Coral ID Book

[Marcelostank]

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...!
:confused:

[BLKTANG]

Veron's books are good. " Corals of the World"

[ej797]

Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric H. Borneman. ISBN 1-890087-47-5

[Marcelostank]

BLKTANG - do you have Veron's book?... which volume? it seems like I need to pick up all three... that sound right?

Can I just say, I love Amazon... I just wish when you "search inside" it actually shows you what you want to see!!

Any other books? Any other thoughts?


Thanks for these two options... I might have to head down to borders and see if they have them in stock...

[BLKTANG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12270529#post12270529 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Marcelostank
BLKTANG - do you have Veron's book?... which volume? it seems like I need to pick up all three... that sound right?

Can I just say, I love Amazon... I just wish when you "search inside" it actually shows you what you want to see!!

Any other books? Any other thoughts?


Thanks for these two options... I might have to head down to borders and see if they have them in stock...


Yeah i got all 3 in a set for X-Mas 2 years ago.:D

[sjj80]

I'm on the hunt for some good coral books as well. I bought Julian Sprungs Corals: A quick reference guide today and it has a lot of good pics and info. I wanted to get Eric Bornemans book, but my LFS was sold out.

[BLKTANG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12270824#post12270824 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sjj80
I'm on the hunt for some good coral books as well. I bought Julian Sprungs Corals: A quick reference guide today and it has a lot of good pics and info. I wanted to get Eric Bornemans book, but my LFS was sold out.


Marine Depo has it on sale.

[gman0526]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12267683#post12267683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BLKTANG
Veron's books are good. " Corals of the World"

+1 The last coral ID book you'll ever need.

Try www.coralidea.com good ID's there too and you can DL for free.

Edit: I forgot http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/coralsearch.php

Basically Veron's book online

[kayne_21]

That coralidea site is pretty slick, got a "photo book" lots of pics and some basic info for each type of coral, downloadable to ipod. Doesn't get more pocket than that :)

[Marcelostank]

ah the ipod... it was only a matter of time until someone brought that nifty little device into the mix....

I'm gonna check out my bookstores to see if they have Veron's books... as well as Julian Sprungs Corals...

Thanks... if anyone else wants to chime in I'm not heading out for a few hours!

[Marcelostank]

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)

[Marcelostank]

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...

[DEXNC]

to browse before you buy, barnes and noble has some good read in their pet book section

[TheMcs]

Verons book will make most "experts" realize they know nothing. Great set, also got mine for Christmas a few years back.