FishProfiles.com Message Forums

What are the best books to read/buy for a better understanding of the proper design, set up for planted tanks?

"Don't Panic"

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Depends on what you want your tank to look like. Give me a sec and I'll go grab my lil collection.

Pretty much anything you can get your hands on with Takashi Amano. In any case, the book that Tropica puts out "Tropica Aquarium Plants" is a good resource, especially when you can't access the website. I've also got "Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature" by Peter Hiscock which I rather like.

Other than that, there's a few books I picked up at my local libraries that were helpful. "Aquarium Plants Manual" By Ines Scheurmann is interesting if not too terribly in depth. Another is "A Fishkeepers Guide to Aquarium Plants" by Barry James, put out by Tetra Press.

I'm sure there are a number of good books out there, this is what I have in my limited library.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Hi,
From another thread in Planted Aquaria...

Quote:
Aquascaping:

Enjoy Planting Your Aquarium (William Dewhurst M.D.)
Planted Aquariums (Christel Kasselmann)
Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature (Peter Hiscock)
Nature Aquarium World books 1, 2, 3.
(Takashi Amano)

These involve planted tanks. I'm sure that there are
others that involve hardscaping the tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thank you for the start. I have few planted tanks but never really research design or filtration needed. Just kind of always did what looks good, but as I read some posting on here, I find advice or opinions on things I don't agree with or have a different experience with. So being who I am, need to find out if these thing are fact or opinion.

Does anyone know of any wed sites or books that deal with filtration. I'm from the old school the more times an hour you can filter the water the better. Last night I read you shouldn't have carbon in your filter for a planted tank. i thought about this for hours i know why I use carbon and other natural media.

Basic stuff I get cycling, lighting etc.

DjRichie
Don't Panic

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Hi,
Yes, there is a lot of fact, fiction, and old wives tales
involved in aquariums. Much of what was thought to be
true was debunked and later turned out to be true.
Aquarium Fish Magazine recently ran an article about fish
keeping back in the early 1900s and as the writer says,
much of what they said then holds true today.

The beauty of this hobby is that 100 people can say one
thing, and one person can come along and say something
180 out because for some quirk of water chemistry or blind
luck, it works for them.

As far as carbon and planted tanks are concerned, it is
when one adds fertilizers to the tank to encourage plant
growth, that it is recommended that the carbon be taken
out. The carbon removes some of the trace elements from
the water. How much, would depend upon how much carbon
and the quality of the carbon. But, why add the trace
elements only to remove them with the filter? Sure, you
can increase the dosage to over come what is removed,but
that too seems foolish. Just take it out and eliminate that
problem from the git go.

Personally, I can't think of a reason, with todays filter
systems, and what we know about fish keeping, to run carbon
as a regular medium in a filter. It removes urea and
other organic compounds from circulation. But then, if you
stock lightly, don't over crowd or over feed, and do
quality water changes, including gravel vacuuming, the
carbon is unnecessary.
Adding carbon to a filter to remove a yellow tint from
the water, or to remove the last vestiges of
medication from a tank makes sense.

Get one of Diana Walstads' books, either volume I or II,
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium.

For filtration, check out FISH AND INVERTEBRATE CULTURE
Water Management in Closed Systems, by Stephen H. Spotte

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks I'll check them out

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams