I'm really new.

[Rikko]

I'd recommend starting with The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner. It covers all your bases, and like I said above, once you have most of the methods and lingo in your head, you'll be far better equipped to utilize the internet to find what you need to know.

If you want hardcore reference books (you'll use these later on far more than any general topic books), I'd probably suggest Reef Invertebrates by Calfo and Fenner (as recommended above) and Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman.

I've yet to see a really great fish book - I'm sure the Reef Fishes series by Scott Michael will be great once it's done, but TFH/Microcosm have really screw the pooch in publishing that one.