Customer Reviews

Dr Axelrods Mini Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes (Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A priceless acurate reference that should be brought with you on every trip to the pet/fish store. The atlas features pictures of just about every freshwater fish you will ever come across. It provides each fishes feeding habits (dry food, live worms, live fish, or vegetarian) and reproduction type (egglaying or livebearer), recommenced aquarium lighting, recommended aquarium setup (planted aquarium, rocks; no plants, only gravel, rocks-plants-and driftwood), its swimming habits (bottom dweller, top swimmer, etc) and its temperament. The fish are ordered and only listed using the fish's scientific Latin name. For the common name you must look in the index in the back of the book. All measurements and temperatures are only given in metric. Beginners looking for a similar book with all measurements in standard US measurements would be better off with Aquarium Fish, by Dick Mills (Amazon ISBN#1564582930.)

Need to know if a certain breed of unusual fish is compatible with, say, your angelfish? Dr. Axelrod knows. This atlas is amazing in it's depth for a "mini-atlas," with page after page of freshwater fish. And then he gets into the real meat of fishkeeping after that! Although it can occasionally be difficult to use (the fish are listed by their scientific name in general, not their common name, which can make looking up a certain fish difficult), all in all this is an incredible book, and one every fishkeeper should have on their bookshelf.

If you were allowed to have only one aquarium book, this would be the book to buy. The first 672 pages contain more than 1800 excellent photos of fish (3 per page), followed by brief care info. Next is a 300 page section with all the basic info you need to setup and maintain a freshwater tank. And all this for an affordable price. Dr. Axelrod is probably the most emminent authority in the fishkeeping hobby.

Dr. Axelrod's Mini-Atlas is by far the best pictoral reference book for freshwater fish. With more than 1800 photos of fish from every area of the world, you're sure to find what your looking for. Each fish is accompanied by a pictoral reference of its feeding habits, reproduction type, lighting requirements, temperament, tank setup and swimming habits. This is a great book to start your research into fish that you are interested in keeping.

This is one of my favorite books. It provides information and more importantly photos on nearly 2000 fish. The information gives you the basics about each fish, how big they get, what they eat, are they agressive, etc. But the best aspect is the photos. With over 1900 photos it is the first book I go to when I want to look up a fish. Or when I'm thinking of what to put in that empty tank I'll often browse through this book looking for neat fish.

This book gives you the most for your money!

Definitely a very good reference guide for any freshwater enthusiast. The mini-atlas has every freshwater species beautifully diplayed in color photo. Under each color photo is a group of symbols. These symbols are defined in the book itself. The symbols convey what water conditions are appropriate, size of tank, food, swimming level, breeding type and level of aggression. The mini-atlas also has separate chapters on breeding, fish diseases, aquarium plants and tank set-up.

The only negative point is that each fish is called by its scientific name. If you desire to know the common name (the name used in aquarium shops) you have to go to the back of the book and search an index of scientific names which then refers to the common name. This process is a bit cumbersome.

All in all, this book is a nice addition to one's personal freshwater library. It's very complete and I find myself referring to it often.

From the reviews, I expected alot from this book. I know that it is old, but I was really disappointed. The information is not consistent and incomplete. Here are my issues:

(1) All the pictures are grouped (i.e. Ciclids, etc.) together followed by the complete text instead of a picture with text of each kind of fish.
(2) Everything is ordered by scientific name instead of common name. This makes the book less usefull to those who are new to freshwater fish.
(3) Compared to other books, the photographs are not that good. In fact, some of them are out of focus.
(4) The fact guide is totally useless as the information on how to intepret the what the legend means is not clear. For example, you see a temparature guide but not the upper or lower temperature.
(5) With that many pictures the book, I expected the book to focus on different species but instead there are multiple pictures of the same kinds of certain fish just because they have different color scheme.
(6) The biggest complaint that I have is that the information is not consistent and some are missing. Some pictures have both scientific and common names while others have just one name. Some have complete information, while others have partial (i.e. tank size, compatibility, etc.) or NO information at all.

If you are buying this book because you just want something to read, go ahead and buy it. However, if you are buying this book because you are new to the freshwater fish keeping and need information about different kinds of fish to choose from...this book is totally useless. Useless, I say because there are more books out there with more complete information. If you look at the index and can't find the names of the fishes that you commonly see in aquarium fish shops, then the book is useless.

There is no doubt this is a comprehensive visual encyclopedia of many, many fish species.

If that's what you want, buy this book.

If you want care tips for any of the fish listed, you probably better find another source. I'll admit I'm a beginniner at fish keeping, and maybe this book will grow on me, but I'd recommend you spend your money elsewhere.

The care section for the different breeds is sparse to say the least. There is usually a key under each photo which tells what the fish eats, where it swims, whether it is good for a community tank. This might be all you need, but I felt I paid too much for what I got.

If you're willing to spend the money, I reccommend it. However, if you're just getting started this isn't the book for you. Unless you KNOW the common name of a fish you're looking for, all the photos have only their scientific name which some may find difficult if they're setting up their aquarium for the first time. Also, there is a disease section which gives great detail, but lacks ways to treat the diseases. A good "coffee table" book, but not one for the beginner.

If you want tons of pictures this is the book for you. My main problem with it was that it did not have any individual information on the fish other than than a small picture guide of temperature, size, ph, etc. I think it would be 5 star if it just had a few sentences on each fish for a little more information.