Read any good books lately?

Balz · 03/25/2007, 08:55 PM

While there is a wealth of info here, i'm interested in picking up a few good books. I plan on starting some corals in about a month, so anything on corals, fish, general reef and oh yeah all that algae I'ce been growing. Thanks for the input

WaterKeeper · 03/25/2007, 09:05 PM

Try looking Here

Balz · 03/25/2007, 09:57 PM

Thanks this looks helpful

cragganmore · 03/25/2007, 10:57 PM

This is, of course, just my personal opinion, but here are the books I'd recommend reading:

General Info Books:

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner: The single best general book I've read on starting a saltwater tank. Bob is a diety.

Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1 by Anthony Calfo: The single worst titled book I've read on saltwater aquaria

Yes, it has quite a bit of info about propagating corals, but it's also got really excellent sections on general reefkeeping. I think a lot of people probably steer clear of this book, thinking it's focused on being a coral farmer. It's one of my favorites.

The Reef Aquarium: Science, Art, and Technology, Vol. 3 by Delbeek and Sprung: A much more in-depth discussion of reefkeeping techniques than The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, so it's possibly more technical than you may want. But it's an amazing resource.

Corals Books:

Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric Borneman: Eric's book is (for me) the definitive general book on corals.

Corals: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung: less detail here than Eric's book, but much easier to quickly look up specific corals. Together, they give a decent idea about care requirements.

The Reef Aquarium vols. 1 & 2 by Delbeek and Sprung: These two books (vol. 1 covers "hard" corals and vol. 2 covers "soft" corals) go into quite a bit of detail about their respective subjects. However, they're not really setup for looking up specific genera, so these books are less of a reference guide.

Non-cnidarian inverts (crabs, shrimp, etc) Books:

Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung: a good reference to some of the most popular inverts kept in aquariums.

Reef Invertebrates: An Essential Guide to Selection, Care and Compatibility by Anthony Calfo and Bob Fenner: another excellent reference to some of the most popular inverts. Together with Sprung's book, you'll get a pretty good overview of the current general consensus on caring for most non-coral inverts.

Again, these are just my personal opinions. As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of the works of Bob Fenner and Anthony Calfo. Perhaps it's just their writing style?

Anyway, I hope this helps!

Pistonkev · 03/25/2007, 11:11 PM

Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1 by Anthony Calfo: The single worst titled book I've read on saltwater aquaria Yes, it has quite a bit of info about propagating corals, but it's also got really excellent sections on general reefkeeping. I think a lot of people probably steer clear of this book, thinking it's focused on being a coral farmer. It's one of my favorites.

Yes you are so right one of the best reef keeping coral farming books that I have read Anthony is very funny too.

coast2coast7390 · 03/26/2007, 12:01 AM

Corals: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung

and

Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung

i love these books...really simple to find what youre looking for and give you the gist of what you want to know like placement lighting requirements and food

but if you get one you should get the other...because things like mushrooms and sponges are considered inverts

03/25/2007, 08:55 PM	#1
Balz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northern VA Posts: 102	Read any good books lately? While there is a wealth of info here, i'm interested in picking up a few good books. I plan on starting some corals in about a month, so anything on corals, fish, general reef and oh yeah all that algae I'ce been growing. Thanks for the input

03/25/2007, 09:05 PM	#2
WaterKeeper Bogus Information Expert Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 16,147	Try looking Here __________________ "Leading the information hungry reefer down the road to starvation" Tom Current Tank Info: 130 Now out of service and a 29

03/25/2007, 09:57 PM	#3
Balz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northern VA Posts: 102	Thanks this looks helpful

03/25/2007, 10:57 PM	#4
cragganmore Premium Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 17	This is, of course, just my personal opinion, but here are the books I'd recommend reading: General Info Books: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner: The single best general book I've read on starting a saltwater tank. Bob is a diety. Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1 by Anthony Calfo: The single worst titled book I've read on saltwater aquaria Yes, it has quite a bit of info about propagating corals, but it's also got really excellent sections on general reefkeeping. I think a lot of people probably steer clear of this book, thinking it's focused on being a coral farmer. It's one of my favorites. The Reef Aquarium: Science, Art, and Technology, Vol. 3 by Delbeek and Sprung: A much more in-depth discussion of reefkeeping techniques than The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, so it's possibly more technical than you may want. But it's an amazing resource. Corals Books: Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric Borneman: Eric's book is (for me) the definitive general book on corals. Corals: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung: less detail here than Eric's book, but much easier to quickly look up specific corals. Together, they give a decent idea about care requirements. The Reef Aquarium vols. 1 & 2 by Delbeek and Sprung: These two books (vol. 1 covers "hard" corals and vol. 2 covers "soft" corals) go into quite a bit of detail about their respective subjects. However, they're not really setup for looking up specific genera, so these books are less of a reference guide. Non-cnidarian inverts (crabs, shrimp, etc) Books: Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung: a good reference to some of the most popular inverts kept in aquariums. Reef Invertebrates: An Essential Guide to Selection, Care and Compatibility by Anthony Calfo and Bob Fenner: another excellent reference to some of the most popular inverts. Together with Sprung's book, you'll get a pretty good overview of the current general consensus on caring for most non-coral inverts. Again, these are just my personal opinions. As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of the works of Bob Fenner and Anthony Calfo. Perhaps it's just their writing style? Anyway, I hope this helps!

03/25/2007, 11:11 PM	#5
Pistonkev Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Santa Barbara Posts: 1,107	Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1 by Anthony Calfo: The single worst titled book I've read on saltwater aquaria Yes, it has quite a bit of info about propagating corals, but it's also got really excellent sections on general reefkeeping. I think a lot of people probably steer clear of this book, thinking it's focused on being a coral farmer. It's one of my favorites. Yes you are so right one of the best reef keeping coral farming books that I have read Anthony is very funny too.

03/26/2007, 12:01 AM	#6
coast2coast7390 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Garden Grove Posts: 3,627	Corals: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung and Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung i love these books...really simple to find what youre looking for and give you the gist of what you want to know like placement lighting requirements and food but if you get one you should get the other...because things like mushrooms and sponges are considered inverts