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Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise
£22.70
Reference book for setting up successful planted aquaria for fish. Hobbyists learn how to keep low-maintenance, inexpensive tanks. Aquarium plants thrive using natural processes like decomposition of fishfood and soil organic matter rather than high-tech gadgets like artificial CO2 injection and constant fertilizer dosing. She shows how vigorous plant growth can purify the water and protect fish. Author provides simple, easy-to-understand explanations for complex, scientific concepts and includes helpful Q&A boxes scattered throughout the text. Book contains hundreds of citations to primary scientific papers from the aquatic botany, limnology, and chemistry literature making it the ultimate reference book for planted freshwater aquaria.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Echinodorus Publishing (15 April 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 228 pages |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8987574102 |
| Dimensions | 15.24 x 1.32 x 22.86 cm |
by Nat Hurrell
Have successfully applied this method to 3 planted tanks now. I had tried to grow aquarium plants before but had all kinds of trouble. The plants soon died and I had a lot of trouble with algae / green water. This is an easy and cheap method. It’s a bit labour intensive to prepare the substrate (you use organic compost or top soil and you have to sieve it to get it very fine) My first attempt was a success, the aquarium was set up with a couple of dozen plants in early May. It is now over 6 months later and the plants are doing fine. Cuttings from the plants have been used to start another two aquariums (these two don’t even get CO2 or ferts at the moment) and they are doing fine too.
by P. J. Menter
Diana Walstad has provided an essential guide with scientific evidence on how to set up and manage a planted aquarium with a soil substrate. Diana kick started a movement in maintaining a healthy planted aquarium – I have followed her advice in setting my own planted aquarium.
In an interview Diana explained that she gained the initial idea from a farm stock pond that had luxuriant plant growth with a soil substrate – and clear healthy water.
The book has many practical information guides backed up by tests and numerous chart – for example the efficacy of surface versus submerged plants (see photo). The book is written in a clear easy to read style – and rewards on checking facts to help solve aquarium problems with simple to apply solutions.
by Mother of Dragonflies
Now I’d waited a long time to get this book, which looked very attractive from the overwhelming positive reviews. Certainly the author is very challenging in some of her conclusions (don’t clean out the filters too often (she dispenses with filtration material altogether and just uses a circulation pump) as this reduces the positive benefits of dissolved organic carbon in reducing heavy metal toxicity, don’t bother with Carbon Dioxide injection, as you can kill off your fish, just feed your plants with excess fish food. Yes the digest of scientific research on plants and algae in natural environments is good- but it seems to be inevitably derived from North American temperate biomes (hello- do you put much sphagnum moss in your tropical fish tank- so is htere much point in relaying optimal growth conditions for this species?).
I truly wonder at her conclusion that it is necessary to be careful about heavy metal toxicity of your tapwater, but it is ok to blithely add garden soil as a substrate to your fish tank (sorry I studied land reclamation at one point- even in Britain there can be very high toxicity of some post industrial soils- for instance the now “natural” looking Peak District has a landscape that can poison off ponies!).
Her advice for establishing plants is to choose nice small well behaved fish. Well we have Richard the heavy duty rescue Plectostomus, so blanket substrate proved to be out (he loves to dig), two nest-building female moonlight gouramis who love to prune- even the Corydoras have occasionally smugly ganged up and uprooted plants as a team. As the author herself admits to killing off fish by scraping algae off the tank surface (which released toxins?)….it comes down to our well worn chant YOU JUST CAN’T WIN.
I think this book would just confuse beginners, as it is not a complete step by step guide by any means. You have to have played with the ecosytem and got past your first few aquatic disasters, before you decide whether or not to adopt some of her suggestions. It’s interesting, but I want to take apart her points bit by bit to see if I can improve our tanks. I can’t take all her conclusions at face value.
by Graham Turnbull
Amazing book an absolute Must if you want to learn everything about the walstad method worth every single penny ????
by P. Taylor
This isnt a book of pretty pictures, go get an amano book for those. This is a book aimed at people who want to setup a low tech easily maintained but beautiful aquatic habitat with plants and fish.
I will admit it is not the easiest of reading in places, but digested in chapters and then re-reading the sections in particular, will expand your knowledge no end!!
I have followed the principles in the book and have a natural based aquarium running for over 2 years now, with all manor of plants and fishes in it. Always happy, healthy and I get many comments on it.
If you want to try something different, get this book 🙂
by TREVOR
I have been growing plants in aquariums for many years. This is a ground breaking book on the theoretical side of the hobby. I must stress that it is not a picture book, nor does it go through the individual plant species and their requirements. All the same, despite the high price, if you are serious about the cultivation of water plants the information it contains is very valuable.
by Raymond Ross
I have a background in biological science and it was needed to get the most out of this book. There is a lot of scientific terminology which someone with no scientific background would struggle with. Having said that, there are conclusions at the end of each section which are easy to understand. A most illuminating and helpful book.
by P. J. Menter
An utterly fabulous book, that challenges the more modern way of fish keeping and harks back to the foundation years of ornamental fishkeeping, minus many of today’s trappings. Based on science and a good dose of common sense. Science heavy, so you will need to drag up your school chemistry knowledge. Understanding this book will give any fishkeeper a much deeper understanding of the aquarium eco system. Combined with modern technology, this knowledge will further anyone’s success in the keeping of fish and aquatic plants. Thoroughly recommended.