I just finished reading Wayne Shang's new book, The Captive Marine Aquarium. Wayne is the hobbyist in Fremont, California whose tanks are always featured in everybody else's books because they are that spectacular.
Wayne has been keeping marine aquaria since the early 1980's. Currently he is running a 300-gal FOWLR tank and a 718-gal reef tank plus support tanks for coral propagation and quarantine. In 2001 he moved the contents of his previous 300-gal and 180-gal reef tanks into his spectacular new 718-gal Starphire tank. Pictures of his previous 300-gal reef tank have been featured in several books by other authors and pictures of his 718-gal reef tank have been featured more recently in newer publications.
Wayne's new book is something that could best be described as an expanded Tank-of-the-Month feature with spectacular photography. It is more of a coffee table book rather than a textbook on aquarium husbandry. Both his fish-only aquarium and his reef aquarium are covered in detail with complete descriptions of the equipment and how each aquarium is maintained. Included are hundreds of glorious photographs of each of the different fish species and invertebrate species in both tanks with Wayne's comments on their individual requirements.
This book is not intended as a primer for someone needing step-by-step advice on how to run a marine aquarium. There are other excellent books available already that do just that remarkably well. If Eric Borneman's excellent Aquarium Corals is the main course, Wayne's book is the dessert. The proof is in the pudding as they say and Wayne's pudding will leave you speechless. It serves as an inspiration for everyone who dreams of having a perfect reef aquarium someday. Until that someday arrives, we can all continue to dream even more colorful dreams with the help of The Captive Marine Aquarium.
I'm not sure if the book is available yet at the major online booksellers. I pre-ordered mine directly from Wayne and he included a 70-minute DVD at no extra charge. The DVD is great! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed watching it. Imagine yourself seated in front of one of the finest reef tanks in the world for a full 70 minutes while dozens of Tridacna clams spawn simultaneously for three-fourths of that time. That is an amazing sight!
The video for the DVD was shot in 1995 and 1998 using a Sony camcorder. Wayne edited the video himself and added a light piano music background. That's it. Just 70 minutes of tank viewing but you will be mesmerized. The fish in that tank were a joy to watch and now he has probably twice as many in the new 718-gal tank. When I first ordered the book I didn't have high expectations for the video because most home videos of reef tanks are, well, amateurish. This one is not! I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the video. It is something you will want to have running all the time.
You can get additional information on Wayne's new book and see photos of his tanks on his website: http://www.underseadiscovery.com/home.htm
Wayne has been keeping marine aquaria since the early 1980's. Currently he is running a 300-gal FOWLR tank and a 718-gal reef tank plus support tanks for coral propagation and quarantine. In 2001 he moved the contents of his previous 300-gal and 180-gal reef tanks into his spectacular new 718-gal Starphire tank. Pictures of his previous 300-gal reef tank have been featured in several books by other authors and pictures of his 718-gal reef tank have been featured more recently in newer publications.
Wayne's new book is something that could best be described as an expanded Tank-of-the-Month feature with spectacular photography. It is more of a coffee table book rather than a textbook on aquarium husbandry. Both his fish-only aquarium and his reef aquarium are covered in detail with complete descriptions of the equipment and how each aquarium is maintained. Included are hundreds of glorious photographs of each of the different fish species and invertebrate species in both tanks with Wayne's comments on their individual requirements.
This book is not intended as a primer for someone needing step-by-step advice on how to run a marine aquarium. There are other excellent books available already that do just that remarkably well. If Eric Borneman's excellent Aquarium Corals is the main course, Wayne's book is the dessert. The proof is in the pudding as they say and Wayne's pudding will leave you speechless. It serves as an inspiration for everyone who dreams of having a perfect reef aquarium someday. Until that someday arrives, we can all continue to dream even more colorful dreams with the help of The Captive Marine Aquarium.
I'm not sure if the book is available yet at the major online booksellers. I pre-ordered mine directly from Wayne and he included a 70-minute DVD at no extra charge. The DVD is great! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed watching it. Imagine yourself seated in front of one of the finest reef tanks in the world for a full 70 minutes while dozens of Tridacna clams spawn simultaneously for three-fourths of that time. That is an amazing sight!
The video for the DVD was shot in 1995 and 1998 using a Sony camcorder. Wayne edited the video himself and added a light piano music background. That's it. Just 70 minutes of tank viewing but you will be mesmerized. The fish in that tank were a joy to watch and now he has probably twice as many in the new 718-gal tank. When I first ordered the book I didn't have high expectations for the video because most home videos of reef tanks are, well, amateurish. This one is not! I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the video. It is something you will want to have running all the time.
You can get additional information on Wayne's new book and see photos of his tanks on his website: http://www.underseadiscovery.com/home.htm
