Books– it’s where they hide all sorts of information. There are a lot of books out there for the hobby but most are either targeted at the very experienced to expert level or border on the worthless, relying on outdated information and techniques.  Tony’s new book “The Coral Reef Aquarium: From Inception to Completion” is not only full of great information, it’s almost like an instruction manual for building a great reef tank.  The book takes it one step further and  includes actual successful reefs of all sizes from around the world.

Books like this are great, not only for beginners but advanced hobbyists as well since we all have a tendency to fall into routines and sometimes overlook things or take them for granted.  About half the book is dedicated to spotlighting actual successful hobbyist tanks which acts as a sort of carrot for the newly initiated to take the lessons at the front of the book to heart.  It also acts as a source of inspiration for the saltier (pun intended) hobbyists who might be looking for something new or fresh insights.  The book answers many of the newby questions that get posted on every reef forum on an almost daily basis and the book’s low price is well worth the time one would save over scouring the inter-webs for the same information.  This also has the added benefit of being quality information derived from years of experience and numerous experts, not your neighbor who believes he has stumbled upon some vast reefing conspiracy and can’t wait to tell the rest of his forum about it: “You don’t need to do water changes!  That’s just a lie “Big Salt” spreads to pad their bottom line and keep their investors happy!”

Coral porn.

This is one of the few books to actually have a place on my reef book shelf and I highly recommend it as a reference for all levels.

There are even better pics in the book!