Customer Rating: 
Summary: Hands Down, The Best Freshwater Guide Out There
Comment: This book is to freshwater aquariums what The Conscientious Marine Aquarist is to saltwater: a treasure trove of information and an invaluable resource. It has everything a beginning aquarist needs to know about setting up their first aquarium, presented plainly but intelligently. The layout is attractive (helping to maintain interest in the subject matter).
It would have been helpful if there had been more info on the more popular fish species but that would probably be too complicated for any one freshwater book.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great "Simple" Guide
Comment: I am new to the hobby of aquaria and I wanted a guide that would give me just enough information to get started without a lot of extraneous details or esoteric information. I feel like this guide has given me the knowledge I need to get my first tank up and running. On the downside, the text repeated itself ad nauseum, major points repeated over and over. I do understand hammering home important information, but the way this guide is written is to essentially say the same thing, three times, in successive paragraphs. This fact makes trudging through the text tedious at times. Another issue I had with the guide is that the photographs scattered throughout the book do not really coincide with any description in the text. I was frequently wondering more about the fish or piece of equipment in the photo.
Overall, I am glad I bought this and would recommend it for a beginner.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For the clueless
Comment: I personally loved this book. I had just killed almost my whole tank of fish, before I figured out that I really needed more information. My favorite part of the book was the stocking schemes. He tells you what fish to buy and in what order. Some fish are hardier than others, so you buy them first to cycle the tank. The most sensative ones are saved till the end.
This book must be read completely. As an ignorant beginner, I understood that I lacked basic information, like what over-feeding does to your fish and your tank. The pictures were annoying (not by the information on them), but I just looked up the fish online. If you want to spend the time to research what kinds of fish and plants you want in your tank, this isn't the right book for you. However, if you just want a tank to watch pretty fish in, this makes it possible. It opens up the doors for further research, and wets the palette. After reading this, I was hopeful about succeeding on my second try. Because of the success of this tank (using one of his stocking schemes), my husband and I are excited about the possibility of a second tank.
His writing is humorous/ sarcastic. If you can admit to yourself that you know nothing about aquariums, you won't be offended by his tone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: If you know nothing about fish this book is for you!
Comment: My father had very large aquariums when I was a small child. Now 30 years later I wanted a fish tank for my child. I have great memories of feeding and playing with the fish and want that for my daughter. When I looked into buying equipment and fish I realized I was not going to succeed without a little studying.
This book is easy to read and has great information from one of the most prolific writers in the field. I found it was better for me to read the last section first and get excited about the fish then read the rest of the book to figure out how I was going to keep them alive.
I built a 29 gallon tank with one of his suggested stocking schemes for around $250 including everything. I stocked it very slowly and now have 4 schools of happy fish.
He did his job, I am hooked into the hobby.
Customer Rating:
Summary: usefull info
Comment: nice reference to look back on if you own an aquarium and want to keep it well maintained and keep your fish healthy.
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