Customer Reviews

Bettas

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

 

 

This book goes into great detail on the history and breeding techniques of bettas. It has a seperate chapter on Siamese fighting fish. It covers the basics on tank and food requirements. Compared to the other few betta books out there....this, I felt, was the best one for the money. After reading it, however, I still wanted more. Now I rely on tropical discussion boards for detailed information I need to care for my betta.

This wonderful book has heaps of information about the various bubblenesting and mouthbrooding betta species groups. It covers the selection of bettas, their housing (the 2001 edition has a chapter on Tanks for Bettas), feeding, breeding, genetics (covering stuff like Betta Genes and the Punnet Square), as well as the prevention, identification and treatment of common betta diseases (environmental, chemical and infectious). It is indeed a great source of in-depth information about bettas and a complete pet owner's manual.

This is a pretty book: lots of gorgeous color photos of gorgeous Siamese fighting fish ("Bettas") and glossy pages. That's its main, and only, selling point.

Unfortunately, the info contained is mainly academic filler which is badly organized so that it's difficult to skim through and find the more practical bits, such as: 1. how often and how much to feed these fish, 2. how a Betta would do if mixed in with other fish in a large aquarium (answer: badly), 3. how often the water should be changed if a Betta is kept in a small filtration-less container of 1 gallon or less, 4. most common types of commerical food and which ones are better, etc. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Thankfully, Petsmart has a liberal return policy...this one's going back pronto!

This book is definetly not for begginers. It has a lot of technical information that is virtually useless to to the begginer and average pet owner. I'm sure I would give it a 5 star rating if I were a breeder, but I'm not. Save your money and look for another book if you are a begginer to keeping Bettas.

Despite the subtitle, this book is very technical and has little information which is of use for the average person with a pet betta. There is a lot of information on breeding and the different types of bettas, which might be useful for a breeder. As a pet "owner", I found it unhelpful. You can find more information about keeping bettas as pets for free online.

While this book is labled the "complete pet owner's manual" it does not deal with the practicalities of owning a betta. As a person who is a new owner looking for the basics, this book was too academic and had too much infomation. I did enjoy reading the history behind the betta fish and that was about it. This book is great for someone looking to breed and keep and sell bettas, but for us humble pet owners it does not give the needed basic information for daily care.

Barrons's addition to the betta-care genre looks very nice, starting with a gorgeous closeup of a red male carrying the butterfly trait, right on the cover. Like most betta books, however, the emphasis is information for the breeding hobbyist, not for the basic pet owner - in spite of the title.

The smallish book (95 pages) is divided into roughly three sections.

The first is invaluable for anyone interested in learning about all the "Other" species of bettas...wild bettas, mouthbrooding bettas, fighting strains, bettas from Thailand, bettas from Maylasia. Did you know there were hundreds of bettas besides the popular Betta Splendens we all know so well? Some are pretty and some are drab, but all are within the overriding Genus of Betta. This is interesting background information for the advanced betta fancier, but is certainly more information than the beginning betta owner will need.

Since this section, like the entire book, is chocked full of pictures, it is worth browsing. It really corners the market on betta species info!

The middle section provides some beginner's information on betta tanks, feeding and disease treatment. The live food section is the most informative and has useful pictures. It's only a few pages, however and does not discuss in-depth info on actually developing live cultures. This section is useful for someone looking to figure out what the betta-acceptable various live foods are - how brine shrimp differs from daphnia, tubifex works, fruit flies, and so on.

The disease section differentiates between environmental, chemical and infectious maladies, which I appreciated. Their treatment information focused on using available antibiotics and such, which I usually find to be overkill for the properly observant betta-keeper.

Section three is all about the breeding, large-scale betta production and Punnet Square betta genetics. Honestly, this is also beyond the scale of the beginner, using terms like homozygous and phenotype. For anyone interested in figuring out how to plot dominant betta colors, this would be a good start, though.

I would recommend this book to intermediate and advanced betta owners seeking breeding information, and for those wishing to study the expanded lineage of the Betta Genus.

A beginner would appreciate the gorgeous photos, though! Some award-winning bettas with glorious and unusual colors are showcased. Often, pictures like this are enough to take a betta fancier to the level of hobbyist.

I agree with the other reviewers. This book is great for breeders and it is interesting, but holds little educational value for someone who just wants to improve the life of their betta pet. I was disappointed.

This book tells you nothing much about how to actually CARE for these fish, but goes on and on and on for pages about breeding the fish, which is not something a potential fish newbie should be concerning themselves with anyway. I agree with the other review that this book is mainly a marketing gimmick. I'm sure a lot of people who are buying a betta and never have had a fish before would be attracted to this book. Better information can be found online. This doesn't even cover the basics about using a water conditioner or having a heater in the tank. It doesn't address anything that a new betta owner would want to know. Stay clear of this book.

I gave this book 4 outta 5 stars because this book was pretty good, it talks about alot of stuff the average person wants to know, but the only thing I dont like is that they talk alittle too much about the other breeds of betta that no one has probably ever heard of or seen in their life!