We Got Corals, Crabs, Snails...and Pufferfish? (ROCKPOOL EP2) 

👇👇MD MERCH CLICK HERE👇👇: FULL SHOP: md-fish-tanks.creator-spring.com It's finally time for an update on the saltwater tank. Lot's of you have been asking but we cannot rush this....as much as I'd like to 😂 Equipment (all links affiliate): LED FLOODLIGHTS: US amzn.to/3m3cEz9 UK amzn.to/3orIdRv GOOD BUDGET LIGHT:: US amzn.to/2MDfjk1 UK amzn.to/3iYlfQQ SMALL HANG ON BACK FILTER: US amzn.to/2Mw63OO UK amzn.to/39rx3b5 NANO INTERNAL FILTER: US amzn.to/3oxGBWm UK CANISTER FILTER: US amzn.to/3iNeVtW UK amzn.to/2Fo774a GOOSENECK CLIP ON LAMP: (similar as product is now discontinued) US amzn.to/2IlwLVA UK amzn.to/2LNat13 MINI WATER PUMP: US amzn.to/2oAmf5y UK amzn.to/2mjHDez TANKS: US amzn.to/2SOocHG UK amzn.to/2SPA24i STRIP LED LIGHT: US (similar) amzn.to/2SNgbm7 UK amzn.to/2Fn9aW1 ASTA LED LIGHT: US amzn.to/3k9EmpY UK amzn.to/3p5XUPY AQUARIUM RACKING: Shelving: US amzn.to/2SrYZ5k UK amzn.to/2GFWKJ2 AIRPUMP (FILTER SYSTEM): US amzn.to/31z8FA9 UK amzn.to/37GIoUa FILTER SPONGES: US amzn.to/3dQLUfM UK amzn.to/3dS2k7K MEDIA BAGS: US amzn.to/34Kaf2N UK amzn.to/3lAj3z1 STAINLESS LILY PIPES: US amzn.to/2FqHpvR UK amzn.to/2RlfrnC BOWL AQUARIUMS: US amzn.to/2M4FwFO UK: amzn.to/2Vx73CL API® products Subscribe to API on RU-vid: ru-vid.com USA consumers purchase API products on Amazon: www.amazon.com/stores/page/2193F555-CE5F-4A6B-BDC4-F315CB7F175D?channel=MDTanks UK consumers purchase API products on Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/25663644-6C8C-432C-9E6A-0A85082C3E3C AQUARIAN® products Follow AQUARIAN on RU-vid: ru-vid.com/show-UCNxaNWKoWr_ztSgXgPj9r8A Purchase AQUARIAN products here: aquarian.co.uk/where-to-buy/ AWESOME MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY ru-vid.com/show-UC3uQXzXSPspf2LoGdtYGiHwjoin FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/md_fishtanks/ FOR BUSINESS ENQUIRIES: admin@mdfishtanks.com #plantedtank #aquascape #mdfishtanks

I want to say that my 6-year-old loves your videos. He and I built our first tank together. He is so excited about every change to the tank. We love to watch the videos together. We finally have baby shrimp.

I love that in the saltwater part of the shop MD is like a little kid, “Ooh, a starfish, can we have that? Ooh, a crab, can we have that?” and Matt is the parent going “No sweetie, no, not that one, no, not yet, you’ll have to wait.” 😂

"This is a really long episode" NO NO NO it's not long enough, give us more !

You can raise mealworms yourself really easy. They grow up into a beetle and will breed in a pretty simple setup. That way you'll always have live food (your archers would probably love them too). Easy and very low cost as they'll eat mostly oats or other grains.

Since you didn’t mention it in the video I’ll just put it here; research palytoxin if you are going to handle zoas and palys - it can (doesn’t have to, but can) be really dangerous Looks great! 😊 a good start👌

you 2 together is the best thing you have both done, really enjoying the content all the banter and knowledge makes even a long video not long enough lads

Get a wavemaker in that reef tank 👍 Your filtration is done via the rocks hence you need more flow in that tank.

This was a fun episode. You guys make a good team because MD can ask all the questions beginners have and Matt can answer a lot of them. I don't think I'll be starting a saltwater tank, but I still enjoy learning about them and watching the process.

Always like MD’s videos. But the addition of Matt has made it where I am looking everyday for a new video. You two are awesome together. And the videos are great!!!

Probably your best video. It had just enough of both salt and fresh water to interest both demographics I think + a store tour is always amazing ++ editing time skips to see the aquarium grow and mature are always exciting

MD and fish shop Matt your going to love the coral when they settle and start growing I have the fluval Evo 13.5 saltwater Nano tank full of soft corals and its amazing

Matt is a freaking savant dude!

Yawls friendship is phenomenal keep it up!

It's like watching kids in a sweet shop😊 I know the fun of creatures you have to wait to appear. Sadly Steve my pleco suddenly popped his clogs yesterday 😢 my tanks not the same without him!

Congrats guys! I love macro algae; looks like the two species you've got there are Caulerpa prolifera (the green one haha), and a species of Gracilaria (the red one). The Caulerpa should explode and potentially even take over the tank, but all those macro's will be incredible habitat for copepods. The Gracilaria, like Matt pointed out with the Caulerpa, will eventually make "roots" from anywhere on its structure; cool thing about macroalgae is it's technically one single cell (even though it doesn't look like a typical cell), so the "roots," "leaves," and "steams" are all just a continuous piece of the same single cell structure. Can't wait to see how this tank turns out!

I fell in love with the hobby as a kid when my dad kept saltwater. Now, as an adult, I have 3 freshwater tanks. I would love a small salt water tank but I'm so nervous about the cost

I'm not into saltwater aquariums but I'll always give a like in support!

Get lots of copepods. They will help with diatoms and algae

Love the videos. As someone who started saltwater this past year, one thing I learned is when you check the salinity, do it two times because the reading will be off the first time. The reason for that is the water dries and salt residue is on the refractometer. Just put your drop on, then close the lid, open the lid, wipe it off and test again. Don't even bother looking at the first reading. It could be off as much as 3 points!!! Also the other big thing that was hard for me to adjust to is that Corals are not plants. They are animals so you have to treat them like you would your fish. Don't just chuck them in and hope for the best. Looking forward to how the tanks turn out!

Freshwater is like the introductory to the game and reefing is like you've graduated and doing well in your field lol. I will say though, having been in the reefing game 20yrs and currently having a large reef, my planted freshwater tank still draws eyes for different reasons. The fresh is like a beautiful garden and the reef is like you're on shrooms at the Wonka factory. 😆

Algea used in reef and saltwater aquariums to take nutrients, thats why we use them in sump and under special light or you can use plants light, nutrients comes from fish and from food that desolves. For corals you need to use par test for using the correct light for the corals put in

What a great team Matt and you make MD!! Your knowledge, experience, and personalities make the channel so fun and interesting to watch!! And kudos on putting Matt's RU-vid and Instagram info in your video description. The Two Fish Keeping Compadres!! Saludos y bendiciones desde Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico!!

I'm so excited to see the Marine tank mature. Thank you for adding them to the studio. The pufferfish are the cutest.

You should also do a brackish tank with a green spotted puffer. Some macro algae and plants can survive in brackish! Could be a cool challenge and GSPs are so much fun to keep

Omg you pronounced algae like a true American 😂I’m proud MD 🤣🤣

Great video, so much fun! I love the additions to the salt water tank and the puffers are amazing, I cannot wait to see their setup. Thank you so much for the video, they’re always a highlight of my day.

wow so amazing fish tank, many natural decoration for bettafish

I'm in Indiana, and I agree with you, Matt! Cadbury chocolate is sooo much better than Hersheys 😉 Also, the Wyoming clowns look like ducks!

29:00 I normally don't like decos but the castle looked nice and imagine that being overgrown with moss, some ferns,...

Great advice about feeding the puffers! I am going to try using dried soldier fly larvae to feed mine.

The saltwater tank is really interesting to learn about. I am enjoying seeing it come along. I love the puffer fish you have! So cool! Gina

The light refraction through the rainbow tank at 7:20. So fitting. *chefs kiss*

You may actually incorporate the castle design in a scape. More like a "ruins" type of scape. We'd like to see you incorporate some common aquarium decorations into a planted scape.

My favorite Englishman..... Love y'all work.......

Currently cycling a similar sized setup. Pumped to follow along with this series and get ideas for my own setup!

Loving the branching out to saltwater! I hope there will be a bit bigger tanks in the future also! Maybe like 50/50 fresh/saltwater? MD, I also want to say that your vids are something I look forward to since you where still in your shed, I absolutaly LOVE them and you should know they help me going trough a rough couple of years in my life. Keep up the good work guys!

Good call on the anemone Matt it would move around in tank when first put in and potentially string the corals in that tank

This is sooooo good! I know nothing about salt water but ive been so interested from the start 😍

Excellent setup for a beginner marine aquarium.

I have a 300 gallon acro reef tank that is about 4 years old and my acros are just now growing into large colonies. It takes time but it is so worth it because they are absolutely gorgeous. I have a green slimer that is growing out of the water and ready to frag. Good luck mate..

Fantastic episode, can't wait to see future developments of the rockpool and also the pufferfish tank! Really liked the longer episode full of content 🙂

Absolutely loved seeing all the saltwater species

This is quite nice. Love the progression!!

Really enjoying watching you learn something new in this episode! I don't know much about reef tanks either so it's nice to learn alongside you :)

That Aquatropic tank was excruciatingly cute. :)

please do more videos like this! Im enjoying the saltwater journey

thank you for this video, i now want to get a salt set up more than ever. watching your content for so long and being in the fresh water hobby my self (also on the selling side of fresh water) something about your enthusiasm for salt water made me want to do it more than any salt water channel ever has.

Dude did a whole 360 @11:58 LMAO

Sooo... did Matt quit the fish shop? Personally, I think this was an excellent video!

Merry Christmas MD and family. You guys have given me all the inspiration and information to start my first tank in the new year. Cheers 🍻

Love that shop. Well done Adam for not being camera shy👍

Love the content! This is actually my local fish shop where thanks to this channel I spend most weekends and weekdays buying more fish related items 😅 next up is a 260L Reef tank wish me luck as I’ve never attempted salt water before! 😬

As a reptile keeper - I'd say, avoid dried mealworms as an alternative to live, unless you're desperate. They lose so much of their nutritional value and basically just become dried out husks. But you can also easily get them wholesale, or start your own breeding colony.

Just letting you guys know that I have learned a lot about settling up my fish tanks and the salt water tank is looking great you two together is brilliant I am from Australia so you guys are getting around thanks again

Neo phos and neo nitrate from brightwell is designed for reef tanks to raise nutrients

Guys, you can get live mealworms at lots of places, and other insects. Like pet shops. Because lizards will eat them too. Loving seeing and hearing about all the fascinating differences with the salt water tanks and species. Looking forward to the next stage

cant wait for more updates on this tank,

MD great videos, enthusiasm is brilliant

Not a big saltwater person but its always a pleasure to watch you two together. Happy Holidays.

To be fair it's pretty easy to keep mealworms and breed them yourself. We had a colony that went on for over a decade, well past when the gecko we'd initially gotten them for passed away. Kept them in a plastic bin about the size of a shoebox with a substrate made of wheat flour, wheatgerm, and something else -- fed them thin slices of sweet potato. Put a paper towel on for them to have shelter. They do turn to beetles when bigger so keep a mind on that but they're really easy to keep (waxworms are moths so harder to deal with). We kept them in the closet the washer and dryer were in so not in bright light. :) Look forward to seeing the puffers' new spot.

Finally!! You went sw awesome enjoy ❤🎉

Most frag plugs are made of pressed aragonite sand.

Beautiful Aquariums!

Merry Christmas you two ❤️

The two of you are pure entertainment gold!

I've been waiting for so long to see this. Awesome!

W' saltwater it Is essential to measure the salinitiy and chemistry to make sure they match when transferring corals and livestock.

It easy to raise your own meal worms. I added a mister to my leopard gecko tank. Then I fed some meal worms, which He hated. Well, the meal worms became beetles that laid eggs in the sand. I now have baby meal worm which the leopard gecko still will not eat. They can grow quickly and reproduce. Added bonus, my Betta enjoys munching on the really tiny mealworms.

I use freshwater fertiliser products with my macro algae, they work great. I have to use the products that contain no3 as well the traces or the nutrients bottom out to quick.

😅 this was hilarious, MD pointing at things and Matt just went like Nope , Nope. You can't have it. Like a child and parent explaining everything. This was so fun to watch

Watching you two together is so entertaining. I bought a drill 45 gallon hex saltwater tank. I won't start it until after our house si fininshed being built. But it was on Facebook Marketplace for $70.00

Niiice were getting into saltwater at the same time!! Ive got a clown and some little coral frags in a 2 gallon pico doing great!

Macro algae are usually put in the sump to remove nitrates, phosphates and keep the water parameters good for the corals to thrive. Therefore they need "food" which a new set up will not provide after the tank cycle is finished. I never had a macro algae only tank but I've had some in my reef tanks and they never lasted more than a couple of months. The better you water parameters are the harder it is for the macro algaes to survive.

MD: You need to UPGRADE your studio so you and Fish Shop Matt can do a GIANT indoor Koi Pond with a central island with terrestrial plants and a waterfall/wall with aquarium plants grown above water! Do it, boys!

Would recommend adding nutrients especially with macroalgae as your asking for dinoflagellates with double 0 phosphate and nitrate especially with a tank started with dry rock and sand

Love all your content lads! Really look forward to seeing new posts. If anything you need to post more often!

These kinds of videos made my day

Cadbury is my local store and those Altums have been calling my name for months! Just can't justify the price currently!

Glad to see you guys branching into salt water - way too adventuresome for me!

I came here for Matt uplifting attitude 👍👍

I looooove these longer videos.

Love the long episodes. This is some of the best content on RU-vid!

you should get a goby pistol shrimp pair

I like those puffers fish big eyes.

MD's arch nemesis: words! 🤭

An outdoor pond series would be so cool!

I’m from Louisiana and I love your show I loved this episode wish it was longer

Early Christmas present been wanting to see the saltwater tank :D

You should look into starting a mealworm farm, we did this when I was in primary school and just kept them in a plastic bin, it would save you buying them all the time. I love your videos and I’m learning so much, iv started scaping my own tanks at home! 🤭

Altum angels would be an awesome addition to the fish room

I love the longer episode! The tank looks amazing- you have way more patience than I do =)

What a long episode! And still not long enough! 😁But yay, finally some of MD's patience gets rewarded with some life for the marine tank. Of course, having to go to a shop and picking out stuff will so severely test that patience again... Either way, it was great seeing you two kids in your own type of candy store again, hee! I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing how the little marine tank will develop!

Great team, wonderful conversations, questions , and compete answers! Never ever considered Salt water tank ,now possible option. Matt is correct about Hersey chocolate!

You should get some green star polyps they are super easy to take care of and super beautiful

I like that castle 🏰 fish tank 😂

Hey buddy happy holidays .I got into salt water few years back now I have 3 reef tanks the last one it's 120 gallons it's been a Learning Journey and a lot of money spending on corals and saltwater fish

Oooh yes, MD & Matt building a koi pond outside now would be great!!! I just built my dream koi pond this past summer. My retirement project and I absolutely love it!! As I love all my tropical aquascaped fish tanks I’ve always had too!! It’s a hobby that grows & grows every year! 😅😂🤪

If anyone is curious very very simply.. All "Seaweed (broad common name)" is algae BUT not all algae is seaweed. Seaweed are algae but what make it seaweed is its algae that grows in saltwater environments that can grow into a large multicellular organisms. Just a cool little bit of knowledge

A few comments about it been a long video never noticed, they say time flies when your having fun 👍. Great vid look forward to the update on this one.