Boomer
Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard
At the 2010 MACNA Tony Vargas showed of his new book The Coral Reef Aquarium, which will be released soon and is a "Must Have " book". Even without his skillful writing skills, just the diagrams, figures and photos are worth their weight in gold. The book is being published by Julian Sprung of Two Little Fishes as part of his Oceanographic Series. The Preface is by Charles Delbeek, the co-author with Julian of their 3 vol book series The Reef Aquarium. The Foreword is by Dr. Sanjay Joshi, Professor Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State University, who is well know in this hobby for his lighting articles.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Factors & Considerations 11
Decision Process 19
The Fundamentals 47
Maintenance 63
Acclimation & Quarantine 79
25-Gallon Nano Reef System 95
90-Gallon Reef System 111
180-Gallon Reef System 129
500-Gallon Reef System 143
20,000-Gallon Reef System 161
Reef Tanks from around the world 181
Acronyms 258
Glossary 260
Bibliography 262
Photo & Diagrams contributions 264
Index 266
Chapters 7 - 9 are the step by step procedures of setting up 4 common sizes of reef systems from beginning to end i.e., equipment, lighting, filtration etc.. The last chapter deals with 42 of the best reef tanks in the world of all sizes and what the potential is for your reef tank to look like if you do it right.
Reef Builders review and comments
The Coral Reef Aquarium by Tony Vargas is the next great book of reefing
I will add this book was reviewed by many at the 2010 MACNA conference, held in Orlando Florida the first week of September, without one single negative comment and nothing but praise. I will add that Doni (Woodstock), Frank and Lynn had the book in their hand for an hour for review
So, who is this Tony Vargas guy ?
Tony Vargas started his aquatic adventures at the age of seven, with Guppies in a pickle jar. Shortly thereafter, he was breeding a large host of fresh water tropical's. In the early eighties he took a giant leap forward and assembled his very first salt water aquarium (fish only). The biological system of choice back than were under gravel filters. Moving on to more challenging waters, in the late 1980's he took another leap forward and experimented with marine invertebrates and corals. At that point in time a sump loaded with Bio-balls was the biological filter of choice. Moving forward in the late eighties a handful of aquarist and Tony were among the first in United States to successfully keep and maintain Acropora alive in captivity, long term. He started to share this experiences and knowledge with others through the many articles written on the subject. These articles were written in a column called "Feature Coral" for FAMA. One of the Acropora articles in FAMA was acknowledge in Carden Wallace text book on Acropora "Staghorn Corals of the World".
Today, Tony SCUBA dives around the world taking underwater photos and observing many of these creatures in their natural environment. With his writings he has effectively communicated his experiences and observations. Tony has traveled the States and Europe giving lectures and consultations on corals and reef fish husbandry
Did I fail to mention he is like my best friend ? So, that should have some merit right That of course means I'm in the book also as a contributor 
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Factors & Considerations 11
Decision Process 19
The Fundamentals 47
Maintenance 63
Acclimation & Quarantine 79
25-Gallon Nano Reef System 95
90-Gallon Reef System 111
180-Gallon Reef System 129
500-Gallon Reef System 143
20,000-Gallon Reef System 161
Reef Tanks from around the world 181
Acronyms 258
Glossary 260
Bibliography 262
Photo & Diagrams contributions 264
Index 266
Chapters 7 - 9 are the step by step procedures of setting up 4 common sizes of reef systems from beginning to end i.e., equipment, lighting, filtration etc.. The last chapter deals with 42 of the best reef tanks in the world of all sizes and what the potential is for your reef tank to look like if you do it right.
Reef Builders review and comments
The Coral Reef Aquarium by Tony Vargas is the next great book of reefing
I will add this book was reviewed by many at the 2010 MACNA conference, held in Orlando Florida the first week of September, without one single negative comment and nothing but praise. I will add that Doni (Woodstock), Frank and Lynn had the book in their hand for an hour for review
So, who is this Tony Vargas guy ?
Tony Vargas started his aquatic adventures at the age of seven, with Guppies in a pickle jar. Shortly thereafter, he was breeding a large host of fresh water tropical's. In the early eighties he took a giant leap forward and assembled his very first salt water aquarium (fish only). The biological system of choice back than were under gravel filters. Moving on to more challenging waters, in the late 1980's he took another leap forward and experimented with marine invertebrates and corals. At that point in time a sump loaded with Bio-balls was the biological filter of choice. Moving forward in the late eighties a handful of aquarist and Tony were among the first in United States to successfully keep and maintain Acropora alive in captivity, long term. He started to share this experiences and knowledge with others through the many articles written on the subject. These articles were written in a column called "Feature Coral" for FAMA. One of the Acropora articles in FAMA was acknowledge in Carden Wallace text book on Acropora "Staghorn Corals of the World".
Today, Tony SCUBA dives around the world taking underwater photos and observing many of these creatures in their natural environment. With his writings he has effectively communicated his experiences and observations. Tony has traveled the States and Europe giving lectures and consultations on corals and reef fish husbandry
Did I fail to mention he is like my best friend ? So, that should have some merit right
That of course means I'm in the book also as a contributor Attachments
Last edited:
