Top Pick Fish and Invertebrate Care Books

A PocketExpert Guide series publication, "Marine Fishes: 500+ Essential-To-Know Aquarium Species" by Scott W. Michael covers over 500 of the most popularly kept marine fishes in the saltwater hobby. Each fish spotlighted in this book includes a full-color photograph with a simply outlined, but detailed profile. It includes a Quick Finder common name animal index that makes it easy to quickly locate the information you are looking for. This is a must have fish identification and captive aquarium care guide recommended for beginners and experts alike.

The second published book in the PocketExpert Guide series, "Marine Invertebrates: 500+ Essential-To-Know Aquarium Species" authored by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. profiles over 500 of the most popular invertebrate species kept in the saltwater and reef aquarium hobby. Structured just like "Marine Fishes", this book also includes the special Quick Finder index, is packed full of color photographs with need-to-know profile information and advice about keeping invertebrates, and is recommended for aquarists of all levels.

This great atlas by Hans A. Baensch and Helmut Debelius is a valuable source of information, especially for the new reef hobbyist. "Baensch Marine Atlas 1: The Joint Aquarium Care of Invertebrates and Tropical Marine Fishes" begins by covering all the functioning aspects of setting up and maintaining a reef aquarium, then profiles selecting and caring for Invertebrates, Sea Anemones and Crustaceans, and finishes up by profiling 600 marine fish species. Over 1,000 full color photos are included.

Important Buying Tip: Be careful when ordering any three of these atlases online. The overall name Baensch Marine Atlas will often show up in the title search results, but no picture or volume number is given, and you can easily get the wrong book.

Continuing on with the same high quality of "Atlas 1" above, "Baensch Marine Atlas 2: Marine Invertebrates Identification and Care" covers the following groups of invertebrates: Common Sponges, Hydroids, Jellyfishes, Soft Corals, Gorgonians, Sea Pens, Stony Corals, Flatworms, Tentacled Animals, Molluscs - Chitons, Snails, Opisthobranchs (Sea Slugs), and Nudibranchs. More than 670 full color photos are included.

With more than 500 full color photos included in this book, "Baensch Marine Atlas 3" continues on where "Atlas 2" leaves off with more information on Molluscs - Filibranchs (Oysters, Scallops & Clams), followed by Cephalopods (Squids, Octopods, etc.), Segmented Worms, Echinoderms (Starfishes, Sea Urchins), Sea Cucumbers and Sea Squirts.

"Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History" is an authoritative and comprehensive guide by Eric H. Borneman that is packed full of everything you want to know about corals, both how they live in nature, and how to take care of them in a marine aquarium. Along with hard corals it includes a diversity of soft corals, as well as popular and rare large-polyp and small-polyp stony corals. The full-color pictures contained in this top pick coral profile and care publication are without a doubt quite spectacular.

The first book in this series, "Reef Fishes - Volume 1: A Guide to Their Identification, Behavior, and Captive Care" by Scott W. Michael provides an introduction to coral reef habitats and fish families associated with them, profiling the following groups: Moray Eels - Conger & Garden Eels - Snake Eels - Eel Catfishes - Lizardfishes - Livebearing Brotulas - Toadfishes - Frogfishes - Walking Batfishes - Flashlight Fishes - Pineapple Fishes - Squirrelfishes & Soldierfishes - Trumpetfishes - Sea Moths - Ghost Pipefishes - Seahorses & Pipefishes - Shrimpfishes - Coral Crouchers - Waspfishes, Scorpionfishes & Lionfishes - Flatheads - Helmut Gurnards - Dwarf Seabasses, Hamlets & Anthiases. Includes 800 full-color species photographs.

"Basslets, Dottybacks & Hawkfishes PLUS Seven More Aquarium Fish Families With Expert Captive Care Advice For The Marine Aquarist" is the second book in the five-volume "Reef Fishes Series" by Scott W. Michael. This volume is packed with information about keeping Basslets, Dottybacks and Hawkfishes, and profiles seven more most-popular fish families and species of interest in these groups -- Grammas, Longfins, Jawfishes, Bigeyes, Morwongs, Cardinalfishes, and Tilefishes.

The third book in Scott's highly acclaimed "Reef Fishes Series" is "Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes PLUS Ten More Aquarium Fish Families With Expert Captive Care Advice For The Marine Aquarist". As the title reflects, this volume centers around Angels and Butterflies, but also profiles ten more groups of coral reef fishes that are of interest to marine aquarium keepers -- Remoras, Jacks, Scads & Pompanos, Snappers, Fusiliers, Sweetlips & Grunts, Whiptails & Spinecheeks, Drums & Croakers, Goatfishes, Sweepers and Monoa.

Once again Scott W. Michael has done an outstanding job! For anyone that wants to know about these sharklike fishes, "Aquarium Sharks & Rays: An Essential Guide to Their Selection, Keeping, and Natural History" is a must have book for your reference library. It provides complete and comprehensive coverage on the nature of all species of sharks and rays, from their natural habitats on the reefs, to their captive care and breeding in a marine aquarium. The shark and ray photographs included in this book are truly works of art.

Not only is "Reef Secrets: Starting Right, Selecting Fishes and Invertebrates, Advanced Biotope Techniques" by Alf Jacob Nilsen and Svein A. Fossa a complete, easy-to-follow guide to setting up or converting an existing system into a reef tank, it is a marine life care guide as well. The Aquarium Stocking chapter covers topics on Thinking Before Buying: Selecting Species Based on Compatibility, Population Density, Aquarium Size, and Human Hazards, with the Stocking Guide chapter containing a large collection of full-color marine fish and invertebrate photos that include at-a-glance notes on their identification, feeding, compatibility, and other profile care information.