Marine Aquarium Handbook Beginner to Breeder

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Revised & Expanded Third Edition

Description

Foreword by Julian Sprung

This is the book that has launched hundreds of thousands of aquarists into the marine aquarium hobby, surehandedly guiding them as they set up their first marine aquariums and moved into reefkeeping and breeding.

Written by Martin A. Moe, Jr., marine biologist and pioneering fish and invertebrate breeder, The Marine Aquarium Handbook has been highly acclaimed for providing sound advice in a clear, readable, and engaging voice.

Now extensively updated and expanded, with new world-class color images by Matthew L. Wittenrich, Scott W. Michael, Alf Jacob Nilsen, Denise Nielsen Tackett, Larry Tackett, and others, 'The Marine Aquarium Handbook' covers the latest methods for setting up, stocking, and maintaining a thriving saltwater tank.

A lifetime of research and experience in keeping and breeding marine fishes and invertebrates is packed into the following chapters:

• The Aquarium: Size, Shape, Style, and Construction
• The Water: Composition, Collection, Mixing, and Preparation
• Filtration: Mechanical, Chemical, Biological, and Sterilization
• The Biological Filter: Live Rock, Live Sand, and External Options
• Physics & Chemistry: The Essential Information for Marine Aquarists
• Setup & Maintenance: The First Day, The First Year
• Fish Selection: What to Look for: Condition and Compatibility
• Introduction & Quarantine: Purposes and Methods
• Diseases & Distress: Identification and Treatment

foods & feeding: What, When, and How

• Breeding Marine FISH: The Basic Process and Easiest Species

Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

Most of the earth is ocean, and of the aquatic environments of the world, coral reefs are among the most environmentally stable and biologically dynamic. Coral reefs only occur within about 30 degrees of latitude from the equator. They can only live and grow where average annual water temperatures are approximately 72 to 84°F; salinity is constant and high; sunlight strongly penetrates the shallow, clear oceanic water; and the level of dissolved nutrients is very low. The environment changes little from season to season, year to year; but the animals and plants endlessly war for food and space.

These elements of existence have created a wonderland of form, color, and behavior—a wonderland that we can capture, in small measure, in our home aquariums. The romance and mystery of tropic seas can be reflected in a small simulated coral reef, snug in one’s living room, while winter winds pile snow against the door.

Thirty years or so ago, a successful marine aquarist was regarded with awe and wonder as one favored by Neptune himself, and thus privy to the secrets of the deep. Now we know that those pioneering individuals were not specially favored, but only had the courage to persist, despite failures, and the tenacity to stick with methods that worked for them. Now we know why certain methods and techniques work and others fail, and although maintaining a marine aquarium is not as easy as keeping a freshwater tank, most of the questions now have answers—and with a little effort, the average fish fancier can be a successful marine aquarist....

Reviews

The Marine Aquarium Handbook, Beginner to Breeder (Revised & Expanded Third Edition) is a well written; informative, and nicely illustrated work, besides being extremely fair priced! And whether a beginner or well versed in the marine hobby, you’ll find the information in this work extremely enlightening and well worth having as it provides a common sense approach for maintaining marine aquariums.

TFH/Microcosm Ltd. has again presented the reader an unsurpassed value! --Bob Goemans, saltcorner.com