These are just some basic rules you should follow so we can all enjoy our time here!

You must have a full understanding of all the rules. If you are unsure about any rule, do not hesitate to ask a moderator. If you receive a warning and are unaware of the rule, it is assumed you falsely agreed to the rules during registration, which could result in a ban

When participating in our community, there are a few simple rules we ask each member to follow:

1. Communicate in a friendly and respectful manner.
It’s OK to share your opinions and to disagree, we simply ask that you do so without attacking another member in the process.

If you believe you have been personally attacked in our community, don’t respond with an attack of your own. Instead, e-mail the moderator to alert us to the problem.

2. Keep it clean.
Profanity and obscenities will not be tolerated. This includes masked profanity where letters are substituted with special characters.

3. Don’t instigate arguments.
Content intended to inflame or disrupt the community is not allowed. This includes harassment of fellow members and the community team, links to inappropriate content, racial, ethnic, religious, or other slurs as well as any name-calling. Any violation of federal or state law will not be tolerated and may result in immediate suspension from the site.  For further information regarding the terms of use of this website, please see http://www.fishchannel.com/corporate/terms.aspx.

4. No solicitations.
No unsolicited or unauthorized advertising. This includes promotion of items for personal financial gain, as well as promotion of an item or issue for the purpose of mass communication. Further, mass posting or ‘spamming’ the community is not allowed.

Soliciting means you are persuading other members to buy something, try a new service, visit another website, etc., where the members may or may not have interest in doing so.

The private messaging system is for you to exchange advice, learn, and have fun. Using the private messaging system and message board as a means of mass communication for solicitation is strictly prohibited. Report abuse to the moderator by forwarding the private communication. We must have proof to stop future abuse.

5. Don’t share personally identifiable information.
To protect your privacy and to ensure your online safety, we ask that you do not post personally identifiable information. This includes phone numbers, address, instant messaging screen names (AOL, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) or web addresses leading to such information. Further, we ask that you do not share someone else’s personally identifiable information.

6. Don’t post copyrighted material.
We ask that you do not post any copyrighted or trademarked material unless you have the express written consent of the owner to do so. The website is not responsible for any posts that infringe on copyright laws. If a copyright has been broken, you may be held legally responsible.

7. Respect our community team
The community team does its best to maintain the integrity and standards of the community areas. Should a problem arise in the community, we ask that you assist the community team by paying attention to its posts and following any directions the team provides.

8. Signatures
Your signature is not to exceed 500 pixels by 200 pixels.

If all the contents of your signature do not fit into the above space, your signature is too big. The lone exception is text. Text may go further right than the edge of the box because it wraps naturally. However, all images must fit in this area. You may have as many images in this area, but they can't exceed the boundaries, and no one image can exceed any boundary.

Your total signature images must be less than 100K in size. To find how large your signature is, right click your image and choose "Properties" to see what your file size is. Please note: Animated images are big in file size.

The rules and guidelines of the community apply to signatures as well.

9. External links
Linking to other sites is allowed, however, please adhere to the above rules when posting links.

10. Keep on topic
Please keep all postings and subject matter relevant to the thread topics. This is a forum where all members share and give advice and information. It is not a place to gossip, rant, or rave about subject matters not pertaining to the discussion.

These rules are here for your protection. They ensure we maintain a fun, safe and supportive environment where members can talk about the animals they adore. Members who continually break these rules are subject to account suspension and are no longer eligible for participation in our community.

Now that you know the rules, we invite you to join in our community and look forward to your participation. Welcome!