Here I am going to do a small review of all the aquarium books that I own (not including ebooks).

Title: The Concise Encyclopedia of Popular Freshwater Tropical Fish.
Author: John Dawes.
Pages: 256.
Publisher/ ISBN: Parragon/ 1-40540-514-7
Description Great info in the beginning for setting up your aquarium and what to get and not to get for it. It teaches you what to look out for when buying a new fish and even goes a little into breeding but not too much. Has a guide on fish illnesses but this to is not very detailed. Plants section is all of two pages but it has helped me before when choosing a plant. Now the species section is amazing, one of the best books I have. It gives alot of info on each fish (1 page each) including origins, tank conditions, breeding and size! This is a great book in my opinion (my favorite) and one that got me through starting up my first aquarium and choosing the fish for it.
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Title: The Complete guide to aquarium fish keeping/ Practical fishkeeping
Author: Mary Bailey & Gina Sandford
Pages: 128
Publisher/ ISBN: Sebastian Kelly, Select Editions/ 1-84081-240-0, 1-84081-087-4
Description Both books above are the same, the first having smaller font and a smaller book than the later. These books are very beginner orientated. They cover the basics of everything such as setting up, buying fish, disease, feeding etc. It is worth a read when you are setting up an aquarium but it has no specific species info.
I have actually seen this book recently in a store under yet another name, That makes me think there is probably alot of this book with different names! Be carefull you don't buy them all and then realise they are all the same inside!
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Title:The Complete Encyclopedia of tropical fish.
Author: Esther J. J. Verhoef-Verhallen
Pages: 255
Publisher/ ISBN: REBO Publishers/ 903661516-X
Description Very Much the same as "The Concise Encyclopedia of Popular Freshwater Tropical Fish" above but each book has some species that the other doesn't. I prefer the above book to this one.
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Title:The Aquarium Fish Handbook.
Author: David Goodwin.
Pages: 256
Publisher/ ISBN: Silverdale Books/ 1-85605-691-0
Description Brief intro to setting up etc, only 33 pages long. The rest of the book is specific species info. Much the same as the other two books I mentioned but not quite as good, has some fish that they do not have.
I have seen a new version of this book with alot of new species added to it.
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Title: Aquariums for Dummies.
Author: Maddy Hargrove & Mic Hargrove
Pages: 328
Publisher/ ISBN: IDG books worldwide/ 0-7645-5156-6
Description Very good and detailed book for anyone setting up an aquarium. This book is for both freshwater and marine aquariums although you can also get one solely dedicated to each. It goes through everything you would need to know to start off a new aquarium, even cycling! This really is the book for dummies that have just started out and it will be very helpful to a beginner.
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Title: Encyclopedia of Aquarium and Pond Fish.
Author: David Alderton
Pages: 400
Publisher/ ISBN: Dorling Kindersley (DK)/ 978-1-4053-2980-4
Description Goes into setting up a freshwater tank, a pond and a marine aquarium in great detail. Also has A great plant directory for all three. There is also a fish directory for all three but I feel that the freshwater books above have better freshwater directories than this book, this book contains more fish but less information on them. This is a great book and I think everyone should at least read it.
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Welcome to fishstuff.info forums everyone

Aquarium Fish: The visual guide to more than 500 marine and freshwater fish varieties written by Dick Mills

This book has long been one of the backbones of my library of helps to determine the needs of different species of fish in the aquarium. It gives the basics of fish and good information on fish by family and type within each family. The fish are pictured and examples of pictures of both male and female of most fishes are shown to help in the sexing of the difficult types. Information given on each fish includes the features of the fish as differing from others of the family, habitat they are used to living in , other names they are known by, and any remarks about special care requirements. It gives feeding types: Carnivorous, Herbivorous, or Omnivorous. Tank area usually frequenting: Upper, Middle, or Bottom. Type of disposition: Peaceful, schooling, shy, territorial, aggressive, single species per tank. There are also sections for each familial type to show the common factors within that family of fishes that will apply to all fish in that category.
I find this to be one of the books that is absolutely invaluable in the library.
It is not a new book and I found it in a used book store and it is still available in places like Amazon.com and other used book outlets online, but well worth the extra effort to find.

It is published as a part of the Eywitness Handbooks series of books. Copyrighted in 1993 Photograpy by Jerry Young is excellent and the Editorial Consultant is Dr. Robert Goldstein.

The book has 304 pages including a Glossary and a great Index in the back
and is softsided but not paperback.

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ISBN: 1564582930

Rose

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A - Z OF TROPICAL FISH DISEASES AND HEALTH PROBLEMS by Peter Burgess, Mary Bailey, and Adrian Exell (Published by Howell Book House, 1998)

This is another of the books that I use a lot and it has helped save many a fish in the time I have kept fish, both my own and those of others. It contains signs of illness, diagnoses, causes of problems and illnesses, treatments of illness and injury, and some other good preventative information in a fairly small sized book. Since it is set up in sections that are fairly easy to see the set up in from the front index of the book and each of these is set up by alphabetical order of subject it is really easy to find what you need to and if you get into the wrong section by chance there is a cross reference section sending you to the correct area. If you look up something in Section 2 that should have been covered in Section 3 you find the word there with a (3) behind it meaning to go to Section 3 to find the information. Easy to comprehend. Or the information may be referenced to a different term and easy to find.
I have used the book and found it to be right in the treatment of problems and disease more than many of the more complicated books and it is so much easier to understand. I would definitely recommend the book to new fish hobbyists as a good reference for being able to identify problems with the fish they care about.
It is a hard cover book with 392 pages. It is found mostly online in areas that specialize in used books. I got mine on Amazon.com but found them also on other sites. It is not a cheap book running about $10.00 US but it is worth it if you save a fish or two with it. It is not a picture book at all but the information is not hard to understand and it does have a few illustrations where things need them. There are a few pictures but to those who really need pictures this is not the book to use. The next book I review would be the fish health book for the picture lover.
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ISBN: 1860541259

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Manual of Fish Health by Cr. Chrish Andrews, Adrian Exell, & Dr. Neville Carrington
Published by Firefly Books in 2003

Consultant: Peter W. Scott MScl, BVSc, MRCVS, MIBIol.
Pictures in this book are credited to: David Allison, Chris Andrews, Peter Burgess, James Chubb, Eric Crichton, Max Gibbs, Les Holliday, Andy Horton, Roger Hyde, Jan-Eric Larrson, Dick Mills, Barry Pengilley, Laurence perkins, Geoff Rogers, Fred Rosenzweig, Salamander Books,Ltd., Mike Sandford, David Sands, Peter W. Scott, W.A. Tomey, Chris Williams, and William H. Wildgoose.

There are 300 color photographs and illustrations in this book. It is also a storehouse of information on fish health and the care and treatment of the problems and injuries of fish in the aquarium. It covers the problems of injury, pests, disease, deformity, and tank problems. It covers medications and differences and possible problems using some of them. It covers pictures of the fish suffering from conditions so it is easy to identify the fish that are suffering from the problems. It shows in great detail the parasitic problems and what to check for if you think your fish has parasites. If you have a fish that you do not know what the problem is this is the book you want to reach for.

Each condition is listed by system or symptom, then the causes, treatment and outcomes are explained in easy to understand detail.

In the final section of the book treatments and different medications are discussed. Each is explained and its uses are listed as well as its effect on the fish, its possible effect on the biological filter, and its possible problems.
There is also a section that is very useful dealing with the concentrations, uses and problems and helps in using salt in the Freshwater aquarium. It leaves no doubt about how much to use to maintain or acquire a concentration of a certain amount and what the effect will be on a type of fish and which fish it is safe to use on.

This is a very useful and helpful book especially for the beginner and deals with the following:

The Balance of Health in fish; Living in the Water and how they do it; Understanding the water chemistry, Planning for the health of your fish. Recognizing the poor health in your fish, Gives an a to z list of common pests and diseases, a good guide to treatments and medications, a good index.

This is a 208 page book in hardcover and if you are looking for a good book on fish heath this would be a must for anyone looking to have just one.
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ISBN: 1552978249

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Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish by Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers
Published Jointly by Ian Fuller Enterprises & A.C.S. GmbH (Aqualog) in 2005
ISBN 0-9540872-2-4

Pictures by: Numerous Photographers listed in credits in book
    (picture by amazon.com)
This book I happen to be very proud and happy to own a signed, first edition copy from the author Ian A. M. Fuller. It is a must for anyone serious about owning and loving and being able to identify the Corydoras catfish. There are a lot of types and this is the (to my knowledge) most comprehensive and best put together book on the subject. Talk about the pictures! They are marvelous and of course there are types and species that we will never see in stores. It will have you drooling for some of them and give you ideas for tanks you will be trying to find room for all over the place. These sweet fish are addictive and it is so hard to realize that there are so many types of them. It is amazing to see the different markings and lovely differences in the fish and yet the similarities.

The information given includes the fish's native place of origin and natural habitat needs. The names origin linguistically and the meaning of it. The average size of the fish, the largest size found of the specimen in each sex and the largest you can expect the fish to grow in the aquarium. It also gives if available any other information on the fish. Unfortunately it also makes us aware of how many of these wonderful little fish we really do not know a lot about.

It is well worth the effort for those who love the Corydoras to own the book and have it to enjoy browsing the different types.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it and it taught me a lot.

The book itself is 361 pages and then contains 23 pages full of credits given to those who contributed pictures to the book if this gives you any idea of how many pictures are included in the book. Totalling 384 pages.

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AQUARIUM FISHES of the World by Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod, Dr. Warren E. Burgess, Neal Pronek, Glen S. Axelrod, David E. Boruchowitz

Published by TFH Publications
ISBN 0-7938-0493-0
    (picture by amazon.com)
This is one of the most comprehensive books on fish identification and needs in any fish hobbyists library. It contains sections on plants, fish, aquarium management, and conversion charts, classification of fishes, and family and species descriptions as well as a section on fish health. The difference in this over some books available is that it is helpful to actually know something about the fish before coming to this book. Most fish are listed by both scientific and common name and while scientific names remain the same the world over the common names may not. So there may be a problem for some people using this book if the scientific name is not known at all. I have found that the book is useful in combination with other books that also mention both names so that if the common name shown with the fish in this book is not the one I am familiar with I can find the scientific name to still check in this book. (no I do not know the scientific name of every fish LOL)

It is a really technical book with a LOT of information about the fish, including the fish's home country or area of origin, the temperature needed for optimum health, the food it generally needs to be given, the spawning behavior if known, tank water conditions needed (pH, hardness, temperature, etc) and any other pertinent information needed to keep the fish as well as the minimum tank size to keep this fish.

This is really the most information you will find in a book and the book is large and good quality hardcover. I has a good index in the front and two indexes in the back of the book. The print is very small if this is a problem.

There are 969 pages in the book and then the two indexes behind that. It covers more than 870 species of fish in the book and has a pictures credits page that lists many photographers.

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Dr. Axelrod's Mini-Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes Third Edition by
Dr. Herbert R Axelrod, Dr. Warren E. Burgess, Brian M. Scott, Dr. Cliff W. Emmens, Raymond E. Hunziker III, Neal Pronek, Jerry G. Walls

Published by TFH Publications Inc.
ISBN 0-86622-385-1
    (picture by amazon.com)
More than 1800 Photographs in full color

The front half of the book is pictures with icons under and the fish's name. The icons are indicative of the following: Feeding habits of the fish pictured:
dry foods, live foods, live feeder fish, vegetarian; Reproductive: egg layer, live bearer, mouthbrooder; Temperament: peaceful community fish, aggressive or not recommended for community; Aquarium Setup: planted, rocky, gravel with no decorations, mixed decorations; Swimming Habits: bottom dweller, no special area, surface swimmer, mid-level swimmer.

The second half of the book is concerned with a comprehensive discussion of each and all families of freshwater fish without going into each fish individually. Some of them are mentioned but the book is not meant to deal in great detail with the individual fish in the same way other than the icons as listed above. It has the same type of indexing as the previous book discussed. You really need to know the scientific name of the fish to be able to find the information or at least know the family so you can look for the picture of the fish you are trying to find as this is a large book and will take some finding if you have no idea. There are some common names listed but as common names tend to be different in some areas this is not always helpful or at least I have not found it so.

It actually does have 3 indices in the back one for plants and maintenance and the other two for scientific and popular names of fish. The book contains 924 pages total without the indices and is a good reference book for those more experienced in the hobby.

Bettas A Complete Pet Owners Manual by Robert J. Goldstein PhD

Published by BARRONS     (picture by amazon.com)
ISBN 0-7641-1653-3

Not a new book and not a large book but a good guide for the new betta owner. While I do not subscribe to all the information in the book it is a good starter guide to get a new betta owner started. It does recognize the betta as a Tropical fish and realizes that the betta needs the care that a tropical fish is worthy of .

The book is available in most fish stores and online as a used book at Amazon.com and most places that carry books.

It is a 93 page paperback with a fair index in the back and a full page of photo credits. The pictures are gorgeous and give good ideas of what the different types of betta splendens are like. This does not cover any of the wild type of betta.

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The Betta Handbook by Robert J. Goldstein Ph.D.

Published by BARRONS     (picture by amazon.com)
ISBN: 0-7641-2728-4

This book contains less pictures and more information on bettas, it is for the serious betta owner. I covers both the wild and more common bettas found in the pet stores here. It goes into the origin and history of bettas, the different types of tail finnage, tank care, betta health, feeding , breeding, and even gives the places to find wild and/ or fancy bettas if you do not have sources available to you locally.

It is a general good reference for the serious betta owner that is getting into the betta hobby with more in mind than just a pretty pet.

The book is 164 page paperback with a more comprehensive index than the previous book. It is still a small book but has not got the number of pictures and illustrations that the previous book has although the ones that are there are very good.

Great reviews chickadee!
Thank you

Welcome to fishstuff.info forums everyone

You have some nice ones there too J!

Hahaha I just noticed that three of my books have a betta on the cover Rose

Welcome to fishstuff.info forums everyone

For some odd reason people like taking their pictures...LOL. The little hams.