Marine Aquarium Literature

Keeping marine aquariums can be challenging.  There are several well respected marine aquarium books available that will make your life and the lives of your aquarium pets much easier.  I've listed my favorites below.  If you decide to get any of these books, check out Best Book Buys for help finding the best price.  Most of the books are available for half of their list price.  Less if you're willing to buy used.

The Reef Aquarium : A Comprehensive Guide to the Identification and Care of Tropical Marine Invertebrates (Volume 2)
Author: J. Charles Delbeek, Julian Sprung
Publication Date: July 1994
ISBN: 1883693128
This was my first reef book.  Its emphasis is on anemones and soft corals.  I bought it after being unable to find any good information on how to keep anemones.  Before I owned this book, I couldn't keep anemones alive.  I now have several very healthy anemones including a large green carpet (considered fragile).  I absolutely could not have kept these animals alive without this book.  So, Julian and Charles, if you ever run across this site, thanks for the help.  I owe you a beer.

The Reef Aquarium: A Comprehensive Guide to the Identification and Care of Tropical Marine Invertebrates, Vol. 1
Author: Julian Sprung, J. Charles Delbeek
Publication Date: June 1997
ISBN: 1883693136
This was my second reef book.  Its emphasis is on corals and tridacnid clams.  I bought it after I started keep corals.  Again, this book has been an invaluable resource and was worth every cent I paid for it. 

Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide
Author: Julian Sprung
Publication Date: June 2001
ISBN: 1883693004
The title pretty much says it all.  This is a great book to take along to fish stores when shopping for inverts. 

Corals: A Quick Reference Guide
Author: Julian Sprung
Publication Date: November 1999
ISBN: 1883693098
The same as above, but about Corals.  Another great tool for reef keeping.

Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History
Author: Eric Borneman
Publication Date: January 2001
ISBN: 1890087483
I only recently purchased this book, so I haven't read it all yet.  It covers most of the same topics as Sprung's books, but addresses a few different issues.  One thing I like about this book over Sprung's book is a section on "Collection Impact" for each of the corals it discusses.  This is good information in determining the ethical impacts of keeping particular animals.