Customer Reviews

Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This text in my view is directed between marine fish only tanks and reef keeping. Many of the tropical fish listed are from the Australian tropical regions. It also appears the author does not follow Sprung or other cohorts in that he uses equipment that is currently not in fashion for maintaining reefs.

I do agree that a well set up ozone reactor run with the dpd chlorine method is a superior way than ORP control and useful today despite its unpopularity. There are other texts available on this subject but this is an interesting point of view. He appears to adopt established public aquarium techniques to large private marine aquariums. However, I must admit many private aquariums are far superior to many public displays I have encountered, especially concerning sps corals. So I highly recommend the book but do not consider it an exhaustive reference on husbandry techniques, but more of an introduction to well established techniques.

As the author, I wanted to point out that this book covers a number of topics of interest to intermediate to advanced marine aquarists, including those working for public aquarium, pet stores and maintenance services. It is NOT a reef aquarium book, it covers many of those topics, but also has a broader focus. It does not offer basic information on setting up a marine aquariums, you'll need to get that information elsewhere. Good advanced aquarium resource.

Since it wasn't in the Amazon informational page for this book, here is the table of contents:

Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques

Introduction
Section 1: Environmental Quality
Aquarium Construction
Water Quality Measurement Techniques
Water Current Generators
Ozone in Aquarium Systems
Batch Processing to Reclaim Marine Aquarium Water
Dissolved Gasses in Aquarium Water
Water / Mineral Balance in Aquariums
Heating and Cooling
Filtration
Lighting Techniques
Micro-aquariums

Section 2: Animal Health
Aquarium Problem Solving
Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) In Aquarium Fishes
Simple Aquarium Water Analysis for Total Aerobic Bacteria
Sampling of Aquarium Systems for Micro-biota
The Use of Utility Animals in Aquariums to Control Pest Species
Necropsy Techniques
Quarantine Procedures
Medication Dosage and Aquarium Calculations
Fish Mass Determination
Fish Pharmacology
Commonly Used Fish Disease Treatments
Collecting and Shipping Specimens
Marine fish and Invertebrate Propagation

Section 3: The Animals
Specimen Selection
Specimen sources
Aquatic animals of the Galapagos Islands
Black Widow Brotula
Deep-sea Isopod
Flashlight Fish
Garden Eels
Mini-groupers, the Basslets
Red-rimmed Batfish
Basslets
Rhinopias Scorpionfish
Temperate Australian Marine Fishes
Temperate Japanese Fishes
Temperate Pacific Animals
Husbandry synopsis of miscellaneous exotic marine aquarium species

Section 4: Nutrition
Dietary Protocols for Fishes
Fatty Liver Disease
Color Enhancement in Fish and Invertebrates
Ascorbic Acid in Aquariums
Dietary Preferences of Fishes
Tube-Feeding Techniques for Fish
Converting piscivores to feed on non-living foods
Automatic plankton feeder
Recipe for homemade gelatin diet
Rotifer Culture
Mysid shrimp culture

Section 5: The Human Element
History of marine aquariums
Aquarium Careers
Education
Extracurricular activities
Private sector jobs
part-time careers
Philosophy of Public Aquariums
Ethics and Aquariums
Aquatic Conservation
Exhibit design / construction
Professional groups
Aquarium Data management
Aquarium Safety
Short takes - hints and tips
References
Glossary
About the author

Of the 70 or so marine aquarium books I have this is certainly in the top five. There is information here that is simply not easily available from other sources and the book itself is very well written and illustrated. This is not a book for beginers because it assumes a basic level of knowledge and, thankfully, skips over such discussions as the nitrogen cycle, etc. There are few books written in this field that I would read cover to cover, yet this book is compelling and highly informative. I am surprised by how much I've learned from Hemdal's writing and how relevant it all is to my level of interest. Highly recommended!

ADVANCED MARINE AQUARIUM TECHNIQUES: GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONAL MARINE AQUARIUM SYSTEMS isn't for the home aquarium owner so much as for marine enthusiasts who already have the basics down and wish to go further. Details on filtration, lighting, ozone, specimens, maintenance and handling problems focus on over a hundred thirty marine organisms including some rare Japanese fishes. Another big plus: data has been collected by the world's leading public aquariums, paired with color photos, and includes the advanced testing methods and theories lacking in more general-interest books. Add graphs, charts, tables, and clear print and you have an outstanding library reference, directed to an advanced level of reader usually not given such fine detail in this subject area.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Jay Hemdal's Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques picks up where most aquarium literature leaves off. Once you've gained a basic understanding of marine aquarium husbandry, reading this book is one of the next steps you should take. I've kept aquariums for well over 20 years, and I find that I keep referring back to this book for answers and solutions I can't seem to find anywhere else.
I really appreciate the fact that, even though this book targets advanced hobbyists and offers in-depth explanations, it's written in easy-to-understand language. You won't find yourself swimming in technical jargon. Also, Hemdal doesn't simply parrot what has been written by others. His conclusions are clearly based on his own extensive professional experience, and he's not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom when necessary.
If you buy this book, be prepared to learn something!

This is a good book and terrible in others. I would ONLY recommend it for a well read, very advanced aquarist that has a good handle on the hobby already. Some of the advice is WRONG and will harm your system. However, there are also is some good info/ideas that are not available online or in other books (still in print). This is well worth the price _if_ you can sift through the junk to get to them.

The author also needs to get an editor to read the book and fix things like parts of paragraphs that are missing and basic grammer/spelling errors.

Some of us, who followed the advice of our local fish store, never knew there was any other ways to set up a marine aquarium. Thanks to this book, which I have had only a little over 2 weeks, it is dog eared, has writing in the margins, and some highlighting- things I want to try, research on the animals I may like to keep. Using different ways to keep marine animals is just the book I needed to acquire. Thumbs up to the author who writes in down to earth language and easy to understand explainations. You won't be disappointed!

What can I say, it contains information which I think a little bit unstructured. It has interesting concepts but I personally think a book of this price should have something special in it, which this one is lacking of. But overall, it's quite an interesting book to read.

I am very disappointed in this book. I bought it expecting a "guide to successful professional marine aquarium systems" which is its subtitle. The book contains just the typical marine aquarium info. Nothing professional about it. I wanted information about the design, construction and maintenance of real professional aquariums. Extremely disappointing. Does anyone know of a book on the construction of real professional, public type large aquariums?