Showcasing tanks like this are important. The high-end and expensive end is too easily popularized. And so it becomes the dominant conversation. Lower energy, and thus lower cost system with species like soft coral and LPS are a fantastic alternative to spending an arm and a leg. It's also a price point far more people can engage with. Good video! A large swath of Betta tanks introduced hobbyist's to aquariums, myself included. My first tank was a 5 gallon betta tank. Having a saltwater version is not a bad thing. Hardy corals and some inverts on an office desk or a Childs dresser is how you grow the number of hobbyist's. I also love the "window" mangrove in freshwater. Very nice.
I had no idea he was dead 😢 I just started the hobby this year and been enjoying anything and everything he does. The impact he made and everyone he inspired was great ❤
My very first reef tank was $100 10 gallon setup. I spent the money i had earned for cutting lawns in the neighborhood! It was a petsmart tank with Marineland HoB filter. I used cfl 50/50 bulbs with the lid the tank came with. That $100 was the start to my reefing addiction! 15 years later im still in the hobby! The importance of budget tanks builds is so huge!!
I love this idea, however, I do think it is still important to talk about the cost of the livestock, especially these days, because I feel like a lot of people who are newer to the hobby might get excited by seeing a cost of $100, but then not factoring in if you’re buying everything from a store how much the Rock would cost or the corals themselves would cost. I work at a LFS and lately the biggest issue I’m noticing when it comes to selling things is that you have one group of people who is new to the hobby and sees the cost of a single fish or a single coral being relatively high compared to say a freshwater livestock equivalent, or people who remember what prices looked like 3 years ago And don’t understand how so much of what they remember in terms of cost no longer applies. I think a lot of newcomers as well get turned off by some of the simple cost upfront such as the sand and even the water itself, to either pre-mix it or buy it already made, I think it would be fair to say that this set up in this video would cost more than $100 if someone was buying it who has no other saltwater equipment hanging around because you do have to include the cost of the sand and the rock and the water at the very least. So while I do like this video and the concept, I do think it’s important for people who are getting into the hobby to also have all those other little things priced out that someone who is more experienced wouldn’t think about the cost of because they either already have it laying around or it’s just an automatic expectation to have to pay those prices for those things.
I see a lot of newcomers get turned off mostly because they rush & want Nemo or they impulse buy without doing research. It saddens me to see fish & corals die because they don’t take the time & patience to learn 🙁
@@ReefBuildersVideo doing a budget fish/invert list for a few smaller size tanks wouldn’t be a bad idea. I just started my tank about two months ago and because reefers are so obsessed with coral I feel the info on fish suffers in most videos. Most of the info for fish I have gotten has been from mad hatters reef or live aquaria so I’m sure other beginners are in a similar spot. Also some lfs don’t help the confusion. I had a guy at mine try to sell me a 6 line wrasse as the third fish in my tank with many more to come after it. That probably would have ended poorly if I didn’t know how aggressive/territorial they can be.
Hello from Spain. Great project. Very similar to my low budget softies school project for my students. I added four mangrooves to illustrate how matter and energy flow in an ecosystem. Video about 200$ budget tank would be great too. Thank you so much for your videos.
I've got a very similar set up going strong for about a year and a half now. This kind of videos showcasing nano/pico tanks on a budget are important for our community. Keep it up!
I just found this channel and I’m intrigued. Love salt water tanks but they intimidated me when I was younger and creating freshwater aquariums. Now I want to research more on salt water tanks. So glad I found this channel!! 🤙🏼
Great idea. I've been looking at the Aqueon 10g rimless tanks for my first reef tank since they are only $20. Even with filter, a lot cheaper than a Waterbox or Innovation Marine AIO.
I bought one and added $90 for heater, filter and a small pump for circulation to qt fish in. I think you could get away with 2 30w nicrew lights on it for about $100 and for around $200 that is a complete setup minus what ever rock and sand you use.
Wait for the dollar a Gallon sale then its 10 bucks. If you got petco bucks or points then it could be free. My macro-algea/zoa tree was done for under next to nothing.
If you want a dirt cheap Amazon light, I’ve had success using $20-40 Hygger LED aquarium lights advertised for freshwater & planted tanks. The fancier ones let you dial in color to an extent and set timers. Not really suitable for high light corals but plenty powerful enough to light-stress softies and LPSs in a small tank in my experience
I have been waiting for the start of this series. I really like the look of the classic 20 long. I think keeping it under $200 would very doable and helpful to people wanting to get into hobby.
Thank you so much Jake for these videos. Really appreciate your insight and sharing what’s possible on a small budget and how simple reefing can be. A $200 build video would be awesome. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom with us!
would love an update on this tank or a series focused on such a tank. so many friends of mine want a tank but can't afford to set one up. I think a simple setup is perfect for beginners as less complicated means easier to perfect and a great starting point for people to get their feet wet before diving right in to it
I have a fluval spec III 2.6 gallon tank with a biocube protein skimmer in the filtration chamber. It fits perfectly almost like it was made for this application.
Dude this is awesome! Thank you for taking time to make this hobby more accessible for the masses. Think I might have to do something like this with Rock Flowers.
Both of those options you proposed at the end sound amazing, the slightly higher budget 10 gal build as well as a smaller build. Thanks for another awesome video!
10 gallon budget setup is what got me into the reef hobby! Awesome little startup tank, only downside is you have to be more careful with parameter swings but definitely fun!🍻
I've had freshwater tanks for about 8/9 years and I want to try saltwater now, if you could do a video with a 300$ maximum budget it would be awesome !
In the world we live in today where almost everything is online and there really isn’t that “meet your reef buddies at the reef store” concept anymore I really latched on to Jake as the person I would google or look for a video to help me thru a certain reefing situation. I was truly saddened when we as a community lost him but I personally still look at his videos as my “virtual reefing sensei”. He really is missed around this hobby of ours
Jake thanks for all the knowledge and clearly obvious love and respect for even the tiniest animals in all your reef studio, makes my busy life a pleasure when the notification on a new vid, love the nano, I’ll love to see a 10-15 gallons long peninsula style but only with crustaceans like sexy, anemone shrimps, anemone crabs, coral banded shrimps with a budget around the $250, perfectly for our offices. Again awesome content and kudos to you guys for the best reef channel online. 👊🏼🐠🦀.
I would watch any video but maybe a 20 gallon budget build for sure. It’s the perfect size for budget but you get more room for about the same price to set up a 10 gallon. Love your videos.
Hi Jake. I have a 3 gallon tank that is full of life, only use a simple hob filter, some light from ebay, and a heater. I'm from Colorado as well, so let me know if you would like to see that sometimes. Big fan. Cheers!
Would definitely be interested in a 200$ budget tank with more emphasis on stocking. Also an even smaller budget tank would be interesting. I enjoyed this video, thaks!
Definatley wouldn’t mind seeing a slightly higher budget 10g one. I have a fish qt tank on my desk downstairs that will be turning into a budget reef after this blenny goes through it. Want to get a 20 long instead for fish qt. I’m in Canada so probably can’t get copper or medication if I wanted to so the tank will still be clean. Also have an evo I need to upgrade that will become a coral/invert qt so similar gear needed.
What a nice tank ! My son is at college, and they limit students to a 10 gallon tank. Your tank would be ideal and affordable. I had never heard of a “feather duster.” Thanks for the introduction ! He is considering a 20 long so I would appreciate a 20 L build under $200. Thanks, Jim
Try smart home equipment for your automation. I'm new to this, actually only have a beta right now, but I've used smart home automation for about 3 years now. A Kasa smart power strip tied to Google home or Alexa is very reliable. Available in 3 or 6 socket versions, each plug can be controlled and monitored independently and set on routines. I use a 3 outlet for the heater, light, and filter in my Beta tank.
Nice vid Jake, good to see a RU-vid reefer demonstrating you don't need deep pockets to own a reef tank. I think you should tackle both the $200 and the pico miniature reef tanks you mentioned. Extra content for the channel and also in keeping with affordability for the masses ;) Look forward to the update on this little 10 gallon.
Cool build! 20 yrs ago it was much more impossible to do such builds with the minimal to unattainable equipment that is available today. Even small planted tanks are more capable today then 20 yrs back with the equipment and livestock.
I think it would be cool to do more tanks of these smaller sizes ie. 10 gallons or less. I've always found them really fun. Yes do a high dollar level of one! Maybe even some acros or other sps.
Jake try the 50, 100, or 150 watt Nicrew hyper reef lights off Amazon sometime. I love them more than my RadionBlueG5 on a nano setting. Except there is no cool app you gotta use a smart outlet to set a scheadule. But color spectrum, price, and coral growth is great! 👍🏻 “short term anyway, I haven’t had them for more than 18 months yet”.
Im sitting here watching this and have a 15 gallon (empty) tank , a heater , a light , a rock , I even have the water from my local aquarium store. I thought I had to have a hang on the back or canister filter. I wasn't sure at all. Right now I only want corals and later on a Goby and shrimp team. So I have been looking at this tank and not knowing how to proceed. I know I need to get a wave maker and I have a bottle of Bio S Startup. I just am stumped on the filter thing. But this has helped a lot. TY ! I would love to see what can be done with the smaller tanks so whatever you can think of.. I wanna see :)
Hello Jake! Very nice video! There is the myth in the hobby that marine aquariums must be big, that the skimmer is always necessary, that you must spend thousands of money.. You just bust the myths! Please continue to this direction and I would kindly ask you to set a smaller aquarium, less than 10g. Many regards from Athens! Evan
Definitely agree with the sentiment of seeing a few variations on this theme. I've had the desire for a long time to setup a small macro tank similar to tigahboy.h2o's style or a mangrove tank with a reef at the base of the mangrove. Also thought about a bare sand tank with a sand loving anemone. Each tank could be a different biotope.
That nano reef is exactly what I would like to do at my house. Your budget is legit, but... that rock alone, including the corals, would cost twice as much as the rest of the set up. Having said that I really want to do something very similar right down to the shrimp. What I would like to see is a maintenance schedule for that tank. Well done.
You ain’t picking up a jbj tank nowadays for no $10 bucks or free 😂. Granted this video is 2 years old but even then no tanks were $10!…. Love the video and how you set everything up
I would love to see a $200 budget, I have a tank sitting on my kitchen countertop. ADA, it’s filled with plants no water I made it into a terrarium I would love to get back into the hobby coming over from freshwater and this would be the perfect video