1 comments about Terrarium Animals from A to Z (Compass Guides).

1. While this guide does not go indepth with each reptile and each terrarium type, it does provide all the information that you need as you look into setting up and maintaining a terrarium and selecting reptiles. The reptile information is broken down with easy to understand symbols and includes reptile characteristics, diet, behavior, times of day they are most active, level of difficulty for the reptile's care, terrarium size, type, substrate, temperature, and other habitat items that are needed to care for that reptile.
   
   This guide is well beyond the simple quick reference guide I was looking for!

3 comments about The New Aquarium Handbook: Everything About Setting Up and Taking Care of a Freshwater Aquarium (New Pet Handbooks).

1. Perfect Aquarium Handbook. It covers virtually all aspects of freshwater aquarium fish and plant keeping. Perfect for someone looking for a general reference when setting up or maintaining any freshwater aquarium.



2. This general reference book is excellent as it provides clear, simple, easy to follow explanations of some technical concepts involved in aquarium management: lighting, filtration, water chemistry & it's upto date with the latest products.



3. This is an excellent resource for the new aquarist. It is much like the one for salt water tanks and is designed in such a way that it will take you step by step through the processes of chosing a tank, chosing the right equipment, choosing fish, invertabrae, and plants, and finally, taking care of the aquarium.

4 comments about Clownfish and Sea Anemones (Barron's Complete Pet Owner's Manuals).

1. Having worked in pet stores for many years, I have dealt with lots of books. By far, my favorite are the Barron line of books. These books are not only informative, but are individual in themselves. Whereas with other books, they give you an overview of the animals at the beginning, Barron books give you the authors own experiences and learnings. "Clownfish and Sea Anemones" is a great book for the new marine aquarist who is first starting out, as these little fish and their symbiosis with anemones are usually their first introduction to saltwater aquariums. From setting up the tank, info on different variations in species, and disease info, this book is a wonderful intro to these amazing little fish and their lifemates, the anemones. For more information, read more books from John Tullock. This author will truly open the doors of this hobby to the knowledge starved aquarist.



2. Don't buy this book if you want to learn to care for your clownfish, or sea anemones. It is only marginally good at identification, and is sparse on content about selection, care, feeding, etc. The pictures/illustrations are pathetic, and it also has a bunch of "unnecessary" information about how to care for a marine aquarium. I didn't buy the book to learn how to take care of an aquarium. I bought the book to learn how to take care of clownfish and anemones. This book looks like a book that was published in 1973 and has been sitting on the shelf of your public library since then.



3. Generally, this is a book about introducing a novice to clownfishes. It provides a reasonable introduction to keeping and breeding clownfish, but the coverage of anemones is minimal (it is after all less than $10.00). In some cases, though, it oversimplifies their care (doesn't say anything about how to feed an anemone for example). If I bought this book, I definitely wouldn't think I had enough knowledge to purchase and keep an anemone. However, as far as keeping clown fish (which are quite hardy to begin with), its a good intro for the beginner.



4. The author of one of the best aquarium books (Natural Reef Aquariums) writes about everyone's favorite fish. What could possibly be better? Actually, the book is very limited in scope, and clearly produced down to a price. Brief sections classify anemonefish and the anemones, describe how to set up and maintain a tank, how to feed clownfish, which species to keep with clownfish, and some tips on breeding clownfish.
   
   Classification of both the anenomes and clownfish is covered better in the book 'Anemone Fishes and Their Host Sea Anemones'. The Care and Breeding of Clownfishes is covered better by Joyce Wilkerson in her book 'Clownfishes'. And the setup and maintenance of a tank is covered better by just about every acquarium book out there.
   
   That said, within the limits of the space and format of the book, the coverage is as good as could be expected. The book brings together sufficient information to get beginners started. The book will tell you How to, but not Why. If this is all you want to know (and if you local acquarium shop is good), then this book is probably all you need.

5 comments about African Cichlids of Lakes, Malawi, and Tanganyika.

1. What an amazing book!!! Amazing content with very useful information and beautiful pictures to boot. I dare you to find a better book out there on African Cichlids.



2. First of all the book is 448 pages long (you would think there would be an abundent amount of usefull information) well THINK AGAIN ! The book is full of pictures with outdated scientific names, the only information about breeding any type of cichlid (being malawi or tang) is that you throw in a male with two or three female keep the water clean and BAM, you will have fry everywhere! It takes him about 20 pages to say this, in which he keeps repeating about just putting the fish in together and keeping the water clean. This book is trash and I am highly dissapointed, I wouldnt sell it for the simple fact that I would feel as though I am cheating someone out of money. If you are, on the other hand, looking for a book because your 2 year old seems to be fascinated by fish and fish pictures, then this would be ok for you. Out of the 448 pages 300 are pictures with no information about keeping the fish in an aquaria whatsoever, no explanations & poor "guessing at the correct names"; as he refers to over and over again "this is probably a ___ sp " Very jumbled and poorly organized ; even with the photos ~ this book doesnt even deserve 1 star!



3. I thought that this book will have all the info i'll need for my African cichlids aquariums, but this book is a total flop ,
   surprising with the names that were responsible for its release.
   It has little info on the life of the African cichlid of lake Malawi & Tanganyka and nothing else , it is mainly a picture book (more then 90%) WITHOUT any data on the fish in the pics.
   It seems i'm stuck with it but you can find much much better books to spend your money on.



4. I bought this book in order to gain practical information on cichled species and their identification but I am highly dissapointed. It is full of pictures with a lot of missing information (such as sexsing, behaviour or breeding) and it is full of technical descriptions which are not helpful for an amateur aquarist. Photos of the lake Malawi and Tanganyika fishes are all mixed up; pages are not organised at all.



5. One expects when buying a book by such a respected author to acquire a truly great book. This is not the case with this book. First of all, most photography are of very poor quality. Second, not all pages are numbered! This make the job of identifying fishes a lot harder. I'm very disapointed.

5 comments about Keeping Moray Eels In Aquariums.

1. This book is truly amazing,... I had 2 moray eels in my tank,..for about a year and half,...so,..after reading the book ,.. i could see all the experiences i had with mine ,..penned perfectly,... i mean it actually needs a lot of experience to write a books like this,..also the pictures in this book are amazing,...
   overall,..IT IS A MUST BUY,...



2. I once knew a guy in college who kept all sorts of things in tanks in his apartment. That was my first brush with this type of thing. Phillip Purser's book really brings all of this home in this book. It taught me everything I needed to know. And since I love to tell it like it is...I say, Buy this book!



3. I've been waiting for a book like this to make it to the shelves for as long as I can remember. Moray eels have always been described in bits ahd pieces here and there in all the other books, but they've never, as far as I know, had a book all their own. I'm still reading the book and finding it to be a whole-product; that is to say, it touches on so many parts of moray keeping that it answers just about all the questions you'd ever have. As any marine fish hobbyist will tell you, referencing and cross-referencing can be a big pain in the butt when looking to solve a problem; its so refreshing to find a one-stop resource.
   
   The writing is good too, it's not boring or thick, like a lot of experts tend to be. I found myself laughing out loud at several points. You can tell the author is so comfortable in his knowledge of the material, that he can relay it to his readers in a light, cool way that is totally readable.
   
   The book is put out by TFH publications, renowned for their great pet books, so it's quality all the way around. It's not as long as it could be; I think there are some more moray species that could have been covered, but the coverage of what species are included is excellent. Species are described in terms of: Minimum Tank Size, Natural Range, Size, Natural Habitat, Diet & Feeding, Description, Aquarium Suitability (the author ranks each species on a 1 to 5 scale, 1's are very hard to keep, 5's are best for beginners; a great idea if you don't exactly know which species is best for you), and any 'Special Conditions' that are associated with each species, like more swimming space versus more hiding area.
   
   Morays have been on the pet market for years, now, and I think its only right that a quality book on them exist; its only fair to the animals and its only fair to the keepers. Its well worth owning.



4. I've kept eels for years without a true-blue book on them. This book does a good job of telling what you need to know to keep 'em alive and happy. Wish I had it years ago.



5. I bought this book because I've long been interested in moray eels, and after having read it, I DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone who is at all interested in keeping these amazing animals. Every aspect of moray keeping is here, and it's easy to understand. The appendices ROCK! They give info on so many eel species not covered in the main body of the work. The only criticism I can give is that this book is only 140 pages; I'd have liked it if the book had been twice as long.
   
   All in all, I definitely think it's worth anybody's time to read it, even if you're only remotely interested in the eels. And if you're a hard core hobbyist, this book is a MUST!
   
   ~Sam

1 comments about Guide to Koi (Fishkeeper's Guides).

1. The is not much changes from the old version. If you have the old one not much of a point of having this except for collection purposes.

5 comments about Koi: Living Jewels of the Orient.

1. This is a good reference book for people new to the hobby. I especially like the section on the different varieties of koi.



2. Very informative. The best Koi book we have yet to buy.



3. This book has received such glowing reviews I felt the need to add a sour note. It is full of beautiful pictures and has lots of useful information, but it is not as exhaustive a reference as it would seem from its size. The chapters are divided between four authors, with uneven results. The water quality chapter wastes entire pages on step-by-step instructions on how to use a particular brand of water test (they come with instructions,we don't need this in a book). The filtration chapter is devoted almost exclusively to a particular filtration system that chapter's author designs and sells. On the other hand, most of the other chapters are at least adequate, and the koi varieties section is outstanding, with the clearest delineation of the many koi types I have ever read--anyone can tell a showa from a sanke after looking at the side-by-side comparison. This section alone makes the book worth buying.



4. There are not many Koi books in the market. I think this book is the best I ever read. It is very up todate information (technology) especially pond and filtration system. The pictures and diagrams are beautiful and easy to understand.



5. This beautiful, hard cover book has much to offer any person who is interested in caring for KOI>
   I bought the book as a Christmas gift for my husband's folks...
   They just installed a 16 X 33 foot Koi pond in their back yard.
   They have three little waterfalls the aerate the water, and are in the process of adding appropriate plants.
   They really do not know a thing about KOI.
   But I guess it's a new hobby for them....they're retired and
   perhaps need a new direction in life.
   I hope they read this book before they lose too many of those expensive, shiny fishies!
   I read the book prior to giving it to them, and it details the many names and types of KOI, (which means CARP in Japanese.)
   The book explains how one would proplery build an in-ground Koi pond, and shows many examples of how to go about this.
   It's facinating...did you know that KOI require a high protien diet for their health, and to maintain their beautiful, bright colorings? There is quite a variety of food available to give them.
   There is a ton of useful information in this book about KOI,
   and it makes a very nice gift for the Holidays.
   MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

1 comments about The Interpet Encyclopedia of Freshwater Tropical Aquarium Fishes.

1. 
   An encyclopedia it is not, but it is a good honest little book that will help you through the problems that you may encounter with keeping tropical fish. If you follow the rules in this book you should encounter very few problems, but all fish-keepers have an occasional problem. Whether that be fish that do not get on together, or a case of white spot (a disease that can affect tropical fish, usually if they have a sudden change of water temperature. This disease can easily be cured by the introduction of a `medicine' that can be put into the water and is available from your tropical fish supplier.
   
   Another point is that like humans not all fish get on with one another and this book will help you to ensure that all the inhabitants of your tank get on well together.. The book features over 200 fish popular with tropical fish keepers and although I have not counted them the blurb says that there are 500 colour photographs.
   
   As I said at the beginning, not an encyclopedia but a book that is well written, by people who know what they are talking about, with lots of information for both the beginner and those who have kept fish for some time. There is always that snippet of information that has gone to the back of the mind of even the most competent of tropical fish hobbyists.

3 comments about Aquarium Care of Oscars (Animal Planet Pet Care Library).

1. This book has many quality pictures but the info would only be helpful to a new aquarist interested in owning an oscar or two. I've counted at least two typos as well. This hints at a hasty release of this book possibly to turn a quick profit. There is not much attention payed to diseases and disorders of oscars. So in fewer words.....this book is meh.



2. Fast delivery & like new condition. Definately a thumbs up!



3. Still it is easy to read, and there are some interesting facts. Primarily for beginners, and as such pretty good in my opinion.

No comments about Freshwater Aquariums: Basic Aquariums Setup and Maintenance (Fish Keeping Made Easy).