Buy Reef Tank

Review by Too Cold in Madison:

This is a beautiful book. There are lots of great pictures. The book is an excellent resource for those who are starting a reef tank. There are thorough and informative chapters on issues such as set-up, live rock, lighting, fitration, feeding, etc. The sections on selection & care of corals, other invertebrates, fishes, and algae are excellent. Issues of care, compatibility and conservation are addressed for all species.I did notice a couple of incorrect pictures, but this is a very minor problem.Overall, this is an excellent beginner/intermediate book by a pair of recognized and respected authorities in the field. Their superb 4-volume series is beyond the budget of most at a per-volume list price of around . Most of what the average new reefer needs is here in this book. It is an excellent value for the price.

Review by Erik Cornelissen:

You won’t have to go over the ammonia cycle again here, though there is enough info to get you started. The title is a great indication of what to expect. This book is about thinking out of the box in aquarium keeping and planning them correctly.

My favorite section talks about ideas for aquariums and how when we start, we usually try to replicate a hodgepodge thrown together because we want a little of everything instead of a real underwater scene which could be much more interesting. This book has opened my eyes to new planning possibilities, I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

It has a great section on all types of fishes, invertebrates, cnidaria, etc… of options for choices with clear and concise care guide and potential pitfalls.

There is one or two things that might surprise if you have aquariums in the Americas, such as stating that 10% of water changed per year is reasonable. Maybe very large aquarium, but I change that per week. Then again, only because I have read elsewhere and heard advice to do so even though it does seem to make sense to me.

I wish I had found this book before planning my current aquarium, but it has certainly gotten me thinking about the next one. I recommend this as an additional starter book (perhaps to accompany Paletta’s New Marine Aquarium) or for anyone who knows the simple basics and wants interesting new ideas to rehash the passion. Without question, worth it.

Review by :

The Coral Reef Aquarium is a key-fact oriented primer on modern reef system dynamics. Main sections include “Understanding the Coral Reef,” “The Environment,” and “The Organisms.” The concentration on equipping the aquarist with a conceptual framework from which to base their pursuit rather than the more typical emphasis on equipment renders the book valuable for readers at any level. I especially liked chapters on “An Artificial Ecosystem” (where life on the reef is contrasted with life in the tank) and “Material and Energy Flow” (which traces events from the food through all plant and critter life).Dr. Ron Shimek’s style is blunt, to the point, and hard hitting. Where most “beginner” books are written by well studied practitioners, Shimek’s book is written for beginners by a biology instructor / scientist. The facts are behind a few unconventional recommendations that liven the well presented material further. Clearly Shimek is on a mission to remove our hobby from the erroneous recommendations earlier books for beginners served up generously. For it’s brevity (only 126 pages) and low price it’s a 5 star book. I’m rating it 4 stars not because the work isn’t excellent, it is, but because I feel the beginner’s needs are incredibly broad and it’s simply impossible answer the myriad of questions and concerns in 125 pages. Then again, I have yet to see a beginner’s book that does.

Review by Shelley Shay:

I fell into reef aquarium ownership almost overnight. I didn’t know what I was getting into and bought an established 140 gallon tank with rocks and fish. The second hand tank had been neglected and there were only 3 surviving fish and the rock didn’t look too healthy. I had no idea what I was headed into and I bought and killed a number of beautiful, expensive fish out of total ignorance.This book would have not only saved me a lot of money, but a lot of headache, heartache and trips to the local fish store.Dr. Shimek includes tips on inexpensive ways to equip the hardware and contents w/o spending an arm and a leg on overpriced items at the store. He tells you what animals to avoid (especially for beginners) and which ones are must-haves.For a beginning book, it is packed w/ info in just over 125 pages and in a very affordable package. Most aquarium books are VERY expensive and you’ll never read the whole thing.I read this book in about 2 weeks (I work full time and I’m a slow reader) by taking it with me during my lunch hour and it has already saved me hundreds of dollars in items/livestock I was considering on purchasing.My only criticism is the lack of photos of critical things the author was citing. There are tons of high quality photos in this book, but some creatures were mentioned that I would have like to have seen represented in a photo and still have no idea what the author was talking about.The author does assume some knowledge in some areas where it seems he may have forgotten his audience. Had I not already dealt w/ some issues during my “baptism by fire” experience of learning the hard way for months before buying this book, I wouldn’t have understood some of the concepts he brought up.This book was one of the best purchases I’ve made in regards to aiding my hobby. Thank you, Dr. Ron!

Review by S. L. Simmons:

DVD has three different tanks (exotic goldfish, tropical, fresh water), each with a choice of aquarium noise or relaxing new age music/sounds. Fills entire TV screen. If you just let it go, it switches tanks and then loops back to whichever tank you started on. Note that you use the AUDIO button on the remote to change audio after you’ve started a tank. My 2 and 3-year-old niece and nephew really enjoy watching the fish, naming them, and making up stories about them. I find it nice company when I’m reading.

Review by Sean Miller:

When I first played this DVD my kids thought I was kidding, now they request to put it on when we eat dinner, and play board games. This is very relaxing and friends find themselves watching it when they come over to visit. This is great background mood enhancing DVD that I recommend to everyone.Aquarium Widescreen DVD - Coral Reef, Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Tank Virtual Experience

Review by Nadine Langlois:

I had already looked at many marine aquarium books before I found this one. I already have a freshwater tank, but really had no idea how to go about setting up a saltwater tank. I mean, I didn’t know anything!This book misses nothing. Other books may start off well, but tend to get skimpy on the things you really need to know and then focus too much on things that, at the moment, you don’t need to know, such as page after page on various species of fish. That’s important, but not particulary helpful if you don’t know what you are doing.The first part of the book goes into tank selection & setup. It goes over among other things, protein skimmers, power filters, & powerheads along with the other more rudimentary stuff such as heater, thermometer, etc. It goes into instructions on how to correctly mix the salt water and put in the substrate. After that, a considerable amount of time is spent discussing live rock, what it is, how to choose it, how to take care of it, where to place it in the tank, etc. It even gives sample layouts - very helpful! The last part regarding tank setup walks you step by step through setting up the tank and live rock. If you follow the checklists, you won’t miss anything or do anything out of order.The second half of the book is on selecting fish and taking care of them. In the section showing the various species of fish, it also tells what suitable tank mates could go with the fish. Lastly it goes into feeding and maintaining the tank along with a section on fish diseases and how to treat them.If you are interested in starting a saltwater tank, then this is an excellent book to begin with.

Review by J. Gutwirth:

I’ve been keeping marine tanks with very mixed results off and on for the past thirty years. When I started out in the hobby and didn’t know any better I was expert in quickly killing off all of the gorgeous occupants of my tank. “Live rock, ah you don’t need it,” said most of the “knowledgeable” local fish stores. Also protein skimmers were more of an afterthought - “after you’ve had your tank up a while and the sludge really starts to build then you may want one,” they said. “Having problems,” they’d ask. “You need to get a U/V sterilizer, or a cooler,” or something else, though these are all potentially useful they weren’t the reason that my tanks weren’t surviving. Well, it’s interesting to look back and see how quickly technology and common knowledge about how to successfully start and maintain a thriving marine tank (reef or fish) have evolved. Through the years I’ve looked at the top selling marine aquarium books that were available - some have been good at some things and most have been antiquated in not reflecting the latest technological updates, or even biological knowledge. Well, after purchasing “The New Marine Aquarium” by Paletta I have found the perfect book that truly ties most everything about success in the hobby together. This wonderful book will take you by the hand explaining what you’ll need to begin with and why in order to create a successful microcosm. From what items you’ll need to purchase (even on a shoestring budget), how to set up your tank, what fishes to consider, this exquisite book explains it all. The wonderful part is how clearly defined everything is by Mr. Paletta and how everything is thoroughly yet not verbosely explained as to why you’ll need a certain item or why you need to set something up in a particular way. The magic of this book is how it covers the gamut of what you’ll need; it’s clear, eloquent, not overstated. You’ll find answers as to what tank, what invertebrates, which corals, what goes best with what fish, what type of heater, powerhead, filter system; even suggestions on the exact sequence you’ll need to follow for monitoring and testing your tank during its cycling period. Even for someone with a lot of experience in the hobby you’ll still find little golden nuggets of information that will turn on the “ah ha” light bulb as you realize that now you understand why this works or why something hasn’t worked. This book is in a class by itself; clearly superior to most of the other current marine aquarium titles. It’s not overwhelming in size or scientific prose - it’s just enough of what you need for the common layperson to successfully begin this wonderful hobby and it’s still interesting and informative for someone who has a wealth of experience. If you are purchasing your first marine aquarium or if you know someone who has just started then this is one of the best if not the best books to help ensure your success. Its reasonable price and gorgeous photographs make it even more of a valued purchase.

Review by Giorgio Carlevero:

This is a spectacular book, and a very useful one for every self-respecting Indo-Pacific muck diver and macro critter lover. For ANY diver, in fact. On the cover it curiously says “Underwater Malaysia” But the inside actually covers a much broader area, from the Eastern Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific, so it’s really helpful also if you’re diving Thailand, Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines, PNG or even parts of Australia. I believe this is the first diving ID guidebook entirely dedicated to small Indo-Pacific reef animals (ie those incredibly colorful clownfish, gobies, cleaner shrimps, nudibranchs and the like) - and what a winner it is! What makes it unique for me is the number of rare reef species featured and the amazing color photographs. I discovered a lot of new interesting facts reading the species’ descriptions, which are very informative, pleasantly written and often quite amusing, and the reproduction quality of the photos is, wow!, absolutely stunning. Some of the critters (look at those unbelievable flamboyant cuttlefish or the mating mandarinfish) seem to be about to jump out of the page! As guidebooks go, this one is a bit heavier than one would expect, but it is also quite small and easy to carry around on a boat or in a dive bag, and despite being a paperback and not a hardcover the binding looks like it will be able to take quite a beating (travelling scuba divers will know what I’m talking about here). I’m sure as an identification guide this great book can be equally useful to the marine biologist and the advanced aquarist, but as a whole it’s obviously geared towards those actually diving and taking photographs in tropical waters. OK, all this does not come real cheap - but in my opinion, considering the quality of the photos and the huge amount of information in it, this book is worth its price to the last dime.

Review by Karen Chen:

Amazing photography!!! Great ID book on macro reef inhabitants! Always with me on my dive trips… no regrets ;p

Review by Jennifer Donovan:

My four-year-old son is a Thomas freak. He also loves the computer–websites, computer games etc–so to think he would enjoy this was a no-brainer.

The video quality is great. It runs well on my Vista computer (without hanging up). He loves the different activities, and watching the story as it goes along through them.

The child can pick their favorite engine to drive the story (Thomas, Percy or James, I think).

Thumbs up from the kid and the mom!

Review by K. Montanez:

My 2.5 yr old loves everything THOMAS! So naturally we had to get him Thomas and Friends software for his computer. He loves it!