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I've been skimming through quite a lot of the threads in the "planted" forum, and if I have learned one thing, it is that I have quite a lot of learning to do in order to set up a tank. Are there any books that would be recommended for a beginner?

Thanks!

SpecialK,

If there is one book about plants themselves that I would 100% recommend then it is:

Aquarium Plants by Christel Kasselmann

If you look for a book on design, then this one comes to mind

Nature Aquarium World: Book 1 by Takashi Amano

Or do you mean something else?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm looking for a book that will teach the background I need to understand a lot of what you wrote in your 125 Log for example. I have a vague idea of water testing, dosing, equipment, etc., because of my reef-keeping experience. But I have NO idea what I would need to do to be successful with a FW planted aquarium. So I am looking for a book (or selection of books) that will discuss everything from substrate to dosing with fertilizers and other additives, to ideal water parameters, to algae control... etc.

SpecialK,

I hate to disappoint you, but such a book doesn't exist. It would be the size of the British Encyclopedia and then still incomplete .

Well, I got my knowledge (as limited as it is) from reading ton’s of online articles (one good source is the Krib), posting many times here at FP, reading other peoples posts here at FP, reading various books, and just picking up pieces here and there.

Last but not least, we learn by trial and error. I don't think I know one person that gained enough knowledge up-front to avoid issues with their tanks.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sorry, here is an add-on:

A good idea is to dismantle your questions into smaller, grouped sections and then to post this question at FP.

This way, your potential answers will focus on the topic and not be spread out all over the place (which would make it hard to comprehend).

Topics might be things like:

- How and when do I test water (what is it good for anyway?)?
- Do I need fertilizers, and if so then what?
- What is the best substrate for (fill in the blanks)?

Etc.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks. Was hoping to review an offline source such as a book so that I'd even know what questions I have to begin with.

If you promise me to keep it a secret (), here is what I do:

I go to online articles, entries, etc, that seem interesting to me, copy them into word, then I print them out and read them on the bus during my commute to work.

By now, I have read at least 250 pages full of info just from this process (not counting real books and online readings).

Just make sure that you do not distribute your documents, you know – the copyright thingy.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The magazine we have in the UK called Practical fish keeping is pretty good, well its a good starting point, the online version has some good articles


[link=http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/articles.php]http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/articles.php" style="COLOR: #000040[/link]

I read a lot of beginner books, the next level of stuff is too science based for me, even some of LITTLE_FISH's log take me some serious time to understand - big fan of the pictures! THe internet is pretty ok for inbetween stuff. THe was a good personal webiste of some guy and his set up - Little Fish do you have the link? Chuck some one or another???

GFG

_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

I have quite a lot of learning to do in order to set up a tank.

Don't we all

Ingo's right there's not much in print. Even if there were I wouldn't reccomend them, more then likely way out of date. Our understanding of how a plant tank operates and can be run without many problems has changed greatly over the past couple of years. Unfortunately a lot of the old nonsense still lurks about on the internet today and can lead people astray.

I'd read through some good forums where they specialise in planted tanks. They usually have a beginners section and the info given will be more up to date then 90% of the articles on the net. You can start with the collected ramblings of the 3 stooges here on FP and with the stickies at the top of this forum.

Don't get too bogged down on the science part, it's really not that neccessary.

Have a think about the type of tank you want. How do you want it to look,what kind of plants, what kind of maintenence your willing to put in, do you want to go with CO2 etc.

Once you decided on what you want, come back to us and we can give you a nice template, for lighting,substrate, plant choice, ferts and dosing etc to get you going without too many problems.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.