Aquascaping: Aquarium Landscaping Like a Pro: Aquarist's Guide to Planted Tank Aesthetics and Design

Aquascaping: Aquarium Landscaping Like a Pro, Second Edition: Aquarist's Guide to Planted Tank Aesthetics and Design This book is quite basic and very disappointing if you want more than a basic introduction to aquascaping. It's a far cry from the pro level (in fact I'm still crying that I bought a book that turned out to be black and white). I have read the very same information on the web, so it's disappointing to have paid so much for it. I'm not interested in salt water because of the lack of plants for it so I skipped that section.

Not what I expected. Mostly directed at saltwater tanks than freshwater. It was very short and contained no more info than an article at one if the fish magazines online. All of the info was accurate but didn't add anything to my knowledge . No specifics on plants or tips on how to grow them specifically. And few pictures. Oh well.

For what I was looking for, it didn't have as much info as I wanted. I wanted tips on how to get my plants lush, how to trim and keep it looking neat, what to do when plants start looking a little yellow/weak, etc.

This is a decent book about setting up a new tank for a beginner and it quickly covers a lot of ground in very general terms. Only about 10% of the book actually discusses aquascaping and everything that the author does cover you can find online for free. In fact, there are many, many more interesting and detailed discussions of aquascaping in online magazines and forums. I would skip this Kindle book.

The cover of the book is its best asset. I thought I was buying a book about landscaping a planted tank and published by a real publisher. I bought this book along with Freshwater Aquarium Chemistry and both books are very short in length and very amateurish in execution. I was surprised that the author attempted to cover both planted and reef tanks one short monographs. The information was very disjointed. Mr. Martin would have been more successful if he concentrated on planted tanks and helped hobbyists like myself achieve the beautiful tanks showcased in AGA competitions. The information is woefully inadequate for that goal. I would highly recommend that readers steer clear of self-published books like this. The Barron's series of aquarium books are examples of professionally written, organized and printed hobbyist books.

The guy's name is Moe Martin. This is important. Because when it's listed as authors names are in bibliographies, it looks like, "Martin, Moe". I saw this in the author description, and thought, 'whoa, wow, Martin Moe, the actual, good, bright, together marine author wrote a book on planted tanks? That's got to be gold. I wonder what kind of insight he could bring to the subject matter.".None, would be the answer. Because it's not the same guy. I am a moron for missing that critical comma.My bad, naturally.. but now that I'm stuck with this stinkburger of a book I can say: Some useful ideas, some pretty pictures, but dreadfully incoherent and not really good reading. My bookshelf teems with less sucky books about Aquarium Landscaping. Some of those books are about other subjects, but have more and better information. You could do better by reading some random aquascaping-related pages on the internet. It's not worth the money or your time.This guy's book could've really been something if it had had a real editor, and some real attention to content to make it coherent and not scattershot.. but if you get it, you'll be getting what you pay for: It's either self-published or vanity-press style drivel. Moe: Please! You have a good book in you, but for you to channel it outward... you're going to need an editor! Also maybe an outline, and sticking to subject categories. Just word to the wise.

If you're like me whose idea of designing and maintaining a fish tank can be summed up as: "buy a tank, fill it with water, toss in some oxygen pump, shovel in some pebble and sand, one or two corals, add the fish", then Moe Martin's `Aquascaping' will also be a delightful eye-opener for you.Exceptionally comprehensive, `Aquascaping' is probably the most complete discussion of everything you need to know about designing an aquarium and making it livable and a breeze to maintain.Aquascaping, stripped down to its basic meaning, is about the `art' of arranging the elements of an aquarium--the rocks, corals, stones, wood, and other decors--and forming a pleasing-to-the-eye whole. The exciting thing about it is the design--you can be full-on creative, especially if you have a huge tank with lots of space to play around. But the size itself can also work against you--the empty space might cause you to panic and basically shove everything until the tank starts resembling Manila bay after a storm.But then again, the matter of design ultimately comes secondary only to the issue of balance--no matter how pretty your aquarium is, if it's not livable for the species fish species you intend to keep in it, the whole thing would be an exercise in futility. After all, you're trying to simulate a natural ecosystem inside your aquarium, and it's a more delicate issue than you could imagine. That's why `Aquascaping' is such a handy life-saver (for you and for the hapless fish you got)--it teaches about the many design patterns you can emulate (and veer away from), but it also painstakingly and meticulously discusses every single factor in keeping your aquarium truly `alive'.Overall, for the enthusiast, `Aquascaping' is utterly indispensable--you should not even buy your first fish tank and all the related accessories without buying this book first. Order it before heading out to the pet store and begin choosing a tank--it will save you from wasting a lot of money and ending up with a tank full of dead fish. Highly recommended!

The cover misleads. This book contains poor, blurry black and white photos. If you are setting up a freshwater tank, less than half of the thin book will pertain to you. You can get the about of information in this book by spending about 30 minutes on a good aquascaping website.

I've given this book one star for the front cover and "quirky" title. But that's sadly it. The cover of a book, normally reflects the quality and content of the book! To say I was unimpressed is an understatement. Yes, may be, I should have read / noticed the other disgruntled reviews prior to purchase, lesson learnt!I have to admit, I didn't read it cover to cover. May be it was the dedication and foreword that read as if it had been written by a child? Or the large font and spacing, presumably to make your poorly written words go further. Or the blank pages, particularly informative. Or was it just that ITS A BOOK ABOUT AQUASCAPING AND ALL THE PICTURES ARE IN BLACK AND WHITE!!! Either way, save yourself the hassle of the returns process. This book is pony!!!

This book is rather short and brief on a number of topics . Does have some colour images (I had the kindle edition) but overall is disappointing. I'm fairly sure it only had something like 90 pages, so if it were paperback, i think it would be one of those thin glossy ones a bit like a magazine.I wouldn't buy it again, i think there are probably MUCH better choices out there.

NOT LETTING ME READ, MARKED X.

This book could have been so much better for the price. Disappointingly, the pictures are all black and white and the information is broad but pretty sparse. I'm looking for a book abiut turning my 1.20 m tank into a thickly-planted "Dutch style" aquarium from scratch. This wasn't it. Any suggestions?

poor content and not much use for the home hobbyist in my opinion, expected better descriptions of how to set up a natural tank etc