Customer Reviews

Clownfish and Sea Anemones (Barron's Complete Pet Owner's Manuals)

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Don't buy this book if you want to learn to care for your clownfish, or sea anemones. It is only marginally good at identification, and is sparse on content about selection, care, feeding, etc. The pictures/illustrations are pathetic, and it also has a bunch of "unnecessary" information about how to care for a marine aquarium. I didn't buy the book to learn how to take care of an aquarium. I bought the book to learn how to take care of clownfish and anemones. This book looks like a book that was published in 1973 and has been sitting on the shelf of your public library since then.

Generally, this is a book about introducing a novice to clownfishes. It provides a reasonable introduction to keeping and breeding clownfish, but the coverage of anemones is minimal (it is after all less than $10.00). In some cases, though, it oversimplifies their care (doesn't say anything about how to feed an anemone for example). If I bought this book, I definitely wouldn't think I had enough knowledge to purchase and keep an anemone. However, as far as keeping clown fish (which are quite hardy to begin with), its a good intro for the beginner.

The author of one of the best aquarium books (Natural Reef Aquariums) writes about everyone's favorite fish. What could possibly be better? Actually, the book is very limited in scope, and clearly produced down to a price. Brief sections classify anemonefish and the anemones, describe how to set up and maintain a tank, how to feed clownfish, which species to keep with clownfish, and some tips on breeding clownfish.

Classification of both the anenomes and clownfish is covered better in the book 'Anemone Fishes and Their Host Sea Anemones'. The Care and Breeding of Clownfishes is covered better by Joyce Wilkerson in her book 'Clownfishes'. And the setup and maintenance of a tank is covered better by just about every acquarium book out there.

That said, within the limits of the space and format of the book, the coverage is as good as could be expected. The book brings together sufficient information to get beginners started. The book will tell you How to, but not Why. If this is all you want to know (and if you local acquarium shop is good), then this book is probably all you need.

Having worked in pet stores for many years, I have dealt with lots of books. By far, my favorite are the Barron line of books. These books are not only informative, but are individual in themselves. Whereas with other books, they give you an overview of the animals at the beginning, Barron books give you the authors own experiences and learnings. "Clownfish and Sea Anemones" is a great book for the new marine aquarist who is first starting out, as these little fish and their symbiosis with anemones are usually their first introduction to saltwater aquariums. From setting up the tank, info on different variations in species, and disease info, this book is a wonderful intro to these amazing little fish and their lifemates, the anemones. For more information, read more books from John Tullock. This author will truly open the doors of this hobby to the knowledge starved aquarist.