The Encyclopedia of Exotic Tropical Fishes for Freshwater Aquariums

Pretty large and hefty book. Looks nice on the shelf. Best as a coffee table book.Info is a bit dated, but my real criticism is the fish profiles. They’re all quite short with little detail. Also - there aren’t a lot of Characins (tetras). They’re basically the most popular group of fish!?

book is great

I just received this book yesterday and I'm already finding it useful. I've been keeping fish for a little over two years (so I'm still new to the hobby, especially compared to others who have been at it from 20-40 years+). While I've learned quite a bit from being engaged in the hobby and partaking in online forums regarding the trade, I admit that there's a plethora of information I don't know and it seems there's something new to learn (even for the old pros) every single day.One thing that I really wanted in a book, was basically an organized list of tropical fish that could be kept in the aquarium, with a quality photo, because looks are important to me. I love an interesting and beautiful fish in the aquarium and I love having options to choose from. Unfortunately, my options are limited to what I can find online (should I know the names), what I see in the local fish store, and many times I'm reliant on suggestions/recommendations from others in the hobby. This book gives me a direct source, where I can search through a variety of tetras, corys, etc. and pick/choose which I'd prefer to keep and see if they'll work in proposed setup.I perused through the book with my daughter (which was fun, because she actually enjoyed it - she's 3) and I must say that I'm very impressed with the quality of the book, pictures and quantity of species profiles within. I will say, however, that the profiles are more generic than I'd prefer. They give a little backdrop on where they're from, their temperament, compatibility needs, maximum size and preferable water params, but lack on the specifics, such as pH, GH, temperature requirements, etc.I really like it, though, because it gives me a great idea about what's out there, before I just settle for anything, and the generic descriptions are a good starting point. I can always look up the minute details online at a later date or invest in the Baensch Aquarium Atlas volumes (which I plan on doing next).So, not sure what you find in a quality fish/aquarist book, but I would recommend it to anyone that has similar needs to mine.

The book is heavy in weight and information. Excellent book.

because of a fire im replaceing books i bought many years ago. while not the same of course its a good resource for those fish a new person might not be aware of or know anything about it also has a section on feeding young very important for any one that wants to breed thier fish,Beginniners might have some trouble with the words but its well worth learning

this book has it all...it talks about everything..and whats really nice about it, is the info it provide on each fish....now why i gave it 4 stars is that to me, the info wasn't enough...i was hoping to see more information about the fish and the diseases...don't be fooled of what i said, IT DOES have alot of info in it...but i was looking forward for morethis book also pay great deal of info about chiclids (which i guess was obvious cuz of its varaity).other than that...the book is amazing, and worth buying

This book is full of typographical, spelling, grammar, production and even ichthyological errors. You would think that a book authored by two such highly educated people would be more technically correct.As a catalogue of fish I hate the way it is organized. The fish are presented in alphabetical order by family. This results in the catfishes being scattered about the book instead of grouped together. Other groups suffer the same problem. I don't understand why TFH can't ever produce a book where the fish are presented in some sort of biological order as Innes did years ago. Actually that may be the answer, they refuse to do anything that Innes did. It appears that each entry for each species is space constrained by production requirements of the book so that species that could benefit from a more expanded treatment are not given that space and species that not much is known about anyway are afforded the same amount of space.I can't really recommend this book.

An excellent book on freshwater fish for aquariums. Great pictures and descriptions.

Purchased as a present. the recipient loves it and uses it often. Full of excellent guides with 'second to none. pictures.

Great book! Arrived perfectly!

Excellent reference book exactly as ordered