Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise Paperback – April 15, 2023

Good

As described. Fast delivery. Great book

I'm not new to plants but I'm pretty new to aquariums, and you don't know what you don't know, so I was really interested in getting this book to find out what I SHOULD know, and what I should be paying attention to. The "Carbon" chapter got too technical for me, 9EDIT: I went back and read it at the end, and after everything else, it made more sense) but most of the rest of the book had a ton of really good info that I really found useful. The actual instructions for setting up a tank come at the very end of the book, so it's reasonable to read that first, then read through the whole book to get an understanding of why. But the whole book does have a ton of relevant information, and it gets through it efficiently and explains it in a practical manner, so I found it very interesting to read even though I don't really know chemistry.

wonderful book to get into the science of a tank and really have an idea of what’s going on. Highly recommend! Read it once afterwards use it as a reference

I have the first edition of this book along with a dozen others on tropical fish and nearly 40 years of experience. It's only since reading "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" that this hobby has really become satisfying.First of all, I'm a lazy aquarist. I hate spending my weekends changing or testing the water, or cleaning filters. If you want live plants, there is daily dosing of ferts, fancy substrates, CO2 injection and every six months you need to swap out your aging light bulbs for new, brighter ones. None of this stuff is inexpensive or any fun.So... along comes Diana Walstad and she says you don't need to do any of those things. She recommends a soil substrate, cap it with a little gravel, add plants, fish and fish food, toss in a little light for a low maintenance, healthy aquarium. It's a little more complicated than that but essentially she's completely correct. The fish mulm fertilizes the plants, the plants pull the toxins from the water and you remove the toxins from the tank when you prune the plants. What a simple concept that really works!Right now I have three tanks (30, 45, & 55 gal) set up the Walstad way. One is two years old and the other two are nearly a year old. They house over 100 fish. They almost never get their water changed. By order of time consumption, my chores go like this: pruning plants, adding water lost to evaporation, adding fish food, cleaning the sponge pre-filters for the submerged circulating pumps. That's it. If we're having company, I might scrape the thin coat of algae off the glass to receive rave reviews.To be honest, none of my tanks are carefully manicured aquascapes. If you want that much control, you might need to go the hi-tech way. My aquariums are a mish-mash of Amazon Swords, Crypts, Anubias, Wisteria, Hornwort, Frogbit and Ludwigias (plant names). They don't look shaped by man, but slices of real nature captured in a small footprint. It's a jungle in there. More importantly, the plants equalize most of the chemical imbalances which occur within a closed ecosystem. It's great when your fish die of old age instead of some mysterious malady.If I have one criticism of this book it's the level of technicality. Ms. Walstad goes to great lengths to justify abandoning traditional aquarium techniques for her low-tech, low maintenance methods. To that end, the book will appear a bit overwhelming to some. I think she should issue a companion book which focuses on what to do and leave out most of the why (and add more pictures for the reading impaired...wink). This will more effectively capture the beginner who far too often tries and fails, or gives up due to burdensome maintenance routines. With her book, there is no reason we can't ALL get it right and enjoy fish keeping at the same time.

The title is *very* descriptive. This book uses science instead of relying on the conventional wisdom, which is so often wrong, or the many myths about planted aquaria. Yet it is a practical and accessible text for the home hobbyist.Many books on tropical fish and planted aquaria are little more than a concatenations of captioned postcards -- attractive color photographs with sparse, slightly informative text. Generally they follow the current trends or parrot the conventional wisdom, which has often proven to be wrong or misguided. But _Ecology of the Planted Aquarium_ is a refreshing change from the glut of "postcard" books available on aquaria. If you want pictures, this is not your book -- but there is no shortage of those to choose from.Rather than merely repeat the conventional wisdom or trumpet a new and contrary view, this author has diligently researched what happens in a planted aquarium AND explored hypotheses to explain the results. It set a new standard for books on the subject by replacing anecdotal arguments, didacticism, marketing promises, and myth with science. Many aquatic gardening experts consider this now a standard text to read (and have for reference) if you want to keep planted aquaria.Extensive references are included so that sources, scientific studies, etc. can be traced back for further research. This book reveals in a well-organized manner the complex chemical relationships in a typical hobbyist planted aquarium. As such, it can serve as a primer and key reference work for hobbyists. Hopefully, it will also stimulate discussion and serve as stalking horse for further research into this complex subject. Although necessarily technical, it is not unduly so nor does it demand of the reader any specialized education.While the author does have a stated personal preference for simple, "low-tech," inexpensive methods, she lays out the basic science that underlays all methods, including "high-tech." Thus, this book, more than any other I have seen on the subject, provides a foundation for explaining why divergent and even contrary methods of setting up and maintaining planted aquaria can be equally successful.If you plan of having a planted aquarium, you owe it to yourself to get this book.