Sprung's "The Reef Aquarium", which volume first?

Playapixie · Dec 19, 2013

I've had Sprung's "The Reef Aquarium" series on my Amazon wish list for a long time, but Santa doesn't appear to use Amazon, so I may have to take matters into my own hands. But oh, they are so expensive!

So...which book would you purchase first, and why? Considering v 1 or 3 for starters.

Or, do you think hard-copy books are even relevant anymore in the days of the internet?

Thanks,
Dawn

NC2WA · Dec 19, 2013

Dawn,

How do you feel about your basic knowledge level of taking care of corals???

This is basically what Volume 1 talks about. Volume 3 talks about more advanced concepts.

personally, I would really want to know the concepts of Volume 1 before I read volume 3, but that is just how I learn things..

HTH
Kirk

Playapixie · Dec 19, 2013

Good question. I've been devouring reef concepts for the past 2.5 years via the internet (and a few more basic books), but that's a haphazard and all-over-the-boards approach. I'm science-minded & very drawn to the advanced concepts, which is why I was thinking about v. 3. But sure there's plenty to learn from v 1 before hitting 3. I haven't actually had my hands on any of these books so I don't really have a sense of how sequential the volumes are or if they good as stand-alone books. Does v. 3 build on knowledge from v.1 as a prerequisite? If so than v.1 is the obvious choice.

NC2WA · Dec 19, 2013

I would think vol 1 concepts are needed to understand vol 3

Maxx · Dec 20, 2013

I got them out of order....accidentally.
A friend gifted me with Vol 3. Chapter 8, (chemistry) will make your eyes cross (unless you're a chem geek like Boomer), but otherwise, I found it possible to follow along with the information in the book. I found the information in the first two to be dated, but still useful, so maybe consider buying them later?

BTW, I'm not slamming chemistry. IMO, it's actually the most important yet completely misunderstood part of reef keeping. If you don't have a basic understanding of chemistry, you're either going to learn it, or you're going to spend a lot of money paying someone else for their knowledge of chemistry so they can take care of your tank for you....after you completely screw up and wipe out your system a couple of times.....

Buy the 3rd book and read it. If its a huge mess and you cant understand it, set it aside and buy the first one and start there.