Read a good book lately?

[Forjam64]

So I am a few pages from being done with reading "Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies", my dad had it so I borrowed it, I thought it'd be good to know some reefing history since the book was written in 2001 and most of the equipment information is now out of date. That being said a lot of the information still rings true. After reading it I'm left with 2 questions:

1. Are there any other good reefing books out there? Financially a tank is still a ways off for me so I'd like to keep reading.

2. In the "for Dummies" book, there seems to be a lot of information on feeding as far as needing a variety of different foods. I haven't seen any posts on either of the forums I frequent specifically dealing with feeding. Obviously feeding is important but should it be as technical as say water chemistry? The book seems to really get into it.

I'm also starting to realize that maybe I should have maybe followed through on becoming a marine biologist like I wanted to be when I was 8 :/

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I don't know of any books about reefing that are super up to date, however, I use YouTube for just about every question I have and I find it to be much easier to simply search for the issue or interest you have and to find a relevant video. Doesn't hurt that its free for the most part and you can directly communicate with the content creators most of the time.

Feeding a variety of foods can be beneficial for your fish and other critters, it also helps if you feed them something high in quality. Simply feeding the cheap store brand flakes will not cut it long term with your fish. I saw a significant amount of improvement in the coloration and activity levels of my fish when I switched over from cheap foods like Omega One to more "premium" foods like Rod's Food and LRS Reef Frenzy in conjunction with Cobalt Aquatics Omni Flakes. Honestly though I don't find those foods much more expensive in the grand scheme of things.

It doesn't necessarily have to be technical, like weighing out foods or creating specific nutrition amounts, but it does have to be a little consistent, meaning you feed relatively the same amount each time you feed so you don't impact water quality too much.

You don't have to be a marine biologist to be successful in this hobby, I know only two aquarium hobbyists who are actually studying marine biology and that's only because I'm dating one of them and the other is her friend/classmate there's thousands of hobbyists on here that don't have any marine biology education!

 

[Forjam64]

I don't know of any books about reefing that are super up to date, however, I use YouTube for just about every question I have and I find it to be much easier to simply search for the issue or interest you have and to find a relevant video. Doesn't hurt that its free for the most part and you can directly communicate with the content creators most of the time.

Feeding a variety of foods can be beneficial for your fish and other critters, it also helps if you feed them something high in quality. Simply feeding the cheap store brand flakes will not cut it long term with your fish. I saw a significant amount of improvement in the coloration and activity levels of my fish when I switched over from cheap foods like Omega One to more "premium" foods like Rod's Food and LRS Reef Frenzy in conjunction with Cobalt Aquatics Omni Flakes. Honestly though I don't find those foods much more expensive in the grand scheme of things.

It doesn't necessarily have to be technical, like weighing out foods or creating specific nutrition amounts, but it does have to be a little consistent, meaning you feed relatively the same amount each time you feed so you don't impact water quality too much.

You don't have to be a marine biologist to be successful in this hobby, I know only two aquarium hobbyists who are actually studying marine biology and that's only because I'm dating one of them and the other is her friend/classmate there's thousands of hobbyists on here that don't have any marine biology education!

Thanks for the feedback. I have watched hours of youtube videos as well, I was just looking to see if there were any books that I could read as I look at a computer most of the day at work. Thanks for the feedback on the feeding as well.

I just brought up the marine biology because I don't really get tired of reading about this stuff.

 

[Smo]

Since you are still in the planning stages and this hobby is advancing so quickly—your best approach would be to read as many threads as you can on Reef2Reef, especially the threads on fish diseases and treatments. YouTube is filled with both good and less than optimal information. Generally the advice you get here will be much more reliable because multiple people contribute and it becomes self-checking.

 

[Forjam64]

Since you are still in the planning stages and this hobby is advancing so quickly—your best approach would be to read as many threads as you can on Reef2Reef, especially the threads on fish diseases and treatments. YouTube is filled with both good and less than optimal information. Generally the advice you get here will be much more reliable because multiple people contribute and it becomes self-checking.

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely could delve further into diseases and such.

 

[cmcoker]

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner is a good one.

Also just picked this one up and am enjoying it so far.

Forums and YouTube are great, and i definitely use them, but I like having a book with a beginning, middle and end. I tend to go down the rabbit hole online and lose focus on what topic I was originally researching.

 

[Forjam64]

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner is a good one.

Also just picked this one up and am enjoying it so far.

Forums and YouTube are great, and i definitely use them, but I like having a book with a beginning, middle and end. I tend to go down the rabbit hole online and lose focus on what topic I was originally researching.

I know exactly what you mean by going down the rabbit hole