Encyclopedia Of Aquarium & Pond Fish Paperback – January 1, 2008

This book is pretty great as far as pictures go. You get a nice picture for every fish listed and the pictures have pretty good color. This book has the info for every fish I needed to know about. Well... by the info I only meant the basics. It lists the Origins, Size, Diet, Water Information, and the fishes Temperament. You won't get any compatibility charts, but you can look up that info online if you're looking to setup a community tank. The authors also included a small paragraph of information for each fish. This information is usually just background information on the fishes name, distinct characteristics, breeding info, or it could be about anything else. This book is organized into three sections. One for Freshwater, one for Marine and one for Pond. One small feature that I really appreciate. It's not like some other books that just list fish in alphabetical order and then lists next to it whether it's a freshwater or a saltwater fish. Each section is organized like this, Introduction to Freshwater Fish, Directory of Freshwater Fish and then Directory of Freshwater Plants. The only difference in the book layout is that for the Marine section it has invertebrates listed instead of a plant section of course. Overall I'm glad I purchased this book and I think everyone into fish keeping should own it.

Whether you are interested in pond, fresh or saltwater aquariums, this is an excellent reference; especially for beginners who want to get a scientific and common sense overview of all these categories. I have three (constructed) ponds and several aquariums and I learn something new every time I pick up this book. This book does an exceptional job on plants and every category of fish and invertebrates. Photographs are excellent and the fish synopsis, though not in scientific detail, are excellent overviews for deciding compatibility in various aquariums. Plants, fish, invertebrates, and basic hobby information are all covered. Not much on tanks, filters, etc., but all that is available in magazines in print, and on line. This, and “ The complete book of the freshwater aquarium” are sitting by my chair as I write this review. This is a perfect book for a hobbyist as a birthday or Christmas gift. You will make a child, or a old man very happy.

This is a great resource but the only time I have needed to look up information about a specific fish (Kribensis Cichlid) I found it was not included in the section with all the other cichlids. Other than that, it's got great information. I bought two copies for my classroom!

This is a fun picture book with only a little information on the fish breeds. It is an good place to start when looking for fish to fill your aquarium, but you will have to do additional research to make sure that your tank idea will work and that all the fish will be compatible. I enjoyed looking through here though to find fish that I enjoyed how they looked vs trying to find a large selection of fish in one spot on the internet.Be aware, while there is a section on marine fish, this is primarily a freshwater focused book. If you are looking for lots of ideas on marine animals, I would look elsewhere. Lots of freshwater fish though.I actually had to buy a second copy as well. My two year old loved looking through it so much that I bought her a copy of her own so that she wouldn't destroy mine.It got knocked a start to four stars due to the descriptions and information on each fish being minimal. There is also a large section at the start on "getting started" type information. While some beginners may appreciate that, this is an "encyclopedia" of fish. I would rather the space had been used to either flush out the descriptions/info more or add even more types of fish.

This is a very nice book for beginner and intermediate fish hobbyists. While it does not contain extensive start up and maintenance information that other indoor tropical aquarium books offer it has enough basic information to make it a good reference guide none the less. What really makes this book a must have are the photographs and the detailed information regarding the start up and maintenance of pond fish. Approx. one quarter of the book is devoted to pond fish. Marine fish, invertebrates, and plants are also covered in great detail. Vivid colors and detailing allow one to get a true representation of what the species really looks like. Facts about the species of fish are pretty detailed and informative making it an ideal reference source. One cannot go wrong with this book.

This is a very good book, with lots of info and even more images. Goes through a step by step process on how to buy and aquarium to even buying fish online!! Something I’ve never even considered.

I love this book. Beautiful pictures of an enormous variety of fish and plants commonly kept in aquariums. An excellent introduction to each of these magnificent species.

Pretty awesome book. Fantastic quality color photographs illustrate fish. Has gotten my 3 year old hooked into tropical fish. He will flip through the book for about an hour a day after which he always informs me of the next fish we need to acquire. The book has also been immensely useful for me to determine which fish are compatible, what their needs are, and what other considerations I need to be aware of as a novice aquarium hobbyist.

I wish this book had existed 30-odd years ago when I started keeping aquariums; it would have solved a lot of problems. However, being something of a smart ass, I believe I have found an elementary mistake in the title of this book. What is the plural of "fish"? Answer: there are two plurals. 3 cardinal tetras = 3 fish. 3 cardinal tetras + 2 hatchetfish + 1 neon tetra = 6 fishes. Since a few hundred species of fish are described in this book, I submit that the last word in the title should be "fishes". I have a modest collection of DK books, and this is the only mistake I have seen in the 3 or 4 dozen titles I have read. I doubt that I will ever see another. That said, the book is a fine reference book for beginners and advanced aquarists alike. Highly recommended.

Indeed a good choice

Very informative from beginning to end

Very nice, very helpful

I liked the quality and presentation of this hard-cover book. It is an excellent reference guide.