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sirbooks Moderator Sociopath Posts: 3875 Kudos: 5164 Votes: 932 Registered: 26-Jul-2004	Edited by sirbooks I would like to start reviewing some of the aquarium books I own. Reading through a good book gives you more information in a more convenient format than does wading through threads and articles online. Everyone else is strongly encouraged to add reviews of their own books, just try to keep them helpful, objective, and readable. Hopefully those looking for information will find these comments beneficial. American Cichlids 1: Dwarf Cichlids A Handbook for their Identification, Care, and Breeding by Horst Linke and Dr. Wolfgang Staeck As the title indicates, this book is about South American dwarf cichlids. It covers Apistogramma, Laetacara, and Papiliochromis (now Mikrogeophagus), as well as eight other genera. Rather than simply being an identification guide, the book goes so far as to explain the general taxonomy and morphology of these cichlids, as well as their ideal living environments. It details the differences between average water values of three common types of South American rivers, whitewater, clearwater, and blackwater. This is helpful, as the average aquarist is under the impression that fish from South America always live in the same type of water, soft and acidic. After the introduction and general information, the book begins to describe seventy-five different dwarf cichlids, species by species. Again, instead of the typical one page per fish format, with a photo and a few facts, this book is more in-depth. Expanded information about care and breeding is available for most species, especially those that are relatively well-studied. Water parameter information from a wild collection site is listed for every fish. The photos are very beautiful, and often include pictures of both the male and the female of a species, as well as pictures of its wild habitat. One annoyance is that sometimes totally out-of-place images are inserted into profiles, such as the picture and caption about airplane travel in the rainforests. One problem with this book is that the English used is sometimes lacking. This is understandable because neither author is a native speaker, and it fortunately doesn't take away much from the overall high-quality of the text. Though it is somewhat dated (copyrighted in '94), this book is very informative and helpful to anyone with an interest in keeping or breeding South American dwarf cichlids. Aqualog all L-Numbers by Erwin Schraml and Frank Schafer Second edition This is a photographic index of the known L and LDA numbered plecos. It features a checklist and a large picture gallery, including each L and LDA plec. The book has picture symbols under each image which give basic information about the catfish, such as maximum size, preferred temperature, and diet. Unfortunately, the information for each pleco does not get much more in-depth. The checklist at the front of the book contains a few facts about each fish, but nothing very substantial. Ideally much more text would be dedicated to each fish, but that would turn the book into a heavyweight and raise the price. Since so many fish are covered, it just would not be practical. The pictures themselves are spectacular. The majority of the fish have multiple photos each, though a few do not have pictures and are represented by a drawing. Many of the plecos are gorgeous, and can only be described as eye candy. The photos are the meat of the book, and take up well over two hundred pages. It has been reported that some of the fish are misidentified and their locations mislabeled, but these errors are not common. This book is written in German and English and is fun to look through. It is not the type that is read cover to cover, but serves as a pictorial guide. This book is enjoyable to browse and, while pricey, serves as the most complete reference to Loricariids yet. It will eventually become outdated, but until then it is a good book for any pleco lover. I'll do another one or two of my freshwater books, but I don't have many that are worth posting. A bunch of them are cheapies. I will also review some of my saltwater books in General Marine shortly. Have a great Christmas holiday. And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."
Posted 23-Dec-2006 02:47
bananacoladafuze Enthusiast Posts: 170 Kudos: 147 Votes: 19 Registered: 20-Mar-2005	This is a great idea. I'm going to buy the L-numbers book for myself for Christmas. ______________ Cake or death?
Posted 23-Dec-2006 04:30


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