Aquarium Plants: The Practical Guide [Hardcover]

Pabloo Tepoot (Author), Ian Tepoot (Author), Judy Leiby (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0964505851 | ISBN-13: 978-0964505858

THIS EDITION IS IN THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES:
ENGLISH, CHINESE, SPANISH, JAPANESE.

Through this brilliant, unparalleled photography, hands-on experience, and detailed research, the author is able to present - in easy to read terms - this well organized and knowledgeable book of aquarium plants.

Armed with the information contained in this book, anyone can become an accomplished plant aquarist.

The variety of plants in this book reflects what is available today.

Many new varieties have resulted from grower's interest in sport selection and hybridization.

The correct choice of light, coupled with proper nutrition, will cause your plants to flourish.

The author explains in simple terms, exactly how to set up your tank to accomplish the lush plant growth documented photographically in this book. If you follow the author's formula, you also will be able to grow plants as beautiful as those seen in the 200 brilliant photos of this book.

The dark age of plastic plants is a thing of the past!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: New Life Publications, Inc. (July 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964505851
• ISBN-13: 978-0964505858
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #997,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful photographs but short on information, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Aquarium Plants: The Practical Guide (Euro Ed.) (Hardcover)

Pablo Tepoot's book is a very stunning collection of photographs of most of the aquarium plants one is likely to find. The plants are organized alphabetically by genus and species, and the pictures are so clear that it makes it very easy to identify any plant that one might come upon. Unfortunately, there is really very little information on the specific plants. Each plant photo is accompanied by icons which indicate temperature, pH, submerged or aquatic, amount of light, and position in the tank. Also indicated for each plant is its degree of hardiness, which is very useful. However, the temperature and pH icons are the same for every single plant (medium temperature and neutral pH). It would have been much more helpful to indicate the conditions that plants can tolerate. For instance, the egeria can tolerate colder water, which is why it is often a popular plant for goldfish aquaria. Besides, there is no point to using icons when they don't indicate any differences among the various plants. The introduction gives basic information, such as setting up the tank, water chemistry, etc. There is not as much information as there seems to be however, because the text is in four languages. As a tool for identifying plants and as a book that is simply beautiful to look at in its own right, "Aquarium Plants The Practical Guide" is superb. If you want information on caring for plants, and on the requirements of individual plants, you must look elsewhere.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I prefer a little meat with my vegetables...er, vegetation, January 22, 2003

By 

Heather Foy (Guelph, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aquarium Plants: The Practical Guide (Euro Ed.) (Hardcover)

If you are a beginner, and are looking for a very simple, quick, basic plant identification guide, this MAY be the book for you. However, for the price, I personally would want a bit more for my money.

The information in the book is oversimplified to a fault and some of it is inaccurate. While the photography is very good, the masking done to the photos is very poor - you can actually see where they were clipped out of the background in many of the photos - an unexcusable oversight for a publication whose only real strength IS the photography.

If the quality of the photoediting was sufficient, I would be willing to recommend the book - even at the expense of poor content - for those looking for a pretty "coffee-table" type book (which unfortunately is what so many publications in this hobby ultimately end up amounting to). However, due to the poor masking, I don't feel it even measures up to those superficial standards.

This book was meant to be an ID guide, and it IS good for helping the beginner aquatic plant enthusiast identify the more common types of aquatic plants. I just do not think that you are getting a good deal for your money.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Aquatic Plant ID Book, November 3, 2006

By 

Mike Wickham (Rogers, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aquarium Plants: The Practical Guide (Hardcover)

There isn't a better picture book of aquarium plant species anywhere. The photos are large (mostly life-size), clear, and the plants evenly lit. A key gives basic information and notes whether the photo is of emersed- or submersed-form growth. The plants were provided by the largest aquarium plant grower in the U.S., so the book isn't burdened with species you never find in stores, and can't possibly order.

There is a short chapter on plant care at the front of the book, but it's made a bit annoying because there are four versions of each page-- one for each of four different languages. But don't buy this book for the information. (Get Kasselmann's _Aquarium Plants_ for that.) Buy it for the photos. You won't regret it. The book will help you decide which plants to buy and ID ones you already have.