The Best Book about Breeding Saltwater Fish

Want to know the best book about breeding saltwater fish? Scan a little farther down the page and I’ll show you.

The best book about breeding saltwater fish

The fourth best book about breeding saltwater fish is…

4. Breeding the Orchid Dottyback: An Aquarist’s Journal, by Martin A. Moe, Jr.

Published in 1997, Breeding the Orchid Dottyback: An Aquarist’s Journal quite literally is Martin’s personal journal chronicling his journey breeding the orchid dotty back, pseudochromis fridmani. What I like about this book is that you get a personal glimpse into how one of the pioneers in the hobby approached breeding saltwater fish pretty much before anybody else was doing it. This book describes what you need to know to spawn these gorgeous saltwater fish from the Red Sea, including tips about designing a breeding system, how to maintain it, what to do once you get your fish to spawn, how to rear the larvae and grow your own food.

The book definitely reads more like a journal (which is what it is) than a book about the topic. However, I do subtract a few points here because the book can be a bit tedious to read. Journals are a written record of notes to complement the real experiences of the author, but this book lacks a certain page-turning quality, from my perspective. Kudos, admiration, and respect to the Godfather of the hobby, but this book ranks number 4, in my list of the best books about breeding saltwater fish.

The third best book about breeding saltwater fish is…

3. Conditioning, Spawning, and Rearing of Fish with Emphasis on Marine Clownfish, by Frank H. Hoff.

First published in 1996, a year before Martin Moe’s Journal, Frank H. Hoff put out Conditioning, Spawning, and Rearing of Fish with Emphasis on Marine Clownfish. This popular book is currently in its third printing and was edited by Martin Moe. This book starts where Frank’s adventures in breeding the most popular saltwater aquarium fish began, 1966. The pictures of his first broodstock tanks are actually amusing, in a snarky, look how far we have all come sort of way. The book covers system design extensively and covers much more than just the clownfish (which is an emphasis) and common aquarium species. This book reads a lot like a technical manual at a manufacturing site and is full of useful information.

The second best book about breeding saltwater fish is…

2. Clownfishes: A Guide to Their Captive Care, Breeding & Natural History, by Joyce D. Wilkerson

The first book about breeding saltwater fish that I purchased was Clownfishes: A Guide to Their Captive Care, Breeding & Natural History, written by Joyce D. Wilkerson and published by Microcosm Ltd. and T.F.H. Publications, Inc. This book is a fantastic read and is highly recommended because it makes the science behind breeding saltwater fish simple to understand. While not the best book about breeding saltwater fish, this should be required reading in Breeding Saltwater Fish 101. The pictures and illustrations are in color, are easy to understand, and are helpful.

For the category of Best Book about Breeding Saltwater Fish…the winner is…

The #1 best book about breeding saltwater fish is…

1. The Complete Illustrated Breeder’s Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes, by Matthew L. Wittenrich.

Not only is The Complete Illustrated Breeder’s Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes the best book about breeding saltwater fish, this my favorite aquarium book on my bookshelf. I have read through it, cover to cover at least 6 times, and I have referred to it probably fifty times. In The Breeders Guide, Matthew L. Wittenrich writes in great depth about the reproduction of saltwater fish, the culture of the rotifers and phytoplankton (critical to feeding the newly hatched larvae) and goes into detail about each individual species that had been bred in captivity at the time it was written. In the species-specific chapters, the book highlights the breeding requirements of fish including the: Clownfish, Neon Goby, Banggai Cardinalfish, Royal Gramma, Engineer gobies, Orchid Dottyback, and others.

After I got this book for Christmas a few years ago, I started adding small breeder tanks in my basement and had success breeding the Banggai Cardinalfish, Neon Goby, and Ocellaris Clownfish. This truly is an addictive book that inspires and educates. It will have you itching to breed these fish like a hippo tang itches when covered with ich. OK, that was a strange simile, but I think you get the point. Anyway, enough reading my inane ramblings about the best book about breeding saltwater fish and check some of these out.

A special thanks to Martin, Frank, Joyce, and Matt for pioneering and writing such amazing books so that we have opportunities to enjoy the hobby too.

For more information on breeding marine fish, you can also check out www.mofib.org and then the Marine Breeder’s Initiative.

If you want to breed saltwater fish, you will probably want to culture your own phytoplankton, rotifers, and copepods.

Learn more here:

• Breeding the clownfish
• Breeding the banggai cardinal fish 
• Breeding the neon goby
• Culture your own phytoplankton
• Culture your own rotifers
• Culture copepods

If you like reading the best books about breeding saltwater fish, you should also check out the best book about How to Frag Corals, a great book that will show you exactly how to frag corals, with step-by-step instructions and color illustrations.

This page has affiliate links to the books, where you can learn more and even purchase them on the largest book retailer in the world, Amazon.com. If you do make a purchase, I just wanted to disclose that I will earn a small commission on that sale, at no extra cost to you. You still get the best pricing from Amazon. That is just one of the ways I support the costs incurred by running the site.