Six letters have nothing under them
That is the honest shape of a species database at forty eight records. The index fills in the order people ask for species, and the empty letters stay visible so the gap is never hidden behind a search box.
Every record, field by field
The index above says what exists. This says what is in it. Nine fields, every record, with the blanks printed as blanks so you can see the shape of what we hold before you open anything.
| Field | African dwarf frog | Amano shrimp | Angelfish | Assassin snail | Axolotl | Betta | Black molly | Bristlenose pleco | Celestial pearl danio | Cherry shrimp | Chili rasbora | Chinese algae eater | Clown killifish | Clown loach | Common pleco | Corydoras | Damselfish | Discus | Dojo loach | Ember tetra | Flowerhorn | German blue ram | Ghost shrimp | Goldfish | Guppy | Honey gourami | Kuhli loach | Least killifish | Mandarin goby | Nerite snail | Oscar fish | Otocinclus | Pea puffer | Platy | Rabbit snail | Ramshorn snail | Redtail catfish | Siamese algae eater | Sparkling gourami | Vampire shrimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum tank | 5 gal per frog | 10 gal | 55 gal | 10 gal | 20 gal | 5 to 10 gal | 20 gal | 20 gal | 10 gal | 5 to 10 gal | 5 gal | 50 gal | 5 gal | 120 gal | 75 gal | 10 to 20 gal | 30 gal | 75 gal | 55 gal | 10 gal | 70 gal | 20 gal | 5 gal | 20 gal | 10 gal | 10 gal | 20 gal | 5 gal | 30 gal | 2 to 3 gal | 75 gal | 10 gal | 5 gal | 10 gal | 10 gal | 5 gal | 2,700 gal (10,368 L) | 40 gal | 10 gal | 20 gal |
| Temperature | 73 to 79 °F | 72 to 78 °F | 78 to 84 °F | 75 to 80 °F | 61 to 64 °F | Around 80 °F | 72 to 78 °F | 74 to 79 °F | 73 to 76 °F | 59 to 86 °F | 72 to 82 °F | 77 to 79 °F | 68 to 79 °F | 82 °F | 72 to 86 °F | 72 to 82 °F | 73 to 81 °F | 85 to 86 °F | 68 to 72 °F | 72 to 82 °F | 80 to 86 °F | 84 to 85 °F | 72 to 80 °F | 68 to 74 °F | 63 to 82 °F | 74 to 81 °F | 74 to 79 °F | 75 to 78 °F | 76 to 82 °F | 72 to 79 °F | 75 to 80 °F | 70 to 79 °F | 74 to 82 °F | 70 to 77 °F | 78 to 84 °F | 70 to 78 °F | 72 to 76 °F | 75 to 79 °F | 77 to 80 °F | 74 to 84 °F |
| pH | 6.5 to 7.5 | 7.2 to 7.5 | 6.5 to 7.5 | 7.0 to 7.5 | 7.4 to 7.6 | 6.0 to 8.0 | 7.5 to 8.5 | 6.5 to 7.5 | 6.6 to 7.5 | 6.5 to 8.0 | 6.0 to 7.0 | 6.0 to 8.0 | 4.0 to 7.0 | 6.0 to 7.0 | 6.5 to 7.5 | 6.5 to 7.8 | 8.1 to 8.4 | 6.8 | 6.5 to 8.0 | 5.5 to 7.0 | 7.0 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 7.0 | 7.0 to 8.0 | 7.0 to 8.4 | 7.0 to 8.5 | 6.0 to 7.5 | 3.5 to 7.0 | 7.0 to 8.0 | 8.1 to 8.4 | 7.5 to 8.5 | 6.0 to 8.0 | 6.0 to 7.5 | 6.8 to 8.0 | 7.0 to 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.0 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 6.8 | 6.5 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 7.0 | 7.0 to 7.2 |
| Hardness | 89 to 358 ppm | 72 to 251 ppm | 89 to 215 ppm | 107 to 268 ppm | 125 to 250 ppm | 18 to 268 ppm | 268 to 536 ppm (15 to 30 dGH) | 71 to 200 ppm | 89 to 179 ppm (5 to 10 dGH) | 71 to 179 ppm | 54 to 179 ppm | 89 to 321 ppm | 18 to 143 ppm | 71 to 214 ppm | Up to 446 ppm (25 dGH) | 18 to 268 ppm | Specific gravity 1.020 to 1.025 | 18 to 70 ppm | 89 to 214 ppm | 18 to 179 ppm | 161 to 358 ppm | 18 to 179 ppm | not recorded | not recorded | 143 to 536 ppm | 71 to 214 ppm | 0 to 143 ppm | 89 to 357 ppm (5 to 20 dGH) | Specific gravity 1.025 | 215 to 322 ppm | 215 to 268 ppm | 36 to 179 ppm | 90 to 448 ppm | 214 to 321 ppm | 107 to 143 ppm | 143 to 322 ppm | 54 to 214 ppm | 71 to 268 ppm | 89 to 214 ppm (5 to 12 dGH) | 107 to 357 ppm (6 to 20 dGH) |
| Adult size | 1 to 3 in | 1 to 2 in | 4 to 6 in long, 6 to 8 in tall | 1 to 1.2 in (25 to 30 mm) | 9 to 12 in | 2.4 to 2.8 in (60 to 70 mm) | 3.1 to 4.5 in | 4 to 6 in | 0.8 to 1.5 in | 1.2 to 1.6 in (30 to 40 mm) | 0.7 to 0.8 in (18 to 20 mm) | 5 to 11 in (13 to 28 cm) | 1.4 in (35 mm) | 6 to 13 in in a tank (16 in recorded) | 15 in in a tank, 24 in the wild | 1 to 3 in | 3 in, and 12 for the largest in the family | 5 to 7 in | 6 to 12 in (15 to 30 cm) | 0.6 to 0.8 in (15 to 20 mm) | 9.5 to 16 in | 1.3 to 2.5 in (34 to 64 mm) | 1 to 1.5 in | 4 to 12 in | 2 to 2.5 in (50 to 64 mm) | 1.6 to 2.2 in (40 to 55 mm) | 3.5 to 3.9 in (90 to 100 mm) | 0.6 to 0.8 in male, 1 to 1.5 in female | 2.4 to 3 in | 0.5 to 1.5 in (13 to 38 mm) | 10 to 12 in, captive | 1.4 to 2 in (35 to 50 mm) | 1 in (25 mm) | 2 to 2.8 in (5 to 7 cm) | 2 to 4 in (5 to 10 cm) | 0.7 to 1 in (18 to 25 mm) | 47 to 55 in (120 to 140 cm) | 3 to 6.3 in | 1.5 to 1.6 in (40 mm) | 2 to 4.5 in, and 6 in the wild |
| Diet | Carnivore, and it will eat anything under an inch | Algae, and it prefers not to be | Omnivore, and it eats small fish | Carnivore. It hunts snails and does not eat algae | Carnivore, and earthworms are the staple | Carnivore | Omnivore, and the vegetable half is not optional | Herbivore, and every source says algae is not enough | Omnivore, and not on flake alone | Algae, biofilm and detritus | Micropredator, and it is easily out-competed | Aufwuchs grazer, and it takes mucus off other fish | Micro predator. It takes dried food and wants live | Omnivore, and a snail eater | Omnivore, and it needs wood | Sinking, not an algae eater | Omnivore, and it will eat almost anything | Omnivore, and small mouthed | Omnivore, and it eats snails and shrimp | Omnivore, tiny foods | Omnivore, and a heavy one | Omnivore, and a substrate sifter | Omnivore and scavenger | Omnivore, live plants included | Insectivorous in the wild, most foods in a tank | Omnivore, and an insect eater in the wild | Micropredator, sinking | Omnivore, and it browses algae | Live copepods, almost exclusively | Algae, leftover food, decaying leaves | Predatory omnivore, and it eats fish | Algae, biofilm and diatoms | Live and frozen, and snails with the shell on | Omnivore, and it grazes algae | Algae and detritus, and it eats java fern | Algae and detritus, and live plants when the rest runs out | Predator, and it eats fruit in the wild | Algae grazer, and it will eat plants | Omnivore, and dried food alone is not enough | Filter feeder. Particles in the current, not pellets |
| Water column | Bottom, and it surfaces to breathe | Substrate | Mid water | Substrate, and buried in it | Bottom | Surface | Near the top, on the one source that says | Bottom, and awake at night | Middle, and one source says the bottom | Substrate | Mid water | Bottom, and on the glass | Surface | Bottom | Bottom, and awake at night | Bottom | Around rock, and it defends a corner of it | Mid water | Bottom, buried, and the surface for air | Mid water | All levels | Bottom, and it sifts the substrate | Substrate | All levels | Mid water | Mid water, and it surfaces to breathe | Bottom, and buried | Top to middle | The bottom, and it walks on it | Substrate, and every surface above it | All levels | Substrate, and every flat surface above it | Mid water | Mid water | Substrate, and tunnels through it | Every surface, and it breathes air | Bottom, and awake at night | Every surface, and it wants flow | Not the bottom, which is all any source says | Wherever the current is, and low on one source |
| Lifespan | 5 to 8 years | 2 to 3 years | 8 to 12 years | 2 to 5 years | 10 to 20 years | 3 to 4 years | 3 to 5 years | 5 to 14 years | 3 to 5 years | 1 to 2 years | 4 to 8 years | 5 to 10 years | 2 to 5 years | 10 to 30 years | 10 to 15 years | Over 20 years, captive | 5 to 6 years | 10 to 15 years | 7 to 10 years | 2 to 4 years | 10 to 12 years | 2 to 4 years | Days to 1.5 years | 5 to 30 years | 2 to 3 years | 2 to 5 years | Up to 10 years | Up to 1.5 years, on one source | 2 to 4 years | 1 to 2 years | 10 to 20 years | not recorded | 2 to 6 years | 1 to 5 years | 2 to 3 years | 1 to 2 years | 15 to 20 years | 8 to 10 years | 4 to 5 years | 3 to 5 years |
| Growth rate | Mature at about 9 months | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | Legs by 2 to 3 in, mature at 18 to 27 months | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | Full size in 6 to 12 months | Mature at about two months | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | Slow. About 6 in at three years | Can double in size in under 6 months | Juveniles look like small adults in about a month | not recorded | not recorded | Fast to 5 in, then about an inch a year | not recorded | Mature at 8 to 10 months, hump after a year | not recorded | Young are tank safe at about 5 weeks | Six inches in three to five months, if fed heavily | not recorded | not recorded | Mature at 2.75 in of a 4 in maximum | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | Two thirds of adult size in 6 to 12 months | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | About a year to 1.5 in | not recorded | 30 to 40 cm in the first year | Full size in about two years | not recorded | not recorded |
Read across a row to compare a field, or down a column to read a record. Every figure in it is on the record page it links to, beside the name of the source it came from, which is the part a comparison table normally leaves out.
The plant records answer a different question, so they carry different fields. Will it grow in my tank rather than does it fit, which is nine fields of which three, temperature, pH and growth rate, also appear in the table above.
| Field | Amazon sword | Anubias | Hornwort | Java fern | Java moss | Marimo moss ball | Water sprite | Water wisteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 50 to 80 PAR, and one source stops at 35 | Low. 10 to 40 PAR | Low to survive, medium to high to grow | Low is enough, moderate is the highest any source asks for | Low. The failure at the top of the range is algae, not burn | Low to moderate, and direct light burns it | 50 to 80 PAR | 50 to 80 PAR, and one source stops at 35 |
| CO2 | Not needed, and one source says not worth it | Not needed | Beneficial, never required | Not required. One source recommends it anyway | Not required. One source doses it and says it barely helps | None, and no source asks for any | Not needed, and one source argues against it | Not needed, and one source calls it beneficial |
| Placement | Mid to background, or a centerpiece | Attached to wood or rock | Floating, or background if anchored | Midground or background, attached to hardscape | Foreground or midground, and it carpets | The bottom, and turn it weekly | Mid to background, or floating | Mid to background, or floating |
| Substrate | Root feeder, and it wants root tabs | None required. The rhizome must stay out of it | None. It has no roots | None. The rhizome must stay exposed | None. It anchors with rhizoids, not roots | Irrelevant, and one source prefers gravel to sand | Sand or fine gravel, or none | Anything, or nutrient-rich: the sources split |
| Growth rate | Moderate, and one source says slow | Slow. 1 to 2 leaves in about three weeks | 1 to 4 in a week | Slow. A new leaf in two to four weeks | Medium. No source here publishes a rate | 5 mm a year, about 1 in every 5 years | Fast, and one source publishes both | Fast, on every source we hold |
| Propagation | Runners, with a plantlet every 3 to 4 in | Rhizome division | Cuttings. Any segment regrows | Plantlets on the leaf tips, or rhizome division | Division. Tear a piece off and attach it | By splitting and re-rolling, or buy another | Plantlets on the leaves, which break off by themselves | Cuttings, and they root in days |
| Temperature | 72 to 82 °F | 72 to 82 °F | 59 to 86 °F | 72 to 82 °F | 59 to 86 °F | 72 to 75 °F | 72 to 77 °F | 75 to 80 °F |
| pH | 6.5 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 7.5 | 7.0, the only value both bands contain | 6.0 to 6.5 | 6.5 to 7.3 |
| Eaten by | Goldfish, plecos and oscars, on three sources | Disputed. Two sources say nothing eats it | Not goldfish, according to one source and against another | Almost nothing, and one snail we now hold a record for | Not shrimp or snails. One source names three fish that devour it | Plecos and crayfish, with goldfish as a caution | Goldfish, on three sources | Goldfish and oscars, on one source |
The state of the database
Four numbers, counted from the records themselves every time this page loads. They are the only honest measure of how far along a database like this one is.
What a blank means here
It means no source we compile from stated a figure, and that we would not take one from somewhere we could not name. Every blank on every record carries a note explaining which sources were checked and what they said instead, and those notes are gathered on the breeding page, where they are the majority of the subject.
The alternative is what most care sheets do, which is to fill the field with a number that circulates without an origin. A database that did that would look 27 fields more complete than this one and be worth less.
The fullest and the thinnest
African dwarf frog, Amazon sword, Anubias, Axolotl, Celestial pearl danio, Cherry shrimp, Clown loach, Common pleco, Corydoras, Dojo loach, Flowerhorn, Hornwort, Java fern, Java moss, Kuhli loach, Marimo moss ball, Oscar fish, Rabbit snail, Redtail catfish, Siamese algae eater, Water sprite and Water wisteria are the most complete records on the site, with every field filled. Otocinclus carries the most blanks, two, and every one of them stays published in that state rather than being held back until it looks finished.
That is deliberate. A thin record that names its gaps is more useful than no page at all, and it is a great deal more useful than a full looking page whose figures nobody can trace.
Questions about this index
Why are some names not links?
Because those records are not written. A queued name is a species one of our silos has admitted it does not cover yet, listed here so the gap is visible. Linking it to a page that does not exist, or to a page assembled on demand, is the oldest trick in this category.
How does a species get from the queue into the index?
Somebody reads every source we can find on that animal, compares them field by field, records where they disagree, and names the source behind each figure. When that is done the record is published, blanks included, and the name turns into a link.
Why are there so few records?
Because each one is verified against its sources rather than rewritten from another care sheet. This site would rather hold records you can check than a thousand you cannot.
What does the note beside each name mean?
For a written record it is the layer the animal occupies and the tank the record asks for, or the number of blank fields if no tank is stated. It is generated from the record, so it cannot drift from the page it points at.
Can I ask for a species?
Yes, and it is the most useful thing you can send us. What decides the order is what people ask for and whether sources exist that state figures we can attribute.
Why show empty letters at all?
Because hiding them would make a small database look like a complete one. The empty letters are the honest shape of this site today, and they will fill in the order species get written rather than in the order that looks tidiest.
Is this index the same as the search?
No. The index lists species only, written and queued, in alphabetical order. The search reads every page on the site, including the topic and silo pages, and it will also tell you when the thing you searched for is queued rather than written.