Reef Book Recommendations?

[JST]

Looking for recommendations of books for beginner reef keeping. Currently have a 75 gallon LRWFO. Will be up grading lighting system from one VHO IceCap (2 110 bulbs) to two for better lighting condition.

[dougc]

I find that books often contain outdated information, but provide a decent foundation if supplemented with forums like this. The Tullock "Natural Reef Aquariums" book is a good one to start with. I have Mike Paletta's "Modern Coral Reef Aquarium", which is more suited to someone with no saltwater experience. The Julian Sprung books "The Reef Aquarium" Volumes 1 and 2 are sound, but are getting a bit dated.

I rely on these forums for the most up-to-date information and use books mostly for detailed reference information on keeping specific livestock. Eric Borneman's "Aquarium Corals" is a good reference guide to suitable aquarium species. Anything by Scott Michael is good to have around when it comes time to stock your tank with reef-safe fish. I take the "Marine Fishes Pocket Guide" with me when I go looking for fish. His evolving series of books, "Reef Fishes", are much more comprehensive and cover almost anything you will ever see at a store.

The other book that should be on everybody's shelf is Mike Paletta's "Ultimate Marine Aquariums". There is some useful information in the profiles of successful reef tanks, but the real reason to have this book is for pure entertainment. It is chock full of pictures that will provide both motivation and lots of aquascaping ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

[Reefland]

You can click the link to Book Store at the top of each page for some recommendations.

[JST]

Thanks. I started my tank after reading Michael Paletta's book (which great) so I'll start with him again!