Best beginner books?

hogfxstc · Apr 26, 2018

Looking for a good read. Whats your opinion on best beginner saltwater reef keeping books?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

ndrwater · Apr 26, 2018

There are lots.

The Marine Aquarium Handbook by Martin Moe
The Reef Aquarium Volumes 1-3 by Jullian Sprung

both off the top of my head.

Coral Magazine is also really good and comes out Bi- monthly and has great articles for the novice and expert alike.

Jesterrace · Apr 27, 2018

hogfxstc said:
Looking for a good read. Whats your opinion on best beginner saltwater reef keeping books?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Honestly, I would say internet forums such as these, youtube and talking to folks at your LFS would be far more beneficial than any book.

Deedles · Apr 27, 2018

Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies is a good starter

Xandernfs · Apr 27, 2018

The New Marine Aquarium - Michael Paletta

SPR1968 · Apr 27, 2018

The above books are all fine books, and I personally purchased the saltwater aquarium for dummies when I started out 2 years ago to answer the question.

They certainly point you in the right direction but the problem I found was most were written years ago and don’t have the modern reef keeping methods and equipment we now use. Are they worthless, not at all, but I want to use modern methods. Why spend weeks/months cycling an aquarium when it can be done immediately from a bottle...

I’ve personally learned an awful lot from factual internet reading on whatever subject I want to learn about which is easily available and I study for hours before making hopefully an informed decision on something.

I could however still study a book with pictures (I can read before anyone says anything funny!!) for hours if it’s up to date

User1 · Apr 27, 2018

ndrwater said:
The Marine Aquarium Handbook by Martin Moe

I really enjoyed this book and still read it to this day. I also love:
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist - by Robert M. Fenner (Author)

hogfxstc · Apr 27, 2018

Thanks everyone for the sugestions!

Zeal · Apr 28, 2018

google

Jesterrace · Apr 28, 2018

Agreed. Kind of reminds me of the old Encyclopedia Britannica set my parents have. It's pretty, nicely crafted and does have some good info in it, but it's nearly 40 years out of date in many respects. I couldn't learn half the stuff I have picked up from forums like this, youtube and talking to local hobbyists from any collection of books.

reefwiser · Apr 28, 2018

Problem with using Google is that you will get tons of conflicting answers to your problems. Always start with a good book so that you can get a clear direction. Sadly biology doesn't' go out of date. One must pick a mentor that can help guide you thru the ups and downs of the hobby. Most YouTube video's do not go into enough depth the give you a true understanding of what you need to know.

Muttley000 · Apr 28, 2018

saf1 said:
I really enjoyed this book and still read it to this day. I also love:
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist - by Robert M. Fenner (Author)

I feel Fenner's book is the one if I was only allowed to name a single book.

Forums and Google can be helpful once you have a basic footing from a good book, but to start out that way totally green with all the conflicting and mis-information out there could lead to a lot of issues IMO. Of course I am just some guy posting on the Internet, so take that with the same grain of salt as any post!

hogfxstc · Apr 28, 2018

reefwiser said:
Problem with using Google is that you will get tons of conflicting answers to your problems. Always start with a good book so that you can get a clear direction. Sadly biology doesn't' go out of date. One must pick a mentor that can help guide you thru the ups and downs of the hobby. Most YouTube video's do not go into enough depth the give you a true understanding of what you need to know.

Reefwiser,

I see your in the same town as I, what LFS you like?

Susan Edwards · Apr 28, 2018

One thing I did was sign up for kindle unlimited. I could then read a ton of books on saltwater fish for free. You basically check out up to 10 books at a time and you can take your time reading them. Then you return them and get more. A great way to see if a book is worth paying for.

Jesterrace · Apr 28, 2018

reefwiser said:
Problem with using Google is that you will get tons of conflicting answers to your problems. Always start with a good book so that you can get a clear direction. Sadly biology doesn't' go out of date. One must pick a mentor that can help guide you thru the ups and downs of the hobby. Most YouTube video's do not go into enough depth the give you a true understanding of what you need to know.

Hence the reason why it is a combo between that and sites like these and locals who are in the hobby.