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Re: Identification Book
>From: krandall at world_std.com
>The best ID source is not available in English yet, although it's still
>worthwhile if you're serious about aquatic gardening. That is Christel
>Kasselmann's "Aquarien Pfanzen". Tropica's new catalog is an excellent
>English language source of information, and should be available soon both
>on their web site and also to members of AGA through the AGA.
For ID purposes, I highly recommend the brand new book by Pablo Tepoot -
"Aquarium Plants, The Practical Guide." It is the fourth book in his
aquarium series (earlier books were on cichlids and marine fish). It has
some of the BEST, most realistic pictures of individual aquarium plants
that I have ever seen. They are so vivid and true to life that they
literally jump off the page. The detail of each and every picture is
unbelievable.
The Practical Guide is designed to be a photo album with minimal text. This
large format (8 1/2" x 11 1/2") 216 page book successfully catalogues over
300 species which are presented in 344 individual pictures, mostly 2 per
page. It essentially covers almost every plant currently available in the
aquarium trade plus more. The nomenclature appears to be up to date, and
consistent with the current names used in Europe.
It has many more and larger size photographs of submerged plants than the
Kasselmann book and shows much more detail of individual plants than Amano.
Pablo has strived to present most of his aquatic plants as they will grow
underwater in an aquarium. Moreover, he identifies each and every plant
picture as either a submersed or emersed grown specimen. This may be the
first book to consistently do this! For an interesting and educational side
by side comparison, he also includes several photographs of an emersed
plant placed next to its submersed version. Finally, his pictures depict
plants that have been growing under water for a reasonable amount of time
and whose appearance is natural for aquarium plants.
The text in my "European Edition" is cleverly provided in four languages:
English, French, German and Dutch. I supposed one can say five, if the
Latin used for plant names is also included. At the suggested retail price
of $49.00, this book can easily become the aquarium plant identification
guide for every shop owner and the "I want the plant on page X" plant book
for every hobbyist.
I understand that it is currently available mail order. I know one of the
book's 3 main distributors and am talking to him about getting a discount
for members of the AGA. We will let you know if this is possible.
Although I am very positive about the book and highly recommend that every
aquatic gardener acquire a copy, I must give the book a mixed review. I
have several significant problems with some of the text. I have outlined my
detailed comments in an article which will soon appear in TAG and FAMA
magazines.
--Neil Frank, AGA