Encyclopedia of Aquarium and Pond Fish (DK Pet Encyclopedias)

Whether you are interested in pond, fresh or saltwater aquariums, this is an excellent reference; especially for beginners who want to get a scientific and common sense overview of all these categories. I have three (constructed) ponds and several aquariums and I learn something new every time I pick up this book. This book does an exceptional job on plants and every category of fish and invertebrates. Photographs are excellent and the fish synopsis, though not in scientific detail, are excellent overviews for deciding compatibility in various aquariums. Plants, fish, invertebrates, and basic hobby information are all covered. Not much on tanks, filters, etc., but all that is available in magazines in print, and on line. This, and “ The complete book of the freshwater aquarium” are sitting by my chair as I write this review. This is a perfect book for a hobbyist as a birthday or Christmas gift. You will make a child, or a old man very happy.

This book is pretty great as far as pictures go. You get a nice picture for every fish listed and the pictures have pretty good color. This book has the info for every fish I needed to know about. Well... by the info I only meant the basics. It lists the Origins, Size, Diet, Water Information, and the fishes Temperament. You won't get any compatibility charts, but you can look up that info online if you're looking to setup a community tank. The authors also included a small paragraph of information for each fish. This information is usually just background information on the fishes name, distinct characteristics, breeding info, or it could be about anything else. This book is organized into three sections. One for Freshwater, one for Marine and one for Pond. One small feature that I really appreciate. It's not like some other books that just list fish in alphabetical order and then lists next to it whether it's a freshwater or a saltwater fish. Each section is organized like this, Introduction to Freshwater Fish, Directory of Freshwater Fish and then Directory of Freshwater Plants. The only difference in the book layout is that for the Marine section it has invertebrates listed instead of a plant section of course. Overall I'm glad I purchased this book and I think everyone into fish keeping should own it.

This is a very nice book for beginner and intermediate fish hobbyists. While it does not contain extensive start up and maintenance information that other indoor tropical aquarium books offer it has enough basic information to make it a good reference guide none the less. What really makes this book a must have are the photographs and the detailed information regarding the start up and maintenance of pond fish. Approx. one quarter of the book is devoted to pond fish. Marine fish, invertebrates, and plants are also covered in great detail. Vivid colors and detailing allow one to get a true representation of what the species really looks like. Facts about the species of fish are pretty detailed and informative making it an ideal reference source. One cannot go wrong with this book.

I like to have some pet fishes to take care of. However, I didn't know very much about how to take care of them, or what kind of fishes I should get. This book has most of everything that I need to know. It tells me where I should place the tank, show me variety of fishes, how big the tank I should get, what kind of food is the best for the fishes, how to clean the tank, and many more. The book is little bigger and thicker than I thought. Therefore, I can gather a ton of information, and there are so many illustrated pictures which make so feel so excited to keep reading. The only thing I don't like about this book is the word size is so tiny. Your eyes will get tired after reading about 20 or 30 minutes.

This is a great resource but the only time I have needed to look up information about a specific fish (Kribensis Cichlid) I found it was not included in the section with all the other cichlids. Other than that, it's got great information. I bought two copies for my classroom!

This is a very good book, with lots of info and even more images. Goes through a step by step process on how to buy and aquarium to even buying fish online!! Something I’ve never even considered.

Love this book! I bought it so I could get more information on freshwater and saltwater aquariums as well as different types of fish and aquarium animals. It has very extensive information and tons of fish/crustacean species. It describes each species in detail down to their temperament, water temperature, pH levels, etc. This book is an all-in-one and there is no need to look further for a better encyclopedia!

This book is great for any one who has a passion for fish or are just beginning at the hobby. this book has a lot of fish and aquatic plants and creatures like crabs or mollusks. If you have a passion or business with fish this book will help you with choosing fish and plants. This book is paper back and mine had taken a good beating over the past 2 years it was falling apart not dramatically but with a little bit of duck tape it was fine