Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This long awaited book on Tetras and Barbs, the so-called "scatterers", is an excellent addition to any fishkeeper's library and I've proudly added it to mine. It covers every aspect of these amazing animals from an introduction and discussion of their relationship in the overall scheme of life to their habitats in the wild, setting up an aquarium designed for them, giving them proper care, breeding them, and raising their young if you desire to do so. None of the book is canned text - everything is fresh and new. Even the section on setting up an aquarium for them is not wasted by repeating things discussed ad nauseum in every beginner text ever produced, but rather it addresses how to set up an aquarium specifically for tetras and barbs.
This is not an encyclopedic work, either. That is to say that it does not contain a detailed description of each species, which can also be found elsewhere in atlas and encyclopedia type works. Don't get me wrong! There are many excellent photos throughout illustrating many of the common and the not-so-common species. But instead of wasting space describing fish a hobbyist might never encounter (for those who want information on the bread-and-butter fish) or spending all of the time on fish that can be found in any pet store (for those who want information on the rare stuff), the author spends his allotment of pages on a detailed look at all of the known groupings of tetras and barbs and their close relatives and what makes them unique and of special interest to hobbyists the world over.
The author has an interesting approach to keeping and breeding these fish that is a distillation of methods passed down from earlier generations of hobbyists combined with some of the latest thinking in the aquarium hobby. I especially liked the author's discussion of the various species' occupation of microhabitats in the wild which leads directly to satisfying each individual species' special needs and caring for the fish in home aquaria.
In the author's own words, "fishkeeping is both an art and a science". This book helps to explain the science of keeping and breeding tetras and barbs without becoming bogged down in complex terminology, and demistify the art without becoming too esoteric. Both the author's writing style and the topics covered in the book make this volume useful to both the beginning aquarist working with these fish for the first time, and for the seasoned advanced hobbyist looking for advanced information on these groups of fish.
I highly recommend this book for anyone even remotely interested in tetras, barbs, and other allied groups of fish. Of course, I have to mention the caveat that the author has been a good friend for many years, but if I didn't think this book was worthwhile, I would have politely declined the opportunity to write a review.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Tetras and Barbs: The Complete Guide to the Successful Care and Breeding of Two of the Most Popular Groups of Aquarium Fish (Aquarium Success)
Tetras and barbs are among the most popular community fish, with dozens of species readily available in pet and aquarium stores. Written by one of the leading experts on these groups of fish, this comprehensive guide features five important fish groups spanning hundreds of species and covers topics essential to aquarists interested in tetras and barbs such as feeding, water requirements, species, diseases, and breeding. Full-color photos, sidebars, charts, and tip boxes illustrate key points and nicely complement the informative text.
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