Customer Reviews

Clownfishes: A Guide to Their Captive Care, Breeding & Natural History

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have purchased and read a half dozen books that cover the question of breeding marine fish, including books by Martin Moe, Frank Hoff, and others. None of them have presented their information in the readable manner that Clownfishes does.

The sections on individual species of Clownfishes and Anemones were very helpful, including some great pictures of anemones both in tanks and in the wild. Ratings of difficulty in each phase of the breeding process are included for selected species.

"Articles" in boxes outside the text provide simple, step-by-step procedures for doing just about everything: culturing algae, culturing rotifers, setting up various tanks (brood stock, larval, growout, etc.), preparing your own foods, tricks of the trade for handling various little chores, hints on how to sell the fish you raise, and ways of doing it all with a minimum of fuss and cost.

While the main purpose of this book was not to tell someone how to setup a tank or teach about basic saltwater aquarium keeping, I found several explanations in the book to be easier to understand than those found in books by Tullock, Delbeek and Sprung, and Moe.

It is probably superfluous at this point, but I highly recommend this book - to anyone interested in breeding marine fish in particular, and to salt water hobbyists in general.

This is an excellent guide to raising clownfishes. I love the numerous full-color photos. The book starts out with a nice overview of the benefits of raising clownfish & information on life in their natural habitat.

Next, there is a list featuring detailed information on each of the host anemones. Anemone care & physiology are also covered. I found the chapter on species selection very helpful. Each of the different species is described in detail.

There is also great information on choosing companion fish. General care of fish including aquarium setup, feeding, keeping your fish healthy & treating diseases is next. A section on breeding clownfish is invaluable.

Clownfish reproduction & spawning as well as care & feeding of the eggs, larva & young fish are thoroughly covered. With its expert information this book would make a wonderful addition to any marine aquarist's library.

This is an excellent book for the marine hobbyist who is looking to keep and rear clownfish. It goes over many of the basics and goes into great detail of anenomes, species, spawning and care of the young. The beginner and even the advanced clownfish hobbyist will find this book helpful and informative, it is a definite recommendation.

This book covers every question. If youre interested in breeding clownfishes this book is a must have. A lot of detail with good photographs and illustrtions.

It is just as usefull to somebody who just wants to keep clownfishes and not breed them.

The author is well informed on the subject and has many years of experience in the field.

If you're interested in keeping clownfish, this is the perfect book. The author goes into appropriate detail on what is needed to keep clownfish, what kinds of anemones can be kept with them (and their requirements), and how to breed them if you're so inclined. I found the book very easy to understand and not overly burdened with scientific and technical language. I also thought she had a very funny sense of humor that is sprinkled throughout. The pictures are great and she's actually had experience with most species in captivity and is able to make careful distictions to specific characteristics or needs of the different species. Some things I found especially helpful were the chapter on clownfish nutrition (she's really done her homework on that) and the common sense approaches to copepod cultivation for feeding baby clownfish. A great book for those keeping clownfish, even if you're not interested in breeding them.

If you, like me, are a big enough geek to actually buy a whole book just about clownfish, You are sure to be surprised by the wealth of info this book contains. Great advice about nearly every species of clownfish. Good descriptions of common husbandry all the way up to breeding them yourself. A truly great book if you find clownfish as fascinating as I do.

Though I've only had this book for 24 hours now, I already feel compelled to review it. IMOHO, other authors in this hobby should read this book and try to produce similar materials. Highlight are: -Excellent flow from clownfishes in the wild through breeding, -Well illustrated (nice pictures and nice charts), -Written in a nice voice that is both easily understood by novices and compelling to advanced hobbyists (I'm speculating on the "advanced hobbyist" judgement here since I consider myself intermediate), -Methodical (ie. I believe that hobbyists could follow these instructions and breed clownfishes), -Fun (ie. I bought this book to learn more about one of my favorite SW families, but now I'm going to take the plunge and try to breed them).

I like this book.

I found this book to be the most interesting and important book in my marine aquarium hobby. The details on the clownfish and anemonies was very helpfull in setting the tank up. The book also carrier the reader into breeding practices, or allows one to stay with collection and enjoyment of marine aqua-scaping. There is also information in this book not found in other resources that helps significantly in enjoying this hobby.

This is probably the best written book I have seen on breeding fish. It covers Clownfish history, matchmaking, housing, breeding, and raising of young. If you ever intend to raise or breed clownfish, GET THIS BOOK. I purchased this book because I wanted to simply have some clownfish in my tanks. This book inspired me to go from simply raising these fish to breeding them, and having confidence that I can actually succeed. On top of this it also has a wonderful section on anemones. The is also very well-written and filled with a few stories from the authors real life.

I must say it was so refreshing to read Clownfishes. I have yet to find another clownfish book as concise and informative.It was written for the average individual in a manner that the majority of aquarium hobbyist would understand. A gold mine of useful information. Mrs J.Wilkerson can deservingly be proud of the contribution that she has made towards this fascinating hobby.