What is the best fish book you have ever read?

[Tedrock]

Howdy Nerms,

I was just pondering about a good book about fresh water fish or aquariums.  If you have any recommendations that would be great.

Many thanks!

Tedrock.

 

Meme was posted by Kevin Green - July 10, 2020.  It makes me laugh because it is true.

[Solidus1833]

I've got a few books, and a rainbow fish pdf I like to read from time to time. 

 

1. L-Catfishes: Back To Nature (helpful for pleco research and identifying)

2. Loaches: Natural History and Aquarium Care (helpful for loach species)

3. http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Book.htm

Number 3 is a very very interesting source on Rainbow Fish. It has a free downloadable pdf that you can save to your computer for referencing. 

[Solidus1833]

2 minutes ago, Solidus1833 said:

I've got a few books, and a rainbow fish pdf I like to read from time to time. 

 

1. L-Catfishes: Back To Nature (helpful for pleco research and identifying)

2. Loaches: Natural History and Aquarium Care (helpful for loach species)

3. http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Book.htm

Number 3 is a very very interesting source on Rainbow Fish. It has a free downloadable pdf that you can save to your computer for referencing. 

The L-Catfish Book illustrates each L-fish by genus and the water parameters where found. Also some breeding and feeding guides for many. The Loaches book is more or less like the catfish book. The rainbow pdf however is just an awesome monster of data. Almost like an expeditionary field book with scientific research and new discoveries. It may be a little dated 2011, but the work was decades in the making. 

[gardenman]

Mine are all old ones. "Sterba's Freshwater Fishes of the World" (the two volume set) is a very handy reference. I probably paid for a house (well a car anyway) for Herbert Axelrod. I had almost every TFH book every written on freshwater and marine fish. The Internet is a much more accessible format these days. If there's something I need to look up, a quick search brings up all kinds of information. I haven't cracked open an aquarium book in quite a while.

[Aubrey]

I don't know if it's the best, but it's full of amazing pictures and useful breeding information. Every page has at least one glossy picture on it depicting some aspect of breeding.

 

[Brian]

That’s hard.  To many Categories.

Disease and Health 

Spawning and Breeding 

Plants and Aquascaping

Fish by Classification 

So I will go with my first Two I purchase with my own money at a very young age.  And I still have to this day.  
exotic aquarium fishes by Dr. William T. Innes

encylopedia of tropical fishes by Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod.

 

 

[Colu]

They are so many great books here are some of my favourites Indian ornamental fishes by Heiko bleher and Bleher's biotope 

[ScottieB]

Good topic, I have an one for this list.

it’s an Autobiography by one of the icons in the hobby. Rosario LaCorte, An Aquarists Journey, a must read. 

 

[Jungle Fan]

Here are a few:

"Aquascaping" by George Farmer

"Sunken Gardens" by Karen Randall

"Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad

An older title of two Japanese authors that predates Takashi Amano but you might find it on Abebooks.com:

"The Natural Aquarium - How to imitate Nature in Your Home" By Satoshi Yoshino and Doshin Kobayashi

And my latest purchase by Creative Aquascaping Union published by Daehne Verlag in Germany

"Aquascape - Lebendige Kunstwerke (transl.: Living Works of Art)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Jungle Fan
Wrong picture

[Jungle Fan]

One more!

Shameless plug for the Aquatic Gardeners Association Journal,

and full disclosure: of which I am a member.

[Dirtydave]

By dr innes  had it at 15 and recently found another copy.im 65 

[Daniel]

This early work by Dr. Innes has to be on of the best of all time. I uploaded it earlier to the Forum:

 

[Solidus1833]

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

This early work by Dr. Innes has to be on of the best of all time. I uploaded it earlier to the Forum:

 

now that's an amazing classic looking book! 

[Will Billy]

Wow thank you for sharing pdf @Daniel. I cant wait to plow through it tonight before bed. Again thank you for sharing that, i much appreciate it and will be looking into other similar books. What a great thread this is!

[Aubrey]

@Will Billyand anyone else that is interested, there is a section in the back of the Innes book referencing other books on page 311. You can try searching for any that pique your interest on Biodiversity Heritage Library 

[Biotope Biologist]

"Aquarium designs" by Peter Hiscock is an interesting read I picked up in college. It is about biotope building and shows some interesting setups. I would like to make a white river and brackish mangrove swamp biotope at some point. 

[Tanked]

[Dawn T]

@Jungle Fan, I just finished reading George Farmer's book. EXCELLENT resource, even though I have no desire to use CO2 or go high tech with my tanks. He provides some great information. Walstad's book was also very informative.

Another book I just finished reading that I really liked and contains great information is Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock. It's missing some of the more recent plants, but I've added notes to cover those. I have NO qualms about making notes in books I know I'll be holding onto and referencing! 😁

[Jungle Fan]

@Dawn TBoth of Peter Hiscocks books are chock full of good info, although some of the plant info is more complete in Christel Kasselmann's books. It's funny because just when I saw your post I had taken a picture of some of the books in my library to send to a friend in Adelaide, Australia who had asked about his books in regards to biotopes.

While his book on "Aquarium Designs" captures the essence of biotope inspired tanks, with the plant selection they are not strict biotopes such as in Heiko Bleher's "Bleher's Biotopes". I try to study a habitat for my tanks but strict biotopes with the limitation they put on plants often look somewhat bleak for my taste so I like the habitat inspired version.  "The Complete Aquarium" also had some biotope inspired aquarium designs in it, but on a somewhat simpler level than "Aquarium Designs". I also like the book by Horst Linke and Dr, Wolfgang Staeck "American Cichlids 1 Dwatf Cichlids" because it describes the respective habitats as well.

The "Mini-Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" is just an abbreviated smaller version of Hiscock's encyclopedia for handier every day use. "The Art of Aquascaping" by James Findley is along the lines of George Farmer. I've been collecting aquarium books for a long time, and my library now has English, German, French, and Dutch titles and while much is the same there is always something new, some little tidbit, shortcut, method, or equipment to build to learn.

I also take notes but mine do get added to a log I keep and I place colored markers for plant, fish, equipment, food, health, or water chemistry on the pages. I keep telling myself that sooner, or later I'll transfer them on my computer and will make it easier to find, ...lots of good intentions... I had gotten the book  by David Baruchowitz on "The Balanced Aquarium" because I thought it would be in line with Walstad but I prefer her book.

One book I really enjoyed, although technically a children's book is "Amazon Adventure" by Sy Montgomery which describes Project Piaba where my cardinals and rummynoses originate from.