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Recommendations for Good Aquarium Books
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Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Recommendations for Good Aquarium Books
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04 Jul 2011 12:44 #1
by PompeyBill (Killian Walshe)
Was just browsing around Amazon looking at some of the aquarium books they have. There are hundreds of them! Can anyone recommend any good books they have come across that they would recommend adding to the collection? I know we have the forum here for questions about anything etc but sometimes its nice to have the info in your hand and be able to browse it at your leisure!
PS Mods - couldn't see where to put something like this so please move if necessary. Thanks!
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04 Jul 2011 13:08 #2
by igmillichip (ian millichip)
General? or specific to a group of fish?
I may be called 'out-of-date' by some, but you'd find it difficult to beat some of the older texts on general keeping and an insight into the fish.
There may be some new technology since then, and some names may have changed....but other than that I still find books dating back to the 1950s are excellent....and you may find some in second-hand book shops.
At the recent fish auction, there were some classic books for next to nothing.
Some more modern books are little more than picture books or books that assume you are going to spend a mint on Tunze filtration systems, but there are also some good ones around I guess as well.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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04 Jul 2011 13:28 #3
by PompeyBill (Killian Walshe)
Sorry Ian should have been more specific. Was looking for more General books rather than about specific fish. Whether it be 10 mins or 10 years old would love to hear any recommendations you have. Thanks
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04 Jul 2011 13:43 #4
by JohnH (John)
Here's a pretty good one - even if a bit 'out of date':
The Concise Encyclopedia of Popular Tropical Fish by John Dawes
and
The Interpet 'Bumper' Guide to Tropical Aquarium Fishes by Dick Mills
(OK, that's two). These are both very good little books which give insights into the hobby from scratch before showing available fish - obviously not all of them, but a good selection is covered in both.
The Baensch Atlases are very good since they give a bit of water information as well as breeding as well.
One of the best Cichlid books I have is Dr Paul Loiselle's 'The Cichlid Aquarium'...I add this because a] it's a superb, if ageing, book but moreso because it seems to me that many - if not all - Aquarists radiate to Cichlids at some point in their careers.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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04 Jul 2011 15:47 #5
by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I'll have a google to see what is still in-print for you of a few of my 'recommended' list.
For Marines, Martin Moe once did a book (for one of the pioneer marine breeders, it can't be bad).
For Freshwater, general, I'd look up William Innes books, Axelrod and Vorderwinkler (Encyclopaedia of Tropical Fishes.... but probably has encyclopaedia spelt as 'encyclopedia'), Axelrod & Schultz (Handbook of tropical aquarium fishes), Gunther Sterba's Freshwater Fishes of the World (I have the full version somewhere.....I bet it would be expensive even second hand).
There....just a few of them.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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04 Jul 2011 15:49 #6
by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I went on coffee to ponder my brain on an author who did loads of rather good books.....but couldn't think, so sent my reply anyway....only to see that JohnH had posted in the meantime.....Dick Mills.
ian
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04 Jul 2011 17:46 #7
by PompeyBill (Killian Walshe)
Thanks guys, having a look at them now. Have already bought The Interpet Bumper Guide to Tropical Aquarium Fishes second hand on Amazon. Some of the others are not so cheap so will keep an eye out for a bargain. Might have a look and see if any are available as ebooks, might be a bit cheaper, but doubt they are available.
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04 Jul 2011 17:56 #8
by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I had a quick look at e-bay to see what prices are on some of the books I mentioned......not giving them away I see. But, they are classics. I still have mine, and would still rate them as the best books ever.
It is only when you get to the specialist books that that changes (eg Siamese Fighters, Malawis, etc etc).
(actually, the best book ever on Siamese Fighting is the first book I bought on fighters written in the 1960s, or 50s?, by Myron Gordon....I wish I could find it, and it would still have a price tag of a few pennies as well)
Some will be collectors items....so what out for 'collectable premiums' being added.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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04 Jul 2011 18:41 #9
by PompeyBill (Killian Walshe)
I had a quick look at e-bay to see what prices are on some of the books I mentioned......not giving them away I see. But, they are classics. I still have mine, and would still rate them as the best books ever.
It is only when you get to the specialist books that that changes (eg Siamese Fighters, Malawis, etc etc).
(actually, the best book ever on Siamese Fighting is the first book I bought on fighters written in the 1960s, or 50s?, by Myron Gordon....I wish I could find it, and it would still have a price tag of a few pennies as well)
Some will be collectors items....so what out for 'collectable premiums' being added.
ian
Your right Ian. As with a lot of things in fishkeeping it isn't cheap but in the end it is usually worth it!!
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06 Jul 2011 03:08 #10
by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
I had a quick look at e-bay to see what prices are on some of the books I mentioned......not giving them away I see. But, they are classics. I still have mine, and would still rate them as the best books ever.
It is only when you get to the specialist books that that changes (eg Siamese Fighters, Malawis, etc etc).
(actually, the best book ever on Siamese Fighting is the first book I bought on fighters written in the 1960s, or 50s?, by Myron Gordon....I wish I could find it, and it would still have a price tag of a few pennies as well)
Some will be collectors items....so what out for 'collectable premiums' being added.
ian
@Ian this should cheer you up £3.77 on amazon
www.amazon.co.uk/Siamese-Fighting-Fish-M...d=1309921581&sr=1-16
Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild
currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick
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06 Jul 2011 08:27 #11
by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I had a quick look at e-bay to see what prices are on some of the books I mentioned......not giving them away I see. But, they are classics. I still have mine, and would still rate them as the best books ever.
It is only when you get to the specialist books that that changes (eg Siamese Fighters, Malawis, etc etc).
(actually, the best book ever on Siamese Fighting is the first book I bought on fighters written in the 1960s, or 50s?, by Myron Gordon....I wish I could find it, and it would still have a price tag of a few pennies as well)
Some will be collectors items....so what out for 'collectable premiums' being added.
ian
@Ian this should cheer you up £3.77 on amazon
www.amazon.co.uk/Siamese-Fighting-Fish-M...d=1309921581&sr=1-16
My original only cost about 3 pence ! (although that looks like the re-print with Axelrod shoving his nose into a place he knows little about in comparison to Myron Gordon...... it's a bit like Tchaikovsky asking Boyzone to co-write his violin concerto).
What is really superb about the original by Myron Gordon is that half the book was dedicated to the selection of fish for breeding and the genetics for producing top-qual stuff (Gordon did a lot of the early pioneering work on fish genetics....and his work is still of great value even today).
My other cheap books at the time were....looking back....a bit duff and just picture books, but the Betta book was a bible.
But, 4 quid.....still not bad if the re-print is as good as the original.
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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16 Aug 2011 13:17 - 16 Aug 2011 13:18 #12
by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
BREEDING AQUARIUM FISHES by Axelrod, is a great series if your interested in breeding fish at some stage but some of the volumes are quite pricey, i've seen them on amazon at times for over 70 each
Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild
currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick
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