Good Books for the beginner?

[De Plano]

Hi there!
I was wondering if any of you can suggest any good books about fish keeping. I have read "The Simple Guide To Freshwater Aquariums" by David E. Boruchowitz, and am most of the way through "Aquariums For Dummies" by Marty and Mic Hargrove.

The Simple Guide is good. He extremely, extremely emphasises water changes. He suggests not to mess with chemicals, especially for beginners. He covers the basics pretty well all in all.

Aquariums for Dummies is also good, in fact it might be a better book for a lot of folks. They talk about freshwater, brackish and saltwater, so it is more complete of a book. (like I said I am not all the way through this one)

Both of these books were VERY easy to read, written in a light hearted style.

Are there any other good books out there?

I have two books already that talk about aquarium set up and maintenence now I am interested in good books that talk about each species and their requirements.
(I bought one but it is strictly marine and I need one for freshwater fish)

 

[fish_r_great]

check out
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/shop.cfm?N=2004

 

[De Plano]

Cool, thanks. In favorites now.

 

[Sinuhe]

I like the Baensch Atlases for finding out about fish facts and requirements. I haven't read the aquarium setting up pages of them, so I don't know if those parts are any good. But they have good info on fish and plants. Volume 1 covers the most common species.

 

[De Plano]

Thanks Sinuhe, I will check that out. For the most part I have enough reference for set up I guess, I am more interested in the I.D. and requirements I guess.

 

[guppymonkey]

I think "The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums" by David E. Boruchowitz is one of the best books out there personally. A lot of the books have more fish described but don't talk about cycling at all. If you are looking for a good book on fish I think Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Tropical Fish ( i think thats the title) is a good one. Its got more pictures than any other ones I have seen, but lacks anything else.

 

[De Plano]

I forgot, a buddy of mine has "You and Your Aquarium" by Dick Mills .

It seems like a great book. I need to borrow it again to compare it to the others but it is more of a reference book then a sit down and read cover to cover. (This is going on memory, usually I am looking at it while drinking to so keep that in mind for this review ) It covers some of the species, but it is probably 2/3 about aquariums and set up.

I also bought a great book for more experienced fish heads (aquarists for the tecnically inclined). It talks about setting up tanks for various environments. It covers South East Asian rivers and Brackish, African Lake cichlids and African river cichlids, and a lot more. It is a great book to sit there and dream about having enough tanks to set up one for each system. Tells you what substrate, decorations, plants, and native species to each region. Great coffe table book for the fish head. It is older and a little dated in the way it looks, but hey at least you can get it used and save some money. Oh, and the name of this one is "The Complete Aquarium" by Peter Scott.

Guppymonkey, I have Dr. Burgess's Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes. It seems like a good one, has a lot of pictures and lists some of their requirements. But I need one for freshwater so I shall check that out. I would preffer one that actually talked a bit about each fish, but the pictures are VERY important too.
I do think that "The Simple Guide...." is a great book. It keeps to freshwater, which is what most beginners should stick with, and it emphasises cycling and cleaning. A good book, but if your only going to buy one book to use for years and multiple setups (marine and brackish in addition to freshwater) the "Aquariums for Dummies" is better. The problem is is covers so much that it does not emphasise water changes and cycling as much as I think it should. If people do that it will prevent diseases taking over tanks in addition to just being better for the sick fish.
I have to make a call dialup but I shall add links so people can read reviews in a few minutes.

 

[De Plano]

The Complete Aquarium (not a beginner book)


You & Qour Aquarium (Good general reference, good for beginner)


Aquariums For Dummies (Good book for beginners and reference, covers FW, BW, and Marine)

The Simple Guide To Freshwater Aquariums (Great book for beginner, easy to read, and certanly emphasis some good points)

Baensch Fish Atlas (damn, yet another book for my "to buy"list, looks great for reference)

Anyway I hope somebody gets a little help from this. If anyone has more questions about any of theses books let me know I will be glad to answer. If anyone has some more good books I am obviously a book junky, so let me know

 

[noop]

"complete idiot's guide to setting up a freshwater aquarium" got excellent reviews on amazon - i'm waiting for it to come in to my local bookshop

 

[Alien_spawn]

Book I use is called the Ulitimate Encyclopedia of Aquarium Fish & Fish care by Mary Bailey and Gina Sandford ISBN 0-7548-0154-3

 

[De Plano]

Originally posted by Where The River Goes
""Manual of Fish Health" is a good book on fish health covering a wide range of topics about fish health"

Hope you do not mind, I figured it would be good to add it to this thread.

 

[Where the river goes]

Originally posted by Where The River Goes
""Manual of Fish Health" is a good book on fish health covering a wide range of topics about fish health"

Hope you do not mind, I figured it would be good to add it to this thread.

don't mind at all