Book Reviews

[Ralph]

If you have any plant books that you want to review or recommend (or warn people away from), feel free to post it here. If it fills up, we can make it an archival thread and maybe a permanent part of a future discus website.

[Ralph]

Ecology of the Planted Aquarium - Diana Walstad
I think I got this from Amazon.com for around $25US.
It is a very scientific look at planted tanks with charts and a few equations. I liked it because the author didn't work from any assumptions (like repeating aquarium lore) and her recommendations are all based on data. It is not the end-all to every problem but she provides a good basis for healthy plants with a minimal amount of work and expense (I liked that part). It's not a picture book and I didn't see the word "discus" in it, but if you like a scientific approach to planted aquariums, this is your book.

[Don_Lee]

In addition to Walstad's book, I have heard that the new Kasselman book is worth getting. It was recently translated from German and is available at aquabotanic.com I believe. Also, I sure like the tropica catalog/book!

Don

[Ralph]

Hi Don, Where did you get the Tropica catalog? I'm a little short on Krones right now, is there a domestic source?

[Don_Lee]

Hi Ralph,

I would try wcf.com and/or aquabotanic.com. If those do not work, let me know....

Don

[gj555]

The Tropica Book can be found at bigalsonline.com

[cramramdon]

Also you could try www.tropica.dk/catalogue ;)
All of Takashi Amano's books are must haves for any plant entheusiast's. I would even recomend them for any aquarist as there is some of the most beautiful planted tanks I have ever seen 8) Those include: Aquarium Plant Paradise, Nature Aquarium World vol. 1-3 (also great for any coffe table) and his published magazine Aqua Journal which is hands down the best magazine I have ever laid my hands on. Its fairly expensive, but theres very limited advertising and the quality is out of this world!!! There like mini volumes instead of mags. other good books include; Aquarium Plants by Pablo Tepoot and Aquarium Plants - their identification, cultivation and ecology by Dr. Karel Rataj and Thomas J Horeman.

For more info to Aqua Journal mag cruize to www.vectrapoint.com - I beleive there is a link in there to Amano's Nature Aquarium website which is also a great place to visit !!!

cram

[Ralph]

Do you have a preference for one of Amano's books, I'd like to get one but I'm not sure which is the best? I've seen some photos on the net and they are amazing, and some have discus in them. One of my planned tanks (I have about 20 in mind) is going to have an Amano lawn.

I did find the Tropica catalog at Big Al's, only $13 US, thanks for the info.

[ChloroPhil]

I would recommend #1. It has the best range of layouts and has some very insightful Layout Tips sections. #3 is nice, but I didn't find it as compelling as #1, and #2 wasn't much IMO. All three are still worth the purchase and are a standard for any planted tank enthusiast on visual quality alone. If I had to chose one though, it would be #1.

[cramramdon]

#1 is a great all around book, though a little older and semi outdated - ::) outdated for AMANO - not the rest of us ;D #3 is of all bigger tanks and a really good book - since this is a discus board and those thet may read this probably keep discus in their planted tank I would recommmend this one only for that reason - IMO they are all equally great for different reasons. One is actually good as it explains some of his techniques and has a section in the back for concepts ext.

[Wahter]

I wrote a short review on some books and magazines on my website:

http://www.aquariumhobbyist.com/discus/books/index.html

I still need to update it though - I think the Baensch books cover plants nicely and the Kasselmann book is definitely worth having (the first copy I received was bound upside down though - but the publisher replaced it no charge).

I've ordered the "Aquajournals" from Amano's ADA before - with shipping, the cost per issue is about $7.00US. I ordered 2 year's worth of back issues, plus a whole bunch of issues of "Do! Aqua" and "Suikei" at the same time. Amano has a couple more books, but they are only in Japanese. Azoo makes a nice book showing planted aquariums too (Taiwan style aquascaping).

Also, The Aquatic Gardener (AGA publication) is nice:
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/tag.html

You can still purchase back issues of Planted Aquaria Magazine as well as the Tropica catalog from AGA too:
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/bookstore.html

I think for the most part, Tropica's catalog can be found on their website.

Hope this helps.


Walter

[Ralph]

What is the Kasselmann book about? Don mentioned it too but the price is a little on the high side for me, at least without knowing more about it.

I'm not familiar with the Taiwan style, what is it?

It sounds like I am going to end up with all three Amano book, I'll probably start with Vol 1.

[Wahter]

Ralph,

The Kasselmann book is a recently translated book from the original German edition. Lots of good pics (sometimes comparing emersed versus submersed growth plus the flowers of the plants, the meaning of the names, the author's experience with the plants, etc...).

Here's a description (and you can buy it here too):
http://www.aquabotanic.com/books.htm

As for the Taiwan style; in my experience of seeing planted tanks in Taiwan, they sometimes tend to add small plastic people or animals sometimes. Other times, they will trim the plants neatly - like shrubs lining a person's yard. And some of the tanks I've seen, the layouts seem to be focused on a "shorter" height; ludwigia is cut so it's not taller than 5". If you get Amano's Aquascaping Contest magazine/ book, you can see how aquatic gardeners from different countries aquascape their tanks.

Hope this helps.

Walter

[cramramdon]

I've been trying to get those Amano aquascape contest books. Could anyone direct me with a link to where I could find them? Isn't there one for 2000 and one for 2001?

[Wahter]

You can get them from Amano's company:

http://www.adana.co.jp/

(it's in Japanese though - I recommend using the translator on www.altavista.com, which works so-so, you get a literal translation).

They post an email address at the top of the website:

ENGLISH SUPPORT (ada@mb.neweb.ne.jp)

I directed my email inquires to Mr. Nozomi Hayakawa - he's the International Marketing Manager. I think those contest result book/ magazines are around $15.00~$20.00US each.

If you enter the contest, I believe you get one for the entry fee if you place in the top 150 or so.

Hope this helps!

Walter