Covers the latest aquarium gadgets Design a dazzling underwater environment with this bestselling guide! Setting up your first freshwater aquarium can be a daunting task. This friendly guide answers all your questions, from setting up your tank and selecting fish to the water, chemicals, plants, and much more. There's also expanded guidance on combining different species of fish, maintaining a tank, cleaning gravel, and dealing with common problems such as algae. Discover how to * Choose the right aquarium * Select the best fish * Get good deals on equipment * Maintain a clean, healthy environment * Handle tank pitfalls * Breed your fish

Give your underwater pets the best aquatic life ever! Aquarium fish are one of the most popular pets in America, with close to 150 million fish owned in nearly 13 million households. They seem like easy pets to care for, but there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to keeping your freshwater friends healthy and happy! Inside, you’ll find basic information to start your own freshwater aquarium, purchase and maintain healthy fish and plants, and find tips and tricks on how to introduce new fish and systems into your aquatic family. Understand the best aquarium set-up practices Build the luxury tanks of your dreams Maintain a thriving aquatic environment Discover many different ways to expand your hobby Perfect for beginner hobbyists and longtime aquarium enthusiasts alike, Freshwater Aquariums For Dummies makes it easier than ever to set up and take care of a freshwater aquarium—and the fish within it.

Demystifies aquarium setup and maintenance Combine and care for a wide variety of marine fish and invertebrates Dive into the colorful world of saltwater fish! This fun, friendly guide gives you easy step-by-step instructions for choosing and caring for these amazing animals. You get the latest on feeding, tank upkeep, filtering systems, maintaining live rock, and preventing algae build-up, as well as what not to include in your aquarium. Discover how to Choose the best fish and equipment Get your tank up and running Maintain proper water conditions Keep your fish happy and healthy Avoid tank pitfalls Keep a brackish aquarium

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.

Get your one-stop guide for understanding and raising this popular pet lizard. Reptiles are now kept in one out of every seven pet homes, so it's no surprise that millions have gone gaga for geckos. This fun, easy-to-follow guide provides the scoop on caring for these colorful, gentle creatures, with savvy tips on everything from diet and exercise to housing and veterinary care. The book covers how to properly handle a gecko, what to do if a gecko drops his tail, how to keep the right cage temperatures, ways to protect geckos from other pets, and where to find the best supplies. Liz Palika (Oceanside, CA) is an award-winning pet writer with more than 45 books to her credit, including Turtles & Tortoises For Dummies.

So, you’ve gotten started on eBay. You’ve made a few purchases and your first sale. You may have even built a moneymaking business. Now you’re looking for ways to ratchet things up. You’re looking for the insider tips and tricks for the easiest ways to take care of listing items, completing transactions, and keeping good records and you don't have the time to do all the research. eBay Timesaving Techniques For Dummies is the book for you. Marsha Collier, an eBay University instructor and best selling author of eBay For Dummies and Starting an eBay Business For Dummies, has collected the fastest and most effective techniques for finding items to sell, setting up your sales pages, pricing items to move, getting the word out about your business, collecting payments, shipping your item, and taking care of all the paperwork. Time is money after all. So why waste time when you can be making money on eBay. This book contains over 60 step-by-step techniques proven to add efficiency to your eBay operation. Includes coverage of: Finding sources for merchandise to sell on eBay Setting attractive prices and shipping costs Handling multiple sales without losing your cool Prettying up your auctions with digital photo and HTML tricks Tracking payments and shipments and keeping your customers happy Working with PayPal, both on and off of eBay Enhancing your status in the eBay community Simplifying your bookkeeping Creating marketing, merchandising, and advertising plans Solving problems quickly when they occur

How-to guidance on raising a happy, healthy hermit crab Among the more unusual pets, hermit crabs are popular and easy to buy. They have distinct personalities, are active and curious, and their unique characteristics and low maintenance requirements make them good pets. This handy guide gives readers reliable advice on choosing a healthy hermit crab, selecting the proper housing, and bringing it home. It provides plenty of tips on feeding and health care, as well as having fun with a hermit crab (such as taking part in hermit crab races!).

"I've just finished reading the best computer book [ Why Software Sucks...] since I last re-read one of mine and I wanted to pass along the good word. . . . Put this one on your must-have list if you have software, love software, hate programmers, or even ARE a programmer, because Mr. Platt (who teaches programming) has set out to puncture the bloated egos of all those who think that just because they can write a program, they can make it easy to use. . . . This book is funny, but it is also an important wake-up call for software companies that want to reduce the size of their customer support bills. If you were ever stuck for an answer to the question, 'Why do good programmers make such awful software?' this book holds the answer." -- John McCormick, Locksmith columnist, TechRepublic.com "I must say first, I don't get many computing manuscripts that make me laugh out loud. Between the laughs, Dave Platt delivers some very interesting insight and perspective, all in a lucid and engaging style. I don't get much of that either!" -- Henry Leitner, assistant dean for information technology and senior lecturer on computer science, Harvard University "A riotous book for all of us downtrodden computer users, written in language that we understand." -- Stacy Baratelli, author's barber "David's unique take on the problems that bedevil software creation made me think about the process in new ways. If you care about the quality of the software you create or use, read this book." -- Dave Chappell, principal, Chappell & Associates "I began to read it in my office but stopped before I reached the bottom of the first page. I couldn't keep a grin off my face! I'll enjoy it after I go back home and find a safe place to read." -- Tsukasa Makino, IT manager "David explains, in terms that my mother-in-law can understand, why the software we use today can be so frustrating, even dangerous at times, and gives us some real ideas on what we can do about it." -- Jim Brosseau, Clarrus Consulting Group, Inc. A Book for Anyone Who Uses a Computer Today...and Just Wants to Scream! Today's software sucks. There's no other good way to say it. It's unsafe, allowing criminal programs to creep through the Internet wires into our very bedrooms. It's unreliable, crashing when we need it most, wiping out hours or days of work with no way to get it back. And it's hard to use, requiring large amounts of head-banging to figure out the simplest operations. It's no secret that software sucks. You know that from personal experience, whether you use computers for work or personal tasks. In this book, programming insider David Platt explains why that's the case and, more importantly, why it doesn't have to be that way. And he explains it in plain, jargon-free English that's a joy to read, using real-world examples with which you're already familiar. In the end, he suggests what you, as a typical user, without a technical background, can do about this sad state of our software--how you, as an informed consumer, don't have to take the abuse that bad software dishes out. As you might expect from the book's title, Dave's expose is laced with humor--sometimes outrageous, but always dead on. You'll laugh out loud as you recall incidents with your own software that made you cry. You'll slap your thigh with the same hand that so often pounded your computer desk and wished it was a bad programmer's face. But Dave hasn't written this book just for laughs. He's written it to give long-overdue voice to your own discovery--that software does, indeed, suck, but it shouldn't.

The authoritative information and advice you need, illustrated throughout with full-color photographs--now revised and redesigned to be even more reader-friendly! A saltwater aquarium provides a soothing, ever-changing mini seascape of color and motion. But saltwater fish require a constant, controlled environment. How do you set up and maintain a tank and select the right fish from more than 12,000 varieties? How do you care for marine fish? This updated guide provides the facts and advice you need and includes: * Info on choosing, equipping, and setting up your aquarium * Pointers on choosing compatible fish for a community tank * The scoop on the best (and worst) fish for beginners * Guidance on maintaining your aquarium and keeping your fish healthy

The official guide to rugby in North America, revised and updated Rugby For Dummies is the guide to rugby in North America, endorsed by USA Rugby and Rugby Canada, the official regulating bodies for the sport. It gives you a look at how rugby is played, offers strategies for winning, and covers every level of the sport, from high school to college (including women's rugby) to the international leagues. Plus, this new edition addresses changes to the rules of rugby, includes new rugby player bios, and looks at rugby's upcoming return to the Olympic games. Inside you'll find easy-to-understand explanations of rugby rules and positions, plus in-depth lessons on skills, fitness training, and winning techniques. Add in entertaining stories from rugby in North America and around the world, and you've got the definitive book on rugby! Covers every level of the sport Includes the latest rules and information on rugby Discusses rugby's return to the Olympic games Whether you're new to rugby or a scrum veteran, this friendly guide is for you.