First, the Simple Record of Where They Came From
A Norman's lampeye is a small fish bought in numbers, so the paperwork begins with a receipt or transfer note stating who supplied them, how many you took, and their condition on the day. If they came from a breeder's killifish circle rather than a shop counter, get the breeder's name and a line about the parent group in writing, because lampeyes circulate widely among hobbyists and a school's origin blurs quickly once it joins a community tank. That origin note is also your route back to the source if you later want compatible additions from the same line rather than mixing fish of unknown background.
School Size and Condition Worth Capturing
Record the exact number you brought home and the rough mix of sizes, noting any fish that looked thin, faded, or slow at purchase. Lampeyes are schooling fish whose confidence depends on numbers, and a written starting count lets you notice gradual, unexplained losses that are otherwise easy to miss among fine-leaved plants. Their signature feature, the bright crescent on the eye that gives them their name, is also a useful condition marker to describe in your notes: clear and shining at purchase gives you a comparison point if the school later looks dull after a tank disturbance or a water problem.
Water and Feeding History From the Previous Keeper
Ask for the water details of the tank they are leaving: temperature, acidity, and hardness, plus whether that water was soft and slightly acidic as most keepers run for this species. Lampeyes tolerate a fair range once settled, but an abrupt swing during the move is what stresses them, and a written record lets you acclimate deliberately. Feeding history matters just as much for fish this small. Note the size of food offered, since their mouths suit fine flake and tiny live foods, and a new keeper serving coarse fare may wrongly conclude the fish are not eating at all. Add how often the previous keeper fed and whether the school fed at the surface.
Spawning Records and the Jumping Note
Two specifics belong in a lampeye file that general fish paperwork misses. The first is spawning: these killifish scatter adhesive eggs through fine plants and mops, so ask whether the group has produced eggs and how the seller collected and raised them, and keep your own notes if fry appear. The second is escape risk. Norman's lampeyes are committed jumpers, so your records should carry a plain note for any future keeper or sitter that the tank needs a tight-fitting lid with gaps covered. It reads like a husbandry detail rather than paperwork, yet it is exactly the fact that saves the school when someone else opens the tank to feed them.
Your Arrival Log Completes the Handover
Once home, write down how the school settled: when they first fed, whether they held together or scattered, and any fish found outside the group. Log additions, losses, egg collections, and lid or tank changes alongside the seller's original note, so the file describes the living school rather than the purchase-day snapshot. Small, peaceful fish are the easiest to under-document precisely because they ask for so little attention day to day. Keeping the supply note, water record, and spawning history in the Pet Passport in KinsLe ensures your Norman's lampeyes travel with their background intact if they are ever rehomed or moved.