Breeder's Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes

Mating, Spawning and Rearing Methods for Over 90 Species
Publisher: T.F.H. Publications (2007)

Breeders Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes

First, we would like to start this book review by thanking the author, Matt Wittenrich, for writing something current for the rest of us on the latest techniques in marine fish breeding. Most saltwater aquarium hobbyists know or have heard how difficult breeding saltwater fish species can be... The author of this book goes into fairly good detail of what all is involved in the process of breeding and rearing the fry of various marine species. Hopefully this book will get more hobbyists interested in trying to breed their saltwater fish. This book will definitely get you started going down the correct path.

Book Topics:

Nice Forward by Martin Moe Jr. (an authority and pioneer in marine fishkeeping and fish breeding)
A Breeder's Journey - Talks about the author's history in breeding fish and the important reasons for captive culturing of fish species including info on the differences and the current state of aquaculture vs. wild harvesting.
Modes of Reproduction - Before you can even begin to think about breeding these fish you need to understand how they reproduce. The different spawning types (i.e. Demersal and Pelagic spawning), the different larvae types, spawning behaviors, how some fish species can change sex when needed and conditions that can help trigger this.
Broodstock Basics - Gives tips and ideas on selecting good healthy stock to begin with. How to form pairs, trios or harems.
The Breeding Room - Gives design ideas on how to set up your "breeding room". How to set up a spawning tank, how to control the nitrogen cycle, limiting nitrates, filtration pros and cons, live rock, central filtration systems, lots of plumbing tips, photoperiod, quarantine, etc. All of these topics are discussed at length.
Conditioning Broodstock - All about the foods and nutrition needed to get the parent stock not only ready to breed, but breed successfully. Fish health and diet is very important.
Spawning - In depth coverage of fish romance and how you can help set the mood. Barry White music works well. LOL. How to trigger spawning, artificially hormone induced spawning, etc.
Eggs and Incubation - Natural and artficial incubation and hatching methods, equipment needed, egg tumblers, lighting requirements, water quality, parasites, etc.
Larval Rearing - Getting into the really hard part now (at least currently)... how to house your larvae, tank shape and size, lighting, heating, aeration, complete rearing systems, kriesels, green water methods, etc.
Larval Nutrition - Provides info on how these tiny little fry eat and their feeding tactics. Really interesting stuff here. There is a really nice chart showing food sizes required (in microns) along with hatching sizes for various species. Macroalgae and phytoplankton info is presented along with rotifers, zooplankton, microalgae, wild plankton, copepods and other first foods.
Juvenile Grow Out - Provides info on troubleshooting common problems and diseases that are possible.
Choosing the Right Species - Awesome section with detailed profile info on the breeding various species. Covers Clownfish, Damselfish, Dottybacks, Basslets, Comets, Jawfishes, Cardinalfishes, Gobies, Blennies, Seahorses and Angelfish. This section could have been a totally separate book, but it's not which is great for the reader!
Math and Motivation - The final chapter goes over what is involved in the selling of your newly raised fish babies. Are you gonna breed for profit, for the knowledge or just for the challenge?

If you are interested in breeding saltwater fish then this should be one of the first things you buy. This book will save you time, money and headaches by pointing you down the right path. It's a fascinating read for those just simply interested in fish too. The Marine Breeder's Guide gets 5 stars

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