any good plant books

[cootwarm]

I've been reading quite a few posts about hi-tech planted tanks for a while now and find them interesting but confusing. Are there any good plant books out there that go into great detail but are easy to understand? Or is the plant section of the Baensch Aquarium Atlas adequate? I'd like to try a hi-tech planted tank next winter, but I'd like to begin reading up about it now and perhaps tinker with it a little. I do most of my reading in the summer because my favorite place to read a book is outside under a shade tree or down at the lake shore.

So far, the extent of my planting experience is planting them in my tank and try to replace the light bulb as soon as I notice the plants start to turn color because the light had become too weak. I don't fertilize because I fear an algae bloom. I never thought of growing plants as being complicated until I started reading about these hi-tech set ups with co2 and pH spikes, so it appears that theres a lot more to learn than meets the eye. :wink:

Thanks,
Michael

 

[medge00]

the best info on plants i've found are forums like www.aquariumadvice.com, www.aquariacentral.com, and www.aquabotanic.com (the best all plant one)... some others are www.plantgeek.net and www.plantedtank.net

i've learned the most from aquariumadvice and aquabotanic

 

[M0oN]

One plant book I can highly recommend, if you're at a sophmore highschool reading level, that contains information you will never ever find in such great detail on the internet:

Ecology Of The Planted Aquarium; A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise For The Home Aquarium
By Diana Walstad

Diana is a scientist with some very radical views on planted aquariums and is one of the leading innovators of new techniques that involve the use of soils to create ecosystems inside your tank that will not require water changes for up to and surpassing 6 months.

However, she doesn't elaborate on how to do anything, rather she gives you the cold hard facts of how things work, so that you can form your own opinions and ideas about what you'd like to do in your tank, this is the crucial part of the advancement in any hobby.

While it is a lengthy read, if you're really into planted tanks, and I mean very serious about knowing exactly how things work, from aleopathy to the binding of nutrients, to algae's that can be deadly to fish when killed. Then buy this book.

If you're just looking for basic common knowledge don't waste your money, read up on the internet.

 

[xtr-xtr]

hi!!!
i think this boock can helps you:

- The Optimum Aquarium, Kaspar Horst and Horst E. Kipper, published by AquaDocumenta 1986 (ISBN 3-925916-02-4)

http://www.tropica.dk/article.asp?type=aquaristic&id=317



you have a lot of options, but if you dont want more complications you can put a lowtech aquarium using plants of slow growth.