Bought A Book on Plants

[MuddyWaters]

I've been looking for a good book on aquarium plants. It seems that nobody writes books anymore. What you find on the internet is wildly contradictory- the thing you believe is solid and without debate today is smashed to pieces tomorrow.

I guess I feel if it is written down in a book, maybe it's more reliable? I don't know.... Anyway the book is:

Aquarium Plants by Thomas Horeman and Karel Rataj

I did find one review on it that indicated it is useful. It is pretty big, so I'm guessing it covers a lot of plants.

Anyone read this one or others that they'd recommend?

 

[Archerfish]

I think I used to have a copy of that book. Is it the one that was published sometime in the late 70's or early 80's?
There are many plant books. Look for The Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock. That is a good source. So is Diane Walstad's book The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium.
I should have mentioned that you are correct about all of the garbage on the net. This site is actually quit reliable. I know sounds like a shameful promotion but it is true.
One other thing, sometimes people will find an older book and think it is of no value just because technology has advanced. Case in point, an old book might show a Dynaflo 50 as 'modern filtration' or fluorescent lighting as state of the art and unfortunately, the reader disregards everything else in the book. But in reality, much of the plant specific information is very good. Funny, speaking of modern filtration how I went full circle about 25-years ago and use sponge filters!

 

[MuddyWaters]

This one was published in 1990- not sure when it was actually written- might have just been updated in 1990.

I've seen that Encyclopedia of Aquarium plants. Might get that too-

Yeah, funny how sponge filters are still super-viable- if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[GaryE]

Plants are plants. The availability of species may change, as with fish, but the info is still good. The technology really changes - I can grow plants with LEDs I couldn't with fluorescents. But there were plants that went nuts with old incandescent lights that I couldn't grow with fluorescents.

We have fads, and think they're the newest thing - look at the father fish type tanks having their day again as if someone just figured this out, 40 years after we moved on from it. In 40 years, if we still keep tanks, they'll have another short comeback - another boom and bust. That doesn't change the info on the plants or fish that go into these changing set ups.

When I was writing commercially about fish, I would do regular literature reviews on fish, to see what past writers had said. Rarely, I was tracing misinformation, when I had seen something very different from the standard view was. Most of the time though, I was enjoying a bunch of people from before my time's good observations, and seeing if mine were in the same ballpark. There were great aquarium writers in the past, and I imagine great aquatic plant writers too.

We tend to equate "now" with superior, and that doesn't hold up. It's a flow of learning that continues and will continue. It has to repeat itself a lot.

 

[Fishfunn]

I can grow plants with LEDs I couldn't with fluorescents. But there were plants that went nuts with old incandescent lights that I couldn't grow with fluorescents.

In the past, I could grow plants extremely well using power compact lamps. The LEDs are okay, but my experience with power compacts was phenomenal.

 

[Naughts]

Is the front cover picture of elodea/ anacharis? If so - what possessed them?!
It’s also known as ‘pondweed’ so would be akin to putting a dandelion on the front of a gardening book!