Customer Reviews

You and Your Aquarium

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, first, great book for the beginner. If you are new but enthused, this book will help in several ways. Informs you of tank setup, maintenance, fish species and compatability, correct water biology, and a good general guide to the art. It has excellent illustrations on tank setup, from hardware to types of gravel and plants in two formats, one for hardware one for everything else, and many to choose from. A good reference on fish and types, with excellent photos from common fish in Tropical and Marine. Outlines everything you will need to setup and maintain your aquarium with interesting reading. Has a chapter on how to photograph your fish as well as how to show them. Second, I read this book cover to cover in two days, easy reading...but not to vague. If you are starting out, you must have this book. If other books have confused you, this one will help. I recommend it :).

Dick Mills writes pretty good aquarium books. However, he's written the same book four or five times. Getting any one of his books (I'd suggest "The Tropical Aquarium") means you've read them all.

Also, this book was published in 1986, and is quite out of date. The understanding of the nitrogen cycle in this book is very primative. Get a more recent book.

"You and Your Aquarium" is one of Mills' many masterpieces for the beginner to advanced beginner among aquarists. This book shows the basics of aquarium-keeping and many of the most common fish found in the tropical hobby, but advanced concepts are only mentioned at best and skipped at worst.

Since this is an older book, the concept of "fishlessly cycling" aquaria is not touched upon, which is a glaring enough omission to warrant docking the book a star.

Other than that, the beginning aquarist will find this to be one of the greatest aides to success in the hobby.

It's hard to be all things to all readers. Having said that this is the best reference I've read for the beginner who is setting up an aquarium. Initial set up and maintenance sections are excellent and are easy to understand and read. There is a helpful plant section and useful flow charts for disgnosing fish illness problems are included. The 75 page species guide (48 pages devoted to tropical freshwater) features excellent photos and keeping details. I believe this book would have appeal to both the experienced and novice fish owner and give it my highest recommendation.

I have been keeping fish for quite a long time now and I would certainly recommend this book to anyone. Dick Mills has provided the beginner and novice alike with a reference that brings and gives insight every time you open its pages. I literly learned the art of fish-keeping from this book and will still hold its teachings and advice to be true. I find myself picking up this book to simply learn and relearn what I already know. Much of fish-keeping is a personal journey of discovering what works for you, however, having this book on your shelf as a back-up is a smart thing. Some of the technology concerning filtering is a bit dated, however, this does not diminish the standard set by it information by any means. If I sound overly expressive about this book, then so be it.

This book is the best of any I've seen on general fishkeeping. It's clear, and gives good illustrations and pictures on how to set up a tank, plants and fish, and other topics. It even goes into the basics of what to expect if your fish breed, and how to build an undergravel filter.

It shouldn't be the only book you ever read on the topic (if you plan to keep fish,) but it's a really great start.

I am only a week into this hobby, and I bought this book as my first. It has a nice species guide (though not enough fish...the two very common spiecies I have in my tank werent included!). It has good tips on starting up a tank, explains the various filtration and heating methods, etc. I would have liked more editorial content, rather than general info. Still, a great resource for the beginner and adequate reference for the initiated.

This is the most comprehensive book I have ever owned on aquariums. I had a 110 gallon salt water tank for years & this book answered all of my many questions, with beautiful color pictures. I would highly recommend this book, as it was to me several years ago!

I've had an aquarium for over 4 years. A week after I got my aquarium I was lost so I bought this book. It helped alot. I learned how to choose fish, how to clean the tank, anatomy, breeding, setting up the tank and way more. If this book hadn't been around my aquarium wouldn't be around. I highly recomend this book to any beginners. It's a great book!

I am a very new member of this hobby, and I would be absolutely lost without this book. I refer to it at least twice a day. The species guide is excellent, the best I have found so far, though I would like to see more species included. Detailed and easy to understand. Absolutely indispensible. If you are a beginner, you must read it. I went from knowing almost nothing to being a confident, knowledgable fishkeeper after reading this book. It is more than worth the money.