just a suggestion

[greenterrorrr]

This is just a suggestion I would like to give all the newbies out there. I haven't posted many responses but I visit this site a few times a week over the last couple of years so I have a good idea of the kinds of questions asked here. My suggestion is to subscribe to a fish magazine. A lot of questions asked here are answered in the magazine by people that know what they are talking about. Most people here know what they are talking about but some don't. So if you want to learn a few things and have your questions answered try a fish magazine.

[Darkangel]

Hey greenterrorrr that is a great suggestion although I would like to take it a step further and recomend that they also buy a book. There are many decent books out there for a reasonable amount of money and what you spend on a book you will make up for in fish you do not waste your money on or kill. My personal choice for a great book would be the Baensch atlas volume 1. Then if you want more get volume 2 and 3 and the photo index.

[Anton Wernher]

Just because its in a book or magazine doesn't mean its sound advice. Its always best to verify any info with a couple of other sources.. and even then take it with a grain of salt.

[O-man21]

yea

[TJcanada]

Buying mags and books are a good idea...but also consider your local libraries, filled with several author's to choose from. Some fish keeping books can be expensive - and so can some subscriptions.

Good thread .... :)

Maybe to help out we should list the mags and/or books we have and what we think of them - to give future buyers/borrowers an idea of what to look for..?

Here's one book I have that I've found useful and interesting: Bettas - A Complete Pet Owner's Manual, published by BARRON'S, written by Robert J. Goldstien, Ph.D. I enjoyed this book, it deals with characteristics of genus,betta genetics, different types of bettas and thier spawning habits(mouthbrooders/bubblenesters) with "how to's" on breeding, housing and feeding, and a brief chapter on disease and treatments.There's also a list of clubs,websites, other books, etc. at the end of the book.

Anyone else care to share...?

[Cuddlebug910]

When I told my parents that I planned on setting up an aquarium they weren't too thrilled. Not that they didn't like aquariums, cause they've had numerous tanks in the past... My mom came home a couple days later with a book that she swiped from one of her coworkers. Aquariums for Dummies. Yup. Go ahead. Laugh. I did.

But then I read it. I read almost all of it actually. And while there's some things in there that I now question, it's actually a pretty good source of beginner's information. It doesn't have a lot of pictures, which is why I purchased Barron's Aquarium Fish shortly thereafter. This book has got a lot of pictures of the more commonly kept fish (and some oddballs) and brief profiles.

These are the only two fish books that I currently own. But I'm always checking 'em out when I go to the bookstore. And I've managed to find lots of good info online, mostly at this site and the links provided by the people that frequent it! :)

[Cichlid Woman]

Boy am I glad you brought this up. Something I've noticed lately that's really starting to bug me--all the aquarium magazines I've found (both of them ...) have saltwater and freshwater in them. I subscribe to Aquarium Fish magazine, and at least half of the content is saltwater--which I don't have and don't want. It bothers me that I'm paying substantially for pages that I don't want to read. I want freshwater!!

What I've been trying to find for about the last week, both on magazine stands and on the internet, is an exclusively fresh-water aquarium magazine. If I could find one, I'd subscribe to it instead of Aquarium Fish.

Does anybody know of such an item?

Thanks,

-- Pat

[slipknottin]

thats because there are more people interested in learning about SW...

more people = more money :D

[RTR]

The aquarium mags do divide space between FW and SW, but if you at least skim over the SW articles, you will find a lot of biology that is just as applicable to FW as to SW.

[Darkangel]

Be that as it may Anton Wernher the info is usually fairly good and gives a starting point. I believe a good book is an invaluable tool in fish keeping. Getting other opinions is a good idea but at least you have something to compare it to and if it made it into print it must have some merit. I would be willing to bet that most if not all multi tank succesful aquarists have a few good books in their possession. Cichlid Woman, unfortunatly they all have some saltwater even the British Aquarist and Pondkeeper. You can get some usefull info even from reading those articles though.

[TnCgal]

Wow... this is really ironic that this thread has come up when it did because I will be making an announcement later this week about a new magazine article-based project I have been working on that involves articles taken from Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine. This project will be taking place in the General FW forum and I know you all will help make it a success !

Stay tuned, because I promise you that anyone serious about the hobby will love the new feature I am working on. There will be some serious learning potential here ! :)

As a commentary : I "will" tell you that I have researched the various magazines for this project, and by far Tropical Fish Hobbyist publication is heads above most other fish mags in terms of content and quality. One look at the December issue and I was totally blown away, and the January issue blows the December one away even !

I will announce the new feature later this week so stay tuned !


YOU GUYS ARE GONNA LOVE IT !!!! :D

[Anton Wernher]

Wow TnC you've surely got my attention.. should I start subcribing to this mag now? btw any more projects you got up your sleeve? :P

Darkangel,
I couldn't agree more. Just pointing out that just because something is in print doesn't make it right. I have seen a lot of bad advice in magazines the past couple of years.

[jiggerpolebill]

this is the book i bought to learn about fishkeeping:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0793821010/qid=1039066561/br=1-12/ref=br_lf_b_12//102-0670290-5124906?v=glance&s=books&n=5055

i believe the author is the editor of tropical fish hobbyist adn has worked with dr. herbert axelrod as well.

[TnCgal]

Anton,
LOL ! I would highly recommend that magazine even if I didn't have any tricks up my sleeve ! ;) It is SO worth the information. TFH seems to be on the cutting edge of a lot of new ideas and they bring a whole new approach to fish-keeping and have a lot of the same philosophies as AquariaCentral.

Jiggerpole,
Yes that book was written by my friend and Editor of TFH magazine David Boruchowitz. It's very uncommon to see the Editor of a publication so hands-on and personally involved in the hobby as he is. He has earned the respect of many fish-keeping experts over the years as being totally dedicated to bringing information and new ideas out to the forefront ! Thanks for mentioning that title... it's a good one !

OK no more hints ! :cool:

[BigFishDude]

David Boruchowitz is the editor of TFH again? I'm glad because when I stopped reading TFH that Mary Sweeney was Editor. She was one of the main reason I stopped buying it. She totally butchered that mag.

[TnCgal]

Yes, he is. Check it out for January, you might be surprised. They have started a few new features and columns with the same awesome content ! It's really an awesome read. They don't just report about fish-keeping, they experiment with it and bring brand new, cutting-edge information to the forefront. They are head's above the competition, IMO.

[Twilight]

Now why would anyone go out and buy a fish magazine or book when they have this great place to find out all they want to know? You can just read all the forum topics here without even asking anything and still learn a lot. But a book or magazine would make a great stockin' stuffer or gift!