We are getting a new aquarium (hopefully) from a friend of ours. What are thinking about doing is setting it up as a Native Tank with fish from our pond. From my research I have found out that its best if the tank is heavily planted. Are there any books that ya'll would reccomend? I like to have something I can hold in my hand and read, its easier for me that way.

I have researched some, but there are so many choices out there that's it's confusing. I want a like a "How To" Book and Adam would like a book about IDing plants.

Thanks!

I found this one. Looks packed with info (for you) and pictures (for him)!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076415521...5Fencoding=UTF8

And this one has a lot about mimicing the nature feeling inside of an aquarium.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076415549...5Fencoding=UTF8

Yep, the first one Erin has linked to is very good. Lots of excellent pics and diagrams and very informative text. There is also a smaller and handier paperback abridged version of it, which contains nearly all the same pics and info:

Aquarium Plants Mini-Encyclopedia

I would love to have those books! But I have to think about how much money I spend. I found these two books and wanted to know what ya'll think.


I found this book for $4 new at another site
Natural Aquarium

Simple Guide
This one I found for $11

That first one is basically the previous edition (2000) of Peter Hiscock's newer book (2003) in Erin's second link. Neither are as good or comprehensive as his (Mini)Encyclopedia books.

The book in your second link I have as well, so I can compare them! It's almost like a well presented high-school book with pages of long paragraphs of written information with small pics and basic diagrams. Almost like one of those 'Idiot Guide to..' books, but nicer to look at. Just as informative text as the Mini-Encyclopedia, probably more (because there's lots more words), but nowhere near as nice or easy to read and understand, and nowhere near as good a plant identification section as the Mini-Encyclopedia.

To put it simply, if we were talking about a guide book on how to start your own vegetable garden with everything you need to know in a nice and easy to read and understand format with lots of great pics, showing step by step photos on soil, how to plant, trim roots, fertilizing, spacing, garden layouts, etc, and then with a big section of pics of all the different varieties of vegetables and their specific needs etc, the Mini-Encyclopedia wins that category hands down.

I see the Mini-E is available on Amazon second-hand for $10 or less. Much better value used than the Simple Guide new at $11 I think!

If u haven't got the book, then u can always go to:

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

U can't quite hold it in your hand and read , but it's very informative, easy to navigate, and most of all, free!

Thanks for you of your ideas everyone, I really appreciate them!

I just bought the book from the first book and I really love it. Its got in depth detail on everything from miniature chem/bio lessons that are easy to understand, to how to set tanks up and properly care for types of plants, to a load of plant species and quick stats. They even have "specialized" setups for low-light, open top, indonesian stream and more. They have detailed diagrams and point out the plants that do best for each setup I spent $30 on the book at Barnes & Noble and used a couple gift cards from xmas etc, but I'm sure you could fin one second hand cheaper on sites like Amazon etc. Its photos galore