The Tropical Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver: Practical and Expert Advice on Keeping Fish and Plants [Hardcover]

Gina Sandford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998

Keeping tropical fish is the most popular aquarist hobby. The Tropical Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver is an invaluable guide to solving problems related to maintaining a freshwater aquarium, with an emphasis on what happens after the aquarium has been established. This book provides readers with advice on planning an aquarium, correct siting, water temperature and quality, decor, diseases and ailments, feeding and breeding, species compatibility, and choosing the right plants.

Gina Sandford writes a column for an aquarium magazine and is a respected fishkeeper and journalist with 35 years of practical experience in aquatics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press (MN) (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564651975
• ISBN-13: 978-1564651976
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,394,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good descriptions of fish-weak on technical info, October 21, 1999

By 

sh "sh" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tropical Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver: Practical and Expert Advice on Keeping Fish and Plants (Hardcover)

A small sparse book that covers a lot of fish & all of the basics of care and keeping -- sometimes devoting as much as a page to a particular topic. Contains some old fashioned thinking. Sandford actuallly tells you to set up your tank & let it sit without fish for a month so that it can mature. Actually, the maturing (i.e., estabilishing nitrate bacteria and nitrite bacteria for the nitrogen cycle) doesn't really start until you provide food (i.e., fish waste) for the bacteria. So the month of waiting without fish in the tank is not only old hat, it's unscientific & shows that Sandford probably never measured the ammonia/nitrate/nitrate levels in a tank during this empty tank break-in.

The question-and-answer format that accompanies the text throughout is useful on questions of fish behavior but less so for technical info like "Why is my tank cloudy?" or "What's the advantage of a canister filter over a hang-on power filter?"

There must be better sources of info available. In fact, searching a few sites on the web will get you more & better technical info than this book contains. But the pictures are generaly very good & there are lots of them. For each fish there are descriptions of habitat conditions, although these are "in-the-wild" conditions, which don't necessarily include ones that will also work well in home aquaria.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice section on Fish Identification, less on Technicals, December 12, 2001

By 

M. Woodman (Canton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tropical Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver: Practical and Expert Advice on Keeping Fish and Plants (Hardcover)

I like this book, but I bought it because it had information on fish rarely found in most aquarium books, mainly the loach families and fairly good coverage on catfish families.

I completely agree with Scott Hieber about the Maturation portion of this book though. It does not make any sense. Other than that I had few problems with this book.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dont make mistakes with your first aquarium, buy this book!, May 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tropical Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver: Practical and Expert Advice on Keeping Fish and Plants (Hardcover)

Gina Sandford presents an increadiable amount of information about fish keeping, in this very easy to read and understand, book. It clear explains every aspect of setting up a tank and keeping fish. It will answer all your questions, including the ones you havent thought of yet! The best part of the book is the profiles of the 7 common groups of fish. Each provides a tank conditions & care guide which will prevent you from placing the wrong fish in the wrong settings.