Tropical Fishlopaedia: A Complete Guide to Fish Care

by Mary Bailey, Peter Burgess

In a straightforward, accessible format, this book introduces the hobby of tropical fishkeeping, outlining what is required in order to set up the correct environment, and what varieties of tropical fishes will thrive in an aquarium. Detailed information on choosing equipment, setting up a tank, plant selection, and water chemistry is included. You also get comprehensive coverage of how to feed your fish and how to maintain their tank. With special sections devoted to signs and symptoms of disease and first-aid treatments, as well as breeding tropical fish, this book has everything for the beginning hobbyist and the more experienced fishkeeper.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'm seriously buying this as soon as I get to the bookstore. Written with an emphasis on freshwater fish, it has invaluble information for those keeping a saltwater tank as well. It details tank set-up, chemistry, fish disease and treatments. Can't wait to get this one for my own.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great...if you are getting a fish, that is. Otherwise it's a little bit um... uninteresting.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

When my Dad suddenly decided to move to the Poconos, he had two fish tanks that needed rehoming. His tropical aquarium still had two fish living in it. I took both tanks. The tropical fish tank lasted for many years, until it sprung a leak on Christmas week. I frantically tried to transfer the fish, old gravel and stuff to a new tank, but in 24 hours, they all died. I wound up having to toss a new $150 tank and still want to vomit when I remember about the fish.

I did have this book at the time -- and it was no damn help. In fact, it was ZERO help in all of the years I had tropical fish. I was also a freelance writer at the time, occasionally getting assignments to write about tropical fish. Again, this book was ZERO help.

It's a total waste of money.

It's organized poorly. It doesn't even have an index. The print is very small. The physical book itself (I have the paperback) is so tightly put together that it hurts my hands to try and keep the book open long enough to read anything in it. The photos are pedestrian and mostly unhelpful. The silhouettes and drawings were better than the photos.

This was written for a UK audience. Normally, that doesn't bother me, since I lived in the UK for nearly five and a half years. However, it was a real problem here, since the authors nattered on about products that just were not available or applicable to American fishkeepers. For example, their advice on preparing found wood for an aquarium was useless. In America, any found wood is just too dangerous to stick in your fish tank.

This book scared me away from any other in Wiley's "lopaedia" series on pets.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the single best reference I’ve found for diagnosing and treating diseases and other problems in aquariums.