What's a good book to buy?

[jellyfish4me]

I need something to look at while my tank is cycling! I must buy something! So save a fish by guiding me to what books are good right now!

I'm joking... Kind of joking... No really... you need to save the fish I might buy if I don't get any book ideas.

I tried to do a search on ebay for some reef books, but its hard to tell which books are more recent than others.

Can anyone recommend any good reef aquarium books? My tank is a 5.6 gallon nano wanna-be reef if that helps.

[ravenstone]

Since I really like to read, I went through a lot of books as I have come into this hobby. I will give you the list of all the books I either bought or really enjoyed from my local library. Keep in mind some of the books will have some information that is a little dated, but I feel they are still good/worthwhile reads.

Book of Coral Propagation
The Reef Aquarium (this is a 3 volume set)
The Nano-Reef Handbook
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist (the are multiple editions to this, find the most recent)
Marine Chemistry
The Complete Illustrated Breeders Guide to Marine Aquarium Fish
Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History
Dr. Burgess's Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes
A Pocket Expert Guide to Reef Aquarium Fishes 500+ Essential to Know Species

Like I said, these are the books I liked. It will be up to you to research and find the ones best suited for you. There is one more book, but due to the cost of it I didn't add it to my list. It is Corals of the World. It is a 3 volume set and can be quite expensive to get a set.

[Uncle Salty 05]

This is one of the best books I've read.
I actually got to meet Dr. Moe at the PBAS and have him sign my copy.
Got lucky and bumped into Julian Sprung in a LFS too.

[BoxesOfTheSea]

Ravenstone has listed excellent resources. Every reef keep should have those titles in his/her library.

[ca1ore]

Books listed are fine. Trouble is that many of them are old, and don't necessarily reflect current best practices, so I think you have to take them with a grain of salt. Things have changed a lot, for example in the almost 20 years since the first couple of volumes of Sprung's books came out (particularly since the reef hobby was really just getting started in 1994). So, I guess it depends on what you want to use them for. I wouldn't design a current tank around the recommendations, but they are very good for explaining things like water chemistry and providing lots of cool pictures.

My own personal favorite was the four volume Modern Coral Reef Series, but again that suffers from age. Scott Michael's reef fishes series is also excellent and a crime that the remaining volumes have gone unpublished. I also like Borneman's Aquarium Corals.

[jellyfish4me]

Once again, thank you. I did look a little longer last night and bought the Nano Handbook online.

I used to have the 3 volume Reef Aquarium set, but I sold them a long time ago on ebay because I was leaving the hobby and they were still quite valuable. At least volume 3 was. They were awesome books and I did read them. But they were a little dry for my taste with a lot of technical info when I just wanted to look at the pretty pictures.

But ravenstone! A special shout out to you! The thought of going to the library never crossed my mind. I get pretty bad about returning books, so I don't go very often, but that is a perfect way for me to try out some books before buying. I also love reading.

[davocean]

If clownfish interest you Joyce Wilkerson's book on clownfish is one you should have.

[AT_Hiker]

The Reef Aquarium Volume 3 by Delbeek and Sprung. The bible of reefing.

[Speed]

Originally Posted by AT_Hiker

The Reef Aquarium Volume 3 by Delbeek and Sprung. The bible of reefing.

+1
Its pricey but worth it.

[Elysia]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Scott Michael's reef fishes series is also excellent and a crime that the remaining volumes have gone unpublished.

This is so true! From what I read on Reef Central years ago when I last asked about the series, the books are done, simply not published. I am someone who MUCH prefers to have a physical book in hand, but in this instance would be willing to purchase an e-book version -- it would be better than having nothing at all! I know people were interested in reading the Tang section; I would love to have access to the Goby section. I have the other four volumes and have read them cover to cover and then some.

An update to Boremann's book would be great; its a wonderful book but there are corals that have become popular in the hobby since it was published that are not covered in depth in the book.

I think my most up to date book is Matthew Wittenrich's The complete illustrated breeder's guide to marine aquarium fishes, which is a great book as well. Its copyright is 2007.

[jdstank]

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Dr. Fenner gets my vote, his wetwebmedia site is also chock full of great information.

[cloak]

Reef Invertebrates by Anthony Calfo & Robert Fenner is a good book.