Interesting book.

[robnepper]

Hey salties. I received a book for Christmas that i have already finished. It is called Saltwater Aquariums and is about FO and FOWLR tanks only and says as much from the begging. The author, David E. Boruchowitz says that his mission, after some 60+ years in the hobby, is to simplify aquarium husbandry so that all beginners will succeed first go. Nice idea. He says in his book and I quote, "So here is a promise: follow the advice in this book ignoring what other well intentioned people try to tell you, until you have a salt water aquarium up and running for 6 months, and you will succeed. " He goes on to state that the book will then have served it's purpose and you can then, with a bit of successful experience behind you, delve into the vast pool of knowledge and understanding that makes up the marine hobby.

Having read the book, it would seem that you could, if thier protocol is followed to the "T", have a nice little marine (not reef) tank going along very happily. He emphasizes not to play around with reefs until you get into the research and chemistry end of things as they are very demanding systems. His theory is that with a solid, simplified understanding of the basics of a marine system, success is possible without need to have a biology ticket.

He says that most marine aquarists, out of sheer enthusiasm try to demand that begginers know most of what they know before they start.

He lists all of the things you would need and explains them enough, but not in any incredible depth. You seem to get what you need to know to succeed, but you won't get a degree from the info.

You would have to read the book in order for us to debate the ins and outs of the info given, but I thought that it was an interesting take on the marine hobby. I apreciate it when people with that much experience decide to break it down to a point where begginers aren't scarred off.

I do get a bit leery of claims that ask us to refuse all other advice though. But that's just me.

Check the book out, it's not a bad read.

[Rue]

I'll put it on my short-list. Thanks for providing a review!

The problem with learning about anything is finding that balance between what you need to learn for yourself and what you should just rely on advice for.

Because everyone's situation is a tad different, it's very hard to be 'wise' about a lot of what needs doing.

Geez...everyone's tank is a different size. The ambient room lighting is different. The ambient room temperature is different. The humidity, etc. All these also factor into what happens in the tank itself....

Then you have all the little variations in chemistry - water, salt mix, chemistry of the tank inhabitants, etc.