A highly practical guide packed with easy pictorial stages.
FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand NewA highly practical guide packed with easy pictorial stages. This authoritative encyclopedia--revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in current fishkeeping technology and technique-- takes a fresh look at the popular topic of setting up and maintaining a tropical freshwater aquarium. It begins with guiding hobbyists, especially novices, through the first steps. This begins with determining the most suitable aquarium and accessories by referring to the equipment section of the book. The substrate and "life support" systems are the first items installed. Two weeks later, the first fish are added. At this time, the book provides detailed descriptions of 50 suitable plants and 100 recommended species of fish from which the hobbyist can choose. During the next ten weeks, the tank turns from an artificial environment into a living community. This is a crucial period in the life of a new aquarium often beset with problems that fishkeepers find alarming. Throughout this section, the emphasis is on providing the answers to common questions and offering practical advice to keep the system working smoothly. The book's updates bring the content in line with all of the latest fishkeeping equipment and techniques.
Stuart Thraves is brand manager of a leading aquarium company.
Before You Begin First Thoughts and Decisions DAY 1: Building the System First steps Adding the substrate Fitting the filter, heater and CO2 system Preparing and adding wood Choosing rocks Treating and adding water DAY 2: Planting the Aquarium Preparing to plant the aquarium Plant Profiles Background plants Midground plants Foreground plants Floating plants Lighting Water chemistry WEEK 3: Bringing the Aquarium to Life Tidying up the tank Adding first fish Fish Profiles First fish WEEK 5: Increasing the Fish Population Quarantine Fish Profiles Second fish WEEK 8: Towards a Stable System Care and upkeep Feeding plants Adding third fish Fish Profiles Third fish Feeding fish WEEK 12: The Finished Display This is just the beginning Fish health Routine maintenance General Index Fish Index Plant Index
[Review of previous edition: ] Tropical fish tanks are beautiful and soothing; the set-up, however, is less relaxing. It takes two weeks before you can put in your first fish and 10 weeks before the tank becomes a living ecosystem. Don't despair. This book gives you easy-to-follow week-by-week instructions with graphic illustrations to ensure success. You're also introduced to 50 aquarium plants, 100 popular [tropical] freshwater fish, and tips for ongoing maintenance. It's better than watching TV!--Liz Grogan "Good Times" (10/31/2009 12:00:00 AM)
A tropical aquarium can be a vibrant, thriving ecosystem within your home if it is set up and maintained correctly. In this second edition of a reference first published in 2009, fishkeeping authority Thraves details how to prepare as well as sustain proper environmental conditions... Color photographs accompany text that covers some 50 plants and 100 fish choices and is now updated to include the latest available equipment, such as affordable, ecofriendly LED lighting. A general index, plant index, and fish index are also provided... Critical "prep school" for aquarium fish tank owners.-- "Library Journal" (11/1/2015 12:00:00 AM)
[Review of previous edition:] Tropical fish tanks are beautiful and soothing; the set-up, however, is less relaxing. It takes two weeks before you can put in your first fish and 10 weeks before the tank becomes a living ecosystem. Don't despair. This book gives you easy-to-follow week-by-week instructions with graphic illustrations to ensure success. You're also introduced to 50 aquarium plants, 100 popular [tropical] freshwater fish, and tips for ongoing maintenance. It's better than watching TV!
Introduction We are constantly fascinated with other worlds. Apart from outer space, the only other domain we have yet to completely explore is the underwater world. It is a world of sumptuous variety, from the swirling sun-drenched waters of a coral reef to the tranquil shadows of an Amazon stream trickling slowly beneath a canopy of heavy-leaved tropical trees. These are just two examples of many thriving habitats in which plants, fish and invertebrates live together in aquatic harmony. Since the great age of discovery and invention in Victorian times, we have tried to bring this fascinating spectacle into our homes. The first aquariums were simple boxes with glass fronts in which temperate fish species were kept. With little appreciation of their needs, the fish soon expired and had to be replaced regularly. This approach would be totally unacceptable today with our regard for animal welfare. A greater understanding of how natural cycles work and the technology to sustain them now offers fishkeepers the exciting opportunity to create and maintain aquariums that will thrive for many years. This book follows the sequence of setting up and running a tropical freshwater aquarium for the first twelve weeks of its life. At logical points along the timeline of practical progress there are profile sections that feature extended selections of suitable plants and fish. Throughout, the emphasis is on explaining how vital life-support systems work, including the basic science behind the processes they depend on. Unlike many hobbies, where learning can be phased and levels of difficulty matched with emerging ability, fishkeeping requires the immediate grasp of a crucial technique -- how to turn a transparent box of water into an environment that will sustain life from day one and beyond. Fishkeepers are pet owners, with all the responsibilities that title entails. How you control that environment dictates whether your display will thrive or deteriorate into an unsightly mess. This book will give you a head start in the quest to be successful.
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