Mini-Aquariums

by David E. Boruchowitz

Mini-Aquariums: Desktop Aquariums, Mini-Ponds & Small Home Aquariums is a comprehensive guide to setting up and maintaining a nano aquarium, 30 gallons or less. It offers the best fish and invertebrates, both freshwater and marine, ones that are small and will thrive in miniature tanks and ponds. Over the past five years there has been a noticeable increase in the popularity of small, indoor water features. This book is a complete guide for those wishing to keep anything from a betta bowl to a corner container pond.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not what I expected. The author defines "mini-aquariums" as waterboxes up to 20 or 30 gallons, or more — by the end he's talking about 6-foot tanks (more than 400 or 500 litres) filled with schools of smaller fish.

There are two chapters on saltwater fish and invertebrates, which I skipped. There's another chapter on "Vivaria" which includes terrariums and reptiles and so on, which made me check the title again. Yeah, it says "Aquariums" — another chapter skipped.

Then there is a chapter on ponds, a topic which really deserves its own book rather than the cursory treatment allowed here.

And then we get to the 4-foot and 6-foot tanks and stocking ideas. So basically the last 100+ pages are not relevant to freshwater "mini-aquariums".

This book is copyright 2008, and so does not mention the LED lights that are now the most common. The presentation of information is beautifully done, but the information is not always that useful or accurate (for example, he says scuds can't be kept with fish, but that is exactly what many hobbyists do — you never see the scuds, but they are there).

The longest chapter is a survey of freshwater fish suitable for mini-aquariums. Because of the variety of common names, the author sticks to the scientific names, which only adds to the confusion. Also, the text does not always accurately refer to the right illustration.

Whether it's a book or a YouTube video, there is a pile of information heaped on aquarists, and I don't know how anyone (without a wealth of their own experience) is equipped to sort through it and make the appropriate decisions.

[Jonathan McWilliams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is my first 1 star review lol. I felt like this book completely lacked any direction within the realm of nano aquariums which is just overwhelming to anybody. I really took issue with the pervasive use of scientific names, ignoring common names, and failing to put pictures in the right places to make everything easily identifiable. I felt like the information was rudimentary and, like other informational books that I don't end up liking, could of been condensed to half the size or less. I literally can't tell who this book was written for - a complete noob would get overwhelmed and confused and an intermediate would find this book lacking in any useful information. Sorry David--nothing personal pal.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a well written and intelligent approach to a relatively untapped aspect of the aquarium hobby: the mini (nano) set-up. The chapters cover fresh, salt and brackish tanks as well as vivaria and ponds. It is a broad coverage primer on the concepts and varieties of smaller tanks and/or containers ranging from the desktop to 1000 gallons and more.

While a good read, I don't believe it was intended to be a ready reference work. Its a good introduction.Its a great coffee table book. It is a bit repetetive in information and sometimes disorganized. I've been a hobbyist since the late 70's and since moving to smaller quarters a number of years ago I've had to limit tank size and number (from 16 down to 5 tanks and a pair of 2 gallon drum bowls.) The book is a good jumping off point for me for further reading. This book served its purpose admirably well.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book filled with lots of great ideas, and without a lot of the same old basic information you can find in every other book about aquariums. He did a good job of explaining how to make sure your fish are happy in a way that goes beyond some of the oversimplified rules for tank stocking, etc.

[Jack Skubal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it very strange that a man who commands readers of his other book to by the largest aquarium that will fit in your house, has also wrote a book on the complete opposite way of keeping an aquarium. that being said, this book was very well done and inspired me to make several mini-aquariums of my own.

[Kami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I love mini ecosystems. Good read. Actually I just looked at the pictures and read a couple paragraphs here and there.