Rating: 
Summary: Fun to read, good for beginners.
Review: I bought this book as a freshwater aquarist returning to the hobby after a 12-year hiatus. For beginners, it's a great book - the writing is funny, the information is useful, and it covers a good range of topics. Topics include: step-by-step instructions for setting up an aquarium, basic fish anatomy, water chemistry information, information on the nitrogen cycle (i.e., how a tank's ecosystem gets started), and a basic description of most fish diseases & parasites, along with frequently-used cures. It also includes a list of fish that *aren't* for beginners, which is helpful, as many stores that stock fish don't have knowledgeable staff on-hand when you go to buy your fish. The writing also makes light of some of the more frustrating problems aquarists encounter (i.e., fish jumping out of the tank, etc.), which is bound to make any beginner feel less incompetent when these things almost inevitably happen.As with most Dummies books, you will need to add other books to your library, but this is a good one to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Fun to read, good for beginners.
Review: I bought this book as a freshwater aquarist returning to the hobby after a 12-year hiatus. For beginners, it's a great book - the writing is funny, the information is useful, and it covers a good range of topics. Topics include: step-by-step instructions for setting up an aquarium, basic fish anatomy, water chemistry information, information on the nitrogen cycle (i.e., how a tank's ecosystem gets started), and a basic description of most fish diseases & parasites, along with frequently-used cures. It also includes a list of fish that *aren't* for beginners, which is helpful, as many stores that stock fish don't have knowledgeable staff on-hand when you go to buy your fish. The writing also makes light of some of the more frustrating problems aquarists encounter (i.e., fish jumping out of the tank, etc.), which is bound to make any beginner feel less incompetent when these things almost inevitably happen. As with most Dummies books, you will need to add other books to your library, but this is a good one to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Good For Beginners.
Review: I bought this book expecting a little bit more. As I read through it I found out I knew (from experience) most of what is being talked about.
This is an easy to read, and enjoyable book. It doesn't offer too much technical information or lingo.
The section on the fish themselves is pretty thin.
Begginers should also pay attention to the section on fish to avoid. Who knew a 10" Octopus could fit through a less than 1" hole?
Rating: 
Summary: Very incomplete
Review: I have a B.S. in marine science, and I decided I wanted to bring my work home with me. Someone bought me this book and I read through most of the sections. I was very disappointed. The author doesn't discuss cleaning of the tank in any detail, such as how often you need to clean the gravel, plants and other decorations; they also missed out on describing common problems such as bacterial or algal blooms and what to do. I found some of the information very helpful, but overall, this is far from a complete reference book for the beginner aquarist.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disappointed, redundant, 2.5 stars
Review: I own a LOT of dummies books! I love most of them but, unfortunately, it looks like the company is getting a little too focused on quickly cranking out funny books while allowing their overall content to suffer. This I believe is one of the most basic problems with this book. It is VERY redundant, contains many editing mistakes, is missing the most basic description of the nitrogen cycle and takes several hundreds of pages to get to the point. The book does contain vital reference information, but tends to scatter it in several different chapters, instead of neatly organizing it in one appendix. I have found, in several cases, MORE useful information from the book titled "Aquarium FISH" published by DK. This is a reference book not intended to teach you on how to setup an aquarium, and it does a better job of providing the essential information you need to start an aquarium. By the way... this book makes a big mistake in trying to cover both freshwater and saltwater aquariums. Because of this the book become more of a mess and more confusing... Given all the negatives I have typed, if you intend on starting a freshwater system, this book does contain most of the pieces, it just takes way to long to get to the point (like this review), and completely misses the vital nitrogen cycle!
Rating: 
Summary: Dummed Down Dummies
Review: It's a really good book - filled with all the information you need to know to starting up your aqaurium. I found it really dumed-down though (I suppose good if you know nothing about fish) so I found it really difficult to sit to down & read the whole thing. Alot more technical information then on fish themselves - best place to find good advice on filters. Overall I'm glad I bought it - but it's not the staple of my fish-book collection.
Rating:
Summary: Alright, just listen to this- I'll tell you what.
Review: OK. Let me start off by saying that this is the first fish book I ever read. Not at this time however- so I can look at it from a beginner's and an advanced hobbyist's point of veiw. This book is a great deal of fun to read- it is very easy to navigate and has a nice flavour to the writing- and so by now I must have read it a dozen times. In that reading, I did find numerous errors. The fine details, most of which are not exceedingly informative anyway, should be largely ignored as they are often riddled with errors. Over all, this book is a very palatable introduction- although it should be bought with a more reliable book for cross- checking.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite a book, more like notes for a book
Review: That someone decided to publish. Maybe all of the "Dummies" books are like this. I sat down and read it from cover to cover a couple of times. It wouldn't have taken all that much more work to make it into a finished book.
If you buy this book, buy a red marker, too, so you can mark up the book and submit it back to the publisher for corrections... : ' |
Overall, the information is solid, though you have to filter through some fluff to get it. The best chapter was one detailing the author's preferred method for setting up a new aquarium. The color photos looked somewhat cheesy, perhaps illustrations would have been a better way to go.
Worthwhile, but it really is more like leafing through somebody's rough draft instead of a finished book. If you're going to buy one book, I'd look for another one other than this title.
Rating: 
Summary: Must Have for Novice and Experienced Fish Hobbyest
Review: This book is exceptional for step by step instructions for setting up Fresh Water, Marine, and Brackish systems. Knowing how to do it the right way from the start can be very rewarding, and save you plenty of cash. Always wondered why 2 months after starting an aquarium I was taking it down and giving up. Now the secrets are revealed. You will want this book if you have an aquarium or plan to get one. There is a 16-page color insert with everything you need to get an aquarium up and running without having to read all the fine print. You can enjoy your aquarium, while finishing the book. If you are like me, you want to see results fast, then go back and get the details. If this is the way you do things, this book will accommodate you. There are plenty of Internet references listed in the book. When authors are confident enough to list things like this, you know they are out to help you succeed, not hoard the information to release the next book. They have given you everything you need in the book, as well as valuable links to continue your education. Good books like this are hard to find. Keep it next to your aquarium, you will pick it up over and over. This book is a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Beginner's Book, Very useful information.
Review: This is a great beginner's book...if you are a medium to expert hobbyist this book is not for you. As the cover says..this book is for people that are new into the fish keeping hobby. It will cover all the basics you need to get going. I got a lot of information from this book when i was a beginner. It covers everything from purchase/setup tanks...to fishes...to plants...to invertibrates and a whole lot more. A very fun book to read and I would recommend it to anyone new to the hobby of keeping wet pets.
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