First, thanks for visiting my site. If you have a question that you do not mind others reading, please post it in the Fishpondinfo forum which I check daily.

Robyn's e-mail is help 'at' fishpondinfo.com

Replace the 'at' with @ in the above e-mail before you send it (or click on it, and it does that for you). You can send me questions (please put questions that you are comfortable sharing into the Fishpondinfo forum), comments, technical problems, errors, etc. or ask me to link to your page. Please see the Guidelines and FAQ section below before sending an e-mail (if you have time). Thanks!

Questions relating to animals, fish, and ponds can be put in my Fishpondinfo forum to share with everyone. I try to reply daily to all new forum posts. Just be sure to check back in a day or so! By posting in the forum, not only can others read our exchange but they can give you their input as well.

Additional Links of Interest on Robyn's Web Site
Notices
Guidelines for Sending Robyn E-mails
Robyn's Site and E-mail FAQ
How Can I Help Robyn?

• Master Index
  
• Fishpondinfo Store Information
  
• Fishpondinfo Stores
  
• Search Information
  
• Advertizing Information
  
• View or Sign Guestbook
  
• Free Newsletter Information
  
• Robyn's Pond Blog
  
• Comments about Robyn's Web Pages
  
• Notes, Comments, and Stories Relevant to Fishpondinfo - no longer taking new entries due to SPAM
  
• Introduction Page (about Robyn and this web site)
  
• Articles (magazines, newspapers, internet) about Robyn or by Robyn
  
• Contributing Articles
  
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• Fishpondinfo Facebook Page
  
• Fishpondinfo Message Board
  
• Fishpondinfo You Tube page
  
• Fishpondinfo Chat Room - run by other people, not me
  
• Fishpondinfo on Instagram

Important Notice:

I have not had time to read and/or completely edit all of my over 149 separate web sites (well many more now, 749 as of 4/3/14!). There is just too much information for me to re-read it all. Thus, some things are out of date or need to be updated or fixed. I do not know if I will ever get to them. I have not had time to check for off-site link validation either so many links to other sites are bad. If you find errors or things that need to be changed, please e-mail me.

Someone complained to me that I had some gall to provide e-mail guidelines and must think highly of myself (they used more colorful language). I actually have a very low self esteem. I do not think I do much of importance. I provide the guidelines simply because you will get faster and better responses from me this way. I get a lot of e-mails a day so it is hard to keep track. Besides no one said you HAD to follow my guidelines anyway. Most people do not.

• Before asking about a topic, use the search at the top of any of my pages to see if I cover that topic on my web site.

• If you wish to send photos or attached files, please only send small files like small jpg's or gif's. Please do not send zip, bmp, or exe files or any large files or weird formats. They overload my system and/or I cannot open them. If you have a photo or file on a web site, that is even better.

• If you want me to link to a site, it must be relevant and please tell me which page!

• Please tell me what kind of animal you are talking about. I have gotten a lot of e-mails saying, "How do you sex them" or "What do you feed them?" I have no idea which of the hundreds of species on my sites to which you are referring so please specify.

• If you have e-mailed me before, please do not expect that will I remember you as I have read thousands of e-mails. I often do remember but please provide a few sentences to refresh my memory. Saying, "I e-mailed you a while back and now the fish is waving at me; what does this mean?" I will not remember your previous story that perhaps the fish was growing spikes or whatever. Update 2014: I can normally find previous e-mails by searching.

• While I normally check e-mail once a day, please allow at least four days before sending another e-mail to allow for problems with the server, computer crashes, illnesses, emergencies, computer viruses, backlog, power outages, etc. As for vacations, I never take any. I ALWAYS answer legitimate e-mails with questions. That means that if you get no response after a few days, send another e-mail. It may have gotten lost. Once, I accidently deleted an e-mail without even opening it entitled "hatchling." My cat, Gino, was climbing on me and typing, and I was trying to get used to my new super slow e-mail system (years ago), and oops, the e-mail was deleted. Bottom line, if I have not replied in two days to an e- mail, send another saying I did not reply with the original message.

• When you send a request for a change or addition for my web page, please allow a full two weeks for me to complete it. I normally upload changed pages on Saturday. If it is an emergency, let me know.

• If you think your question and its answer would benefit others, and it relates to animals, fish, or ponds, then post on my Fishpondinfo message board/forum so that everyone can see my answer. I try to answer all questions there.

• In sending an e-mail, you agree that I may include selected quoted portions of the text on my web site with your first name only and date of the e-mail. I will not post your e-mail address or other personal information (unless you request as such). I add relevant text to my comment pages as well as informational sections if you have input. I probably only use one in 20 e-mails in this way. In sending an e-mail, you agree to my being allowed to use any non-professional photos (on my web site only) unless you indicate as such. I only use a small percentage of photos that I receive. Photos are often cropped and resized. I will not use any photos with people in them without permission. I will not use any photos of questionable material (offensive, obviously copyrighted, etc.). In order for me to use your photos, you must own the copyright. I will not post photos that obviously were professional or came from another web site. Photos from others that I post to my web site will include the first name and date only. You retain copyright privileges. I often get requests to use photos. If I did not take the photo myself, I tell them no, or I may e-mail the person if I have their e-mail (I e-mail you their message; I do not give out your e-mail without permission); I do not own the copyright of donated photos. If you see one of your photos on my web site that either you sent or was sent without your permission (if you can verify that), I will remove it if you e-mail such a request.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions:

• Q: Are you an expert?
  A: Everything is relative. As there is so much more for me to know about any topic on this web site, I do not consider myself an expert. Many other people do though. You can read what some of them have said on my comments page. I know much more about some animals on my site than others. Some I know very little about so it varies. In general, I am a failure in all aspects of my life except maybe providing free (to you; I pay for it) information on animals, aquariums, and ponds via my web site. The cost of information does not scale with its value because I care about helping you and yours while others may just care about getting your money.

• Q: Who are you and why do you do what you do?
  A: See my introduction page.

• Q: Why doesn't this link work?
  A: If the link is internal to my site, please let me know so I can fix it. If it is an external link, people are always moving their web sites. When you run your mouse over a link, the URL appears at the bottom left. You can cut it back by removing the end of the URL back to the next / which you can do repeatedly to see if a site is still there. Sometimes they just move things around. If the actual site back to the basic URL is gone, then try going to archive.org where you can enter in old URL's and see old versions of web sites that they have archived. If you do not know about this site, you should! If you find where a moved site has gone, please let me know so I can fix the link.

• Q: Why do your web pages blind me?
  A: I like colors! I have been trying to tone back many of my pages so they are less strenuous for some viewers. If you really need a color-less version, you can cut and paste the text elsewhere or view the source (if you do not understand HTML, it may confuse you).

• Q: Why are your pages so visually boring?
  A: I do not have money to throw around on this site. (I throw it at my animals!) Luckily for you, my brother is a computer programmer and taught me basic HTML and programmed all the fancy stuff on this site for me so that you can read some of the stuff floating around my mind!

• Q: Do you have information on "whatever?"
  A: Insert "whatever" into the search box at the top of any of my pages to see which pages discuss "whatever." [Update: My web host changed to another server in 2019 which was not compatible with my search system so there is now no way to search my pages directly which is really horrible.]

• Q: Can I link to your web site?
  A: Sure! You can text link to any page you want or use one of my four banners. The generic fishpondinfo.com banner is on the bottom of my main page, the Robyn's Fishy Page banner is at the bottom of my fish page, the Robyn's Pond Page banner is at the bottom of my pond page, and the sailfin lizard banner is at the bottom of my sailfin page. I had that last one for a banner exchange that no longer exists. On those pages, you'll find the graphic and code to use.

• Q: Will you link to my web site?
  A: If the site is relevant to the page (let me know which specific page you want it linked to) and educational or helpful to those that view this site, I will link to it. I will not link to irrelevant sites or sites that go against my morals. If the site is commercial and not directly relevant and/or does not have useful information on it, I will not link to it but such a company might consider placing a banner ad on that page. See the advertizing information page for more on that. Also, you can add a link instantly by yourself to my instant page of links at this page.

• Q: Can I use your web site information in my article, paper, web site, etc.?
  A: See my introduction page for more on that.

• Q: Why aren't your web pages updated more often or more information/pages added more often?
  A: See the section below. I simply do not have the time. I do what I can to update and add new information. I am sorry that I cannot do more. I want to!

You want to help me and my site? Thank you so much!

I added a donation option to my site so if you want to donate money directly to my site and animals, check out the donation page.

I began my site in the Fall of 1997. As of 5/25/05, I estimate that I have spent, from the Fall of 1997 to 5/25/05 (~7.6 years), 17,784 hours at my paying job or commuting, 22,192 hours sleeping, 14,470 hours taking care of the animals/fish/ponds/land, 3040 hours answering about 36,800 e-mails from my web site, 1383 hours writing and updating my web site, spent $30,000 at the various vets, and spent $76,000 on animal/fish/pond supplies and foods. How much money did I make from my web site? Try -$1000. That is right, I lost money paying for traffic and web space. I begged for advertisers with no luck. Finally, I found a way to make a little tiny bit of money off of my site using something that I had to remove from mention here because it is against their policy to mention it so I cannot even say anything more. Phooey. I also used to have a few advertisers in my rotating banner in the header which did cover the basic hosting costs of my site. Update 3/19/09: I made some money from my web site affiliates. Update 2013: Since the economy crashed, I no longer make extra money from my web site, just enough to pay for the hosting. By 2016, I made zero money so all the costs for the site are out of pocket.

I have little time anymore to add much new information to my site but if you have any animal/fish/pond articles, information, photos, etc. that you want to share with the world, I would be happy to put them up on my web site with full credit to you. Thanks.

If you purchase things from Amazon, they are affiliates on my site with links in the footer below. You can also directly order from Amazon on my site here, and I get 5% of the order at no extra cost to you. Thanks again! Drs. Foster & Smith and Live Aquaria did have affiliate programs but they ended them on 2/22/10 so there are many non-functional links on my site until I can remove them. Thank you to everyone who ordered from them through my site in the past. That Pet Place approved me as an affiliate on 3/2/10 but they ended their progam as well Wind & Weather and PetsMart approved me on 3/3/10, and they are at the bottom of my web pages. A week later, Dutch Gardens approved my site; they sell bulbs. In June, Miles Kimball asked me to be an affiliate, and they carry lots of nifty things. In 2013, I added the Only Natural Pet Store. Update 2014: Lest you think I am pulling in the dough, I have had zero purchases from any of the above except a few dollars a year from Amazon (gone a few years later), and a few from That Pet Place who then stopped their program in 2015. No one has ever ordered through the other banners listed. I took a net loss from my web page "business" in 2013. After 2013, I had to pay taxes on the tiny bit I made but could no longer factor out the costs of the web site because you cannot take tax losses year after year. By 2021, I make nothing and pay all the hosting costs out of pocket. I will have to stop doing that sometime; I am getting too old and need to save money.

I had an Amazon A store but those eventually ended around 2017.

I set up a page with a list of the stores that give me a percentage on the shopping page.

I had an Ebay page and a Amazon page and began selling things around the house when I was unemployed including animal and pond supplies. I pretty much stopped once I got another job. They also deleted my sites without telling me.

Pet Link Banner Exchange:

There have been 51,181,002 file views (file views since 2006, page views before that) to Fishpondinfo from December 1, 2003 through August 17, 2019 (stats lost after that).

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