I'm still a New Saltwater hobbiest - and have read 4 Marine aquarium books and spent alot of time reading Online Forums. First two were fairly basic - and didn't cover much in depth. The 3rd book I read was " New Marine Aquarium " which is a great hands on - get started with your first FOWLR tank ( fish only with LIve Rock). It wasn't overly technical but is a crash course systemized ABC book in setting up a your fist FIsh Only tank without having to obtain a great depth of information about your new pets.
This book fills in alot of the gaps in information that have arisen and is very thorough without getting overly technical in terminology. I'm reading it cover to cover ( about 3/4 of the way read ) and will use it as a reference book. It's very readable in content.
Examples of what makes this book valuable over others.
* Live Rock - this book covers Live Rock soup to nuts. It goes in depth between Florida aqua cultured rock - vs Fiji Rock - vs Base Rock - vs Dead Rock - and goes in depth the differences along with pros and cons of each choice. The segment on Curing Live Rock is also quite thorough.
* Also covers the same with Sand - Live Sand that you purchase cultured online - vs Live Sand you buy in a bag - vs Dead Sand in a box. It covers the reasons along with Benefits of Argamax Sand vs Silica based sand that is always mentioned to avoid.
* This is the first book I've read that goes into Refugiums - what they are - what they do - what kindof choices / options are involved ( it's definitely more of an art than a science ). It covers Microalgae in depth - macroalgae - Mangroves - what ones are beneficial vs troublesome to a tank / and which are easier to maintain vs more difficult. What benefits each species offers and to what degree in your aquarium.
* The book covers Clams / pods / shrimp / sponges / crabs / urchins Snails / Starfish / Micro & Macroalgae / and much more - with enough information to understand how they fit in terms of benefit to your aquarium environment and what species make sense in a captive aquarium and why.
Bottom line - After putting this book down - I feel I have enough base of knowledge to make good decisions in setting up a system while avoiding many costly mistakes of basic restraints of trial and error. I still want to add a pocket guide on Fish and Invert species selection ( although this book is a good reference ) - and would like to add a book that covers info re: plumbing a Sump system and Coral Reference book. But this is a very thorough book for the subjects it covers.
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