Freshwater Angelfishes

I actually quite enjoyed reading this book, but it’s not at all what it seems. Or what everyone else assumes it to be- most places I saw it listed online had for the description something along the lines of “a complete care guide for angelfishes” etc. Um, not really. It’s actually a collection of articles from early days of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine, all on the subject of angelfish of course, published together in this book. Written by two prominent men in the hobby who early on studied, collected and bred angelfishes. Back in the days when tapwater was simply “aged” before using in the tank because dechlorinator wasn’t invented yet. When live foods were collected from ponds or raised regularly, because the only other thing you could feed your fish was scrapings of raw beef heart- flake not yet being manufactured. The first chapter jumps straight into a personal narrative about how Dr. Axelrod got his first pair of angelfish and started a breeding operation. Then there are chapters describing collecting trips to the Amazon and Rio Negro in Brazil, and another about a visit to a large fish farm in Singapore. All quite engaging and full of interesting little details. There’s a chapter on how different angelfish varieties were developed, and some details on the scientific names and identification of species which I kind of glossed over. Next a section on angelfish genetics, and finally one on how to choose good specimens, breed them and raise the fry. Ending is abrupt. Of interest for what it is, but I’d not really consider this a care manual. The photographs of different angelfish types are really good quality, considering how old the book is.