Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques
Updated August 12, 2019
Author: Mike - FishLore Admin
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By Jay Hemdal, TFH Publications (2006)
The book Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques by Jay Hemdal is geared towards the more advanced saltwater hobbyists wanting more information on some of the less discussed topics. The author has been an avid aquarist for over 35 years and works as the Curator of Fishes and Invertebrates at the Toledo Zoo. Imagine being able to hang out with someone possessing as much experience as this author in running larger aquarium systems and asking them questions or just listening to them talk. That's kind of what this book feels like. There were several topics in this book that I was not really expecting to see but nonetheless was happy to learn about.
What was nice to see was that there were entirely new topics presented in this book regarding saltwater aquarium systems. Many books seem to rehash the basics and after you've read a couple of them you start to see a pattern developing. Not so in this book. See all the topics below.
Section 1: Environmental Quality- Aquarium Construction - all glass aquariums, fiber aquariums, concrete aquariums
- Water Quality Measurement Techniques - information on devices and how to test temperature, pH, dissolved solids, nitrate-nitrogen, salinity, dissolved oxygen and non-routine parameters. This information is not on your run of the mill aquarium test kits. Rather it's on probes and other more advanced instruments.
- Water Current Generators - external pumps, surge tanks, power heads, wavemakers, toilet flush systems, dump buckets, oscillating mass, direct and differential air pressure.
- Ozone In Aquarium Systems - everything you ever wanted to know about ozone and how to use it in aquarium applications.
- Batch Processing to Reclaim Marine Aquarium Water - sea salt is expensive and the author walks you through how some public aquarium re-process or recycle their water.
- Dissolved Gases in Aquarium Water - topics such as acute supersaturation, chronic supersaturation, low dissolved-oxygen tension and high carbon dioxide tension.
- Water / Mineral Balance in Aquariums - osmoregulatory topics (osmoregulation)
- Heating and Cooling - talks about heating and cooling in aquarium systems and the devices used.
- Filtration - runs through all of the various aquarium filter types such as under gravel (surprised to see this), fluidized bed filters, rotating screen bio-filters, algae control filters, chemical filtrants, foam fractionator control (protein skimmer), deep sand beds
- Lighting Techniques - lighting may be one of the most important components for a reef tank setup, an aquarium with photosynthetic species. Nothing too detailed found in this section regarding lighting, just more of a run through.
- Micro-Aquariums - talks about aquarium under 20 gallons with stocking ideas for tanks anywhere from 1.5 gallons up to 10 gallons with ideas for marine invertebrates and fish (gobies, damselfish)
- Aquarium Problem Solving - doesn't really solve any problems but it gives you some basic steps you can follow to help diagnose any problems you're having.
- Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) in Aquarium Fish - talks about the anecdotal evidence and scientific evidence for the causes and treatment of HLLE.
- Simple Aquarium Water Analysis for Total Aerobic Bacteria
- Sampling of Aquarium Systems for Micro-Biota
- The Use of Utility Animals in Aquariums to Control Pest Species - using natural controls for pests
- Necropsy Techniques - finding how a fish died with tips on how to proceed.
- Quarantine Procedures - an aquarium quarantine tank setup is vital for long term success and the author provides info on this topic along with how to acclimate fish.
- Medication Dosage and Aquarium Calculations
- Fish Pharmacology - fish medicine, dips, baths, etc.
- Collecting Fish - how it's done - hand collecting, net collecting, shipping fish.
- Marine Fish and Invertebrate Propagation - nothing detailed here, just an overview of what's currently going on in the industry, no "how to's" or anything.
- Specimen Selection - what to look for in fish, some good charts and tables of fish and invertebrates species to avoid.
- Specimen Sources - captive propagated species vs. wild caught species.
- Species Accounts - information on some not so common species such as the Black Widow Brotula, Deep-Sea Isopod, Garden Eels, etc.
- Dietary Protocols for Fishes
- Dietary Diseases
- Fatty Liver Disease
- Color Enhancement in Fish and Invertebrates
- Ascorbic Acid in Aquariums
- Dietary Preferences of Fishes
- Tube Feeding Techniques for Fish
- Converting Piscivores to Feed on Non-Living Foods
- Automatic Plankton Feeder - ideas on how you could set up your own automatic plankton feeder
- Rotifer Culture - a nice step by step guide on how to set up a rotifer culture
- Mysid Shrimp Culture - provides tips on how to culture mysid shrimp as an aquarium food.
- Initial Attraction
- History of Marine Aquariums
- Aquarium Related Careers - really neat section of the book.
- Education
- Extracurricular Activities
- Private Sector Jobs
- Part-Time Careers
- Aquatic Conservation
- Aquarium Safety - good read and everyone needs to be aware of these issues.
- Chemical Handling
- Zoonotic Diseases
- Short Takes
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