The AquariumReference.org website is provided as a free, not-for-profit service. This site is a work-in-progress and is designed and maintained by me, Cliff Dugan. Developing and maintaining a website of this magnitude is a huge undertaking and requires substantial time and money. I choose to keep this site non-profit for the benefit of the aquarium hobby as a whole.

The purpose of this website is to provide necessary information on the identification, behavior and care of the animals we keep in our aquariums. And to provide information on which animals are best kept in captivity and those not suited for aquarium keeping. My main interest is marine aquaria, but in the future, I may cover freshwater more thoroughly. I bred African Cichlids for years and still have a passion for them.

My primary focus is on education and conservation. To successfully keep animals in our aquariums it is our responsibility to recreate the animal's natural environment as closely as possible, so the animals not only survive, but thrive. In order to help protect our natural environments I strongly believe in keeping captive raised animals whenever possible. More and more captive raised marine fish and invertebrates are becoming available every day.

Although This website is directed towards aquarium hobbyists, the information that it provides is useful for scuba divers, educators, researchers, and anyone else who has an interest in marine animals.

This website contains the following sections:

Species Library
The Species Library is AquariumReference.org's primary purpose. The Species Library contains photographs and information on the behavior and care of marine fish and invertebrates. The library has approximately 5000 species listed and is continuously growing. I would like to see it become one of the most complete references of its type.

While the library is not meant to be a true scientific reference I have tried to be as accurate as possible. I realize there are other libraries out there like FishBase that are much more complete as far as species information goes, but this site is not meant to compete with FishBase, but to complement it. FishBase is very thorough and is a valuable resource, but it does not include information on the captive care of fishes or information on breeding. Also, similar information for invertebrates is severely lacking.

Although the Species Library does contain quite a bit of data, in my opinion, it is far from complete. Due to a very busy life I have not been always been able to devote the necessary time to the library as I would like to.

This library is made possible by contributions from user like you and I always appreciate any and all contributions to the library. AquariumReference.org started in 1997 and is still going and growing and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come.

Taxonomic Tree
The Taxonomic Tree contains a complete listing of the kingdom Animalia, down to the family level. However, the Taxonomic Tree is no where near complete and may contain inaccuracies. I have concentrated my efforts on the branches of the tree where species are included in the Species Library and the tree will continuously be updated and revised as new species are added to the library.

For more information on the Taxonomic Tree see the Taxonomic Tree Information Page.

Articles
The Articles Section contains articles and links to articles related to: aquarium keeping, animal identification, husbandry and behavior. There are articles on everything from general aquarium care to fish breeding and coral propagation.

Glossary
The Glossary contains words and terms of value to the hobbyist.

This website is made possible by individual contributions and I am always looking for new photographs and articles. For more information on submitting photographs, articles or to make comments and suggestions for the library please visit the Making Contributions page.