8.0 Book Review and Comments:
Description
This article is from the ReefKeepers FAQ, by several authors (see the Credits section).
8.0 Book Review and Comments:
"The Marine Aquarium Handbook, Beginner to Breeder"
by Martin A. Moe, Jr.
1982. Norns Publishing Company
ISBN 0-939960-02-08
Best way to learn the very basics, and an excellent
first reference on many topics afterwards. Not
reef oriented. A must buy for the beginner.
"The Marine Aquarium Reference, Systems and Invertebrates"
by Martin A. Moe, Jr.
1989. Green Turtle Publications, Florida
ISBN 0-939960-05-2
The place to begin looking for almost every topic.
Discussion of filtration is exhaustive, though
a bit spare on modern Berlin practice (is this
still true in the new edition?). A must buy for
every reefkeeper.
"Advanced Reef Keeping I, A Comprehensive Guide to Setting up Your
Reef Tank."
by Albert J. Thiel
1989. Aardvark Press
ISBN 0-945777-01-9
"Small Reef Aquarium Basics, The Optimum Aquarium for the Reef Hobbyist"
by Albert J. Thiel
1989. Aardvark Press
ISBN - 0945777-02-7
Some good information buried among dubious advice
and the most wretched editing ever conceived. His
filtration ideas are rather old-fashioned. This
guy sold the expensive equipment that he
recommends, so Caveat Emptor should be your motto.
Thiel advocates one particular way of maintaining reef aquaria. It's
not the only way, and it may not be the best way, but it does work.
The usual advise is for people to read his books, but to do so skeptically.
"Corals of the World, Biology and Field Guide"
by Dr. Elizabeth M. Wood
1983. T.F.H. Publications
ISBN 0-87666-809-0
TFH# H-1049
A good reference for anyone who intends to keep
stony corals. Like other books not specifically
written for the hobbyist, it does not discuss the
care of corals. May be out of print.
Adey and Loveland
Dynamic Aquaria An attempt at designing reef (and other) aquaria
on sound ecological principles. The hobby remains
very sceptical of the use of algal scrubbers with
stony corals; see the scrubber section of this FAQ.
However, much of the book is devoted to a
discussion of ecology that any dedicated aquarist
will benefit from, if read warily. Again, Caveat
Emptor.
"The Reef Tank Owner's Manual"
by John H. Tullock
October 10, 1990. Aardvark Press
ISBN 0-945777-06-x
Discussion of filtration is old-fashioned, similar
to Thiel's books but somewhat more grammatical.
Good discussions of individual animals and animal
choices aimed at the beginning and intermediate
reefkeeper.
"Invertebrates: Tube-, Soft-, and Branching Corals"
by Peter Wilkens / Johannes Birkholz
1986, Engelbert Pfriem Verlag, Wuppertal
ISBN 3-921677-14-9
"Invertebrates: Stone and False Corals, Colonial Anemones"
by Peter Wilkens
1990, Engelbert Pfriem Verlag, Wuppertal
ISBN 3-921677-15-7
The only books available which discusses the care
of individual species of corals. The authors'
experience and reputation is vast. Unfortunately
the production quality of the English translation
is poor, but there is no other comparable
reference. A must buy for anyone intending to
keep corals. These may be out of print, so finding
them may be very difficult.
"Fishes for the Invertebrate Aquarium, 3rd ed."
by Helmut Debelius
1989. Aquarium Systems
"Armored Knights of the Sea"
Absolutely fantastic shrimp book. Out of
print, gold if you can get your hand on it.
Helmut Debelius. (An absolutely fascinating speaker, BTW. If you
ever get a chance to hear him speak, do so!) Quite a lot of good
information on reef-compatible fishes.
Veron
Corals of Australia and The definitive reference book for
the Indo-Pacific stony corals. The original is out of print
and very difficult to find. A reprint
run has recently been done.
"Living Corals"
by Douglas Faulkner & Richard Chesher
1979, Crown Publishers, Inc.
ISBN 0-517-53854-7
This is one of those big picture
books of corals, but it's the best
one I've ever seen. The photos are
all top-notch, most show large groupings
of a single species. The descriptions
are not with the pictures, which can be
disconcerting until you get used to it.
I believe this book is out-of-print,
though I often find used copies (fairly
cheap!) at a local bookstore.
"Marine Plants of the Caribbean, A Field Guide from Florida to Brazil"
by Diane Scullion Littler, Mark M. Littler, Katina E. Bucher,& James N. Norris
1989. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
ISBN 0-87474-607-8
Quite a good reference book describing
various species of algae that are found
in the waters of the Caribbean.
"Seaweeds of Hawaii, A photographic Identification Guide"
by William H. Magruder and Jeffrey W. Hunt
1979. The Oriental Publishing Company
ISBN 0-932596-12-6
Another excellent reference identifying
algae found around Hawaii. Out of print.
"The Manual of Marine Invertebrates"
by Martyn Haywood and Sue Wells
1989. Salamander Books Ltd., London
ISBN 0-86101-474-X
I'd recommend the Manual of Marine
Invertebrates by Hayward. While this
does not go into a great deal of detail
on anything, it covers every class of
inverts and is good for learning about
what's on your live rock and the basics
of care for different kinds of creatures.
Yes! I'd forgotten about this one. It
contains quite a few mistakes, but is a
good reference book nonetheless.
Walls, Jerry, "Encyclopedia of Marine Inverts",
(TFH, Neptune, NJ: 1988) ISBN 0-86622-141-7.
<Compared to Manual of Marine Invertebrates by Hayward> and found that the
later (Wall's book) appeared to have a lot more info. It isn't a great
book from the aquarium point of view but does cover the basics of all the
Phyla. It has a lot of color plates. I was able to identify a number of
Live-Rock ReefCritters(tm) with it.
"Dr. Burgess's Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes"
by Dr. Warren E. Burgess, Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod, & Raymond E. Hunziker III
1988. T.F.H. Publications
TFH# H-1100
"The big picture book of fishes."
Considered the first book to look marine
fish up in. Second edition has been
published.
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