Chapter One

If you are interested in keeping a saltwater aquarium, this is the book for you. Perhaps you've had a freshwater tank and would like to graduate to the more complex marine environment. Perhaps, like me, you are a fish enthusiast. The world of fish is both fascinating and complex. This book will help you to understand that world and will teach you what you need to know to set up and maintain a successful saltwater aquarium. To do that, you'll need a general knowledge of fish, their anatomy and biology. You'll also need a thorough understanding of their proper care and husbandry.

First, we will take a look at fish anatomy and what makes these animals so unique. There are no fewer than 12,000 kinds of saltwater fishes, so it is difficult to describe the "typical" fish. For the most part, however, all fish have some common attributes.

Then we'll examine the aquarium and the importance of meeting the biological needs of fish. As we do, I'll describe the critical differences between freshwater and saltwater aquariums. We'll walk through the basics of aquarium setup and proper maintenance. We'll cover proper nutrition and feeding, fish health and disease, and I'll tell you about some advanced marine aquarium techniques.

The only topic we will not discuss is saltwater fish breeding; so few have been successfully spawned in captivity that this is clearly an endeavor best left to the experts.

Aquarium Fish

The group of aquatic animals we call fish has evolved for more than 400 million years to be the most numerous and diverse of the major vertebrate groups (animals with ba