Using live rock and live coral sand as part of a natural filtration system, the home aquarist can now mimic habitats such as a Florida Keys Lagoon, a Caribbean Turtle Grass Flat, an indo-Pacific Deep Cave, or a Red Sea Patch Reef. With more than 100 full-color photographs and illustrations, this volume provides inspiration for both beginning and expert marine reef hobbyists.

One of the most biologically rich environments on Earth, the coral reef dazzles our senses with its colors, shapes, and species diversity. Recreating living reefs in miniature is a burgeoning avocation for serious home aquarium keepers, and John Tullock here offers a new, radically simple approach to producing beautiful captive microcosms. Using live rock and live coral sand as part of a natural filtration system, the home aquarist can now mimic habitats such as a Florida Keys Lagoon, a Caribbean Turtle Grass Flat, an Indo-Pacific Deep Cave, or a Red Sea Patch Reef. With more than 200 color photographs and illustrations, Natural Reef Aquariums provides inspiration for both beginning and expert marine reef hobbyists.

Keeping live corals has been likened to "bonsai for the cousteau generation" and "the ultimate underwater gardening experience." Beautiful, bizarre, and among nature's most colorful creations, living corals are now being successfully kept and grown in tens of thousands of home saltwater aquariums. For the first time, master aquarist Eric Borneman offers an authoritative, comprehensive, and fully illustrated guide to appropriate aquarium species, including a diversity of soft corals, as well as popular and rare large-polyp and small-polyp stony corals. World-class photographs and text reviewed by leading coral biologists and coral keepers guides the reader through the selection and husbandry of hundreds of species.

A detailed and comprehensive guide. Freshwater and saltwater fishkeeping are challenging and tremendously rewarding hobbies. Aquariums is a big book that covers every aspect a fishkeeper needs to know. Step-by-step technical instructions are illustrated with hundreds of color diagrams as well as hundreds of color photographs of fish in their natural habitats. The book features: Choosing equipment Preparing the water and setting up the aquarium Saltwater and freshwater requirements Types of fish and their families Freshwater fish directory Saltwater fish directory Fish reproduction Plants for the aquarium Balance is the key to the successful aquarium, and Aquariums suggests fish mixes in combination with appropriate plants. Quite often, an aquarium will be thrown out of balance with the introduction of improperly prepared rocks and wood decorations. Simple instructions are offered for the preparation of such decorative objects for the aquarium. Packed with practical advice and useful tips, Aquariums shows how to set up a fish tank of stunning beauty.

" ... Portraits of 50 world-class marine aquariums, along with priceless advice on how they were planned and how they are kept healthy and vibrant"--Page 4 of cover.