1 comments about The Super Simple Guide to Koi (Super Simple Guide).

1. I love my Koi and need information on
   Koi's so this book was great to have.

4 comments about Aquarium Plants (Mini Encyclopedia Series for Aquarium Hobbyists).

1. I bought this book specifically because it has a guide to diagnose plant problems. The leaves are turning yellow? That means something specific! There are holes in the leaves? That means something else entirely! Well worth the price if you're having problems growing healthy plants or are just starting out in the hobby.



2. this book is more than a paperback of color plant profiles, it touches on all the basics of fresh water chemistry, plant keeping, layout and maintenance, using short paragraphs and nicely illustrated pages. it lost a star for not elaborating more on the wide variety of fish, shrimp and snails that are often used to keep a planted aquarium clean.



3. This book is a great buy for the price. It has the most recent information (2005 edition), is nicely organized and formatted, and the illustrations and descriptors are very good. The sections on individual plants is very helpful with most popular plant types illustrated and described. I especially like the fact that the decriptions, while brief, are very to the point and provide essential information in a clear concise way (plant height, light and other requirements, overall ease of maintenance, growth rate, suggested placement in tank etc). Not as comprehensive in listing species as some other books, but more than enough for most avid aquarists (I have had aquaria and live plants for over 25 years!). If you buy only one book, make it this one!



4. Basically a good book. Pictures are nice and I couldn't find many faults. Book could be more extensive.

5 comments about Loaches: Natural History and Aquarium Care.

1. Information in the book is solid and up to date. Some of the images were not edited correctly (compressed jpgs perhaps) and obviously printed at too low of a resolution, or were from lower megapixel digital cameras, i.e. pixelated. It is a smaller percentage of the images, but is quite noticeable on the larger images, and even on the cover image. Other than that I really like the book, though I considered returning it over the image quality.



2. This is simply the best book on loaches ever. No book on loaches has been written for 20 or 30years (or maybe even more!) and then this absolute gem appears! If you own even one loach, buy this book. The DIY section on how to make a flowing stream tank is priceless, and worth the cost of the book alone. The taxonomy is very up to date and the whole book is very well presented and put together.



3. One of the most enjoyable books on tropical fish I have ever read. I particularly like that it was written by hobbyists/enthusiasts, and includes some terrific tried and true advice on keeping these interesting, fun fish.
   Pictures are very good. Highly recommended.
   I would love to find other similarly conceived books on the hobby.



4. This is a pretty remarkable book in that its authors are a group of loach fans who knew each other from internet websites centered on loaches. Instead of the typically distant, dull text that most tropical fish books have, this book is delightfully colorful and passionate about loaches. Not only that, it is written from the perspective of ardent hobbyists who are enthused about loaches and their care in aquariums, which leads to a lot more useful, practical advice than you generally get.
   
   The downside of such an approach by collaborative amateurs is that you would expect to see comparatively shoddy organization and lousy text quality. Fortunately, however, the project was headed up by some superb professional text editors, and the text is every bit as professional as you could hope for. What's left is the best of both worlds -- a personal, charming, and extremely helpful book about loaches that is entirely professional.
   
   I can only hope that this model of publishing becomes more commonplace, because it produced a jewel here. If you're interested in loaches, this book is a knockout.



5. Very informative book on loaches. Everything you need to know and many different loaches in this book!

5 comments about Setting up a Tropical Aquarium Week by Week.

1. It is a good book but it is strictly for people that have never had a aquarium and are just setting it up or haven't yet.



2. Very complete and detailed. Show a sequence of tasks to build a planted tank, stuff for work, types of plant and fishes.
   
   I liked the part of how to treat wood and substrate.



3. I got this from a local library. Its very good. The author sets up a single tank in the beginning and by the end of the book (week 12) it is fully established. The book is great for people who want to use real plants in their tank.
   
   Theres a big section with various plants arranged into four categories: background plants, midground plants, foreground plants, and floating plants. There are full color pictures on every page. Various species are pictured and described. The fish section is arranged into three groups: first fish, second fish, and third fish. (First fish should be added to the tank first, second fish should be added second, etc.)
   
   The only problem I had with this book is that there is too much emphasis on plants. Personally, I am more interested in animal life and less interested in the plant life. But if you're a beginner and you want to have real plants in your tank then you will love this book. If there was an updated, cheaper, paperback edition, I'd probably buy it.



4. This is a great book with lots of illustrations and information. In setting up a new tank, this author has isolated all the important information a beginner should have and if you follow it, the results are awesome. A must have!



5. This is a nice book for anyone that wants to set up an aquarium properly. Very helpful.

3 comments about Betta: Your Happy Healthy Pet.

1. I disagree with the previous reviews of this book. I bought this book in hopes of grasping a thorough understanding of the betta. This book is for someone who intends on keeping a betta as a pet and nothing else. If you are planning on breeding bettas i strongly recomend looking elsewhere. This book has very general information on breeding, but lacks alot of important information I later found out after attempting to breed bettas by this books advice. This book leaves out a lot of important details which become detrimental to breeding. However, if you don't intend on breeding your bettas then this is a good book.



2. I bought this book at a PetCo that was going out of business, this was after having owned my own fish. I had a Betta before, and had done a lot of research online, so I thought I knew what I was doing. When I started reading this book in the store I realized that this was a lot more complete and thorough than the hundreds of articles I read online. This books gives consistent advice, and covers such a large range of information. The advice Tullock gives is logical and great. I definitely recommend this book for all, especially for such a decent price!



3. We "adopted" our very first Betta fish, Ray, last July. We just love him but weren't sure if we were taking care of him properly. This book was wonderful and so very helpful. It is easy to understand and separated so that your questions can be answered quickly. A must for all parents of Bettas!

3 comments about Discus Health: Selection, Care, Diet, Diseases & Treatments for Discus, Angelfish and Other Cichlids.

1. I purchase this book on the basis of many good reviews I read concerning the detailed information it has on keeping and maintaining healthy Discus. It's lived up to those reviews and I keep it around for good reference material.



2. I have had this book since it was published and it is a complete guide to the health and well being of not only discus but other cichlids as well. If I have ever had a problem, a question or a need...this book has had the answer for me! It is, quite simply, the BEST there is...it is that simple.



3. this is a really great book with many ideas about the ways to treat discus fish and their diseases it is useful n case of any other soft water fish a famous japanese koi hatchery uses it for reference too. it saved many of my fish and saved me alot of money too.A MUST HAVE book it is now out of stock but i got a promise from the publisher to have it republished soon.

5 comments about Dr. Burgess's Mini-Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes.

1. This book is an excellent tool for Specie reference.But iam disapointed with the setup section.This could have been a bit more comprehensive with more quality diagrams and more aquascaping options.



2. The strength of this book is the number of color photographs identifying an amazing number of fishes. The shots are clear and well taken. It is a strong, thick, well illustrated reference book. However, I believe this book is difficult to use for someone who just starts saltwater tank. First, all the fishes are listed in their scientific names (not the names given in the store). Therefore, you first have to look at an index table of "store names" which translates into scientific names, then look into the scientfic names' index table to find the page. It can take lots of time at first. Not very convenient. Second, there is absolutely no text about any fish - only symbols that give you information about food, environment... I guess that's why this work is called the "mini-atlas". The problem of using only symbols is that the information can be subjective and lack context. For example, the book does not recommend any trigger for a novice. If you have only fishes and no corals in the tank, why not? They are the least likely to die and will live long as long as you get other fishes they can get along with. In summary, this is a good reference book but do not expect to find much specific information in it.



3. This is one of my favorite books. It provides information and more importantly photos on nearly 2000 fish. The information gives you the basics about each fish, how big they get, what they eat, are they agressive, etc. But the best aspect is the photos. With over 1900 photos it is the first book I go to when I want to look up a fish. Or when I'm thinking of what to put in that empty tank I'll often browse through this book looking for neat fish.

   This book gives you the most for your money!




4. This is one of my favorite books. It provides information and more importantly photos on nearly 2000 fish. The information gives you the basics about each fish, how big they get, what they eat, are they agressive, etc.

   But the best aspect is the photos. With over 1900 photos it is the first book I go to when I want to look up a fish. Or when I'm thinking of what to put in that empty tank I'll often browse through this book looking for neat fish.

   This book gives you the most for your money!




5. This reference allowed me to find compatible species for my reef tank. Many aquarium stores have staff that aren't as informed as they should be. This reference saved me from a potential disaster in choosing the wrong species of fish.

5 comments about Guppies, Mollies, and Platys (Complete Pet Owner's Manual).

1. This book had lots of good information on live bearers. I think it's an excellent source to start out with. If you are looking for very specific information, this may not be the book for you. I was really looking for some Platy specific requirements that don't necessarily include breeding, and other than a short paragraph, there wasn't hardly any information tuned especially for Platys. That being said, It's a great starting place for breeding live bearers. The pictures of Guppies & Mollies were lovely. The fish illness discriptions were well written. But you should not use this as your sole source of information on these types of fish.



2. This book was helpful, but did not have as much on Mollies as I hoped. It still is packed with lots of good information.



3. This book was helpful for me, as I am learning how to breed and care for mollies, guppies, and platys. It was useful in identifying and treating diseases, perfecting my tank, and recognizing the sexes and different types of live bearing fish. The photos are also spectacular



4. If you are a new fish keeper don't buy this book for the setup tips. If you are looking for a book about live-bearers the sections about specific species are good and can be helpful but the other sections on care and aquarium setup are lacking.
   I would suggest a more comprehensive book that can be used as they advance through the hobby. I've seen several more comprehensive guides to get someone started, and I've found the Aquarium Atlas series by Baensch to be helpful in species selection and even the sections on setup and equipment are good.
   CONCLUSION:
   Buy this book for the info on live bearers, if you want info on other aspects of fishkeeping as well, look elsewhere.



5. I am an amature, first time fish owner and I found this book to have everything I needed to raise healthy happy guppies, mollies and platys. I would highly recommend it. The author explains everything in easy to understand terms. You'll have no trouble raising your fish to be as healthy and happy as mine.

5 comments about Dr. Axelrod's Mini-Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes (Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes).

1. The bulk book is just hundreds of photographs of fish fallowed by basic information about the fish therein. It is organized by fish family as many things are in the aquarium hobby. The book has three Indexes, fish alphabetized by scientific name, fish alphabetized by common name, and an index for the text portion of the book, and I think that is brilliant. The photos are a tiny bit grainy however the photos are taken in such a way that the fish in the picture are very detailed, and you could easily use this book to identify an unknown fish. There is information about many common plants, the book also has short basic sections about health, breeding, maintenance, equipment, the stuff that is in most fish books, etc. My one major complaint is I wish there was more information about each individual fish such as sexual dimorphism, water chemistry, and breeding, also the common names are not with the photos only the scientific names are so they must be cross-referenced in the index. I think many people have given this book a bad review simply because it comes so highly recommended that people expect it to be allot more than it is. its no holy grail of the fish books, far from it, but I think for what it is it does good.



2. Nice big book with lots of nice pictures. My daughter is very interested and pretty knowledgeable of aquarium fish and found this book useful.



3. Definitely a very good reference guide for any freshwater enthusiast. The mini-atlas has every freshwater species beautifully diplayed in color photo. Under each color photo is a group of symbols. These symbols are defined in the book itself. The symbols convey what water conditions are appropriate, size of tank, food, swimming level, breeding type and level of aggression. The mini-atlas also has separate chapters on breeding, fish diseases, aquarium plants and tank set-up.
   
   The only negative point is that each fish is called by its scientific name. If you desire to know the common name (the name used in aquarium shops) you have to go to the back of the book and search an index of scientific names which then refers to the common name. This process is a bit cumbersome.
   
   All in all, this book is a nice addition to one's personal freshwater library. It's very complete and I find myself referring to it often.



4. From the reviews, I expected alot from this book. I know that it is old, but I was really disappointed. The information is not consistent and incomplete. Here are my issues:
   
   (1) All the pictures are grouped (i.e. Ciclids, etc.) together followed by the complete text instead of a picture with text of each kind of fish.
   (2) Everything is ordered by scientific name instead of common name. This makes the book less usefull to those who are new to freshwater fish.
   (3) Compared to other books, the photographs are not that good. In fact, some of them are out of focus.
   (4) The fact guide is totally useless as the information on how to intepret the what the legend means is not clear. For example, you see a temparature guide but not the upper or lower temperature.
   (5) With that many pictures the book, I expected the book to focus on different species but instead there are multiple pictures of the same kinds of certain fish just because they have different color scheme.
   (6) The biggest complaint that I have is that the information is not consistent and some are missing. Some pictures have both scientific and common names while others have just one name. Some have complete information, while others have partial (i.e. tank size, compatibility, etc.) or NO information at all.
   
   If you are buying this book because you just want something to read, go ahead and buy it. However, if you are buying this book because you are new to the freshwater fish keeping and need information about different kinds of fish to choose from...this book is totally useless. Useless, I say because there are more books out there with more complete information. If you look at the index and can't find the names of the fishes that you commonly see in aquarium fish shops, then the book is useless.



5. Need to know if a certain breed of unusual fish is compatible with, say, your angelfish? Dr. Axelrod knows. This atlas is amazing in it's depth for a "mini-atlas," with page after page of freshwater fish. And then he gets into the real meat of fishkeeping after that! Although it can occasionally be difficult to use (the fish are listed by their scientific name in general, not their common name, which can make looking up a certain fish difficult), all in all this is an incredible book, and one every fishkeeper should have on their bookshelf.

No comments about Setting Up Themed Aquariums: Fish and Plants in Harmony.