Coral ID Book

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marcelostank

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Ok guys,

So I am in search of some literature. I am looking for a coral ID book that has all necessary info in it per coral (picture, scientific name, common name, size, location, lighting requirements, flow requirements, feeding behavior/habits, compatibility with others, and a little description/splurge about the coral)

I really love the layout of the Pocket Experts Guide MARINE INVERTEBRATES and MARINE FISH, (by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D.) however I don't feel they cover all the bases and are limited as to how many different species they covered. I was looking into a book by Herbert Axelrod, but again, after researching a little more noticed that it's over 11yrs. old, a lot has changed since then.

So I leave this up to you, the intelligent reef-keeping community. Can you please help me find the correct book. There has to be one out there! I would like to find one that encompasses everything, although the truth may be that their is no such book and I may be required to get a few to cover my bases!

I'm sure I'm not alone in this search.. so speak up and let us all in on the little secret that is your favorite Coral ID book...!
:top:
 
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marcelostank

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Coral Book Reviews

Alright so here's the update:
I purchased 3 books from amazon.

1) Corals-A quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung
2) A Guide to CORALS for the Mini-Reef Aquarium by Dr. Herbert Axelrod
3) the Super simple guide to corals by James W. Fatherree

My thoughts so far after perusing through them this weekend...

1)
-Fairly informative, LOTS of great pictures, although I expected a little more info on feeding/eating habbits, it simply shows generic chart showing what it eats (sunlight, zooplankton, phytoplankton, marine snow, fish feces, fish&shrimp, snails)
-It states it's scientific name, common names, region, a short description, and corals that are similar to it.
-It has a bar chart (0-10) for lighting needs, water flow, aggressiveness, and hardiness. (although the few items I've looked up I've noticed that it has a fairly broad range- maybe i'm just picking hardy easy corals!!)
-It also has a side profile of a tank with preferred coral placement. (very nice for those of us that don't really know where these guys normally live..)

I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. It'd have 5 if not for the what I feel it lacked in eating habbits.

2)
-If I had to do it over again I would have really listened to the first review on amazon! This is an ok second or third source. It does very little for the reefer that need to get specific information (feeding habbits, placement, hardiness, etc.)
-It gives a general classification for all items (Green-begginer, Yellow-Intermediate, Red-advanced)
-It does provide est. lighting requirements( i.e. moderate lighting, or heavy lighting, or 10-12 hours of intense light)
-It also provides the common name and scientific names.

Overall I'd give this a 2 out of 5

3)
-I feel this one is fairly informative. Although it does not have as many pictures as the other two it does have a great deal of text.
-It states all the info- common names, scientific name, usually a 2 paragraph description, lighting, current, feeding, compatibility, placement, and hardiness. It also gives you info on reproduction/propagation which, if you want to start fragging, is a great bonus, as well as other info on the specimen.
-It's a very informative yet small (130 pgs.) book. The first 5 chapters talk about Coral Bioology, the next 3 talk about Coral Husbandry, their is another chapter about propagation and one about understanding corals in general, and lastly there are around 50+ pages on soft/hard corals and tips on picking the right ones!

Overall I'd give this a 4 out of 5. If it had a few more pictures of different species it'd be an all inclusive book!

-----

So there are my thoughts so far. I hope this helps other newbies out that are looking for a little more info out there. I guess in the end it doesn't hurt having more than one resource out there... you can't always believe one source...

Glad to help and I'd love to hear your thoughts... B.T.W. I was planning on also picking up the 3 volume text @ Marine Depot.. just can't afford it this month... (Corals Of The World (3 Volume Set) by J. E. N. Veron)
 
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marcelostank

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Alright... I broke down the other day and had a momentary lapse of judgement, however we are all to benefit...I went ahead and picked up Vernon's 3 part series, "Corals of the World" I just opened the box up this morning and let me tell you... WOW... it's worth almost every penny... (b.t.w. MD is much cheaper than amazon) I just flipped through each book and they're filled with a minimum of 3-4 decent sized pictures on each page. I haven't dived all the way into these yet buy I'll be sure to give a full description as soon as I do, I did notice that he doesn't give any feeding info (?)

More to follow...
 
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sps_addict

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Corals of the World 3 volume set is a great set to have. It doesn't have the feeding info since it is not really a captivity/propagation book, but great for image reference and coral information. There are several other good books as well. I'll have to go through my library and post those that I have.

There is also a pretty cool package if you have a portal picture viewer like an ipod, zune, pda, etc.

It's call coralidea. Gives you information and pictures for those who want to know what they are buying without having to really run home and look it up.
http://www.coralidea.com/
 
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marcelostank

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thanks for that link sps_addict!

Please let me know which other books you have that would be a great addition to my library... I always love adding good books to the library.. it's the ones that will just collect dust that make me mad! (besides, you have to admit having a full shelf/section of saltwater literature really looks pretty darn impressive!)
 
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