Product Description

This comprehensive book shows you clearly and simply how to set up a stunning tropical freshwater aquarium on a week-by-week basis, including when to put in your first fish and how to grw aquarium plants to perfection. Crucially, the book explains how to continue caring for yournew aquarium long after the system is up and running.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9099 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

From the Inside Flap
At the core of this book is an extended photographic storyboard that follows the stages of creating a tropical freshwater aquarium.
From day one to week twelve and beyond, this real time practical sequence provides a unique insight into the successes and setbacks of turning an empty glass box into a thriving underwater world. At logical points along this timeline of practical progress, profile sections feature selections of aquarium plants and fish.
The emphasis is on explaining the natural cycles involved and stressing that successful fishkeeping demands care, compassion, creativity and technical expertise. The ideal hobby, in fact.

About the Author
Stuart Thraves has had a lifelong fascination with fish. This led him to study them at Sparsholt College in Hampshire, England. Stuart's interest in fish has also developed into a favourite hobby - diving - which he enjoys pursuing around the UK and in the Red Sea. Today, he is Brand Manager of a leading aquarist supply company. His day-to-day experience of the hobby keeps him abreast of the latest developments and provides an ideal platform for writing this book.

Excerpted from Setting Up A Tropical Aquarium by Stuart Thraves. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
BUILDING THE SYSTEM
The first day of the setting up process will be dominated by positioning the tank, installing the equipment and introducing the first of the hard landscaping and decor into the aquarium. However, by the end of day one, you will begin to have a good idea of how the dispaly will look.
Before you start assembling the equipment you have bought from the aquarium shop, make sure you have the following tools to hand:
A long spirit level
Screwdriver
Sharp scissors
Nail or scrubbing brush
Water jug
A couple of old towels
A four-way electrical extension
A plug-in 24-hour timer
Double-sided sticky tape or sticky pads for attaching the background (see page 13)
Cable ties
A 10-litre (2-gallon) plastic bucket

The bucket is one item that you will need for the entire life of the display, for transporting both clean and waste water. It is also the ideal place to store all your aquarium maintenance equipment. It is a good idea to choose one with clear markings so that measuring out the water capacity for your display will be easy. Alternatively, you can put your own markings on the outside.
You may also like to set aside some dry clothes in case your sleeves get wet or you are splashed during the setting up process.

Customer Reviews

Very Informative and Well Laid Out

This book is not cheap, even at Amazon prices but it is worth the extra few pounds. The author has been involved in the writing or co-writing of a number of aquarium/tropical fish books and has certainly got the hang of how to go about producing a good book, covering all aspects of fish-keeping.

The book takes you step by step through the business of setting up an aquarium, something that you must know how to do correctly, because if you don't the results can be catastrophic. Most people when they get a tank, immediately want to see some fish in it. Disaster strikes and they give up the idea of keeping fish before they have even started.

This book tell you the correct way to set up the tank when to introduce the plant and more importantly when to put fish in. Without going into great detail here, a chemical process needs to take place before the water is fit to put fish in. Putting fish into water that five minutes ago was in the tap is a sure recipe for disaster. The book explains what needs to be done step by step.

Follow the instructions in the book and you will have a wonderful looking tank with beautiful, healthy fish, some of which are shown in the excellent photographs in the book. The old saying "it's easy when you know how" illustrates why you should buy this book and anyway watching the movements of brightly colored fish , that rapidly become tame enough show their hungry when you get the food out is much better than watching TV and more relaxing.

Superb introduction to tropical fish-keeping
There are lots of books about setting up a tropical aquarium, but this is the best I've seen so far, by a long way. It is clear, superbly illustrated, and full of invaluable information.

It takes you day-by-day, then later week-by week, through the process of choosing and installing your aquarium, choosing and adding the fish, and ongoing maintenance. The first half of the book concentrates on choosing and setting up the tank, equipment, decor etc. There is a superb guide to aquarium plants, their various requirements, how big they grow, and how to care for them, with a separate plant index at the back. There is a useful and not too technical section about water chemistry - this can seem daunting to the beginner, but this book takes you through the basics gently, with useful illustrations and colour photographs, even showing you how to read the water test kits accurately. It's really important not to add fish too early to a new tank, and by following the timetable in this book, you can see there's plenty to do in those early days.

The second half of the book looks at the fish: starting with the hardiest fish suitable for your new tank, and moving onto the more exotic and delicate species. Most of the popular tropical species are described, with beautiful colour photos, and a summary of their requirements and problems to look out for. This is not as detailed as some books which focus on just the fish, but an excellent way to pick out your favourites for further research where necessary.

And it doesn't just abandon you once you've set up your tank and put in the fish. There are also some excellent sections on the maintenance of your aquarium, cleaning, pruning and transplanting plants, dealing with algae etc., again illustrated with helpful colour photos that actually show you the procedure described in the text. Things like cleaning the filter for the first time can be quite daunting for a beginner, but so much easier if you can see photos of what the various bits look like and check you're doing the right things, and the water really should look that colour, etc. Although the section on fish diseases is quite brief, there's a really useful illustration showing what the various symptoms look like - this poor fish (no, children, not a real one) with everything from mouth rot to whitespot - it's a really easy way to identify any problems for further investigation.

Finally, a general index followed by separate indexes for fish and plant species make it easy to find the information you need.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone new to tropical fishkeeping, even if you've already gone out and bought your tank.

Five Star Book
A superb book, clearly written with step by step instructions and pictures to setting up and maintaining an aquarium. Has given me all the confidence I needed to set up my own aquarium and would thoroughly recommend this to anyone starting out.