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This heavily illustrated volume will prove a blessing to every aquarium hobbyist who has had to settle for superficial plant descriptions in general fish-keeping books. It presents a detailed A-to-Z directory covering hundreds of aquarium plants with high quality color photos and succinct profiles of each plant. Information includes the plant’s common name, botanical designation, growth cycle, and general description. The book’s additional sections offer details on how to grow and propagate aquatic plants, and how to protect them from parasites and other problems. This handsome volume features approximately 450 color photos and illustrations.
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Good but not everything
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The biggest benefit of this book is the plant profiles section. It is pretty thorough but doesn't have every plant or all of the info I would like to have like how fast things grow, it just says "grows fast or slow". I would like to know how much over what period of time. Same thing with the lighting.
The practical section is ok, but I wouldn't say follow it to closely. I tried some of the things it suggested and they did not work or made things worse. I found better, more accurate info on online forums. I think it should have more info on fertilizers, CO2, algae, and accurate info on lighting.
It gets a four star review because there just isn't much in the way of good books for the planted aquarium hobby right now and the plant profiles section is good. I would buy this book because it is a good reference for plants but I would recommend going online and finding a good "planted aquarium" forum for all other info.
Rating: 
(4
out of 5) @ 2008-12-16
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Everything you could ever want to know about aquarium plants
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I loved this book! It has very in-depth information. I've always had problems with algae in my planted aquarium and this book explains several reasons why this occurs and how to prevent it. It explains, in detail, nutrient requirements, lighting options, ways that fish and invertebrates interact with plants, and which plants are best for beginners. It explains complicated information with clear diagrams. Finally, there is a great list of plants with photos and info.
The only negative thing I can say is that this book is probably not the best for someone who only wants one or two plants in their aquarium and is looking for a simple introduction. This book isn't very simple, but it does offer clear explanations of many topics relating to growing plants in your aquarium.
Rating: 
(5
out of 5) @ 2008-05-15
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Review: Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants
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I found this book very informative when I was setting up my 75 gallon Discus aquarium. Thanks to the information, pictures and various expamples it gave, I gained the knowledge to pick the way I wanted to set up my aquarium and what plants would be the better choices for the lower ph, higher temp. water used for Discus. Very good read.
Rating:
(5
out of 5) @ 2007-12-27
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What a waste of money
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Don't purchase this book unless you are a botanist. It is very difficult to understand and the layout impossible to follow.
Rating: 
(1
out of 5) @ 2007-07-23
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Good book but some questions remain unanswer.
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This is a beautiful book with many high quality pictures of the plants. Overall it has well organized content but some informations are just not specific enough. For example, how much CO2 to dose to your tank is appropriate? How much Gh is a water soft or hard? How much time it normally takes to "cycle" a tank? No introduction on the pros and cons of different CO2 reactors types. Some answers may not be trivial but at least general guide line should be provided to be any useful.
Rating: 
(3
out of 5) @ 2007-06-29
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