Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums August 17, 2008
This book was very easy to read and use. The index was consise and contained the major headings needed.
 I threw it out. August 3, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book does have some basic information--but that information is dangerously incomplete.
The thing I disliked the most about it was that the author makes a great effort--over and over--to stress that the reader is a mere beginner and knows nothing compared to experts like himself. His condescending tone is both insulting and annoying.
That wouldn't be so bad, if he then went on to educate us (the purpose, I foolishly assumed, for which this book was written). No such luck. In almost every section, we're told that we should leave the complex stuff to the experts. Case in point: He tells us the signs and symptoms of disease--but then refuses to tell us how to treat them. Instead, you're lectured that if you follow instructions you won't have any of those problems to begin with and that treating diseases is for experts. Uh...yeah. So, something does go wrong and one of your fish is being eaten alive by some parasite or fungus, you're supposed to just let it die rather than try to treat it. And then, I guess you're supposed to dump the entire tank and start over from scratch--though, of course, the book doesn't tell you how to rid an old tank and its contents of such nasties.
And, where some sections lack important information, others are pedantic, so full of minute detail that makes this book inclusion in a series of books called "Simple Guides" laughable. It felt to me that the author simply likes to demonstrate his vast knowledge to what he hopes will be a suitably awed and humbled audience.
I usually give away books I no longer want, but not this one. I've thrown three books in the trash my entire life. This was one of them.
Not structured enough January 28, 2008
This book could be a good tool if it was organized a little bit. I found it difficult to locate the information I was looking for from the index. If you have the time to read it as you would a novel, you might find useful information. If, like me, you need a guide to setting up a fresh-water aquarium and some info on fish and plants, it is a little too scattered in various sections that didn't make much sense to me...
My favorite fish care book December 31, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is an outstanding and easy to read resource for anyone who is interested in setting up an aquarium. I read it cover to cover. I often refer to it as "my fish Bible"! I have lent this book to friends who were troubleshooting common aquarium problems, and they too have found it to be extremely useful.
The goal of the book is to give you a wealth of information BEFORE you buy your tank and your fish. It will help you to not make common mistakes. However, this book is a great resource or "refresher course" for those already interested and involved in the fishkeeping hobby.
This book is an overview on the main setup of a freshwater tank. While it does go into individual species a bit, you may want to get more specific and specialized books about the species you are interested in. The parts about individual species are not very in-depth.
Overall -- this is a fantastic resource, and your fish will thank you for getting this book!
Good luck, and happy fishkeeping!
Very good beginners book October 25, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased this a couple years ago after having been out of the Aquarium hobby for several years and then deciding to get back in again. I found it to be very informative, building on what I learned 20-30 years ago and outlining many considerations that, today, are common knowledge in the hobby, but was unkown by the average aquarist of the 70s & 80s.
Very good book to read before you add fish to your new aquarium!
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