Customer Reviews

Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an experienced aquarist with a flair for biotop-aquariums I have a huge library of aquarium and ecology books at home. Most of them are printed with luxury paper and coverage including breathtaking pictures. But very few of them include key information that I exactly need. Can fish food alone cover all the nutrient needs of aquatic plants, if yes how? Do I really need additional CO2 and fertilizers? How can I maintain healthy low-tech natural aquariums free from algae with sun light? What are the most significant bio-chemical reactions that take place in the aquarium gravel & soil and how do they affect the general aquarium ecology, pH, KH, CO2, Iron-levels etc? Do plants really purify water, if yes how and which plants are better purifiers? Why are emergent plants better water purifiers? What does this heavy metal talk mean concretely? Do plants consume ammonia, nitrit and nitrate? Why do they generally prefer ammonia over nitrate? etc... etc...The author of this book apparently anticipated my unanswered questions of past and answered all of them in a step by step manner without a single logical gap. Don't let yourself negatively impressed by the modest look of the book. Its content is perfect!

First, the downside: If you want beautiful color pictures of plants, buy Nature Aquarium World (the other MUST HAVE plant book). There are no photos in this book. But if you want detailed, accessible information on how to create thriving planted aquariums, buy this.

Walstad maintains that thriving planted freshwater tanks can be created WITHOUT CO2 injectors, fertilizers, zillion-watt lighting fixtures, or many other high-tech gadgets. This book contains nothing but details on how she does so, from cover to cover.

If you've ever tried adding something (Iron, Light, whatever) and gotten an unanticipated result, you will probably find the answer here. She has lots of information about how plants impact every aspect or aquarium water chemistry.

This is a MUST HAVE book for plant enthusiasts.

This book is an excellent complement to the photo-laden coffee table books on planted aquariums. It is a thoroughly-researched treatise on what biological and chemical processes happen in an aquarium. Unlike most technical books, it manages to combine both detailed discussions of the science involved (including many references to the scientific literature) with practical tips that would be useful to the beginner, using a question-and-answer format in boxes scattered throughout the text.

The author, formerly the Technical Advisor to the Aquatic Gardeners Association, proposes a "low-technology" approach to maintaining a planted aquarium, eschewing the exotic materials and gadgets favored by the German and Japanese schools of aquarium design.

The title is *very* descriptive. This book uses science instead of relying on the conventional wisdom, which is so often wrong, or the many myths about planted aquaria. Yet it is a practical and accessible text for the home hobbyist.

Many books on tropical fish and planted aquaria are little more than a concatenations of captioned postcards -- attractive color photographs with sparse, slightly informative text. Generally they follow the current trends or parrot the conventional wisdom, which has often proven to be wrong or misguided. But _Ecology of the Planted Aquarium_ is a refreshing change from the glut of "postcard" books available on aquaria. If you want pictures, this is not your book -- but there is no shortage of those to choose from.

Rather than merely repeat the conventional wisdom or trumpet a new and contrary view, this author has diligently researched what happens in a planted aquarium AND explored hypotheses to explain the results. It set a new standard for books on the subject by replacing anecdotal arguments, didacticism, marketing promises, and myth with science. Many aquatic gardening experts consider this now a standard text to read (and have for reference) if you want to keep planted aquaria.

Extensive references are included so that sources, scientific studies, etc. can be traced back for further research. This book reveals in a well-organized manner the complex chemical relationships in a typical hobbyist planted aquarium. As such, it can serve as a primer and key reference work for hobbyists. Hopefully, it will also stimulate discussion and serve as stalking horse for further research into this complex subject. Although necessarily technical, it is not unduly so nor does it demand of the reader any specialized education.

While the author does have a stated personal preference for simple, "low-tech," inexpensive methods, she lays out the basic science that underlays all methods, including "high-tech." Thus, this book, more than any other I have seen on the subject, provides a foundation for explaining why divergent and even contrary methods of setting up and maintaining planted aquaria can be equally successful.

If you plan of having a planted aquarium, you owe it to yourself to get this book.

Because after you read through this book, you are going to throw out all those C02 injectors, fertilizers, filters, and oodles of dollars of wacky equipment, and start enjoying your fish. Unless you actually like spending countless hours tinkering with your tank and flushing fish, go no further. Indeed it is a textbook but if you follow the chapter on setting up - your done! It took me a year to trust what she says but I am a convert to the low maintenance tank. No water changes and I dont even test the water anymore! My fish are so active they practically jump out when I feed them. Of course! It makes perfect sense that a tank should work as an ecosystem and perform better that way.
I believe Jaques Cousteau had some warning for us 30, 40 years ago related to this concept, but that's another story.

One of the best books I've ever read. This book is for the professional aquarist; it is certainly not for the beginner who wants book with more photos and less text. It has a very interesting and well-written chapter about the nitrogen cycle in the aquarium. The chapter includes chemical equations and tips; it includes information I've not read about in many other books. This is a serious book. Few of the subjects are: allelophaty between aquatic plants, plants as water purifiers, the bacteria in the aquarium, carbon (water alkalinity, pH, CO2, bicarbonate use, sediment CO2 uptake) and much more. As a student I found this book to be very professional, scientific, and interesting, I used this book when I had a test, and also when I had to write a work about water purifiers. As I said, it is one of the most rare kinds of books, and I recommend every person whom the hobby for him is not just 40 cm aquarium with plastic plants, to order it. It is a must have book.

Ecology of the Planted Aquarium is a good secondary reference for those who wish to set up and properly maintain a freshwater aquarium at the expert level. There are many reference books that describe plant requirements in an aquarium, for growth and water purity. This book switches the focus from plant requirements to the aquarium as an ecosystem.

The Introduction, chapter 1, does not introduce the topic but lists chapter subjects. An introduction to freshwater plants and ecosystems for the home aquarist would have provided a better link to the rest of the book. Chapter topics include plants as water purifiers, allelopathy, bacteria, carbon, substrate, plant nutrition and ecology, algal control and setting up and maintaining an aquarium. All topics are referenced to research papers from the scientific literature that most aquarists would not have easy access to. Oddly, there are also "typical or actual" questions and answers interspersed within each chapter. The!se are somewhat out of place but do provide good practical information.

There are many technical terms dealing with bacteria, nutrients, chemicals, etc that could be difficult for novices to understand and absorb. The information goes beyond what most hobbyists may want. This is a recommended book

I've read possibly over 100 books on keeping aquariums from all perspectives. The information in this book is real (though possibly exaggerated at times) and the results are real.

The information provided by Walstad was sufficient to allow me to turn a high maintenance hobby into one where fish and plants thrive with minimal work.

I have seen some authors dispute the theories that Diana puts forward, but I have seen nothing practical that supports their opinions either.

The bottom line is people walk into my house and are stunned by the beauty of my tanks, and the truth is, all I do now is add water.

I admit that I'm an information junkie and over the last 15 years have acquired quite a few aquarium plant books. Yes, this book is rather dry, but its strong point is giving you researched facts that will tell you why your tank may not be balanced and what to do about it. Although I don't agree that using a soil-based substrate is the best approach to an algae-free tank, Ms. Walstad has presented research data in an easy-to-understand format that isn't readily available in other aquarium plant books. If you want to be inspired by photos, get one of the coffee table aquarium picture books; if you want to figure out how to own one of those tanks, I'd recommend this book.

A few years ago, my brother and I owned pet shops, so I thought that I knew a bit about water chemistry.
This book showed me that I didn't.

So much information that has practical relevance. e.g.:
If pH is quite low, nitrification stops and ammonia takes the form of non-toxic ammonium.
If you raise the pH under these conditions, the ammonium converts to toxic ammonia, and you'll be countin' the floaters!

Want beautiful pictures? buy Takashi Amano.
Want beautiful plant tanks? buy Diana Walstad

One warning!

I found that the soil-underlay method tends to produce a lot of Hydrogen Sulphide (=rotten roots) during the first few weeks.
Don't supplement this type of tank with any Sulphate containing fertilizers! I think I'll try a tank with just a 1/4" of soil, or try soil that's not quite as rich.