Sarah Fell Keppler's School of Fish: A Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Freshwater Tropical Fish

Rating:
Summary: A Comprhensive Guide to Keeping Freshwater Tropical Fish
Review: Hey Keppy! Great job on the book.. Being a personal friend of Sarah's and knowing her all the years I did, I will say this book and her knowledge of fish (and most pets) is OUTSTANDING.
Your Good Old Friend
Ernie

Rating:
Summary: A Comprhensive Guide to Keeping Freshwater Tropical Fish
Review: Hey Keppy! Great job on the book.. Being a personal friend of Sarah's and knowing her all the years I did, I will say this book and her knowledge of fish (and most pets) is OUTSTANDING.
Your Good Old Friend
Ernie

Rating:
Summary: Great Field Guide!
Review: I've had a copy of this book for years (way before Amazon got into it) It is a great book that focuses on the things that most fish owners need to know. It is a wonderful field guide for beginners and veterans alike. Way to go Keppy!

Rating:
Summary: All you need to know. No, really!
Review: This is a complete, and completely charming, primer, with some things I've never seen in other books.

First, her whole emphasis is on WATER CHEMISTRY, from which, she says, almost all other ills arise. And truth to tell, that has been my experience. I forget to change the filter for a month. I let the PH get out of hand. I can't be bothered to make water changes. And my tank goes to hell.

Her explanations of water chemistry, what happens, what goes wrong, what to do about it, are crystal clear. She's not selling products, like so many books are -- she's explaining what makes an aquarium healthy.

Second, there's a long and complicated (but COMPLETE!) list of types of fish, what they need to live well, and WHAT OTHER TYPES OF FISH THEY DO WELL WITH, something (in my experience) that few pet store employees really know much about. Do they like to be alone, in pairs, or in schools? Who will they attack and who will attack them? She even suggests various groupings. But also gives you enough information to figure out your own.

Every time my tank starts to go haywire, I pull out this book and re-read it.