Your First Marine Aquarium (Barron's Complete Pet Owner's Manuals) (Paperback)

~ John Tullock (Author) "Successful marine aquarium design requires an understanding of the natural environment you are trying to duplicate..." (more)
Key Phrases: photosynthetic invertebrates, marine aquarium, community aquarium, Royal Gramma, Common Clownfish, Maroon Clownfish (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Biologist and author, John Tullock, shares the secrets of his more than 20 years experience in marine aquarium keeping. He shows that by mastering a few simple techniques, and paying attention to the ecology of the aquarium's inhabitants, even a novice can create a beautiful coral reef in miniature. The book's emphasis is on proper design and careful selection of saltwater species, rather than reliance on costly equipment.

From the Inside Flap

(back cover)
Information and advice to help you maintain an optimal environment for marine life . . .

Your marine aquarium: correct water chemistry, temperature, and more
Expert advice: all important aspects of saltwater aquarium maintenance explained
Appreciating marine life: populating your tank with fish, shellfish, corals, and more

Step-by-step directions for daily care

Informative checklists and sidebars

Filled with handsome full-color photos

(picture caption)
Setting up a marine aquarium is a challenging task, but the rewards will justify your efforts. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; illustrated edition edition (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764104470
• ISBN-13: 978-0764104473
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #911,849 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Complete Pet Owner's Manual Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent 1st Marine Aquarium Book for the beginner., January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This is a great first book for someone interested in starting a marine aquarium (or mini-reef). It's also a great book for the experienced marine aquarist to have around to loan out. At this price you can have a couple on hand to loan to people who ask how to get started.

The book is easy to read, concise, and covers most areas of the hobby with 'Tried & True' methods. It has great photographs and illustrations to support the text. There are several tables making it easy for the beginner to understand and choose the correct information. It would have been nice to see a paragraph or two covering some of the more advanced ideas currently being tried in the hobby such as Live Sand filtration and plenums as a reference.

Whatever facet of the hobby you enjoy, this book is a good starter. Experienced hobbists may disagree with J. Tullocks stocking, metodology, etc. but they need to remember this book is aimed at beginners not the Bleeding Edge. The methods employed are pretty much the Proven 'State of the Art' for beginners to start their first marine aquarium.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great starter book for the beginner, February 27, 2000

By A Customer

I thought this book was execellent. I learned alot and have set two tanks up with the directions. I have re-read a couple of times for info that I needed down the line and didn't understand at the time. Great book!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a First Guide Book, October 27, 2001

By	"katybear" (Dallas Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book as a "first exposure" to keeping a saltwater fish and reef tank.
It presented a bit wordy for someone unfamiliar to saltwater--and that turned me off right away. There didn't seem enough information to really get started, but too much for a beginner, if that makes sense. His other book "Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to Creating Living Saltwater Microcosms" (while it did have a very long introduction story) was much better in this respect (it had a Step-by-Step Starter Reef section that I think would have belonged in this book instead.) While "Your First Marine Aquarium" may look like a typical beginners book that you might take home with a tank and equipment, I don't think it covers enough slowly, basically, and simply to serve in this capacity.
Let me interject here that it is full of good pictures and has some useful reference tables.
After reading both of these books, I still don't understand the exact mechanism or technique of feeding either corals or marine fish--something I think is very basic and always simply covered in freshwater literature. If I had picked it up and looked this book over in the store, I would have put it back and bought his other book "Natural Reef Aquariums..." instead.