The Marine Fish Health & Feeding Handbook: The Essential Guide to Keeping Saltwater Species Alive and Thriving

When you look at a book on Amazon and see nothing but five star reviews you might start to feel a little bit worried that things are being exaggerated. This is not the case with Mr. Goemans' and Mr. Ichinotsubo's book, it is worth every star. I picked up this book when I decided to get back into aquarium keeping, I had experience in the past with a 200 gallon FOWLR (Fish only with live rock) system keeping sharks that are generally very easy to tend and make it simple to spot signs of sickness. I decided to get both my feet wet with a reef system keeping "aggressive" fish. I currently have a delightful Snowflake Eel, a Leaf Scorpionfish, a colored Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, and a Sea Goblin. I knew nothing about their dietary needs, what diseases might affect them, how best to prepare their food and keep them happy, healthy, and beautiful. I did a lot of research before purchasing each fish and spent a lot of time looking for answers this book was there for all of that process and still is. This will always be the very first tome in my collection of aquaria books. I picked up a handful of books before The Marine Fish Health & Feeding Handbook but all of them covered very common parasites and illnesses that anyone with a few days experience in marine aquariums will know of. Most of the books didn't have pictures, and they weren't illustrated to show differences between scale types of how a disease might manifest between species. A few had feeding recommendations but they weren't anything more than a parroting of the basic information given by a pet store as opposed to an experienced friend or LFS (live fish store). In other words they were practically useless if you had access to Google. In this book I found the knowledge of people who really love aquarium keeping and are dedicated to the habitats they create. There was a wealth of information that didn't necessarily apply to me because of the fish I keep but it was still relevant and appropriate because it gave me the necessary knowledge to help my friends and a broader understanding of marine life as a whole. When you foray into the world of reef keeping or any form of the marine aquarium hobby you are bombarded with information and a lot of it is friend-of-a-friend's-friend-said nature. The books you pick up are full of complicated terms that may leave you boggled, searching high and low for a clear and concise answer to your question for hours. The Marine Fish Health & Feeding Handbook is written in plain and clear English, it has just enough brevity and plenty of clarity. The information contained on feeding and dietary requirements was yet another bonus to this already fantastic book. I will never hesitate to reach for it, and I will always put it at the top of the list for any hobbyist: advanced or novice. You simply cannot go wrong buying this.

I read this book from cover to cover. It's a great teacher and reference. It does a great job in helping you plan out an aquarium, from equipment to livestock choices. The modern, color pictures are very helpful, and the best part was the detail in fish descriptions and compatibility. My only gripe was that the section on illnesses and treatment was rather thin. I could pretty much use this book as a standard in making decisions, but when it comes to dealing with sick fish, I was left to fend for myself in the wilderness known as the Internet. I wish that a revised edition would go into more detail on treatment options and methods for common illnesses such as marine ich. It takes a while to sort through fact and fiction when reading web site forums -- something that's not fun when you have a sick fish to treat. Even though it was severely lacking in that section, the rest of the book more than made up for it.

I have been a tank keeper for twenty years and have read every book written on the subject. This new book by Bob Goeman's is by far the the most comprehensive, up to date,accurate, well written, and organized book to have been published in several years. The chapters on feeding and maintaing the health of the corals and fish are outstanding but there is so much other information in the book about the latest techniques of maintaining salt water aquariums. The book's title could have been "Everything You Need To Know To Maintain a Spectacular Marine Aquarium". There are at least a hundred beautiful photos and the information is cutting edge. Your tank can only benefit by your reading of this book!. It should be part of every "Reefers" library. Dr. Paul Carpenter

Learn a lot about feeding saltwater fishes. For me, a vety good book

BACKGROUND: I have a 100 gallons fowlr saltwater aquarium with 15 fish. PROS: - Published in 2008 so it's not too old - Good number of photos showing what diseases look like on a fish instead of a cartoon drawing as in other books. - I agree with some experts who prefer to not do the slow drip acclimation as it may increase mortality. Instead they suggest get the fish out of the dirty bag water and into clean display tank water quickly. - picking fish: avoid fish that have trailing white thread from its anus. - don't euthanize fish by flushing down toilet; use ms-222 (tricaine methanesulfonate) or quinaldine or clove oil (eugenol) avail at health food stores - don't throw dead fish in the toilet, use the trash. - do not use ammonia-based spray cleaner around the house. - nitrite biological filter works best if water turnover is 4-6 the volume of water per hour. - oxygen should be 6.0ppm or no more than 1.0ppm below saturation at present temperature and gravity. CONS: - my fish are healthy but they're getting pale over the years but the book doesn't say how to get their colors back.

This book is exactly the reference book I was looking for in terms of information about feeding my varied saltwater fish. Most of the book deals with specific diseases fish can suffer, and so far I've been lucky enough not to need these chapters. Still, I'm glad to have those too as a reference.

In comparison to similar books purchased prior to this one, my husband says this is the best book yet that he has purchased. Its the most informative guide yet in helping him understand the proper care and precautions in caring for saltwater fish.

Would give a 0 ⭐ if I could. When I opened the box the binding was broken and the cover was ripped almost 1.5" down the binding.

This book is superb in every way. The authors are both incredibly knowledgeable about their subject and this comes through in just how easy this is to read. It's full of so mugh useful information, I wish I'd bought it years ago. The first half of the book looks at the causes of fish diseases which are mostly stress and poor nutrition, and the second half of the book looks at the diseases In detail and how to deal with them. There is so much useful info In this book, it's basically a first aid kit for your fish on its own. Correctly identifying a disease is the first stage to curing it and this book helps no end. Every saltwater hobbyist should own it.

Ce livre devrait être offert a tout aquariophile marin sérieux. Nombreux sont les livres traitant des maladies de poissons et des remèdes possibles, mais l'information est généralement incomplete et succincte. Dans ce livre-ci, le sujet est aborde en profondeur pour mon plus grand bonheur. Je ne peux que le recommander très chaudement a tout les passionnes qui se préoccupent de leurs poissons marins.

Very informative look at care and feeding of marine fish. The disease section is also excellent. This book has been a big help in my successful marine fish keeping

Comprehensive book, can't be read in one sitting. Lots of valuable information compiled together, with lots of detail on illness and other elements in fish keeping that are often over looked. I bought this book, read it carefully, and then sold it on. Lots of demand when I bought it, so check before you buy, as you still have a good resale value.

Good read and very helpful!