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To tell the truth, I am not a big fan of Cichlid Atlas 2. It contains a lot of confusing ideas (at least to me and many experienced hobbyists), particularly in the phylogeny, biogeography sections. Have you actually tried to use the ID-key? I suggest that you try it out on some less distinctive species. Look in past forum posts and see the responses from people who have tried to used it. It isn't easy - and I have years of experience using biological keys. Except for 1 or 2 species not distributed in the hobby, the species in CA2 are all found in the DATZ book and Koslowski's book. Uwe has given them different names, too, causing more confusion.
Cichlid Atlas 1 is a much better book, although it is a bit old (manuscript finished in late 1997). It contains valuable information on biotopes, breeding conditions and most of the more commonly availabe (commecially) dwarf cichlid species. It has some species identification errors (brevis, maciliensis, personata, among others). If you search through old posts, you will find lists of errors. Uwe's "Captive Breeding" sections areis not necessarily 'wrong' in either volume, just different from what is seen by the average hobbyist. Uwe uses very large aquariums with large colonies of the same species. Under such (probably more natural) conditions the fish behave differently than they do in pairs or trio in smaller tanks.
I use Staeck's Lexikon mostly for non-apisto South American dwarf cichlids. It has newer distribution data put together from Staeck's many trips to South America. If I had to choose between Staeck's book and CA1, I would buy CA1. Staeck's book is easier to read because it is in sort sentences/phrases (more like the DATZ book, but with more data). I recommed that you wait a few months until the 2nd printing of CA1 becomes available, probably Spring 2008.
Cichlid Atlas 1 is a much better book, although it is a bit old (manuscript finished in late 1997). It contains valuable information on biotopes, breeding conditions and most of the more commonly availabe (commecially) dwarf cichlid species. It has some species identification errors (brevis, maciliensis, personata, among others). If you search through old posts, you will find lists of errors. Uwe's "Captive Breeding" sections areis not necessarily 'wrong' in either volume, just different from what is seen by the average hobbyist. Uwe uses very large aquariums with large colonies of the same species. Under such (probably more natural) conditions the fish behave differently than they do in pairs or trio in smaller tanks.
I use Staeck's Lexikon mostly for non-apisto South American dwarf cichlids. It has newer distribution data put together from Staeck's many trips to South America. If I had to choose between Staeck's book and CA1, I would buy CA1. Staeck's book is easier to read because it is in sort sentences/phrases (more like the DATZ book, but with more data). I recommed that you wait a few months until the 2nd printing of CA1 becomes available, probably Spring 2008.
