The Best Aquarium Mag.

[Eirikre]

I am thinking about getting a subscription to one of the aquarium magazines.  I suspect that a few of the folks here have opinions they would love to share on the subject and I am all ears!  a... er... eyes.

 If it matters my interests (fish) are:

Cichlids (mbuna)
Endler's livebearer (It's not a guppy!)
Catfishes
Crawfish and shrimps and other crawly things
and I have a soft spot for loaches.

 Hope to see a lot of suggestions.

[Ron]

This is probably one of those cases where people's replies will tell you more about themselves than it will about the magazines, but I'll give it a shot...

    I'm assuming you want to limit your language choices to English, so that eliminates some of the very best magzazines, which unfortunately for us, are published in German and Japanese.

    And my favourite aquarium magazine, The Aquatic Gardener, only covers fish in a very ancillary fashion. Its for aquatic plant fanciers, so I think we have to take it out of the running, though it's definetly worth a subscription if you are into planted FW tanks.

    My next favourite general hobbyist magazine is the British publication, Practical Fishkeeping. If you want to stay this side of the Atlantic, I'd rank the American choices in the following order:

1)  Aquarium Fish Magazine

2)  Tropical Fish Hobbyist

3)  Freshwater and Marine Aquarium

    These are only my preferences; I suggest you get your hands on copies of each from Chapters or Mags and Fags, and see which appeals most to you.

Happy perusing,

                         Ron

[Eirikre]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I will definately check out the The Aquatic Gardener, I've just gotten into the world of Aquatic plants.  

 I will, as you say, check out all the mags for myself but I apreciate everyones input.

Thanx

Eric

[Troy]

Eirikre : Like you I am a cichlid enthusiast. Tropical Fish Hobbyist is my choice nothing against the other magazines just my preference. I like the writer's style and they have a few monthly columns on cichlids.  

I do not have a subscription, but pick my copy up each month at a LFS near my work. Why don't you purchase a few copies of each and do a little reading first. Check out the different writers; it is like sports writers some you look forward to reading others you pass over, all for various personal preferences. Some make you laugh others you share common views on keeping fish, while some are just interesting and informative with a great perspective on the hobby.

In the end you may want to do what my buddy Richard does. He goes to a local newsstand each month and purchases one or many magazines based solely on the article content, and "his" interest in the topics written about.
Hope this helps, Cheers..... Troy.