Book Description
The rich variety of tropical freshwater and marine fish makes keeping an aquarium a pleasurable and absorbing pastime. For novices and dedicated fishkeepers alike, this book is an invaluable source of information and advice to this very accessible and appealing hobby. With over 700 full-color photographs, and divided into two sections, the first section explains in very practical terms the fundamentals of setting up the aquarium, including equipment, food and feeding, water chemistry and quality, maintaining a healthy tank environment, decor, how to select the types of fish, and how to breed them. The second section examines the variety of fish and fish groups, discussing the general advantages, disadvantages, habitats, feeding and breeding requirements of many hundreds of fish in each group. For every lover of marine life, this book offers an in-depth study of the major fish groups, plus all the practical fundamentals of setting up and keeping a healthy tank environment. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author
Mary Bailey is an aquatic enthusiast. She has contributed to Cichlid News, Practical Fishkeeping and Aquarist and Pondkeeper magazines. She has also contributed to several books including Enjoying Cichlids and the Cichlids Yearbook series, and was recently voted Practical Fishkeeping magazine's "Favorite Fishkeeping Writer, 1994". Gina Sanford has written A Manual of Tankbusters and Tropical Fish Identifier and writes regularly for Aquarist and Pondkeeper, Fishkeeping Answers and Practical Fishkeeping magazines. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: Good information on tank setup and maintenanance, January 17, 1999 By A Customer This review is from: The Ultimate Aquarium: A Definitive Guide to Identifying and Keeping Freshwater and Marine Fishes (Hardcover) I found that while this book had a lot of helpful information in certain areas, there wasn't consistent information for each fish mentioned in the book. As a beginner in the fishkeeping world I was really looking for a book that could give me the basic requirements for specific fish, i.e. max. size, water requirements, feeding requirements, behavior, etc. While this information was provided for some fish, it was not provided for all, which was a little frustrating. Also I found that many of the types of fish listed in this book were not available in your typical fish store or had a name that was different than what it was commonly called (in the U.S.). This book does provide very helpful sections (almost half the book) on setting up a tank with wonderful information on water management, equipment, foods, feeding, etc. *Added 12/13/01 - After keeping fish almost 3 years I have found myself referring back to this book again and again. I would like to edit my earlier review and rating. The beautiful color photographs and information about each fish category are great. I was a little misled by the title, as I assumed that every type of freshwater fish would be catalogued in this book. Because different kinds of fish are availabe in different areas of the country/world and often they are called different names, I now realize that you would need a book the size of Webster's dictionary to be able to list every fish you might encounter!  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you?