Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature Hardcover – April 15, 2003

Dear Mr. Hiscock: My name is Erica, and I have been employed in the fish department of a pet chain-store called PetSmart (you may have heard of us, though it is located in North America and Puerto Rico only, so I wasn't sure) for the past 13-and-a-half years. I am an avid aquarist, especially with regards to aquatic gardening, and am a self-confessed-obsessed devourer of aquarium literature! All of my recommendations and advice I give to customers who come into my store are almost always without exception from books and magazines that I have read. I consider it a good day when I can get a customer to browse books in my store instead of the conflicting sources of the internet: I consider it a fantastic day when they actually BUY a book; it makes me want to do cartwheels in the store! But I digress, the main reason that I am writing you is because I wanted to express my sheer gratitude and appreciation for dedicated experts like yourself who devote so much time and energy into painstakingly writing so many wonderful books on the hobby in order to bring the wonderful world of aquarium keeping to the masses. I have read probably close to 100 aquarium books over the years, and you are by far one of my all-time favorite authors! Your books are an absolute treat to read and I love how you break down complicated subjects such as the nitrogen cycle, water chemistry, and aquatic gardening into down-to-earth, easy to understand terms. You have no idea how immensely helpful they have been to me, especially when trying to explain such involved topics as the nitrogen cycle to the myriads of customers I have seen over the years, especially when you consider that many of them are families, not hobbyists, who barely grasp the concepts of basic biology. As someone who herself struggled immensely in college with the formula/calculating sides of biology, chemistry, and physics, your simplistic, yet fascinating views on dealing with such overwhelmingly complicated subjects is a welcome relief from the years of bitter resentment I acquired toward these subjects. The most unprecedented form of aquarium writing I have ever seen has to be your book 'Creating a natural aquarium.' This book in itself is an absolute gem, but the way in which you construct it by applying your extensive and well-thought out research into the natural habitats described in your book to the reasoning and explanations as to why you set-up the habitats the way you did is no less then astounding! I've never read a book on biotopes that not only gives real-life examples of habitats and such extensive explanations, but also uses said habitats as a reasoning medium to explain why such decisions were made in recreating the various environments featured in the book, and in such detail, too! The photos are all beautifully done and are what can only be described as the icing on the cake! Once again, I would like to thank you immensely for all of the hard-work you have done to put all of your vast knowledge on aquariums into all of your amazing books. I hope you continue to write in the years to come and I look forward to reading more works by you.Sincerely yours,Erica KnoxPS-In the book 'Creating a natural aquarium', how did you manage to fit ALL of those wonderfully created biotypes into your home?

I had the pet shop where I bought my fish design my first aquarium. Though I liked it at first, I quickly outgrew it. I didn't like all the artificial looking stones and plants. Furthermore, they placed in my aquarium a treasure chest that produced bubbles, and a water-mill. I also had a sunken ship and a deep sea diver's helmet. In other words, a very unnaturally looking aquarium that did not reflect a real environment.After reading this book, I embarked on my second aquarium. This time, I designed it myself, planting real plants and using driftwood and natural gravel and stones (not artificially colored ones). I made it look close to an Amazonian flooded forest using the pictures in the book as a guideline. The result was amazing!If you want to create a natural looking aquarium that mimics a real environment, this is the book to read. Plastic plants, artificially colored stones, sunken ships and treasure chests have no place in a real environment aquarium!The book specifically is about freshwater aquariums. The author first explains how rivers are formed, describing the natural water cycle. He then goes on explaining how mountain streams, lowland streams, tributaries, main rivers, lowland swamps, and brackish waters are created. All this background information is necessary for you in recreating the natural environment in your aquarium.The author then explains how fishes live and how evolution (though very briefly) works. The anatomy of fish is also briefly explained. The author just gives enough information to the reader to understand the natural environment, and in no way overcomplicates things or tries to be overly descriptive and scientific. He keeps the information very basic and easy to digest (not mentioning enjoyable to read).The author then introduces the reader to the different substrates available, giving the advantages and disadvantages of each type. He also gives advice on what type of natural decor to use.The really interesting section is on using live plants. I never really considered using live plants until reading this book. Though much care and maintenance is needed, a live planted aquarium mimics a real environment. It will also be a joy to watch your plants bloom and flower.Another important section concerns creating the right water conditions for your fish. For example, some fish require a water ph lower than other fish. The temperature of the water is also an important factor. Not all fish have the same water temperature requirement, so you have to carefully choose what fish to mix together.The book gives great illustrations on how to create your aquarium resembling the following natural environments: Chinese Mountain stream; Central American stream, Central American river; Australian river; European river; European lake; flooded Amazon forest; Amazon acid pool; downriver Amazon; Congo whitewater river; West African stream-bed; Lake Malawi; a darkened cave; Southeast Asian stream; Southeast Asian swamp; Indian river; brackish estuary; and a Mangrove swamp.After reading this book you will be able to create a natural environment in your aquarium specific to the type of fish you have.

Given the glowing reviews I read on this site, I was somewhat disappointed with the book when it finally arrived. The general information is fine, as far as it goes, if on a rather basic level. I guess what annoyed me most was that the author makes only a half-hearted effort to use plants indigenous to the various biotopes he describes--for example, Anubias, an African genus, finds its way into the Amazon acid pool. Also, the lists of appropriate fishes are fairly sketchy. And maybe I'm alone in this, but I found it odd that none of the finished biotope aquaria are photographed with fish in them!What I was hoping for was information on a par with that provided on the Italian website [...] this book, while pleasant enough, doesn't begin to reach that level of sophistication or specificity.

This is a fabulous book if you want to learn more about natural fish habitat. The book covers areas around the globe and explains in detail the natural requirements for alot of fish species you can purchase in an aquarium shop. I love the pictures and explanations on how to create a landscape design for your preference and type of fish. This book is great for any experience level and I can't wait to create a more natural landscape for my 72 gal aquarium tank.

Wow, this book really helped me get through my "tank block". I sort of knew what I wanted but couldn't put anything together. Once I read this book, I got tons of ideas! This book contains not only several different aquascapes to mimic natural environments from all around the world, but detailed information on the plants, fish, substrate, and construction. If you want to do a biotope this is defintley a great starting point. Or if you're just looking for basic design ideas, this would definitley work too. Highly recommended.

I first started my aquarium like most people : Go to the pet store, get the basics, plug it and hope for the best. My aquariums looked plain and my fishes looked stressed. So I decided to start reading on aquariums and eventually fell on this gorgeous book. Not only did it give great design ideas, this book made me revisit my Ecology 101 class. It explains everything you need to know about the environment you want to recreate from revising the water cycle in nature to "Why is that fish torpedo shaped?" (Because it comes from an environment where the current is strong) passing from what pH really means (i.e. we all know that this fish must live in a pH 7.0 but what exactly pH 7.0 means?).With this information, you can make the illuminated choices between what type of wood, rock, gravel and plant you can mix with what kind of fish and the results are astounding. Never before did my aquariums brought such "Ohs" and "Ahs" from guests before! (I now have two, one based on the European River/Lake and one based on the Amazonian Acid Pool, read the book, you'll understand).So if you are a beginner or simply tired of that bubbling plastic chest in your dull aquarium, this book is a must-have. Just flickering through it will bring you so much enthusiasm you'll have trouble not redesigning your aquarium before the last page is turned!

Beautiful, if rather ambitious, aquarium designs. A valuable book for the serious aquarium enthusiast. A really useful book for designing a natural looking freshwater aquarium layout.

I have a new 450 ltr tank which I want to aquascape, and wanted some ideas. This has plenty and with many good hints and tips. Can't wait to get started...

Very good

it is very nice for evening readings :) ++ for beginners but will be boring for advance aqua-users