Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded January 01, 2002.

I found this an awkward book to rate. After my first read I was intending to dismiss it as a watered down introduction to catfish (care & breeding) with little more to offer than a good magazine article. I thought about this and came to the conclusion that it is perhaps aimed at the younger fishkeeper. So I read (less critically) again, something that can be accomplished in under an hour, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

If I had had this book when I was 11 (a long time ago), when the financial cost of a shoal of Corydoras could only be met over a period of months and I had yet to see or keep the majority of catfish featured in it, then by now this book would have become a cherished keepsake. It's not a reference book, but it is possibly the most accessible text on the subject with dependable information and TFH publications' usual array of gorgeous photographs. My major gripe is that is is too expensive for, I suggest, the audience most likely to benefit from reading it.

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