1 comments about Freshwater Aquariums (Aquamaster).

1. Though it doesn't cover some aspects in depth, it covers things overlooked by other books. Interesting descriptions and good recomendations: aquarium themes regarding fish and their natural enviroment, aquarium plants characteristics and needs (highly recommended to prevent algae when you place an aquarium near a window), notes on fish "hardness" and temper. Plenty of full color pictures all over the book. It worth the price. I also recommend Community Fish from the same author as a companion reading.

5 comments about The Discus: An Owner's Guide toa Happy Healthy Fish (Happy Healthy Pet).

1. This book is a complete waste of money. I'd give it a negative number of stars if I could. What's so bad about it then? It is simply a beginners guide to aquarium keeping (and not a very good one at that) with a few mentions of discus thrown in to make it sound as if it is a discus book.

   The photographs are OK as far as photography goes, but most of the fish pictured are poor specimens including the malformed discus pictured on the cover. Many of the photos are re-used in different parts of the book, occasionally in reverse as if there was an attempt to disguise the fact that the pictures were being re-used. The captions have nothing to do with the photos. There is a picture of a fish with holes in it's head and another of a fish with early stages of fin rot, but neither of these pictures are used in the section on diseases and the captions do not point out these defects. There is no identification of the strains being pictured and virtually no photos of wild specimens to help in identifying the 2 species and 5 subspecies that are briefly described in the text.

   There is a section on the history of the discus, but important names such as Jack Wattley, Carrol Friswold, and Gene Wolfsheimer are conspicuous by their absence.

   A lot of the information is redundant and contradictory. For example on page 39 we find "One way to estimate which size heater your aquarium will need is to allow 5 watts per gallon. For example, a 55-gallon aquarium would need a heater that is at least 275 watts". Meanwhile, on page 54 we read "A heater should supply 2 watts per gallon. So, a 55-gallon aquarium would need at least a 110-watt heater". Now which do think the authors would have you use? Of course they also don't mention that nobody actually manufactures heaters of those wattages (they can readily be found in 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200, 250 and 300 watts).

   On the whole, this is one of those books that seems to regurgitate a bunch of stuff that has become "standard knowledge" in the aquarium hobby, without really knowing why these things have become so (or the science behind it). On page 80 in a side box on bare tank set-ups, we are admonished that these are "less cozy for your fish", whatever that is supposed to mean. I doubt that "coziness" is anything we can measure or the fish can give us feedback on in the same way that they behave if their water is too warm.

   On page 47 there is an extremely poor and misleading diagram of the nitrogen cyle. It implies that the major source of ammonia in the aquarium is the fungal and bacterial decomposition of fish "wastes" (feces?). The major source of ammonia is: it is directly exhaled into the water from fishes gills. There is also no mention of the relationship of pH to ammonia ionization, which is critical to be aware of in the low pH of a discus tank, particularly with regards to water changes and the usually accompanying rise in pH.

   There are a lot of other points I could raise, but time constraints prevent me. In summary, this book is a complete waste of money. Just about any book would be better, but if price is a concern the T. Giovanetti book is far better in this price range. I haven't seen M. Sweeney's discus book, but I have seen other things she has written and although I don't really care for her, even her book has got to be better than this one. Even better, spend a little extra and get something by B. Degen, J. Wattley, or J. Quarles. With the price of discus being what it is, if you can afford to keep them, you can afford one of the better books.




2. I saw this book when i went to the internet to do research on some information about keeping discus.At that time i was planning to own one but have no experience with discus and know very little about tropical fish which i thought only need air supply to survive.Many people on the net said this book was good and is very useful when it comes to problems with the discus so i went to buy it.I learnt many new things about it like heaters,different filtrations,UV lights,tank water like pH,ammonia,hardness and nitrites and nitrates.It was really useful even in the diseases section where they tell us how to deal with sickness of the fish.But overall it was really not that good as it did not go into detail about chillers and heaters and also some websites it listed at the back of the book have already closed.
   These are some bad points so i only gave 3 stars but it is really worth buying for a beginner.



3. This book is, as it implies for the beginning discus keeper. I will go as far as to say that this book isn't only for beginning discus keepers, but for stark new aquarium keepers of any fish. There are only a few chapters that are related directly to discus fish, and of these most of the information is VERY general insomuch that it only relates to GENERAL fishkeeping. If you are NEW to the hobby I would recommend this book, but if you are experianced at all find another, more in depth study of the discus:)



4. This is a great book if you know next to nothing about discus. It gives you all the specs you may need to know to keep healthy beautiful discus and even the basics on breeding with some nice pictures. It also repeats alot of information for reference purposes. However, if you need a detailed discription of the care of discus you will be diapointed with this one. I recomend you purchase it with another more detailed book that may overlook the more simple aspects of discus care.



5. I bought this book thinking I will get more knowledge about Discus keeping .But after going through the book I changed my opinion and think buying this book was absolute waste of money and time. Information given in the book is too general for any aquarium fish and not for Discus fish in particular. Not worth spending you precious money and time.

1 comments about Aqualog: All Goldfish and Varieties.

1. All of the Aqualog books are excellent value, although they are not particularly cheap. They are full to the brim with first class colour photographs and to reproduce these in a book is an expensive process. Whether they are about many of the different beautiful fishes now coming into the aquarist trade or in this case specifically the coldwater species Goldfish which are among the most beautiful coldwater fishes. They are first class for identifying that fish that you have had for some time, but have not been able to put a name to.
   
   This is a really beautiful book with some stunning photographs and for anyone interested in Goldfish in particular and fish-keeping in general it is a book to be treasured.

2 comments about Aquarium Atlas (Vol 3).

1. This is book three of a three volume set. It covers the more "exotic" fish available in the pet stores. Vol 1 is the more common aquarium fish, Vol 2 is rarer fish (cichlids and brackish). Each book is well written and concise. This book covers tank setup, fish, plants, and more.

   Unlike other photo guides, this one includes a more complete info section for each fish. Not just the pictoral symbols that some other books have.

   Each fish has a large and colorful picture, although the quality is some times lacking. The layout is easy to follow and the information is generally excellent.

   I wouldn't make this your first book to purchase but it is definetely one to add to your library.




2. The best series ever continues the same way. Lots of new species and good pictures of all of them.

No comments about Garden Pondlopeadia: A Complete Guide to Garden Ponds.

1 comments about Freshwater Aquarium Fish: A Color Guide.

1. This book, though not the best I've seen, is moderately helpful and informative. It has information on a great number of fish. In addition to that, for each fish, it shows a multitude of information and facts for taking care of the specified fish. It shows how much lighting it needs, how easy it is to breed them, relationship with other fish, difficulty of keeping, size, food, tank size, temperaure and a lot more. The only thing I don't like about this book is the excessive number of graphical symbols, and not enough written comments. Other than that, this book is a good book for a beginner as well as for an expert.

5 comments about A Fishkeeper's Guide to Aquarium Plants: A Superbly Illustrated Guide to Growing Healthy Aquarium Plants, Featuring over 60 Species.

1. This is a great book for beginners and experienced hobbyists alike. Nice photos, good explanations,descriptions, and care instructions for common and uncommon plants you might encounter. A very handy reference that you will certainly get much use out of.



2. The comments from others hold true but I would like to add one more thing and that is that the book is very small. Although very informative and with good photography (it shows you what plants look like brought up under poor light conditions) I will not reference it often due to its size. The print is tiny and hard to read and the photographs would have been splendid in a larger book. For the budget minded, this book is really worth it.



3. It is a very good book for beginners and a handy reference manual. When I read some reviews, I thought that the photos were microscopic, but they aren't. Very useful, includes 4 types of biotopes for aquascaping.



4. I purchased this book because of the other reviews. I have not been disappointed. Even though I just started reading it last night, I can already recommend it. It's not overly technical, but technical enough to answer all my questions (and I love technical info). For me it offers exactly the right mix of useful info, presented in a concise manner, and is enjoyable to read. After only 20 pages, I really feel like I understand plants better and know the inportant factors/variables under my control to help them grow better! Very useful, and inexpensive!



5. This book is good as a basic reference. It has pictures of most of the popular aquarium plants and a basic how to guide for planted tanks. Definitely good for anyone just starting out or wanting pictures of basic aquarium plants. The care guide in this book is slightly vague on the water parameters/light preferences/nutrient needs for some of the plants.

1 comments about The Complete Aquarium: An Encyclopedia of Tropical Freshwater Fish.

1. This book was published in the 80s, then re-published in the 95. Most of the information is kind of old. It does not have pictures for most of the fish listed.
   
   Another thing I don't like is the lack of common names for the fish. It is one thing to have the proper name, it is another that a big portion of them missing common names. I would say about 60% of the fish listed don't have common names.
   
   I would not spend more than $10 for the book, considering what you get out of it.

No comments about Peces Disco / Discus... as a Hobby: Cuidados, Crianza, Variedades / Everything You Need to Know to Get Started (Salvemos La Naturaleza / Save Our Planet).

1 comments about South American Cichlids II (AQUALOG-Reference Books).

1. All of the Aqualog books are excellent value, although they are not particularly cheap. They are full to the brim with first class colour photographs and to reproduce these in a book is an expensive process. Whether they are about many of the different beautiful fishes now coming into the aquarist trade or in this case specifically the Cichlid species of fishes many of which are among the most beautiful fishes. They are first class for identifying that fish that you have had for some time, but have not been able to put a name to.
   
   This is a really beautiful book with some stunning photographs and for anyone interested in Cichlids in particular and fish-keeping in general it is a book to be treasured.