Customer Reviews

Mini-Aquariums

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

 

 

This book provides a good reference for basic information about fish that stay small. I would not want to use a tank smaller than 5 gallons, though, and I definitely do not recommend a saltwater tank of less than 30 gallons. My only exception to the small-tank rule would be a single male betta, which I have kept by himself in a filtered three-gallon Eclipse tank. If you want to consider the best types of small fish to keep in your 10-20 gallon setups, this is a good reference. I also found his thoughts on frogs, newts, and other non-fish interesting. Basically, consider this book a helpful reference rather than a general how-to manual about fish husbandry.

I purchased this book based on information I gleaned from the "look inside" feature where the author talked about 5 gallon and 3 gallon desk-top tanks, in other words the true nano systems. This mislead me into thinking that I had finally found a resource for true nano tanks, specifically the under 10 gallon setups. I was very disappointed after reading the book and discovering that the author is really talking about 25 gallon, 50 gallon, and larger tank setups. For those who want large "regular" size aqurium setups, this book is ok. But if you are really interested in true nano setups, this book does not deliver the information you seek. It does however discuss in depth the relationship between fish, plants, and tank size, so for that I gave it one star.

Nano aquaria is tempting and difficult: here the nano concept in miniature is explored in detail, offering tips on buying freshwater and marine species suitable to the environment and plants guaranteed to survive in any nano setup from tanks to ponds. From choices to maintenance and proper setup, MINI-AQUARIUMS offers potential and excitement for even the smallest space, and is a pick for any library offering aquarium books to the general public.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I had this book in my Amazon cart before I decided to check it out at the library first and then buy it if I decided it was a worthwhile reference book. I'm glad I went with the library first. This is supposed to be a general overview of nano aquariums 10 gallons and under (generally), but was frustratingly vague or silent on a number of topics. The author has authored numerous books for TFH Publications, so I'm surprised by this. I have 14 years experience in freshwater aquariums and was looking to get into freshwater shrimp on a nano-scale, so thought this would be perfect.
The book design: Many of the most intriguing photos of nano tanks have no captions. There isn't even a caption for the cover photo. Several of the freshwater shrimp photos went un-captioned. Some of the important info. is hidden under other headings. For example, in discussing substrates, there is no "substrate" heading. It is under "Keeping to Scale." There are chapters on freshwater fish, other vertebrates, invertebrates, vivaria, and marine life, but no chapter on plants. A few are mentioned here and there, but his attitude can best be summed up as "use foreground plants." I found this very unhelpful as there must be some that are better suited than others and plants and their care are an important part of an aquarium.
Other deficits in his emphasis:
In cycling a new aquarium, he only repeats himself over and over to mature things in a mature tank. Some people don't have one, so some advice on buying tank maturing products, etc., would have been helpful.
On substrate, he says to use fine gravel or sand without defining "sand." In looking at his un-captioned photos, I assume he means the "decor sand" you can buy next to the artificial flowers and vases in any store. It looks like pulverized gravel. He devotes a page and a half to electrical safety but doesn't mention that you shouldn't use sand from the beach or river bc of the mineral content and bc you don't know what it's been exposed to before you got there. That is, if that is what he means by "sand."
He doesn't mention that copper is toxic to snails, and shrimp and other invertebrates and to stay away from many fish medicines if you have these in your tank. He doesn't mention that if you have copper pipes in your home you may want to not use that water either.
He correctly states that goldfish do not belong in a nano set-up and then discusses betta bowls for a chapter. In the beginning, he says keeping a betta in a small bowl is like keeping a dog in a cage it can barely turn around in, but by the end of the chapter, he says that what a betta is kept in mainly depends on the number of water changes and that they can be kept in a cup of water with a 2x/day water change. Without mentioning how stressful this would be for the fish.
The only thing I found extremely helpful was his recommendations on heating. In the betta chapter, he showed a chart with a large watt heater alternately over-heating and under-heating a small (2 gall.?) tank. In a different chapter under the heating heading (see how the book doesn't flow well?), he says that for small aquaria, 5 watts for each gallon is a good idea with a little more added on for cold rooms or rooms where the heating is turned off at night. This is the only reason I gave it the two stars I did. In sum, I was intrigued by the possibilities show3 gan in the beautiful photos, but didn't feel this offered enough or the right info. for even an "overview" type of book. Unless you just wanted a list of fish that stay small and happy in smaller spaces...which wasn't what I was after.
Keeping successful freshwater nano aquaria can be summarized like this:
1. Keep everything proportionate--I would never keep fish in anything less than a 3 gallon tank and even then it would only be a single male betta or VERY small fish that don't need to school. Otherwise, the fish won't get enought exercise. However, snails and shrimp use every surface of the container so the exercise footprint of the container is actually bigger for them and you can go with a smaller container. The author talks of "thinking Bonsai." This is a good description. You can have a ramshorn pond snail, a rock, a little medium-sized gravel, and a few floating duckweed in a small bowl as long as everything looks proportionate. If the snail looks too big, then it's too big for that bowl. The same for the rock, etc. Just make sure you give the snail plenty of its favorite algae. A betta in a wine glass looks out of proportion. That tells you right there it's a bad idea. Too many small shrimp crammed into a small tank makes the tank looks crowded=out of proportion=bad idea.
2. Keep the temperature of the container in your creatures' and plants' optimum ranges and keep it STABLE.
3. Keep the water clean.
4. Keep the substrate clean.
That's it. That's what I finally pulled out of this book.

Later after setting up a gallon container and using a small watt heater and then one that he would not recommend, I did not see the temperature fluctuations he claimed there would be--at least as registered on my thermometer. The bigger heater was not something like 50 watts, but it was much bigger than he recommended. Eventually I went with Hawaiian Red Shrimp and a ramshorn snail (separate containers). Neither of which need a heater.

I was disappointed in the content of this book. I was hoping for technical information and details on keeping mini-aquariums. Instead I got a brief introduction to fish-keeping and a long list of livestock.

The sections discussing the actual setup and operation of mini-aquariums was very very weak, on par with any introduction to fish-keeping book or pamphlet. No details on specific equipment or practices suitable for the subject matter.

The only redeeming feature of this book is a fairly extensive list of livestock suitable for mini-tanks.

This is my first time writing a review but I was so diappointed I didn't want someone else to make the same mistake. Because this book is definitely not what I thought it was going to be! It is VERY basic! Good for only someone very very new to the hobby!The first four chapters are about basic fishkeeping (water quality, pH, filtration, sickness) and personally I have read it much better explained in other books. As the owner of 7 saltwater aquariums (125g,75g,29g,55g,46g,10g,2g) I was hoping for more info about saltwater, but I found that the book talked alot more about freshwater. I also had not expected to find info about lizards and frogs! Personally I wouldn't try setting up any tank using only the advice in this book (much less a nano tank!!!). If you are a saltwater aquarist interested in starting a nano tank read "The Nano-Reef Handbook". It is a very informative book that I reference all the time. In fact it has been helpful in caring for my larger aquariums too. Basically I think you shoundn't waste your money on this book! Wish there had been a review I could have read when I bought this book! Anyway happy fishkeeping!

Great book for those that do not have a large amount of background knowledge on the subjest. But if you are looking for inspiration there are not a lot of ideas.

This is a great addition to my library of aquarium books. Although I can not condone squeezing any fish into a tank smaller than 10 gallons. These "Micro tanks", Would be great for a temporary display of plants only. Even small shrimp would be stressed in these small environments.