Customer Reviews

Marine Atlas Volume 1 (Baensch Marine Atlas)

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

 

 

Although what is contained in this book is good material, the atlas was in fact not what I was looking for. When I purchased this book I was not aware that other volumes would follow. In attempting to create an all-in-one sort of book, this covers filtration, etc. I bought this for the care of inverts and fish, yet half my stock will be in "future volumes"!!!!, so I can find out about them in 2-3 years, If you expect this book to be your all-inclusive guide, plan on waiting for ALL the volumes.

Great set of pictures. The authors chose depth over breadth. The first volume covers several families, leaving others uncovered [or to be covered in the other volumes] - no angelfish, no damselfish, no porcupinefish, etc. I wish the publisher would have made this partial coverage more salient. On the other hand - you will find extensive coverage of surgeonfish, even those rare ones. Another bother is the not-so-detailed index. They either left out many items of interest or burried them deep in the book. Either way, the index can be improved. Bottom line: If you are just starting up, don't buy this book. As a supplemental reading, though, it's a good book.

These reason Marine Angelfish and Butterflies are left out of this book and also the subsequent volumes, is that this is a German book written in English and the government of Germany banned the importation of all Angelfish and Buterflyfish. There is no point talking about how great Angelfish are if you cannot get them wheer you live. Also, I doubt the author has much pratical experience with them. That being said, it is still a great book that every serious hobbyist should have in their library. Volume Two covers sponges, soft corals, hard corals, and molluscs. Volume Three has more molluscs, worms, starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. There are even more volumes, I believe a total of five written now, but only these three in English.

This is a brilliant book. It tells you almost anything you need to know. But this book is vol. 1 and vol. 2+3 tells you a lot more about Invertebrates. This is the best book on shrimps and surgeonfishes and algae I have ever seen. It is translated perfect from German to English. If you live in America there is something that you may not find to interresting. It describes all the things in LITER instead of GALLON. This is its only weakness. But if you are a Marineaquarist like me, then you should purchase vol. 1+2+3

Hope you can use my little review.

Ciao

From Morten Baljscher (Denmark)

This book has been an invaluable reference. It's big 'n' heavy (hardback version) but I carry it around with me to read anyway. The photos are beautiful.

I purchased this book as a reference for all marine fish and reef organisms only to find that the marine atlas has A LOT of invertibrates and fish but missing Clown fish. It never occurs to me that these popular fish are not included in the fish sections (although it is mentioned in the picture captions here and there, but no special fish section to describe such).

As with one of the earlier reviewer commented, this was written and translated as a German book; maybe some fish types are not allowed to be sold in Germany but it is quite sad to see them selling the English version worldwide missing some of the most common species of fish that marine aquarist kept. Hopefully they will combine the entire volumne in the future for the worldwide market.

I started my first saltwater tank less than a month before I took this out from the library. I wanted to find a few "store bought" species I could mix with the ones I have captured on recent dives. This is an excellent book for anyone wanting a simple straight forward guide to the most commonly kept species. I have decided to buy this book, and the only thing bad which can be said about it is it doesn't include Octupi. (Only fish and invertebrates.) Since my library doesn't own volumes two or three I will take a chance and buy them to find out more about various mollusks I have collected.

Rarely do you find a book as concise, up to date and easy to read as this true reference guide by some of Europe's top experts.

I particularly recommmend the chemistry section written by Dr. Manfred Schluter, a well known authority on the subject. The book can be read from cover to cover by the beginner, enthusiast and experienced aquarist. Having met one of the authors at a pet fair, I can assure you he practices what he preaches.

While some of the products described cater to the German market ( which probably produces the world's best equipment ), it is also totally relevant for other markets.

The first section goes through the basics of setting up a tank from using an algae scrubber to more sophisticated electronically controlled set-ups.UV equipment, reverse osmosis, protein skimmers etc. are all thoroughly dealt with with personal recommendations dotted throughout.

It goes on to talk about water chemistry in great detail, tests, maintenance etc. Following this is a section on the care of invertebrates and fishes and a brief description of the most common fish diseases.

Before reaching the atlas section it has an extensive section on the much neglected topic of algae showing many species and the correst way of growing, collecting, transporting and cultivating them.

The atlas, while not exhaustive as there are further volumes to come, details the habitat, lighting requirements, compatibility, feeding preferences and other useful but essential basic parameters.

I can not recommend this book enough. It is superb.

There are several flaws in the book : 1)it does not contain anything on feather duster worms. 2)the units are in metric form, and they are not converted to the US version.

Besides these two the book is really a must to read.

This book is a great book if you wish to read up on a multitude of fish types, except angelfish, which are the most popular!

I found it very frustrating when trying to decide on the last of seven fish to get for our aquarium, not to find the most popular in, what seemed to be, such a comprehensive book. There is also no clear indication of what follows in subsequent volumes so I don't even know if I buy those, whether I will find the missing chapter!

The book also covers fish for both the diver and the aquarist and so as an aquarist I get very excited only to discover that most of the fish are not available at local pet/fish stores.

Apart from these I was torn about my rating because it is a very well produced and thorough book except for those few foibles.