My First Ever Saltwater Aquarium! Day 1 to 100 

Finally an update on the macro algae tank! Sorry for taking so long... Everything I've used so far (affiliate links) Tank US: bit.ly/3PSPho5 EU: bit.ly/3CDEQBJ Light US: bit.ly/40HoNeR EU: bit.ly/3JxJQJs Background foil US: amzn.to/40E0iza EU: amzn.to/3lO9WR8 Sand US: amzn.to/3ZtDlOe (similar) EU: amzn.to/3TTFphf Filter US: amzn.to/3LUglF8 EU: bit.ly/3eoYxUn Lily pipes US: amzn.to/40nchBv EU: amzn.to/42RkiQQ Refractometer US: amzn.to/3JPFKgB EU: amzn.to/42Pa7fF Equipment I like to use (affiliate links) Tank US: bit.ly/3EbkdxH EU: bit.ly/3S3y9ht Light US: bit.ly/3S2WxjC EU: bit.ly/3z6R16F Filter US: bit.ly/3yxFttR EU: bit.ly/3eoYxUn Clear Filter Pipes US: bit.ly/3RsFJkT EU: bit.ly/3AL5oyv Substrate US: bit.ly/3bux8yR EU: bit.ly/3qhHDt4 Wood (similar) US: bit.ly/3VmDUJ0 EU: bit.ly/3MwgKfm Rocks (similar) US: bit.ly/3yAO7Yk EU: bit.ly/3Tn0tLX Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis parvula) US: bit.ly/3VsJIR5 Umbrella Hair Grass (Eleocharis Vivipara) US: bit.ly/3MpO9br Riccardia moss US: bit.ly/3SR3Zy9 Juncus repens US: bit.ly/3yyJjmo Crypt parva US: bit.ly/3Cs0APn Crypt lutea US: bit.ly/3yBGDo7 Crypt walkeri US: bit.ly/3rSxBzu 🚨Watch this next!🚨 Inspiration playlist! ru-vid.com/group/PLrlvf56gZy-ipL3105SdfKsUBrMUSttoh CO2 buying guide! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dIVrr1yS3sU.html How to SETUP your CO2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qSHZ4F2PI2o.html Simple fertilizer dosing! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-I_KBOUM1RXM.html 👉🏻Cool Aquascaping T-shirts: mosscotton.com/ Code: mjaqua10 👉🏻Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my RU-vid channel: RU-vid.com/mjaquascaping 👉🏻 Use Code ''MJAMSTERDAM'' for 10% off Fzone products #plantedtank #aquascape #mjaquascaping

For you just "dipping your toes" in this new salt water tank hobby, it looks absolutely stunning Mark! The fish are very cute. Thanks for giving us an update. 😊

Those little fish are super cool!

I found my red dragonets would take frozen food quite readily, they seemed to love blood worms. I did wonder how quickly they'd run out of food, dragonets need way more than we realise and they're usually better off in larger tanks that are a few years old because of that. I'm surprised honestly that the shop recommended them.

Super surprised that store recommended a pair of dragonets for a new reefer. Especially in a tank that small. Dragonets are said to eat a copepod every 10 seconds, they will wipe pod populations out really quickly. I’d suggest maybe growing some chaeto in the tank so the pods have some nice hiding places. It’s also a pretty cool looking macro algae. If you want to have success with these fish in the long run you either need a bigger tank or you could train them to eat frozen foods and grow pod cultures. I would honestly do both! Good luck!

I’m glad I can live vicariously through you MJ. I love freshwater but it’s difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. I will enjoy other people’s saltwater environments and stick to what I pretty much know. I always preach to others to go outside of the box to learn more but here, I’m happy to stay inside. 😌. Thanks so much for the adventure….

I love that the cultures came in urinalysis cups. 😅 Thanks for the update though! I’ve been watching for one as macro algae interests me a great deal. I love saltwater, but do not enjoy the blue lighting on reef setups. I love this more natural look and those gobies are absolutely stunning!!

Maybe a saltwater shrimp could be a good addition as well. Cool video! I'm also too scared to try saltwater 😂

We had a marine tank for 10 years and it was fun, challenging, and occasionally heartbreaking. I am liking the macro algae more than the corals!

Please make a video of setting up the culture

Holy crap Mark, I'm absolutely in love with those stunning gobies! I've *never* even given gobies a second glance, but yours are seriously gorgeous! I am really, really tempted to try and convert one of my 10 gallon aquariums into a small macroalgae marine tank now. Also I hope you're filming the copepods culture. I'd love to see that, I need something similar.

From someone who does fresh and salt, the best comparison I can give is freshwater is like cooking and saltwater is like baking, it's such an exact science. just don't give up, the 1st year really is the hardest.

What a learning experience this has been. Thank you for sharing. The Dragonet's are stunning!

You could get a Pom Pom Crab. As for corals you could get away with softies, mushrooms I’d say would be fine since they dont really need much flow. Corals generally like flow hence you’ll prob need a wave maker/powerhead. As someone thats been in the saltwater hobby for 6 years. All i can say is that most tanks will go through and ugly stage for between 6mths to a year. But after that it just keeps getting better and better as the tank matures.

Get some shrimp. Banded Coral Shrimp, Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp or Blood Red Fire Shrimp. BTW you went all the way to the deep end with the dragonet fish, you should have started with some firefish, they are pretty cool and easy to keep.

I'm about to set up my very first saltwater tank after a long time keeping freshwater only, and I really appreciated this super honest video about the challenges and the learning curve you faced. Well done for being able to keep stuff up!

Going to setup my first Macroalgea saltwater tank tomorrow after 20 years of freshwater. Thank you for the boost and update 💯🌿✨️🙌

Those dragonets are so cute!

Please vote up so everyone can see: There is a great way to train fish, especially goby, to start eating pellet/flake food. This method also works great for training wild caught fish of any species or water type. Once you have them in their new tank, make sure they are with fish that eat flake or pellet food. ESPECIALLY Goby, are very observant fish and will watch what the other fish are eating and will 100% start eating what they eat within a few days, if not immediately.

I think the tank looks great! I’d be interested in hearing more on how you maintained the salt levels in the water. Those fish are amazing 👀❤️

like some people said small shrimps like sexy shrimps or pederson shrimps would be a nice addition, I have 5 of each in a macro algae and coral tank and the are thriving. you can also add some white light corals like some zoas or toadstools or mushrooms and other soft corals. depending of what kind of macro algae you have, they can reach sexual maturity and die/melt off. Your tank is beautiful as is but you definitely need to add mushrooms or other soft coral.

I had the easiest saltwater tanks ever. I didn't use a skimmer, just a HOB.....and I used tap water (😱) I kept to soft coral, live rock and hardy stock and I had some beautiful SW tanks ! I had a 50gallon, 29gallon and 20long and I also had macro algae....loved it ! I made sure to do regular water changes and I used 50/50 actinic lighting. It's definitely harder to keep a smaller tank balanced than if you had a larger one, but it seems to be going rather well.....congrats ! Firefish goby would be nice. I had a pair of the purple firefish and they were very personable and colorful. I also had a little red striped goby who was such a clown...really enjoyed that fish. I definitely wouldn't get anything very large for that tank.....clown gobies might be another good choice. Have fun and good luck with it !

I only watch planted tank content really but watched this vid Mark. Quite interesting the macro algae, keen to see more from you on it. Cheers mate

GSP is a great starter coral, it’s the Eleocharis mini of the saltwater hobby. a zoa garden would also look great in a small tank but you would need a new light.

They are the cutest little fish ever I love them!

Dragonets are NOT beginner friendly fish due to the difficulty of feeding. The guys at the shop should have known that and definitely not recommend a pair for a nano tank no matter how many copepods it started with. They most likely wanted to sell them off before they starved to death in their shop. Training them onto frozen food would be the easiest way to keep them in the long run. Good luck! They are absolutely gorgeous fishes and the tank is stunning. Other nano inhabitants you can consider reef hermits, pompom crabs, sexy shrimp. They would be perfect in this setup. For corals, mushroom and leather corals are easy options, cheap, and they do not require higher flow and lighting like many other corals and are very hardy.

Always a pleasure to see your videos, especially since you take so much time to give us an all so satisfying time skip in the videos. Love from the UK!

Awesome to see an update! Looks like it’s turning out pretty great! Almost makes me want to try one! Lol

Hey, really nice start. I've had great success with salt water aquariums and I think I have a tip or two. Firstly for your dragonets, there is a technique where you put a small container in the back of your aquarium, preferably behind your rockwork with a few holes drilled into it and some macro algae, like chaeto in it, this will be a breeding ground for copepods. Secondly, in terms of coral, I think some green star polyps, pulsing xenia and zoanthids would be a great and easy addition to your tank.

"Nothing good ever happens in a reef tank quickly"... Marine tanks are all about patience and long-term stability. Those blooms you had are completely normal. It takes far longer to establish a marine system than a freshwater one. You're doing great. The Dragonets were also a lovely choice. And yep, having your own pod culture will make feeding them far easier. They are notoriously picky eaters, I know my own Synchiropus splendidus is just as finicky.

Would be awesome to see you add coral!

I am wanting to do a saltwater tank myself. Thanks for the great info. The Fish are Awesome 👍

I went through the same phases when I had a marine tank. It just takes time to find a balance, I think it will be easier now. If you going to add anything, I would perhaps add 2 cleaner shrimp. Otherwise maybe leave as is, seeing that it is such a small tank. Super cool little fish!

You can put corals in this tank, dont listen anyone and put pulsing xenia or some other soft corals There is people that keep corals without filtration or good light and without water test And coral thrive in the aquiums of these people And it looks beautiful, don't listen anyone, because many people аre saying wrong things

You could go for a skunk cleaner shrimp, they do a great job being entertaining, eat pretty much anything, and don’t require much space. Also, a tuxedo urchin might be cool, just be aware they can pick things up and move them around. But they are insanely good at keeping rocks clear of turf and micro algae.😊

I want to jump to Saltwater too, this video helps a lot. Thanks

Been in the hobby for 9 months. Its a different beast but would definitely suggest others try it. You learn about the balance that mother nature has constructed. With chemistry and a bit of patience, you too can have a slice of the oceans inside your house. Id suggesr a peppermint or cleaner shrimp. Add some colour, they help clean your fish and tank, plus they provide some movement and not generally jump out of a small tank like a curious fish. 😅

Thanks for providing an update, I am planning to start mine as well, maybe with an inbuilt sump, which would help pod culture better. U can definitely go with sexy shrimp.

Hi! Mitrax krabje is ook een leuke toevoeging om algen op het steen kort te houden.

Love it!! Def need Anemones with some clown fish!

Looks great! 🤩 I hope I can get my hands on some cool macro algae one day, been looking for ages! 🇳🇱

My problem is I always like to overload a tank. Looks gorgeous tho and thanks for the honesty. It didn’t happen over night it took time and trial n error

I'm going to do the very same route, as usual, nice work.

Those little fish are cool. Maybe a couple of simple corals and a shrimp?

awesome little tank! those ruby dragonettes are super cool, they are pretty easy to get onto prepared foods, mine very quickly jumped onto Hikari S small pellets

I can't get over that cool shelf you have them all on, where did you get it?

I love the Nanos ❤

I think the only decent options are inverts (anemones/ soft corals) and small shrimps like sexy shrimps. An interesting invert include pom pom crab since I've noticed you were disappointed by the mico crab setup. These are usually easier to see and holds 2 tiny anemones. Also Hayi Gracilaria (red dragons breath macro algae) is a nice addition if you want a bright fluorescent color in blue light without adding corals/anemone.

Nice video. I went the other way round, I have kept reef tanks for almost 20 years but have now gone to planted aquascapes. You certainly picked some of the most high maintenance fish you could have for your first Saltwater tank. With your particular setup I would be definitely only be sticking with soft corals. Soft corals go well with micro algae tanks. You can run slightly higher nutrients more easily. It's not impossible, but for a first tank that might be the go. Plus I think you should invest in a hang on mini refugium. It will be of real benefit to the dragonettes as a constant food supply in times when you get busy or have to go away for short periods. It won't be enough for them alone permanently but will help as a continual food source

Very cool especially for a first saltwater tank! I always wanted to try one but never had the balls 😂 I always wanted to do a clown fish scape with live anemones! Maybe one day! Great job mate!

Nice to see the progression! Macro algae is fun but can turn on you if your parameters are not right like temp and salinity. Dragonet also wouldn't have been my first choice as you are now finding out. They are very demanding and finicky. Glad to see they are eating which is a good sign. Culture is the way to go. You will need to set up phyto to feed the photos as well but with that, you can keep things like sea fans, gorgonians etc. Some beginner corals would be zoas, mushrooms, toadstools, leathers, Kenyan tree. All those would play into the look you are going for and are very easy to keep.

Die dragonnets goed in de gaten houden, doen het beter in een gerijpte tank waar ze veel meer voedsel hebben. Zijn niet helemaal beginners vissen voor een net opgestarte tank. Een koppeltje yasha's met een pistoolgarnaaltje zijn ook super leuk voor een nano. Die leven in een symbiose met elkaar.

So cool to see your journey into saltwater, thanks for sharing!

Been waiting on this for ages! So cool. Those gobies are amazing, a bit of a shame re the live food only issue

You are doing fine man. This is something that saltwater beginners don't do. I'm still not sure about that rock but everything seems espectacular man, obviosly your planted tank magic works.

I love all your aquariums ❤

Awesome update ❤

I already think it looks really nice and natural, can't wait to see the progression.

Oh yay! Been looking forward to an update on this tank!

Hi recommend Danny's aquarium for inspiration..

Love the little Gobbies ❤ who knows, maybe I’ll dip my toes into salt water too at some time in the future 😅

Hi MJ, I don't use protein skinmer for my 10 gal reef tank and it's doing relatively well

빛이 투과 되는 돌을 어항에 사용하면 좋을 것같아요 바닥재 가격은 좀 오르겠지만 조명과 만나면 또다른 조합을 만들 수 있지 않을까 싶었는데 집을 이사하며 어항을 두고 와서 저는 못하네요 아그니메니타이트 라고 하던데요.

It looks great!

สวยงามทุกมุมมองการจัดวางครับ สวยๆๆๆๆๆเฉียบ

Stay the course. It really takes about six months before salt water tanks. Start to turn the corner after a year they start to look good in two years. They are pretty rocksolid. Just like freshwater there are some short cuts but time and patience always pays off.

I been in hobby since 1984. My first saltwater was in 1994 and a 90-gallon reef in 1996. Here are my observations. 1) You started too small. Unlike freshwater, larger = easier for saltwater. More water volume gives stable water parameters. This is why the ocean doesn't change much. 2) IMO, canister filters have a limited place in saltwater (but this is my opinion). They clog too easily with detritus and do not offer enough water flow. That said, if you want to use canister then just use it as a bio filter with no filter pads. 3) Lava rock is high in iron and is not inert and that right there will feed the algae. *Do not* use lava rock in a reef or saltwater. This is why you never see them in a reef tank. It will also lead to high phosphates. In nature, the ocean is massive and can handle what the lava rocks leach out. 4) You never mix salt right in the display tank. You mix the salt in a separate bucket with RODI water and (IMO) never tap. 5) That dragon will die, they only eat copepods, and they eat a lot of them. The copepods need a separate refugium to safely populate that will feed into the display. Thats why all the copepods are gone from the display. 6) You need to start slow... very slow. It takes months for a saltwater to mature. Also, saltwater fish generally need more space and room then freshwater. Don't give up but IMO you didn't do enough research either. Unlike when I first started, my resource was mainly books for information. Now the resources are endless, but also a lot of misinformation out there as well. Pay a visit to reef2reef.com and ask questions. My last piece of advice is do not cheapen out on gear. It's better to buy things one time then to buy something and have to buy something else because it does not work. This hobby is not cheap, my 105-gallon reef cost in the neighborhood of around 15k. My 66-gallon planted tank cost me around $2500 (I went overkill and even using a hydros controller). Needless to say, I no longer have my 105-gallon up.

Nice saltwater tank

I like the way the tank is going. I don't know anything about them but I would look in to feather duster worms. Might be a good fit in a nano macro algae aq.

If you want a nice easy to keep coral that's pleasing on the eye and grows well (almost too well!) try Pulsing Xenia. It would look great in that tank with the macro algae and it also helps filter the water. Just dont keep it with any other corals because this thing grows and spreads quick :)

Sweet. Those fish might be hard to food for but they are worth the trouble Bright red little gobies. What's not to love! ♥♥

You can add a cleaner shrimp

That's why with mandarins and other gobys .. a giant tank ,with loads of live rock ..that's been established for a very long time...maybe even with a separate smaller tank plumbed in to the main tank,with live rock,algae and lights is recommended for just two dragonettes. They eat constantly,and a small tank isnt big enough to sustain the amounts of food. Also, buying live "bugs" in the amounts that they need isnt feasible. I hated selling these to new aquarists, but my boss kept bringing them in and I had to sell them. If i told any of them what is truly needed.. they changed their minds

Much respect to you for trying it out. I was always scared to start with it myself. And I see you also struggled à bit. You didn't use to much accesoires from what I'm seeing right ? (Filtration / skimmers etc.) I wonder how different the two worlds are. Fresh vs. Saltwater so I'm really curious to your verdict eventually. Keep us up to date with this please! 👍🏻

Very cool! I had no idea this was possible. Thanks for the knowledge!

Soft corals would be cool

looks awesome 👌

I was looking forward to this update thank you 🥰

Absolutely banggai cardinal!

I wonder converting this one into a copepod tank and moving the gobys into a larger tank? looks amazing!

Ik heb ook een paar weken geleden mn eerste zoutwater aquarium opgezet. Bakje is volledig ingedraaid en zitten nu twee Ocellaris clowns in. Ik vind zout water nu bijna leuker dan zoet! Jouw aquarium ziet er ook top uit❤

Congratulations. Gorgeous tank.

nice job !👍

Im actualy surprised they would suggest a dragonet because they are very hard to keep but u need to keep giving copepods because they cab eat thousands in a day you can also train them to eat frozen food i would suggest looking into it online it wont be easy but Definitely worth it a goby with a pistolshrimp is always a fun duo to get for your reef tank some corals i would suggest are gorgonia or a leather coral or something like a kenia tree these would fit perfectly your kind of reef tank and goodluck with it

Ya love this well done I’m slightly curious what it would like with a blue light like you see in most saltwater

I love it congratulations! I’ve been watching your videos for some time now I really enjoy them so much that You have inspired to setup a non filtered fish tank I’ll start small maybe a 1 gallon tank! :)

Great video

Hi! Thank you for monitoring this aquarium. I was really curious to know what happened next. Like you, I have freshwater aquariums (because of you / so thk you very much), but none in salt water. I couldn’t find micro-algae in Quebec City. In addition, after several visits to the store and 100 hours of watching RU-vid, I realized the long weeks of summer heat waves, salt water is not recommended for my little condo without air conditioning. I was wondering, if you have air conditioning and if not, what do you do on hot summer days? The Gobi are among my favorite fish. They have a little `je-ne-sais-quoi. Thank you again and have fun! Bonjour from Quebec! 👋

I recommend to add a mangrove

time to do a reef!

Little late to the party, but you pinned my comment on your last SW vid, so ill try to help. The micro algae youre running into are driven by your lights. We run massive amounts of par in this hobby (up to 400+) for coral growth without algae issues, but it takes a long time for the bacteria to colonize the rockwork and keep it at bay. SW vs FW doesn't really differ in that regard. The SW BSA, GSA, GHA, Diatoms, and Cyano (which is actually bacteria) are the same as found in FW. Try to avoid dosing any algeacide or especially products containing antibiotics. You're killing off the BB youve worked so hard to cultivate and setting the clock back. There's so much more than just nitrification happening in our tanks. Also, you've got to remember that you're cultivating algae, not plants, and anything that targets micro algae with also harm your macros. You're going to laugh, but your caulerpa was perfectly fine. Actually, it was about to reproduce. Those white dots are it's reproductive cycle much like the buds that grow on java fern leaves. They go off into the water and become new caulerpa. I have to strongly agree with everyone else. I cannot for the life of me think why an experienced LFS would sell you a pair of dragonets as your first SW fish, especially in a nano tank. I own one myself, and they have a reputation in the hobby of starving to death, unless you buy captive bred ones trained from birth to eat prepared foods, or have a massive tank (200L+) capable of substaining its own pod population. A good inhabitant for this tank would be a small damsel of your choice (I like yellow tails), a clown goby, or a banggai cardinal. They will all eat prepared foods and would be no harder to keep then a betta. You should know that while trochus snails are an excellent rock and glass cleaner, nessarious snails are carnivores and do not consume algae. We keep them in reefs for the sole purpose of cleaning up all the frozen mysis and pellets which end up at the bottom (they're basically snail corys). What you want is one Mexican Turbo. They grow to double the size of mystery snails and consume a massive amount of undesirable algae, including GHA. A few blue or red leg hermit crabs would also be a fine choice. Here's a link I found on a R2R thread posted by AlgaeBarn (theyre like the macro algae US version of Tropica) and I would take it as gospel if I were to start a macro tank. Happy Reefing! www.marineplantbook.com Edit: Also some of the shrimp people are recommending have specialty care/diet requirements. I would stay away from anything you haven't researched first. Actually, thats probably the best advice anyone can give you in this hobby. Research anything before you take it home. Also, anything listed as "cleaner" means that it cleans your fish of parasites, not your tank.

Wow doesn't seem that long ago, time moves by very fast.

One salt water setup & bro got Tan. 😄😄😄 btw good to see you again bro.😍

i think a good option is a bigger tank! lol great video :)

an anemone would be cool… you get some small ones that work in micro algae tanks :)

Do you have any advice for breeding copepods? Is there a specific guide / video you could recommend?

Please do a tutorial on how to clean that filter. How do I open it without water going everywhere 😂

Deep substrate seems to be the trick.Father Fish

to answer your question, yes they ate all the pods. these guys need a big tank, not because of their size but because the copepod population can be decimated very fast. this can be handled with adding supplement pods. fish wise, I think Ecsenius gravieri would look amazing in this tank!

Nice vid what fertilisers you use and how much, thanks