species is possible.
 * Example: Discus (fish) (as of 11 December 2006)
 * Species articles are usually the prime source of aquarium care information. Go into the most details here. Pictures are important and should have more than one.
 * Example: Convict cichlid (as of 13 June 2007)


 * Breed articles, at the present, exist only for goldfish. Most other fish breeds are not really qualified as seperate articles. The "gold severum" can be easily included in the severum article, just as the serpae tetra article can mention the long-finned strain. Breed articles use the breedbox instead of the taxobox. On the left is an example of the breedbox.
 * Example: Ranchu (as of 13 June 2007)
 * Goldfish breed articles should include this Goldfish breeds template.
 * Informal group articles. Sometimes, aquarists group fishes differently from taxonomists do. This results in "informal group" articles. They are very varied and tend to be unorganized. As an attempt to organize them, the informal group articles are listed here along with some hybrid articles (if you know other articles, please add them here):


 * Mbuna
 * Dwarf cichlid
 * Haplochromine
 * Shell dwellers
 * Killifish
 * L-numbered loricariids
 * Tetra
 * Danionin
 * Rasbora
 * Live-bearing aquarium fish
 * Plecostomus
 * Headstander
 * Flowerhorn cichlid
 * Blood parrot cichlid

Common name or scientific name
Article titles should be determined using the guidelines at WP:FISH (naming guidelines). If you are unsure which name to use, you can discuss it with other members in the discussion section.


 * Common names are not capitalized unless it's named after a person or a place.
 * Examples:
 * "fantail orange filefish"
 * "black-spotted porcupinefish"
 * "Jack Dempsey cichlid" (Jack Dempsey is a person)
 * "Buenos Aires tetra" (Buenos Aires is a city name)
 * "White Cloud Mountain minnow" (White Cloud Mountain is name of a place in China)


 * Scientific names. Genus and species names should always be italicized, but only the genus name (the first part of the name) needs to be capitalised.
 * Examples:
 * "The bluering angelfish Pomacanthus annularis is an angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae"
 * "The two species of the genus Symphysodon have different geographic distributions. S. aequifasciatus occurs in the Rio Solimões, Rio Amazonas and the Río Putumayo-Içá in Brazil, Columbia and Peru. In contrast the distribution of S. discus appears to be limited to the lower reaches of Rio Negro and Trombetas rivers."


 * Family names (and other higher taxa). Formal family names (e.g., Cichlidae), order names (e.g., Perciformes), and other higher taxa (e.g., Sarcopterygii) are capitalised but not italicised. Note that common names take from family names (e.g., loricariids) or higher taxon names (e.g., teleosts) are not captialised.
 * Examples:
 * "The Cichlidae are commonly known as cichlids among aquarists"
 * "Coral reefs are home to many species of pomacentrids such as damselfish and clownfish".
 * "The danionins are popular community fish, particularly Danio and Devario spp."
 * "The order Siluriformes contains over a dozen families, the biggest of which is the Loricariidae".

Taxonomy references

 * Fishbase is THE source for fish taxonomy in Wikipedia. Please use and cite it religiously. The following templates are developed by WikiProject Fishes and are easy to place in references section of the article.

For a FishBase entry on an order, use:



For a FishBase entry on a family, use:



For a FishBase entry on a genus, use:



For most FishBase entries on species, use:



For most FishBase entries on subspecies, use:



For FishBase entries that are problematic for the above templates, get the numeric ID from their URL and use:



For all FishBase templates, year and month refer to the FishBase revision consulted, not the date on which you consulted FishBase; the revision can be found from the FishBase home page.


 * ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is another source for taxonomy. In the references section, use this WikiProject Fishes template:



For the ITIS template, year and date refer to the date on which ITIS was consulted. Date can be in either U.S. or international format, as it will be wikified.


 * Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
 * Joseph S. Nelson, Fishes of the World (5th ed.) - this is a book

Aquarium care references
So far we haven't had an utimate source for aquarium care. There are books and magazine articles that can be cited as well as other online sources. References of aquarium online sources are particularly prone to spamming and the project encourages all editors to be very careful in adding those sources. Our guidelines are:
 * Avoid commercial websites. Online versions of magazines and news media (Practical Fishkeeping, etc.) are exception.
 * The source must be in an article or database format or some form of academic writing (no forum post, personal blog, online diary, anecdotal story and such)
 * When applicable, it must have an author's real name, not a user name or screen name.
 * Choose websites that have authors with published works (books, journals, magazines), over non-published individuals.
 * Use inline references whenever possible. This is considered by many editors more professional and it will reduce the chance of your references getting removed by other editors.
 * External links are typically discouraged. See External links. Try to use the Open Directory Project instead. To do this, put Dmoz.
 * Do not spam your websites. It is highly inappropriate and will be deleted immediately. Your future edits will lack credibility if you have a history of spamming.

If you know any excellent and citable non-commercial source in accordance with our guildlines, you may add it in the following list so that we all can use it as references. If you find that any website listed here is commercial or not citable or a spam, please remove it from the list.

General
 * Practical Fishkeeping - this is an online version of a U.K. aquarium magazine.
 * National Geographic - every once in a while you will find some good fish-related articles here.
 * Australia's Fish Hobbyists
 * Aquarticles.com - "An international collection of articles about fish and aquariums, available for free use in aquarium club newsletters and non- commercial web sites."
 * Ornamental Fish Association - Trade organisation for the ornamental fish industry
 * Wet Web Media - Large web site covering different aspects of fishkeeping.
 * Australia & New Guinea Fishes Association - Aquarium fish from Australia and New Guinea
 * Brackish Water Aquarium FAQ - Brackish water fish and aquaria
 * hardcoreaquatics.com - Hardocre Aquatics is a World Wide Community dedicated to the Aquatic Industry where quality information about the Freshwater, Marine and Reef Aquarium hobby can be exchanged among all levels of hobbyist.
 * Age of Aquariums Promotes responsible fishkeeping internationally since 1997.
 * The Aquarium Gazette Bi Monthly fishkeeping publication, written by fishkeepers for fishkeepers

General – marine
 * AquariumDomain Complete Resource for the Marine Aquarium Hobbyist.
 * Marine Aquarist Association of South Texas (MAAST) Forums dedicated to keeping marine aquariums.
 * Reefs.org - Reefs.org is the oldest internet communitity solely dedicated to the hobby of reef aquarium. Reefs.org hosts an active online bulletin board, monthly magazine (www.advancedaquarist.com), college-style courses related to reef husbandry (www.aquaristcourses.org), a library of reefkeeping reference material, and the oldest, most active reef internet live chat (#reefs).
 * Reef Central - Reef Central is dedicated to the marine reef aquarium hobby. Learn about reef aquarium setup and maintenance, and view coral and marine fish photos.
 * The Marine Reef The complete community, for every aquarist. The Marine Reef offers live chat, forums, and a friendly online community.
 * Aquarium Pros - AP is dedicated to the Canadian reefkeeping community, but contains a wealth of information for any interested.
 * Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - An online marine aquarist magazine covering all topics relating to marine aquarium husbandry. Established in 2002.
 * Coral Reef Tanks and Aquariums - Resource for starting and maintaining coral reef tanks and aquariums.
 * Reef Aquarium Index - Saltwater & reef aquarium reference guide contains links to over 1500 articles on set-up, maintenance, and care of fish & coral species.
 * Reef aquarium care articles and coral identification guide with reef tank hobby community forum.

Bichirs
 * Polypterus.info - Polypterus in aquaria

Catfishes
 * Planet Catfish - Catfish in aquaria
 * ScotCat - Catfish in aquaria

Cichlids
 * The Cichlid Room Companion - this is a website of a cichlid enthusiast. There's also an online subscribable magazine here.
 * The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi, Africa by Dr. Michael Oliver.
 * The Cichlids of the Lake Malawi and the Lake Tanyanyika

Danionins (Danios and Devarios)
 * Peter Cottles Danios and Devarios Website

Gobies
 * Richard's Mudskipper & Goby Web Site - Mudskippers and gobies in aquaria

Goldfish
 * Bristol Aquarists' Society

Labyrinth fishes
 * International Betta Congress (IBC) Species Maintenance Program
 * Nippyfish.net - although the website uses the word "betta", it is referring only to Siamese fighting fish, not all betta.
 * Betty Splendens - another website about Siamese fighting fish

Livebearers
 * American Livebearer Association
 * British Livebearer Association
 * Keeping and Breeding Halfbeaks - includes growth rate chart and pictures of newborn fish.
 * Viviparous - the UK's larges online club with forums and photo albums

Loaches
 * International Loach Association Loach care and discussion
 * Loaches Online - Loaches in aquaria

Pufferfishes
 * Pufferpedia Pufferfish in aquaria
 * PufferList Pufferfish Comprehensive "bible" of pufferfish and their aquaria requirements

Rainbowfishes
 * Home Of The Rainbowfish - a comprehensive website covering the Families Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae, with many illustrations including some of rare species, and comprehensive biological notes for many species in addition
 * Bowheads! - This is not a commercial site. Home base for many North American and Australian rainbowfish breeders and keepers. Many members also keep other types of Australian and New Guinea fishes. Information on keeping and breeding any species of bow can be gotten here, as well as photos. Check the gallery and ask the author for usage.

Snakeheads
 * Snakeheads.org

Other notes

 * When refer to several different species, use "fishes." When refer to several individuals of the same species, use "fish."
 * This Aquarium Fishes WikiProject is not the absolute authority. It provides "guidelines" rather than "rules." However, if you have doubts about anything, you should discuss first before making any crucial changes.

Current featured and good articles
Here is the list of some notable articles within the scope of WikiProject Aquarium Fishes as of April 7, 2007.


 * Aquarium [[Image:Featured article star - cross.svg|14px]] [[Image:Symbol unsupport vote.svg|15px]]
 * Asian arowana [[Image:Symbol_support_vote.svg|14px]]
 * Cichlid [[Image:Symbol unsupport vote.svg|15px]]
 * Fish [[Image:Symbol unsupport vote.svg|15px]]
 * Goldfish [[Image:Cscr-former.png|15px]] [[Image:Symbol unsupport vote.svg|15px]]
 * Convict cichlid [[Image:Symbol_support_vote.svg|14px]]
 * Halfbeak [[Image:Cscr-former.png|15px]] [[Image:Symbol_support_vote.svg|15px]]
 * Pacu [[Image:Symbol unsupport vote.svg|15px]]
 * Oscar (fish) [[Image:Symbol unsupport vote.svg|15px]]
 * Pelvicachromis pulcher [[Image:Symbol_support_vote.svg|14px]]
 * Tetraodontidae [[Image:Featured article star - cross.svg|14px]]

Did you knows (DYKs)
Entries from these articles appeared on the main page Did you know? section.
 * Filter (aquarium) - 6 April, 2007
 * Hypancistrus - 11 April, 2007
 * Sorubim - 11 April, 2007
 * Brachyplatystoma - 21 April, 2007
 * Copadichromis borleyi - 29 April, 2007
 * Hemiancistrus - 10 May, 2007
 * Horabagrus - 23 May, 2007
 * Snakeskin gourami - 25 May, 2007
 * Bagrichthys - 14 June, 2007
 * Wimple piranha - 13 July, 2007
 * Dekeyseria - 22 July, 2007
 * Leporacanthicus - 28 July, 2007
 * Elacatinus - 28 September, 2007
 * Redtail Splitfin - 16 August, 2008
 * Least Killifish - 17 August, 2008
 * Violet Goby - 3 May, 2009

WikiProject Aquarium Fishes awards

 * Purpose
 * To recognize WikiProject Aquarium Fishes members who greatly contribute to fishkeeping and aquarium fishes on Wikipedia.
 * To encourage WikiProject Aquarium Fishes members to produce more good quality works especially the featured articles.


 * Types of Awards
 * The Golden Guppy Award is given to any member who makes an outstanding contribution to fishkeeping and aquarium fishes on wikipedia. For example, an editor who has single-handedly produced a featured article is qualified for this award.
 * The Golden Discus Award is given to any member who makes an exceptional contribution to fishkeeping and aquarium fishes on wikipedia. For example, an editor who has single-handedly produced FIVE featured articles is qualified for this award.

1. To nominate a member for an award, please post your proposal on the Wikiproject talk page with a short description of the nominee's contribution to fishkeeping and aquarium fishes on Wikipedia. Specify the type of award you are proposing and why you think the nominee should be awarded.
 * Procedure

2. All other project members are invited to express their opinions whether they "support", "oppose", or are "neutral" with the nomination.

3. There must be at least 10 members responding to the nomination. If more than 75% of all responding members "support" the nomination, the nominee is given the award. The award will be posted on the recipient talk page. If wished the recipient can place the award to display in his/her user page.

4. The nomination expires in 15 days after the date of proposal. If the nomination expired without gaining enough votes, the candidate is not disqualified for future nominations. He/she can be re-nominated after a reasonable period of time.


 * }