Essential Saltwater Aquarium Books

[Umbriel]

Hi everyone,

I work in a public library and recently we've been weeding our collection. I convinced my director to discard most of our aquarium books, which dated back to the late 1970s-1980s. Very kindly, the director is allowing me to pick out a couple of new books to add to our aquarium collection.

I've been thinking of asking for the latest edition of Fenner's "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" and Scott Michael's "A Pocket Expert Guide to Reef Aquarium Fishes". However, I wanted you guys' input. What books would be best to own?

I know that the field is continuously changing, so what would be a good book to own that won't go out of date right away? I'm hoping that we could get a couple books that would last for at least a few to ten years or so.

Thanks for your input and advice!

 

[Tradewinds]

Although published in 1996, Aquatic Systems Engineering: Devices and How They Function, by P.R. Escobal, still contains essential information for today's hobbyist.

I am also curious to see which books are being discarded.

 

[Umbriel]

Unfortunately, I discarded the books last week, so I don't know off hand. They just were horribly dated. There were freshwater books being discarded, too, but I'm not apt to buy books for a subject that I'm not too familiar with, so I'm sticking with saltwater.

 

[Fizz71]

The best book to own is a "notebook".

I can't be too much help on the latest books because I don't buy them, but I will say of the last books I bought (back in 2001?) was The Conscientious Marine Aquarist and I'd still recommend to anybody that asks. The second to last book? A Pocket Expert Guide to Reef Aquarium Fishes (back in 2000).

Most recent was "Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook" by Dr. Robert J. Goldstein. That was still quite a few years back.

 

[ca1ore]

Not much of a market these days for aquarium books, so most are a bit dated. My favorites, and still used:

1. Reef Fishes series by Scott Michael - 5 volumes published; others finished but unpublished in volume form.
2. The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium, Vols 1 -4 - Nilsen & Fossa - Great book series, even if a bit dated. supposedly there were to be more than four volumes.
3. The Reef Aquarium, Vols 1 -3 - Sprung and Delbeek - Good series, but first two vols a bit dated