Aquarium Plants

Mini Encyclopedia
by Peter Hiscock

I bought this book over a year ago when I started keeping a planted tank, and then never read it! So a lot of the info I've learned by now, it was review- conditions that plants require, planting and propagation methods, pruning techniques, maintenance, etc. There are several nice spreads showing what plant selections would go nicely together according to needs (water hardness) or a biotope display. Second half of the book is plant profiles. Nice clear pictures although sometimes the little informational snippets in the margins didn't actually correlate to the part of the picture indicated, which I found kind of amusing.

I did encounter some new plants here that I've never heard of, and learned why a few of mine haven't done well- hydrocotyle species seem to prefer softer water so probably that's why mine is failing (it wasn't a plant I got on purpose, but a freebie piece that came mixed with some others). I added a few to the list of plants I want to try. There are over a hundred and fifty species profiled in this book, but it seems to be an abbreviated version. The author has published another, much more extensive aquatic plant encyclopedia and that's the one I really want to have on my shelf.

Rating: 3/5    208 pages, 2005