Keeping an aquarium adds beauty and grace to your life. That elegant little world in a glass box can be your respite from the cares of the day and even can lower your blood pressure. It can be a great outlet for your artistic impulses, and educational for your kids. And when it comes to pets, you can’t go wrong with fish. They eat little, require minimal space, and need no training. They never stray, bay at the moon, or leave surprises on your lawn. They’re not prone to rude sniffing, and they won’t chase your letter carrier. And fish never get hairballs or scratch your furniture.

Aquariums For Dummies answers all your fishy questions about keeping an aquarium and makes it easy to get into the swim of things with your own freshwater, brackish, or marine aquarium. You’ll discover how to:

Choose the right aquarium for you
Select the best fish
Create and maintain a healthy aquarium
Locate good deals on equipment
Design a dazzling underwater environment
With humor and without a lot of jargon, expert Maddy and Mic Hargrove cover all the bases. They give you step-by-step instructions on how to select equipment and set up your aquarium. And they explore an array of important and fun topics, including:

Tanks, water sources, substrates and decorations, and water testing
Live plants for freshwater and brackish aquariums and invertebrates for marine aquariums
Fish anatomy and physiology (plus a guide to dozens of freshwater coldwater, tropical marine, and brackish fish)
Choosing a quality dealer and developing a good relationship with them
Deciding what the right species for you and selecting fish
Fish diet and nutrition
Diagnosing and treating diseases in fish
Breeding fish for fun and profit
A fun and easy guide to creating and maintaining a beautiful aquarium, Aquariums For Dummies is your entrée to the fascinating and rewarding world of fishkeeping.