Book Review: The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide by Michael S. Paletta

This book, originally published in 1998, has some relevant information for the beginning saltwater aquarium hobbyist.
I would consider this book to be a beginner’s book—at 144 pages in length, the content is easily laid out and easy to absorb. Michael Paletta covers the basics, including picking out your tank and equipment to setting it up and filling it with fish. There are plenty of checklists, step-by-step guides and shopping lists for those of you who want to walk away a turn-key plan for an aquarium.

What differentiates this book, in my estimation, from the other great books on the saltwater aquarium hobby, is the lengthy section Michael has written about live rock. The author not only describes what live rock is, but goes into detail about the pros/cons of the different sources of live rock available on the market.

While some books on the hobby are written in a tone that feels like a Ph. D. in marine biology is required to understand them, the tone of this book is warm and understandable to readers of all experience types.

There are a few things about this book that I really like and are at the center of my recommendation for it.

1)      The price—Compared to some of the hardback tomes available about the saltwater aquarium, the price of this book can’t really be beat. List price is $19.99, at the time of this post, it can be purchased NEW on Amazon for under $13, and considerably less if you want to buy it USED

2)      Easy to read—The book is easy to read. The author has a gift for making the sometimes complicated and nerdy world of the marine aquarium and made it easy to read and understand

3)      Content—Content is king, and in this book, Michael covers all the basics. The only part that feels a bit belabored is the section about live rock. Perhaps at publication this deep dive was necessary, but at this point, all the detail about rocks did lose my attention

In Summary

The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide by Michael S. Paletta is a solid choice for a new or hopeful Marine Aquarium Hobbyist, or even for an advanced aquarist trying to learn everything they can about the Marine Aquarium.

Disclosure: Links to this book are Amazon Affiliate links that will take you to the Amazon site, where this book, or any other product available on Amazon, can be purchased. While there is the potential for financial gain through the use of this Affiliate Link, the recommendation here is based on the substance of this book, that I would recommend to anyone, even in the absence of this relationship.

Dollar for dollary, The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide , by Michael S. Paletta is a solid purchase and a recommended book for your bookshelf.

Written by: Al Ulrich