Customer Reviews

The Goldfish: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet

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

 

 

Aquarium technology has advanced quite a bit since this book was first written, so that portion of the book is only of limited use. However, the information on care and feeding of one's goldfish is excellent. Nonetheless, if you are going to get just one book on goldfish, I recommend The Essential Goldfish, by Maddy Hargrove, which is an updated version of this book..

Having just recently inherited two fancy goldfish (an orange veilteil and a black moor), I realized that what I knew about fish would not fill a shot glass. Not wanting to do these beautiful creatures any harm, I began a frantic search for help. This is one of the books I have found that has been a great help to me--especially in the area of my greatest concern--the health of the animals. It gives a good description of fish diseases, such as symptoms to look for, and prevention and cures. It also has a good section on the different types of goldfish and their particular needs. Most importantly, it is written in a style that the beginner can understand, because I have found some books are written over the heads of beginners. This book assumes nothing, so it is wonderful for those just starting out in this hobby. It is also apparent that the writer has a genuine affection for these creatures, which makes the information all the more meaningful.

While searching for a comprehensive guide on keeping goldfish, I discovered this book was detailed enough to give a good level of information, but not too overwhelming with irrelevant details. Neither is it too short on any one subject. The chapters include setting up an aquarium (shapes, sizes, filters), descriptions and colors photographs of several varieties of goldfish , how to sex and breed goldfish, best aquarium plants, proper aquarium maintenance, and a guide to diseases and treatments for goldfish. It also has a small chapter on keeping goldfish in a pond. Its only drawback is some of the pictures are not well captioned for the novice reader. This book goes beyond keeping a goldfish in a bowl and advances into an intermediate hobbyist level of goldfish keeping. This book doesn't lose its life after you finish reading it and set up an aquarium; it will become a good reference book to keep on the shelf for quick troubleshooting. The book offers a few pages for personal record keeping also.

This book has helped me gain an understanding of goldfish and how to take care of them. Written by Carlo DeVito with Gregory Skomal, it was released in 1996. The 156 pages consist of five chapters. The color photographs of the varieties of goldfish are nice. Several drawings are also included--one of these is a color drawing of a goldfish with its external features pointed out. Handy sidebars are interspersed throughout. Examples of topics discussed are the history of goldfish, the body and its structure, the senses, selecting goldfish, varieties, setup of the aquarium, plants, feeding, aquarium maintenance, breeding, diseases, and pondkeeping. There is an appendix, which is composed of an alphabetical listing of 80 well-known varieties of goldfish, and a bibliography. I find this to be a pleasing, useful publication and recommend it.

I just set up a small outdoor pond and was not really interested in Koi because of the cost and the fact that they can get big so goldfish seemed the logical choice.
Other than having one in a bowl when I was a kid, I didn't know anything about them. Now I know I will never put one in a bowl again and have learned all kinds of interesting things about these fascinating creatures. I am sure there are other books that may go into more detail on some topics but this book seems to cover just about everything. I don't think you will be disappointed. Clear, easy to read and understand. Good photos but I wish there were more - can't please everyone.

If you want a Happy and Healthy Goldfish, BUY THIS BOOK. I've owned this book for a year and a half and I Love it to this day!!! This book is filled with Beautiful Color pictures, easy to understand concepts, and all the information you could ever want on Goldfish. This book has made me so knowledgeable that my friends call me "the Goldfish doctor".

I have kept goldfish in the past but i never felt like i knew how to care for them properly. So i got this book to get a basic idea about goldfish and their tank requirements. This book was helpful in explaining the various types of fish and the care that they need. Also, there are many nice and colorful pictures.

I think this book is unique for several reason. It$B!-(Js a good introduction in fresh water fish. It has a good introduction on explains easily the differents types of goldfish. Diseases chapter is also very interesting. It has good photos and tips. I have read several books on goldfish and Maybe Axelrod & Matsui$B!-(Js "Goldfish guide" and Geran$B!-(Js "The proper care of Goldfish" are the best for goldfish experts but Devito$B!-(Js book is the best choise for beginners.

This book's just too general. The contents are just too basic. It doesn't contain too much info about goldfish diseases. I think the book contains info about general freshwater fishes rather than goldfishes. Also there're only a few pictures that shown the goldfish diseases. Some diseases written in the book don't even have pictures. I will say it's a book for a real beginner (knows nothing about freshwater fishes) rather than goldfish lovers.