Are you serious.....
This is the list
Giant Clams----DanieL Knop (great book for clam enthiusiast)
The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium vol. #1----Fossa and Nilsen (great book, but sometimes too technical in some aspects)
The Reef Aquarium vol. 1&2---Delbeek & Sprung (A must for new hobbiest)
The New Marine Aquarium---Michael Palette (a good beginner book also)
Marine Aquariums--Dr. burgess (basic book, looks to be published in 80's)
The Book of Coral Propagation---Anthony Calfo ( I shouldnt have to rate this book
)
The Marine Aquarium Handbook---Martin Moe Jr. (A necessity for any saltwater hobbiest, old book. But never gets old reading it)
Encyclopedia of Marine Invertebrates---Jerry Walls (Older book, but some good reading.
Marine Community Aquarium--- Leon Zann (Older publication. Some beautiful pictures)
Clownfish and Sea Anemones---John Tullock (Worth the 8.39 at the LFS)
The New Saltwater Aquarium Handbook---George Blasiol II (Worth the 8.39...)
Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook----Robert Goldstein (Very good book in 15 dollar range)
Saltwater Aquarium Fishes---Herbert Axelrod, Warren Burgeess (Fish manual, older but nice pictures)
Aquarium Fishes of the World--John Prescott (1976 pub. $1.13 price was a steal)
Simon and Schuster's guide to Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Fishes(a gift, but wouldnt give it back, not too informative, but still open it up for a read every once in a while)
Aquarium Corals---Eric Broneman (What needs to be said
)
A Practical Guide to Corals For The Reef Aquarium(Ed Puterbaugh and Eric Borneman.... (Another great reference for a begginner)
Salwater Fish, A Guide Book---Joe Godfrey Jr. (copyright 1939... antique..and cool to have)
Corals of the Sea---Brown & Andrews( Beuatiful photography with some text. Great small coffee table book)
Aquatic Animals in the Wild and in Captivity---Patricia Curtis (kids book for my daughter, but cool pictures)
Clownfishes---Joyce Wilkerson (A must for clownfish keepers....)
Condition, Spawning and Rearing of Fish on Emphasis on Marine Clownfish Frank Hoff (This is another self explanatory book. Dont buy it unless you wanna raise clowns, its full of technical stuff with few pictures, but a must if your serious about raising marine fish from egg to sellable ages)
IMO.... There is no substitute for a good book. The net is a great resource too, but on the net material moves, and sometimes dissappears... I think both must be utilized by anyone who wants to make their "box-o-rocks" a hobby that lasts a lifetime. The more you know the easier the hobby becomes to figure out. The hard work of maintainence and water changes wont go away. But the decision on the right fish and coral and lighting and water flow and feeding questions all are answered in your head before you make the choice of wether to buy or wether to pass on that deal and buy the correct animal for the tank you have.
The best books I would reccomend for a new reef keeper are Eric Bornemans book "Aquarium Corals", and "The Reef Aquarium Books 1&2" from Delbeek and Sprung.... They are textbook quality books, and all are thick. They are priced up to 80 dollars, but worth every penny. Spend some money on a book like the ones listed and they will pay for themself in a short period of time when you learn what to do right and what you might be doing wrong. It will save you money and teach you about the whole reef ecosystems. From the reef crest to the inshore lagoons, to the mangrove systems that are a nursery for many animals. When you learn about the reef you learn about growth patterns of corals, how flow and light change a corals growth patterns.. Thats why you see these pictures of huge growths of table corals, and then a little ways away there are growths of staghorns. It shows that different water flow can make certain corals surivive in ares that some cannot survie.
I have a movie that was shot at GBR and its about an hour long, with 45 minutes of closeup reef shots, and it shows the layout and flow patterns of a real reef system.
Like a reef tank, I think a library of literature should be balanced, and a great book along the net are a balance of great knowledge!!
I also have several years of magazines that were popular in the mid 90's.
I think I have read my suggestion books cover to cover 3-4 times each. Worth every second I had my nose buried in one of those books, or on the net..
I have several books that are as basic as possible, but I still look thru them for pictures or other information. I think they are all worth it...
Hope it helps...
READ READ READ, MORE MORE MORE
:-x
I got the book because it had nicely detailed instructions on how to build your own tank. 
