tenxiong
Fish Fanatic
Dose anyone know any good books about oddball fishes? (with lots of pictures of course)
Quick Question About Books
- Thread starter tenxiong
- Start date
Although it is out of print, the book Jurassic Fishes (a TFH publication) is a well-done volume that discusses keeping a wide variety of 'oddball' fish like bichirs, lungfish, gars, mormyrids, freshwater stingrays, etc. It does have some inaccuracies in identification but overall is an excellent book with exquisite pictures. You can occasionally find it on sites like Amazon.com, eBay, etc. but nowadays it commands premium prices.
The new Encyclopedia of Exotic Tropical Fishes (a TFH publication) is also pretty good and covers a wide variety of the more commonplace aquarium fish plus a good sprinkling of the more unusual.
The Aqualog books that CFC mentions are also very well done but pricey. They are more for identification purposes than for discussion of how to maintain the fish in captivity. Excellent pictures throughout!
-Joe
The new Encyclopedia of Exotic Tropical Fishes (a TFH publication) is also pretty good and covers a wide variety of the more commonplace aquarium fish plus a good sprinkling of the more unusual.
The Aqualog books that CFC mentions are also very well done but pricey. They are more for identification purposes than for discussion of how to maintain the fish in captivity. Excellent pictures throughout!
-Joe
pica_nuttalli
don't be a twit
whats the point in books we have the world wide web now which will give you more info in 5 hrs than all the books on the planet
just find yourself a good site (like this one ) and ask away
yes, but it's not as much fun to curl up with your CPU in front of the fire with a nice cup of hot cocoa!
(what's sad is that i've totally done that before with my puffer Aqualog 
)
I love books, I have many, sadly, most are still in England which pains me sometimes. I know exactly the page of exactly the book I want to look at, but the cost of getting to my parents house means I am stuck with the net!
I've never found a book that didn't have erors in it, but such is the price you pay when a publisher wants it out of the door "next week". The Baensch guides are pretty good, although they are a little thin on details for many species.
I've never found a book that didn't have erors in it, but such is the price you pay when a publisher wants it out of the door "next week". The Baensch guides are pretty good, although they are a little thin on details for many species.
pica_nuttalli
don't be a twit
on a related note, i've been considering buying the FULL set of the Baensch guides. any thoughts on that?
whats the point in books we have the world wide web now which will give you more info in 5 hrs than all the books on the planet
just find yourself a good site (like this one ) and ask away
yes, but it's not as much fun to curl up with your CPU in front of the fire with a nice cup of hot cocoa!
get yourself a laptop with a wireless connection just dont leave it to close to the fire
pica_nuttalli
don't be a twit
never!!! i love my chunky computer; 4 years old and still getting compliments from the comp sci fellows. 
The problem with relying on the internet over books is that there is a lot of information available in books that simply isn't out there on the web. The same holds true for magazines and scientific journals. I have a fairly extensive library at home (over 300 books), about 50 of which are related to fish, aquariums, or aquatic plants. In addition, I have hundreds of articles and papers gleaned from scientific journals that I keep on file. Magazines, of course, are in abundance here....especially Tropical Fish Hobbyist.
I view the internet as merely another information resource to supplement everything else. You can never have too many resources!
-Joe
I view the internet as merely another information resource to supplement everything else. You can never have too many resources!
-Joe
the problem with most book are the sizes they give for some fish are very wrong and most books are badly out of date and writern in the late 70s to early 80s
the internet is better as you get info from people who are keeping the fish you keep and can give you advice try asking a book a ? like can i keep this fish with that fish
if you look at Dr axlrod fish atles most of the adult sizes of fish are wronf and if you stick to the ph and other recomended params to keep fish in you wouldnt be able to mix half the different fish people keep together
the only way to find out that sort of info is to ask other people who have tryed it
the internet is better as you get info from people who are keeping the fish you keep and can give you advice try asking a book a ? like can i keep this fish with that fish
if you look at Dr axlrod fish atles most of the adult sizes of fish are wronf and if you stick to the ph and other recomended params to keep fish in you wouldnt be able to mix half the different fish people keep together
the only way to find out that sort of info is to ask other people who have tryed it
There is a bit of truth in what you say T1KARMANN but I'm afraid to say that the a good amount of the 'facts' that I see out there on various sites suffers from the same inaccuracies as even out-dated books. A whole lot of fish 'experts' on the internet have been keeping fish for a few years and may or may not have valuable information to share. Granted, older books do suffer from some out-dated information and it is common to find that the scientific names they use have been changed. That's why it is important to not rely on a single source for your information.
Too many people that I see posting on internet fish forums are more than happy to give you the benefit of their expertise but I often wonder (after reading what they have to say) how many fish they've killed in the process of finally managing to keep their Neon Tetras with their Rift Lake Cichlids for more than a week and deciding that the Neons actually like hard, alkaline water (or that their Rift Lake Cichlids really do prefer soft, acid water).
-Joe
Too many people that I see posting on internet fish forums are more than happy to give you the benefit of their expertise but I often wonder (after reading what they have to say) how many fish they've killed in the process of finally managing to keep their Neon Tetras with their Rift Lake Cichlids for more than a week and deciding that the Neons actually like hard, alkaline water (or that their Rift Lake Cichlids really do prefer soft, acid water).
-Joe
OP
OP
tenxiong
Fish Fanatic
thanks for the replys everyone, I'd guess I'll look around a bit for more info about fish books.
P.S. The reason why I'd ask for books is because there's something about books that makes it much better than the internet. -Just my opinion anyway.
P.S. The reason why I'd ask for books is because there's something about books that makes it much better than the internet. -Just my opinion anyway.
jkrekord
Fish Addict
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