5 comments about Success with Cichlids from Lake Malawi & Tanganyika.

1. I felt as though I was reading an info mercial. While it is nice to have info on product availability it was more than I wanted to sort through. I also found it not well organized. Cichlid identification for the purpose of appropriate care and breeding is daunting enough without adding more confusion.



2. More time is spent on discussing basic aquarium set-up and care, than on Malawi Cichlids. Must have had commercial sponsers, they are mentioned throughout. Other than a beginner at cichlids, nothing much new to be learned. Scientific names are outdated, but in the fast changing world of Malawi Cichlids that's not surprising. Better be up on your metric system, there's not an inch, foot, yard, pound or gallon in the book!



3. Despite all the other bad reviews I think this is a great book to dive into African Cichlids. I have owned an aquarium maintenance service for years and have had only one african cichild tank. I bought a bunch of them and threw them all in a 55 gallon tank. It looked great until the fish grew up. After a year or so I only had a couple fish left, most killed by a large pseudotrophus sp. This book explained why and I was finally able to understand these fish. The book goes into species compatibility and their social behavior and explains why you mix certain species, male/female ratios, numbers of each species required, size of tank and how to keep aggressive ones. I feel the topic is so vast with over 1500 species that no one book can cover everything. I'm finding the most difficult part of African Cichlids is the scientific names - some are very difficult to say much less knowing which ones you can house together! If you have had aquariums in the past and know nothing about African Cichlids I would recommend this as your first book! It really informs the reader of the broad overview of what you are getting into and the problems associated with it. It leaves you informed and, if interested, wanting to buy another book or two, specifically one with photos of all the species like Pablo Tepoot's "Pictoral Guide".



4. I just want to leave a notation for all who get this book. BE CAREFUL OPENING PAGES! The photos on each page are actually on photographic paper! This makes each photo excellent in detail and color, but this book needs to have pages turned with the care of a photo album, and not the casual nature of a book.



5. This book has some good photos and provides a light overview for people that are new to the hobby. However, if you are new to aquariums you should not try to care for these fish. For anyone experienced this book doesn't provide much useful information. I was trying to get information on breeding African Cichlids and this book provided no useful information that subject.

4 comments about Discus: A Reference Book.

1. This is one of many books written on Discus by Bernd Degen, an very experienced discus breeder. The book is particularly suitable for the beginning Discus keeper and has excellent topics about discus care and selection. There is an rather good introduction to breeding too, showinh thechniques in detail. It is not an very detailed book, I think most Discus experts will miss more detailed information on breeding and on selection, specially about the wild types. But in general it is a good introduction to the novice in the Discus world.



2. It is clear that the author has a serious love for Discus. Very easy reading, lots of great information. His excitement is felt in his writing.



3. Great book if you want a book to cover everything about Discus from A to Z



4. I have bought this book thinking to include discus in community tank - so what I needed was a general guide to choosing and buying discus, a book to help me decide whether my community tank is any good for this not easy fish, what I got instead is a book concentrated TOTALLY on BREEDING - if you need beginner info on breeding discus the book might help even though it's too general to be of real help. If you are just considering keeping discus this book won't help - there is not any practical detail info on how to choose and keep these fish. And also there are plenty of pictures in the book but not enough used to illustrate the text. I wish I'd have chosen different book!

5 comments about Pocketprofessional Guide to Cichlids (Pocketprofessional).

1. I like the book but honestly it should be more on common names and not the latin ones. I guess its mean those whostudy NOT buy cichlids.



2. I have many other books on cichlids published by tfh and I discovered that this book contained many pictures reproduced from earlier and old tfh publications. I was hoping to see some pretty interesting new pictures and information.
   
   The information on individual fishes are rather basic stuff, most of it I was able to obtain from other literatures. I really do not think much effort was taken to produce this book. Being a diehard cichlidophile, this book merely adds up to my large collection of cichlid books.



3. This is a great book for people who are starting out and also for those of you that already know about these amazing fish. I learned so much that I decided to buy 6 fish--so far all is great.
   
   I would say this book is very useful!



4. Hooray for the book NOT having common names! What I commonly call an "X", someone two states over may call a "G". As with plants, etc. common names only muddy the information. It is not difficult to learn the correct name for a given fish! If I mail-order or otherwise buy a fish I need to be sure it is what I want.



5. I bought this book to help me in setting up a cichlid tank (primarily to select the fish). The book has lots of good information, however the single major drawback is it has almost no common names. The common names that it does have are not indexed and indeed the book is not setup to use common names to locate an article. If you are a taxonomist or scientist no common names are fine, but the average, casual fish keeper could really benefit from the common names being included.In my years of keeping tropical freshwater fish (20), I have encountered fish keepers who pride themselves on being able to rattle off the scientific names of their fish, thats great and all, but I don't find the names as pleasant nor as useful in everyday conversation.

2 comments about The Cichlid: An Owner'S Guide to a Happy Healthy Fish (Happy Healthy Pet).

1. easy to read, excellent introduction to these type of fish, covers the basics of cichild keeping, excellent photographs, touches all aspects of being a cichlid aquarist.....the downside is that each section is very brief, if you desire a more in depth discussion on certain topics you will need to find another book to go along with this one, the other downside is that explanation of different kinds of cichlids is very general and brief...overall, a good beginner book, but much to general for the experiences aquarist



2. the book does a fairly complete job of describing the chemistry of fish tanks (pH, DH or hardness, etc.).
   
   It does an OK job describing the various fish. There is a chapter on Dwarfs, African, and American Ciclids. There are a few pictures. It was an annoyance that she described one particular cichlid as being one of the most beautiful, but didn't include a picture of that one.
   
   Some of the descriptions were more complete than others. Some just had a few sentences. This is a cichlid. It likes this water. It is aggressive during mating. Some had a page long description.
   
   There is a fairly complete chapter on cichlid behavior and the various reasons for aggression. That was a very interesting section.
   
   It's an OK book. I'd give about 3 stars. I would call it a beginner book, except there are several important things missing (like cycling and acclimation). It's not an expert book either because of the general knowledge and the lack of significant species details.

4 comments about The Ocean At Home: An Illustrated History of the Aquarium.

1. The Ocean at Home is a wonderful book that outlines the early history of the private and public aquariums. When I entered this hobby back in the mid 90's I had no idea that the origin of the aquarium had such a full history. The history of our hobby is one subject that seems to get overlooked in many of our aquatic publications to date. This book walks the reader thru the progression from keeping plants and snails in small jars to the appearance of the first public aquariums. In reading this book you become familiar with the 150+ years of development and discovery for the modern aquarium.
   
   There are so many illustrations in the book nearly every page has at least one illustration on it helping depict the aquarium or equipment of the given era. With the aid of the illustrations the reader has to wonder what aquariums 100 or even 150 years ago would have looked like. How where they heated? How was the water filtered? What a wondrous site it must have been to the children and adults of the 19th century to be able to observe the creatures from the deep as the book describes.
   
   I highly recommend this book to any aquarist that wishes to discover more about the origins of the modern aquarium as well as some of the early challenges that 19th century aquarists faced.



2. Excellent historial review of the origins of aquariums, public and private.



3. ...but not real good either. Definitely not worth the full price. Short, light on details, and definitely euro-centric. It's not a bad little read, but don't expect a deep examination of aquarium history. Also, the physical construction of the book is curious...it's tall, thin and tightly bound, making it difficult to hold comfortably. The print isn't the darkest or the most legible, and most of the illustrations (which are the best part of the book) are small, although clearly reproduced. This would have made a perfect library book.



4. The origin of the aquarium, what a topic! This informative, entertaining and sometimes poetic text tells the whole story and is a joy to read. How it was invented in England and how the idea traveled to Germany and to the United States. By the way, a handsome book in unusual size, profusely illustrated. Where the hell did the author find all these cute illustrations of aquariums and stuff related to it?

4 comments about The Everything Tropical Fish Book.

1. This book was well organized and provided lots of information on the Goldfish, Koi, freshwater and saltwater aquariums.

   This is a good book for beginners and experts alike. I have read it cover to cover and will refer back to if often as I become more interested in my new hobby.

   A bit lite on acutal fish information, but an excellent source on all basic information about setting up different types of aquariums




2. Many books on this topic are as confusing as the vast range of fish supplies in the pet stores. As a first-time betta owner, I thought my fish was just aging till a slightly more knowledgeable friend told me that "gray" means "illness," and not "old age." The chapter on fish health was very helpful and now it looks like we may get the full life-span out of him. Information in this excellent book is easy to find, well-organized, straightforward, and is just enough to bring you to a level of competency without information-overload. If you're just starting out with an aquarium or trying to decide if you want one, this book is all you need! Save the more intensive books for when you're sure this is a hobby you really want to invest in for the long term.



3. I picked this book up when I was serious into Chiclids. It's a typical "dummies" book format with a lot of information crammed into one book. I recommend it if you are first looking to get started in aquariums.



4. Mom drops son off at 6:00pm for a long weekend with a leaking bag of live tropical fish. I have a dog, but he knows where I keep his food and brings me the bowl when it is empty. I wasn't sure these fish would be as resourceful as the dog. However, I shared my son's excitement and reminded him to thank his mom as he kissed her good-bye. I saw from the smirk in her little smile, she thought she handed me a pack of trouble. Actually it worked out well. My boy and I took his fish to the pet store and the clerk helped us pick out an aquarium and the supplies we would need. The store was closing and she offered to help us set things up. Jennifer followed us home and we were in business in about an hour. We went out for pizza and ended the evening at 10:00pm. My son calls almost every day to check on his fish and Jennifer calls about twice a week. Jennifer and The Everything Tropical Fish Book, have made caring and sharing our tropical fish a wonderful experience for my son and I. I highly recommend this book. Thanks Mom.

No comments about Aquarium Care of Goldfish (Animal Planet Pet Care Library).

2 comments about Aquarium Care of Livebearers (Animal Planet Pet Care Library).

1. Thank you for your interest in my new book. As I do not gain financially from its sales, my description here is to simply let you know more about this work of which I am quite pleased (for the most part).
   
   "Aquarium Care of Livebearers" is unique in several respects compared to other books on the subject (in and out of print). The information presented is fresh (experience or research), and not simply a re-hash of other books or secondary sources. This was very important to me as I wrote the book, as it is for my Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine column. The fish section, while not an atlas, gives a nice smattering of species across the 4 families, with updated husbandry information based on my own and others experiences in recent years (something long overdue, IMO). The sections on diet, equipment, breeding, and healthcare are geared specifically towards livebeaering fish, and with new tips and techniques vs the standard "boiler plate".
   
   While the Animal Planet imprint is written for the entire family to enjoy (there are boxed sections of info for young hobbyists in your home), the advanced or serious hobbyist will also find the book helpful - including non-livebearians. For example, we have included sections on building fishrooms, species maintenance, colony tanks, show standards and judging, vegetative filtration, evolution, and outdoor fish tubbing. There is also an entire chapter on the organized hobby, which I think is a first.
   
   "Aquarium Care of Livebearers" is very much an evangelical read that I hope shares my enthusiasm for this fascinating group of fishes. It is also the first general livebearer book written by a North American livebearer hobbyist, which I think will provide a fresh perspective.
   
   Thank you and enjoy,
   
   TDC



2. Most of the information on livebearing tropical fish is old and dated, and very little covers information on either goodeids (a group of livebearers from Cnetral Mexico) or some of the more exotic species. And many of the books are written by Europeans from a European perspective. I'm happy to say that this book solves these problems! There is anformation on the more exotic species of livebearing fish, but there is also information on care written from an American perspective discussing equipment currently available in American retail stores. Ted also includes contacts of various livebearer groups.
   But don't get the idea that this book is only for advanced hobbyists. There is a lot of basic information on aquarium care that applies to the succesful keeping of all tropical fish. This information is useful and understandable to almost all levels of hobbyists. And it is profusely illustrated with excellent photos which are unique to this book.
   Thanx, Ted!!!!

5 comments about Handbook of Fish Diseases.

1. I currently have six Betta Splendens Siamese fighting fish.
   Sadly, I've had two fish die last year and wanted as much
   help as possible to deal with health issues. This book helps
   with the often difficult diagnosis of illness. Without an
   accurate diagnosis it's hard to choose a medication and/or
   other treatment. I found the section on using a microscope
   and slides very intriguing, even if it is a bit advanced
   for most fish hobbyists.



2. I have been looking for a book like this one for a long time. Many books
   that I have seen previously were long on words, but short on actual photos
   of fish diseases. This is considered to be a classic book on aquarium fish diseases by many people who need to identify parasites through the microscope. I was able to save many of my fish in my pond by the use of
   this book, and the proper medications. Plenty of flow-charts and color photos to help step you through the process of disease identification.



3. While this book was very detailed in the descriptions of the diseases, most of the diagnoses seemed to depend on autopsy of the victim after death. It also seemed that a microscope would be required to get full use from the book. I am not sorry that I bought the book, but I would not recommend it to most people looking for a reference on curing sick tropical fish.



4. I am very happy with this book, it helped me with a few things I was a little shaky on. It's well worth the money for adding to your library if you enjoy caring for your fish.



5. Handbook of Fish Diseases is a wonderfully prepared book. The pages are printed on high quality glossy paper showing spectacularly detailed photos and microscope images. The first 50 pages contain a detailed flow chart to facilitate diagnosing of illnesses, as well as treatment(s) available. The author cites multiple treatments when available, as well as advises which one will be best suited to your application. For example, the author will state treatment A is most effective, but risky for plants/certain kinds of specified fish, etc.; treatment B is safer for these situations, and so on and so forth. I personally love the fact that I have choices in treatments and methods, which the author clearly explains in detail.
   After the flow charts, the author goes into a chapter on fish anatomy, primarily from the view of an autopsy. This section boasts fantastic photos and illustrations that will take the novice right up to the intermediate level almost immediately. If you are one that seeks knowledge and understanding of fish diseases, the author provides information that will bring you to the expert level in short order.
   The author next introduces separate chapters on Viral and Bacterial Diseases, Fungal and Algal Diseases, Pathogenic Protozoa, Worm Diseases, Arthropods, and Diseases Not Caused by Specific Pathogenic Organisms. Don't worry if you have no clue as to what those mean, the author quickly brings you to a complete understanding of those things.
   The chapter on Treatment of Diseased Fish gives an in depth explanation of the different treatment methods available, as well as detailed instructions for mixing of treatment medications and chemicals. Each method is given an alphanumeric code by the author. These codes are referenced throughout the text, allowing the author to include tons of detailed information, without repetitive inclusions. Very efficient indeed!
   The author includes a chapter on Microscopy in the Diagnosis of Fish Diseases. The first line of this chapter reads "The most important tool for diagnosing fish diseases is the microscope." The author goes into microscope selection information, magnifications, etc. If you're new to microscopes, this chapter will quickly make you feel comfortable. This chapter alone is worth buying the book. No where else have I found such a complete guide to using a microscope for aquarists. You will love learning how to prepare slides, collect specimins from your fish, stain, make permanent slides, using measurment, and making custom easy to make components that you can use with your microscope that will increase it's capabilities. The author has detailed lists of items that will help you, such as petri dishes, forceps, etc. The author lists chemicals and the quantities needed to perform slide preparation and to preserve specimins. The author discusses camera attachments to microscopes, what information should be included on your permanent slides, and descriptions of film types to guide you along your learning path.
   The last chapter is entitled Pharmacopoeia, and includes names of chemicals and treatment medications, their many synonyms, how they are used, chemical compositions, sources to purchase, and so much more. If the microscopy section wasn't enough to purchase this book, this section contains a alphabetical listing with descriptions that should be enough to purchase this book.
   The Handbook of Fish Diseases is one of the most asthetically pleasing, as well as most informative books on this topic I have encountered to date. When asked to recommend good reference material on this topic, I recommend this book. Not only will this book help you with any problems that you are aware of concerning the health of your fish, this book will show you how to look for things your fish could possibly be infected with. Certainly you will find some surprises that you didn't even know were problematic! No more will you be plaqued with 'why did my fish die' or 'why is this treatment not working?'. This book will show you how to use a microscope to find it!

4 comments about McClane's Field Guide to Saltwater Fishes of North America.

1. McClane's saltwater fish identification guide is a must for every angler -- sunburned beginner or salty old pro -- who casts a line into our bays and oceans. The most outstanding among this guide's many strengths are its clear, concise writing in the description of each fish, and the strikingly life-like, full-color artistic renditions of most of the fish. The fish are organized by family; so where there are related species on the Atlantic and Pacific sides (e.g., among sea bass), the book does jump somewhat to and fro. However, with its thorough index and vivid illustrations, any saltwater angler should be able to locate that "mystery fish" in McClane's within less than a minute. This book accompanied me on every fishing trip in my years of angling in South Florida and the Keys; and many an unknown fish was revealed through McClane's pages. With this book, the difference between sheepshead and spadefish (for example) is obvious -- in feeding habits, location, water preferences and any characteristic of appearance. Whether you catch a Spanish mackeral, ladyfish, jack crevalle or even the ugly (but tasty!) guitarfish, McClanes can teach you all the important information about it, quickly. It's the perfect size for the tacklebox; but be sure to put it in a freezer bag to keep it dry.



2. This book is very useful in every facet of salt water fishing, from fish physiology and habits to tackle selection. A must for every salt water fisherman.
   
   This book is equally as good as "McClane's Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of North America."



3. This book has been a constant companion on nearly all of my fishing trips, regardless of location. I am currently on my second copy- the first was worn out from repeated use ! When a question arises about habitat,water preference, etc., we whip out the ole' McClanes to settle the argument.The pictures offer a true rendition of the fish which aides in rapid identification.The descriptions give vital information, while remaining brief enough to allow the book to function as a true "field" guide.I highly recommend this book to any angler or saltwater fish enthusiasts in need of a pocket guide.



4. This is a pretty good field guide. There is a lot of information on alot of species. I wish there were pictures of every species, but in many cases the descriptions are good enough.
   
   I would recommend this book as a companion to "A Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes : North America (Peterson Field Guides)"