David Alderton's Encyclopedia of Aquarium and Pond Fish: A Comprehensive Guide to Species and Care

Zephyr22: This is a great resource but the only time I have needed to look up information about a specific fish (Kribensis Cichlid) I found it was not included in the section with all the other cichlids. Other than that, it's got great information. I bought two copies for my classroom!

United States on Aug 08, 2023

Kindle Customer: I wish this book had existed 30-odd years ago when I started keeping aquariums; it would have solved a lot of problems.
However, being something of a smart ass, I believe I have found an elementary mistake in the title of this book.
What is the plural of "fish"?
Answer: there are two plurals.
3 cardinal tetras = 3 fish.
3 cardinal tetras + 2 hatchetfish + 1 neon tetra = 6 fishes.
Since a few hundred species of fish are described in this book, I submit that the last word in the title should be "fishes".
I have a modest collection of DK books, and this is the only mistake I have seen in the 3 or 4 dozen titles I have read. I doubt that I will ever see another.
That said, the book is a fine reference book for beginners and advanced aquarists alike. Highly recommended.

Canada on May 09, 2023

Bibhukanta pattnaik: Maintenance and decoration of pond ideas. Knows about fish lifestyle.

India on Jan 13, 2023

Taposh mallick: Amazing book ,just loved it

India on Nov 03, 2022

drycitieswa: Paid less than 1/3 the price of new and book arrived promptly, well packaged and in great condition. Very happy.

United States on Sep 09, 2022

MichelleMichelle: Product came damaged but nothing I could fix with a piece of tape. Other than that I'm really pleased with this book. It has great detailed information ranging on a variety of interesting topics. It also includes marine fish which I was not expecting. Lots of good info on setting up and maintaining an aquarium aswell as fish diseases and how to treat them. Also a section on setting up a pond that I'm excited to read up on. Surprisingly alot of breeding information and a section on breeding fish. This is like a fish keepers Bible it's got everything you need to know. Definitely a quality purchase.

Canada on Aug 14, 2021

nicolocin: This is a beautiful book, and the best I've found for fish profiles. The photographs are spectacular. The book is, however, somewhat out of date, despite having been reprinted just a couple of years ago. No real effort was made at that time to update the book to reflect changes in equipment or techniques. In particular, there was no mention of LED lighting, or modern substrates. Another thing I would have liked to see is a section on freshwater invertebrates, which have become very popular.

Having said all that, the main focus of the book is fish profiles, and here it shines, with gorgeous pictures and just enough information to get you started. This is still a lovely book and something that is bound to fire the imagination of the novice aquarist.

United Kingdom on Jul 15, 2020

Steven D. Bennett: Whether you are interested in pond, fresh or saltwater aquariums, this is an excellent reference; especially for beginners who want to get a scientific and common sense overview of all these categories. I have three (constructed) ponds and several aquariums and I learn something new every time I pick up this book. This book does an exceptional job on plants and every category of fish and invertebrates. Photographs are excellent and the fish synopsis, though not in scientific detail, are excellent overviews for deciding compatibility in various aquariums. Plants, fish, invertebrates, and basic hobby information are all covered. Not much on tanks, filters, etc., but all that is available in magazines in print, and on line. This, and “ The complete book of the freshwater aquarium” are sitting by my chair as I write this review. This is a perfect book for a hobbyist as a birthday or Christmas gift. You will make a child, or a old man very happy.

United States on Feb 05, 2018

BCP2677: This book is pretty great as far as pictures go. You get a nice picture for every fish listed and the pictures have pretty good color. This book has the info for every fish I needed to know about. Well... by the info I only meant the basics. It lists the Origins, Size, Diet, Water Information, and the fishes Temperament. You won't get any compatibility charts, but you can look up that info online if you're looking to setup a community tank. The authors also included a small paragraph of information for each fish. This information is usually just background information on the fishes name, distinct characteristics, breeding info, or it could be about anything else. This book is organized into three sections. One for Freshwater, one for Marine and one for Pond. One small feature that I really appreciate. It's not like some other books that just list fish in alphabetical order and then lists next to it whether it's a freshwater or a saltwater fish. Each section is organized like this, Introduction to Freshwater Fish, Directory of Freshwater Fish and then Directory of Freshwater Plants. The only difference in the book layout is that for the Marine section it has invertebrates listed...

United States on Oct 22, 2014

Chris: This is a fun picture book with only a little information on the fish breeds. It is an good place to start when looking for fish to fill your aquarium, but you will have to do additional research to make sure that your tank idea will work and that all the fish will be compatible. I enjoyed looking through here though to find fish that I enjoyed how they looked vs trying to find a large selection of fish in one spot on the internet.

Be aware, while there is a section on marine fish, this is primarily a freshwater focused book. If you are looking for lots of ideas on marine animals, I would look elsewhere. Lots of freshwater fish though.

I actually had to buy a second copy as well. My two year old loved looking through it so much that I bought her a copy of her own so that she wouldn't destroy mine.

It got knocked a start to four stars due to the descriptions and information on each fish being minimal. There is also a large section at the start on "getting started" type information. While some beginners may appreciate that, this is an "encyclopedia" of fish. I would rather the space had been used to either flush out the descriptions/info more or add even more...

United States on Sep 20, 2014