Swordtails and Platies

by Myron Gordon and Herbert R. Axelrod

Book by Axelrod, Herbert R., Wischnath, Lothar This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0866220909
• ISBN13: 9780866220903
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: TFH Publications
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.5" x 12.5"

Customer Reviews

Great picture book

This is a terrific book to change your mind if you think platies are boring. I defy any aquarist to look thru this entire book and not find at least one variety of platy that he thinks is gorgeous! I take it out time and time again just to look at the beautiul photos of rare platies. OTOH, if you're looking for a lot of technical info, this book comes up a little short, although it's better than any other platy book I've seen (and I have them all, even some in German that I can't read---ha ha). I would have liked if there were more info on color genetics and setting up a biotope tank for these fish. Having said that, I still highly recommend this as "The Bible" for platy nuts.

A good Work for more serious Hobbyist

This book is good for those who wants to learn more about the history, breeds & genetics of developing some of the fancy strains of swordtails & platies. It is also invaluable for those looking for a collection of photos on the wild strains.For a book of its size and price, however, aspects of it could definitely have been better.Organisation of the book lacked planning somewhat, different species of swordtails & platies photos are scattered often without proper order throughout the book. Even the same fish is displayed in different pages. The photos don't often group with the species, nor are they be grouped with type locality where possible. The fancy aquarium strains are not separated at times from the wild strains, and do appear in the same page. Then there are huge unnecessary large photos that takes up a whole page of the book. There was also a genernal aquarium management section in the middle of the book that's more of a filler than relevant, lacking particular attention to the natural habitat aspects of the locality of the types of swords & platies. These flaws subtract the quality that should be the norm for such a work.As for the genetics & breeds aspect, there are some good history of strains developments, but others like the Hamburg black swordtails still lacked proper detailed discussion. A lot of strains are not discussed. This includes some of the basic genetic aspects such as the black colour in the development of the platys & swords, & the development of the red swords from the rubra platy genes. Some basic genetic terms relevant to the platy/swordtail complex is not discussed, but I feel essential in talking about breeds.Overall, it is a good book for the more serious aquarist, but I believe the book could have been much better. The many photos contained in this book is invaluable (both wild & aquarium strains), such as X roseni & X kosszanderi, but no discussion was found in the text that related to these two natural hybrids. I can only imagine that how much better this book could have been with more detail plannning & organisation. An opportunity that was forgone...

A good Work for more serious Hobbyist

This book is good for those who wants to learn more about the history, breeds & genetics of developing some of the fancy strains of swordtails & platies. It is also invaluable for those looking for a collection of photos on the wild strains.For a book of its size and price, however, aspects of it could definitely have been better.Organisation of the book lacked planning somewhat, different species of swordtails & platies photos are scattered often without proper order throughout the book. Even the same fish is displayed in different pages. The photos don't often group with the species, nor are they be grouped with type locality where possible. The fancy aquarium strains are not separated at times from the wild strains, and do appear in the same page. Then there are huge unnecessary large photos that takes up a whole page of the book. There was also a genernal aquarium management section in the middle of the book that's more of a filler than relevant, lacking particular attention to the natural habitat aspects of the locality of the types of swords & platies. These flaws subtract the quality that should be the norm for such a work.As for the genetics & breeds aspect, there is some good history of strains development, but others like the Hamburg black swordtails still lacked proper detailed discussion. A lot of strains are not discussed. This includes some of the basic genetic aspects such as the black colour in the development of the platys & swords, & the development of the red swords from the rubra platy genes. Some basic genetic terms relevant to the platy/swordtail complex is not discussed, but I feel essential in talking about breeds.Overall, it is a good book for the more serious aquarist, but I believe the book could have been much better. The many photos contained in this book is invaluable (both wild & aquarium strains), such as X roseni & X kozssanderi, but no discussion was found int the text that related to these two natural hybrids. I can only imagine that how much better this book could have been with more detail plannning & organisation. An opportunity that was forgone...