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Marine Chemistry - Complete Guide to Water Chemistry in Marine Aquariums

Updated August 12, 2019
Author: Mike - FishLore Admin
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This book, Marine Chemistry by C.R. Brightwell, is about one of the most important components in our saltwater aquariums. The water. It is sometimes overlooked and after getting the salinity right some may think they are good to go. In the ocean the water chemistry is relatively stable, but in our marine aquariums the water is not stable in the least. Elements are constantly being used up or skimmed off via the protein skimmer. Dissolved organics that would be swept away in the ocean are steadily climbing in our aquariums, sometimes to unhealthy levels for the fish, corals and inverts in the tank. Since the water is so vitally important for the health of our charges, it is equally important for the hobbyist to understand all they can when it comes to this subject.

Marine Chemistry is all about this important subject. It starts off with a basic introduction to natural saltwater and synthetic saltwater and proceeds through all of the major aquarium water topics providing detailed information on each. There are also lots of really nice photos throughout the text. The exact topics covered follows:

• Chapter 1 - Water Quality - the importance of stable water conditions in the aquarium, controlling waste.
  
  
• Chapter 2 - Characteristics of Natural and Synthetic Seawater
  
  
• Chapter 3 - Salinity
  
  
• Chapter 4 - pH and Alkalinity
  
  
• Chapter 5 - General and Carbonate Hardness
  
  
• Chapter 6 - Dissolved Oxygen
  
  
• Chapter 7 - The Marine Nitrogen Cycle
  
  
• Chapter 8 - Calcium and Carbonates
  
  
• Chapter 9 - Strontium
  
  
• Chapter 10 - Magnesium
  
  
• Chapter 11 - Iodine
  
  
• Chapter 12 - Iron
  
  
• Chapter 13 - Phosphate and the Phosphorous Cycle - really good info for coral reef tank hobbyists
  
  
• Chapter 14 - Dissolved and Particulate Organic Matter
  
  
• Chapter 15 - Redox, or Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP)
  
  
• Chapter 16 - Silicon, Silica and Silicate
  
  
• Chapter 17 - Trace Elements
  
  
• Chapter 18 - Copper
  
  
• Chapter 19 - Test Kits - the importance and different types of aquarium water test kits
  
  
• Chapter 20 - Water Purification - The Need to Purify Tap Water. Really good information here leading up to the following chapters on reverse osmosis deionization procedures.
  
  
• Chapter 21 - Principles of Water Purification
  
  
• Chapter 22 - Reverse Osmosis Filtration
  
  
• Chapter 23 - Deionization
  
  
• Appendix - Charts, Chemical Calculations, Chemical Reactions
  
  
• Glossary of Terms

I could see hobbyists with a FOWLR saltwater aquarium setup that maybe want to move up to a full blown reef tank setup really getting the most out of a book like this. Or if you're wanting to go straight into reef keeping with no background aquarium experience at all you will probably enjoy this book. It provides good information on all of the aquarium water related topics that you will need to understand in order to grow corals and keep your reef tank as stable as possible. However, if you have had a reef tank for several years you most likely know and understand the majority of topics found in this book. I give Marine Chemistry four stars .

Marine Chemistry Book Comments

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific

Lionfish and Scorpionfish

Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques

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