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93 of 94 found the following review helpful:
 Some great features to get your started, but needs a few improvements Jul 19, 2005
By John H. Henderson
My wife and I picked up this book in the pet store along with a 29-gallon starter kit. It might have been better to read the book first, but I lucked out in that there was nothing really wrong with my kit (All-Glass kit with Tetra components). I like the For Dummies books, and looked through the Dummies book, but this one got me with its colorful photos, but is written in very much the same style as Dummies: Cartoons beginning the chapters, call-outs in the margins, friendly writing style, etc.
If you're a raw beginner with aquaria, I don't know what you could need that this book doesn't cover. I think the most valuable unique feature is the last chapter which includes a dozen or so expertly predesigned stocking schemes. Compatible fish are chosen, and the numbers given for your size tank (29- or 50- gallon) to ensure success. We are following the Asian biotope with White Clouds, Rasboras, Gold Barbs and Dwarf Gouramis.
Probably the most annoying thing about the book is that the photos of the fish are scattered throughout the book. It is nice in that while you are reading on more mundane topics, there's a fish photo to remind you of your results. I can see the advantage of this, but when you want to see what a Dwarf Gourami looks like, you have to search through the book. The index lists the fish, but does not reference the photographs! A separate index of the photos would be nice, or, at the minimum, list the photos in the regular index.
The author strongly suggests a 50- or 55-gallon tank to begin with. This is not a bad recommendation. But he realizes that that's not practical for all households. A 29 gallon is his second choice. The things he preaches are regular water changes, no overfeeding and not overpopulating the tank.
Mr. Boruchowitz suggests placing the tank near a floor drain and where a hose easily reaches. I suspect that this is not possible for most people who want an aquarium, like us, to add ambience to your living area. To meet his suggestions, we'd be putting the tank outside on the patio or on the bathroom sink! Therein lies the main disadvantage of a larger tank - water changes need to be done with buckets.
Although he does tell you the correct pronunciation of "cichlid," I wish he had discussed other pronunciations so you don't feel like a fool in the fish store. (Gouramis: Gore-A-meez or GORE-a-miss?). A half page on Latin pronunciation would have been a cool addition.
There seems to be a wide range of recommendations on what to do while cycling the tank. Some experts recommend 10-15% weekly water changes while cycling or not. They argue that letting the ammonia level rise encourages the development of the nitrifying bacteria (this is a good thing - we're trying to do this) and there is little unusual you need to do. At the other end of the spectrum are those who do large and frequent water water changes while cycling to keep the ammonia levels down for the benefit of the fish, and argue that the bacteria will develop fine regardless. Mr. Boruchowitz falls very much in the latter camp, also encouraging frequent water testing while cycling. I guess my point is to be aware that there's a range of opinions on this topic, and you may find that you can be sucessful with less work than presented. (My expert aquarist coworker told me to not bother testing and don't do anything heroic with water changes.)
Other reviewers complained that the author did not focus much on the fish. There are 1000-plus-page books on freshwater aquarium fish, and I believe that this is outside the scope of this book. There is enough discussion of fish to make you avoid problems, and if you follow the suggested stocking schemes, you should be successful. This book is addressed to beginners. Once you're successful with a scheme in this book, you can spend a lifetime researching other fish to keep.
This book also explodes many misconceptions, like that fish only grow to fit the size of the tank, (They grow until the tank is too small to support them, and they die!) and that you must have an algae eater in the tank (the problem is that people use an algae-eater as an excuse to omit proper maintenance, or don't consider its load on the tank).
I HIGHLY recommend this book to someone starting with an aquarium for the first time (and would suggest getting the book first, but when we decided to get an aquarium, we were too excited not to buy the whole outfit!). I only did not give it five stars because there's room for improvement, especially in indexing the fish photos.
52 of 54 found the following review helpful:
 Buy this book - Before you buy ANY fish!!! Sep 28, 2003
By jd
I was getting very discouraged (after killing about 1 1/2 tankfuls of fish), so I browsed here on Amazon and found this book. I wish I could give it 6 stars. Everything we beginners do or are led to do, is doomming our fish to a quick demise. If you plan on getting a 10 gallon tank with an undergravel filter(the typical beginner package) filled with a random assortment of fish - you are almost bound to fail. This book will explain why - and also give you recipes for nearly guaranteed success. I wish I got this book a year ago - as do all me poor dead little fishy friends, too, I suspect.Bottom line - if you are a beginner - GET THIS BOOK!
38 of 39 found the following review helpful:
The best beginner's guide Jan 18, 2004
By TooManyBooks
Before I bought my first aquarium, I read several books for beginners, and this is by far the best. Anyone who is interested in fishkeeping and follows the advice in this book will have a successful experience. All the basics --tank sizes (DON'T start too small!), essential equipment, water quality, feeding, etc.-- are covered clearly and thoroughly. In addition, the advice about chemicals and equipment to avoid will save you money and prevent stress on both you and your fish. Finally, the stocking schemes offered (there are many, many options) are like having an expert go fish shopping with you so you can choose the perfect selection of fish based on your preferences and tank size while avoiding the expense and disappointment of choosing incompatible or unsuitable species (e.g., aggressive fish, fish that grow too large, fish that require very special environments).If you are beginner in the hobby, buy this book, follow the advice, and you will have a great experience!
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
An excellent first book, with a couple minor issues Aug 29, 2006
By SirWired
My first attempt at finding a quality aquarium book was "Aquariums for Dummies". Big mistake. That book was worthless trash. Read my review of it if you really want details.
I had seen a couple of reviews here and there for this book and picked it up instead. This is more what I had in mind. While this book is quite good, you are still going to have questions of your own, so I think it would still be worthwhile to join an internet forum AND find a quality local store to get more information.
Like pretty much all starter fish book authors/websites, he emphasizes that you should buy the largest aquarium you can accomodate in your house. He uses a 29 Gallon as the absolute minimum, and suggests a 50 gallon if you have the space. This is sound advice. If all you have is room for a 10 Gallon aquarium, I am pretty convinced that it just isn't gonna work until you understand fish and aquatic biochemistry more. I know I have been thoroughly frightened from doing such a thing.
In this book, he seems to cover pretty much all you need to know to get started. One thing you must keep in mind is that this is a "how-to" guide for a first aquarium. This is NOT an aquarium encyclopedia. It does NOT have hundres of pages of fish reference information. It does NOT have exhaustive information on every gadget available on the market. If the author doesn't think a gadget/fish is appropriate for a beginner, he usually makes a short mention of it and then moves on. For the things he thinks you should buy, he goes into enough detail to go to a good store and have some idea what questions to ask to make final selection.
Like other reviewers have mentioned, he is a fanatic about frequent large water changes. He suggests at a minimum you should change 25% of the water once a week, and prefers 50%. Unfortunately, he doesn't really take into account that for most folks the aquarium won't be near a drain or faucet. (It sounds like he has dedicated temperature-controlled faucets fed by pristine well water, and of course drains to match.) While there is a solution to this besides buckets (its called a "Python", a sort of faucet-powered siphon), he could have offered more information about it. For instance: if your water is chlorine/chloramine-treated, can you still do large water changes yet treat the water in the tank, or do you have to use buckets? How do you get the water you are about to add to the correct temperature? Is water from a hot water heater safe to use? This is the sort of question that you are going to have to get answered somewhere else. It is true that you need to change some of the water once a week, but this is the only source I have seen that suggested 25-50%. Some other sources suggest 10-15%, unless the fish are stressed or diseased.
Unlike the other book I read, he makes crystal clear the need to contact your water company and find out if they treat your water with chloramine instead of chlorine, as the chemical you use to treat it must be different if it is, and it is quick death to fish if you do not treat it properly.
On the other hand, he seems much more realistic on the topic of under-gravel filtering. Namely, it is difficult to clean all that gravel properly, especially in a decorated tank. The consequences of not cleaning properly can range from nasty toxins being relased to just the filter becoming ineffective. I have seen other sites/books suggest a UGF as a good idea for every tank, but the approach here seems to make more sense.
Some reviewers have mentioned that the information on fish itself is a little sparse. I think that the information provided is enough to get you started in having an intelligent conversation with a good fish shop. He gives many suggested tanks, but in many cases leaves individual species up to the owner, just giving guidelines for a family of fish, and suggesting maximum sizes.
I am a little puzzled that some have said he is lax in information on how many fish can go into the tank. He spends well over a page saying why "rules of thumb" like 1" per gallon just don't work, and covers the concept of fish mass and bio-load. He mentions which fish (like Oscars) are particularly messy, and expects you to trust his judgement for for the load of his "pre-mixed" tanks. I don't think any book for a beginner could adequately cover being able to compute bio-load.
He gives exhaustive coverage of the Nitrogen cycle, which according to him is the single biggest source of problems with beginners. I believe him.
He is also a fanatic about beginners not messing around with chemicals or medications (with the exception of dechlorinator and Ich medication.) I think he is correct in saying that beginners simply do not know enough chemistry/fish medicine nor do they have enough experience to just pull suggestions out of a book and start dumping stuff in the tank. He suggests consulting with your local fish store instead to thoroughly discuss problems. This sounds like good advice to me.
And yes, this guy does have a bit of an ego. I would rather instead of reminding the reader how much he knows so often, he should let the reader decide that for himself.
In summary, I think this book has mostly adequate detail for a beginner. An experienced hobbiest would likely be bored. However, this book is not complete enough to make one trip to a chain store and get everything you need. You are still going to need a knowledgable person to answer specific questions about the tank you want to set up.
23 of 23 found the following review helpful:
An easy & fun read to get you hooked to topical fishies Nov 15, 2003
I must confess, I have never thought much about fish. Except to ponder if my salmon would be better poached or barbequed. I am more of a furry animal person. One night my husband said, we should get a fish tank for the kitties - it would be like TV for felines. Ha ha ha. The more I thought about it, the more interested I became, and of course visited Amazon.com to browse around. After reading just a few reviews for various fishkeeping books, on thing became very clear: it is REALLY easy to screw up a fish tank. Disaster can take the form of a tankful of green crud, several dead fishes, and a lot of wasted money. My visions of buying a glass box, filling it with water and throwing in a bunch of pretty fish were decidedly dashed. Well, I bought this book anyway, thinking fishkeeping would probably turn out to be too complicated and time-consuming for me, but what the heck. The kitties would love it. It is true that it is easy to mess up a fish tank, but it is also true that it is just as easy to keep one clean and beautiful. Mr. Boruchowitz's book is specifically aimed at beginners, and assumes you know nothing about fish (except whether you prefer poached or barbequed). The layout of the book is logical and easy to follow. He tells you up front the pitfalls beginner aquarists run in to, and how to avoid them. And avoiding them does not take much effort or brain-strain. It *does* take some planning and a bit of research, both of which I found to be fun when I used this book as a guide. "The Simple Guide to Fresh Water Aquariums" is just that - simple. It discusses tanks, equipment, food, decorations, and the fishies themselves, all in plain english. Although there is a lot you *could* do with your fish tank, Boruchowitz stresses for first-timers it is important to succeed with your tank. Mr. Boruchowitz tells you very simply how to do just that, without losing a lot of time, money, or hair. There are many obstacles to navigate: expensive technologies that say they do everything but your laundry; bogus information from the Web, magazines, and pet stores about which fish can live together; how much time it really takes to maintain your aquarium and keep the fish healthy. I cannot imagine trying to sort the seaweed from the fish poop without this book. Before you buy anything - even one tiny tetra - read this book from cover to cover. It is not hard to do - I was finished before I knew it. As humans who make the choice to keep animals - furred or not - it is our responsibility to give them the best lives possible. Even if they are 'just fish.' This book will help you do just that. My wallet, fishies, and hairline thank you, Mr. Boruchowitz.
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