UK Coral Frags - www.prestigereef.co.uk Aquarium Consultancy Service - prestigereef.co.uk/collections/merchandise/products/1-hour-consultancy

Keeping a reef tank is like having one giant science project in your home. You have to know a little about biology (organisms), chemistry (saltwater balance), and physics (plumbing).

I bought a tank, sump, lights, salt, live sand then I ran out of money

laziness is a my worst enemy for this hobby.

This isn't just about reefing, this is a life lesson! Great video

On learning: "being nice to other humans" Haha. Great comment and really nice video 👍

That aquarium is a heaven in earth

Thank you for this positive perspective and the encouragement.

This video is amazing ty so much for your time n knowledge , ,me and my wife are wanting to start our very first salt tank together 55gal n we have been doing alot of research n this video has really.made us feel.alot better about going forward

This is one of your best videos

For my first tank I got a 32.5 gallon Fluval all in one tank, and it’s been really easy, I’ve had it for almost 4 months, and I haven’t even needed to do a water change yet, and I haven’t even needed to turn on the skimmer, I think the key is stocking fish and corals slowly, and researching. I was not expecting it to go this week, and I know more maintenance will come, but it really isn’t a difficult hobby

As a high school science/chemistry teacher... your words resonate with conviction and clarity. Thank you

Brilliant video thanks - very sound advice - built my first marine tank a few months ago - had some highs and lows - about to build another - will remember your video 👍👍

Commitment is absolutely key to long term success. I would add one more...Consistency. Awesome video 👍🏾👍🏾

Ryan the Reef Philosopher! Always food for thought, love it. Btw that Mandarin attack footage is wild...! =O

Great ways to explain how we do with the marine aquariums , routine, routine and more routine is what keeps mine growing very nice. Thank you! For this video

Brilliant video very true I love this hobby I test my water weekly clean glass daily change socks every two days and always trying to get my tank to look better it's a lot of hard work and a lot of money but very satisfying .

I've kept a lot of animals from big things like cows, sheep, pigs and a horse to hamsters, guinea pigs, cats and dogs and a couple birds. And I've never had any issues with caring for them but everyone has always told me that saltwater fish tanks are extremely difficult so I never bothered but this is made me desperately want to try a saltwater tank.

Time and money. That's the biggest factors

Thanks for this video! I’m new to learning about salt and I really enjoyed this video. Informative, clear, and engaging. And the video images inspiring. 👌🏻 I enjoyed so much I subscribed!

Very good overview regarding taking the leap into saltwater marine aquariums. It gave me a little more confidence at least. I've had freshwater aquariums for over 65 years, never been without one or four. I enjoy the hobby very much and the challenges of overcoming a problem is always a learning experience. Keep up the informative videos.

Great video . 👍🏻 This hobby is as easy or difficult as you make it. It also very addictive..

I have had my saltwater tank up for nearly a decade now. Thriving 100g mixed reef. SPS. LPS. Softies. The majority of my knowledge came from trial and error. It currently houses over 20 coral species and 10 fish species. I have a couple corals and fish that I have had now for that decade. It is a wonderful hobby that brings joy and "wows" to many people. While the hobby is not that hard to maintain doing it optimally can get very costly. I have easily over $1000 USD in lighting alone. Then you have your sump system. Skimmers. Dosers. Reactors. UV. I also run a chiller. Pumps and powerheads. RO/DI water station then the salt mixes. Difficult, not really. Costly and time consuming, very much so. Maintenance on all that hardware every 3-6 months. Although the more established the reef becomes the less time you will have to spend on it. Until you have to frag....... The smaller the tank the harder to maintain the nutrient levels making it harder to control algae. Highly recommend a 75g or more for your first tank. I now have 5 reef tanks ranging from 10g to my 100g. Cheers on the video. Looks beautiful.

Thank you for saying what you said. Its inspiring me to press on with my reef build

I love how salt water reefs mold me into a expert. No matter how hard, or challenging the hobby can be, the suspense thrives me to greater knowledge!

I kept a marine tank and it was fine...so long as "I" was taking care of it. Fast forward to the wife wanting to take a vacation and me asking a "friend" to feed my fish. I came home after one week to a tank full of dead fish & coral valued at 6k in mid 90's money. Granted this was in the 90's and it was my "friend"'s fault because he couldn't be bothered to do what I asked.

I'd like to see more people debunking the idea that aquariums, even salt water aquariums, are a rich person's hobby. Some fish are ridiculously expensive, sure, but all the little (and big) crap people buy may not be as useful or necessary as what they've been told.

What a great video. Your comments relate to so many other things outside of the content.

awesome video!! so many people ask me how hard it is to have saltwater tanks and most people seem to just assume its too difficult. it definitely takes a lot of research.

It’s all about water chemistry, the water parameters are the most important everything else comes after that if you don’t test you’ll never know what’s going on with your tank it’s all about keeping pristine water 💯👍

Let me tell you ...If my 19 year old autistic son can keep a reef tank anybody can! 😁 Also he’s upgrading from his ten gallon to a 20 gallon now because of needed room! Post Script Awesome video as always! Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration to breath some life back into your passion! Thanks 🙏🏼

Brilliant video. 😊 A lot of what you said with regard to research, preparation and testing applies to freshwater too. 👍

Thank you❤ the lady at the pet store today was saying the exact opposite to me despite me NOT being a complete beginner to aquarium keeping so it's refreshing to hear some hope. I still haven't decided whether I am ready to leap onto saltwater but I am researching to find out if I am. ❤

@8:55 that fish looks ANGRY🤣

Honestly your totally correct and I love this video. I had been keeping freshwater tanks for years, and started watching your videos and decided to start a 10 gallon nano reef and am upgrading later in the month. As long as you research what your doing, it’s super easy and almost as easy as freshwater. I love being able to just look at my zoas and frogspawn. It’s just such a nice hobby.

Great video! I think the people that are really successful in reef keeping also like the challenge the hobby offers. I can't say I love it when things go wrong but I always try to look it as an opportunity to learn something.

Great footage, and good advice. Thanks for sharing.

I always thought it was impossible till I actually did it

I find running saltwater tanks pretty easy and I have two that I run different ways. My 75 gallon mixed reef has a sump, reef octopus skimmer, while I run hob, filtration, and skimmer on my 65 gallon softie tank with just a couple pieces of lps, and sps...just to see if they live. So far so good. They are both doing well, for someone who's only been reefing for 18 months. I set up the 65 the way I did, to show folks that it can be done with hob equipment for folks on a budget. I test every week, and I do water changes bi weekly, unless it tests off, then its once a week.

Thank you very much. I'm in the beginning of my research with the goal of getting a marine tank at the end of this year, or the beginning of next year. I have some saving to do. But I plan to spend the time it takes me to save watching helpful KZfaq videos like this to give me a good starting point. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your eloquent and informative video!

It would be nice to have someone knowledgeable and experienced to help me get started. I believe that to be my main hesitation.

Yeah I'm out on saltwater. Several thousand dollars. Just in the setup. I can do the same thing with freshwater and not worry about killing 2000$ in fish.

Your video just made me decide to start my investigation into all there is to fishkeeping an start the hobby once I’m done, in the near future.

That last point is 100% me... smh you didn’t have to get that real 😂

Keeping a reef tank is easy until its not. It can be easy until things go sideways, its keeping them from crashing, when they start to head down hill, that is the hard part. If you can stomach loosing lots of money and watching beautiful things die and still have the drive to keep on keeping on, this hobby is for you! But I will stay I had 10+ years in this hobby through my late teens and twenties in the 90's with minimal success and have picked it back up again 5 years ago. The products we have to keep corals now actually make it possible to keep creatures alive and even thrive! I use to kill things all the time and now I have a thriving 90 gallon mixed reef. If you are a reefer, youtube is you're best friend!

Great video! Merry Christmas!

So true. Information is so easy and free today. Not doing it is inexcusable. For the level of complexity you are willing to engage in, try yourself. Don't aim too high and build experience.

Those tanks are beautiful

I've sent this to my friend who's considering it

what beautiful set up you have!

Much easier now than when I started 15 years ago

the hardest thing about it is saving up the money to buy everything

Brilliant Vid pal 👌🏻

Great vid sir!!

Good approach. However, I chose to leave the hobby because so many of the fish and corals were not raised in captivity. Given that reefs are so special and important to our oceans, I do not want to do anything to upset that delicate balance. I am happy with my freshwater fish and plants. It still remains true that it costs a lot more money to have a salt water tank than a fresh.

Is this all your tank!??? Wow

very sound advice on just about everything lol. great work man

Some enlightening information key to coexistence in this video. Knowledge is power. Love it.

Well I’m not autistic so I may have a disadvantage but I’ve been keeping SW and FW tanks for more than 30 years. Used to keep fish only SW tanks under fluorescent bulbs and no corals available back then. SW chemistry / balance is very challenging and I feel that your video may suggest otherwise and people will get in over their heads. SW requires constant maintenance and the equipment is VERY expensive compared to FW Finally if you wish to start SW I suggest no less than 50 gallons as the smaller tank chemistry will be a constant headache. The smaller the volume of water, the greater swings in the balance

Yes it is its hard at the beginning and you can spend lots off 💰 but gets easier little by little

When I first started my tank this is who I watched !

Great video! Hugs from Brazilian aquarists

I'm trying to setup a 75 gallon saltwater tank. I've had it setup with water in it for a week now. The first time I checked the salinity level it was too high (above 1.026) I drained some water and added fresh water (non salt) I let it sit overnight and checked the salt level again this time it was too low so I added more salt and brought the level up to 1.024. I let it sit overnight and checked it the level again in the morning. This time it was too low. WTF am I doing wrong? How can the salt level change so fast overnight?

1:11 Porcupine fish winks

Now those words at the end are from an intelligent person! Deserves so much more this guy. 😮

I remember watching this video when you posted it and I was about 3 months into my first tank and i was using a little 25 gallon and i had the wrong mindset coming in cause it was such a learning curve coming from cichlids and discus. I got into the hobby wanting a challenge but realized when watching your video it wasnt about the challenge as in it hard to keep saltwater it was about the amount of care and commitment it takes to have a beautiful tank. I struggle with ptsd and the matianence and the attention it requires completely envelopes you at times. And therein lies the beauty. Any new comers to the hobby my advice is research research research but have fun doing it.😁

i wish i could get a small saltwater tank with a couple corals 2 clownfish and a goby but my bank account says no you cant haha

You were taught the nitrogen cycle in biology class? I must have had a bad teacher then haha!

This video is a lot more than just is a saltwater tank easy it was also a great life lesson on how to perceive and except knowledge.

Those were great tips and advice.

If you have to be knowledgeable and put a lot of work in to something, I wouldn’t call it easy.

the expense of the hobby is what hits hard

I love this video. I really want to get a salt water fish tank and just need to have confidence that i can take care of these little guys.

great video very good infomation

I’ve pondered this same thing only to come to the conclusion it would be difficult for the majority of the people whom ask me. What percentage of people whom ask you, would you assume can run a successful reef tank with little effort? For me 90% of those who ask about saltwater tanks, would indeed fail at this hobby. Not giving up my super power ;)

Most people who say saltwater aquariums are hard to keep usually never owned one.

Great great video. I enjoy this more than the average. Thank you.

One of your best vids I've seen you do, well explained. If you haven't already it would be nice to see vids on easy care tanks, hardy fish and hardy corals. I understand you touched on this but would be good to go deaper into it.

Of course this is not easy, it's so f***ing hard; with just watching the first minute I'm confused

Saltwater keepers = nerds

Great video!

Thank you so much for this video!!

says keeping a saltwater tank is easy...then proceeds to lecture on "do your research" while giving zero valid advice on keeping a saltwater tank.

Brilliant video.

just got in the hobby of salt water tank . have two tanks , a 125 gl fresh water and a 90 gl that converted to salt water just recently . had heard it's hard it's lots of money it's so complicated . well , life isn't easy yet we live . love the challenge and will plant corals . u love it it's easy

The bit at the end is so true, I think we are the ones which are making people think its harder than it is

good video , great advice. been back in the hobby for three years after a 20 year break . Only because life sometimes makes other demands on you.

You encouraged me, thanks!

Your video is very good. Thank you 😊

Great videos great help!!

Excellent video. Subscribed!

Great video very true words 👍 I’m OCD with my tank glass cleaned everyday without fail, test my water twice a week change out my filter socks twice a week clean my protein skimmer every other day water changes every week the list goes on and on and on

Great video mate cheers from down under

This def did help inspire me to have a salt water tank. I have 5 freshwater and one of my tanks, a 40 breeder already has a sump installed and I have wave makers and stuff I got with it so maybe ill eventually have a little salty tank. It currently is a planted tank with a pink jack dempsey

Such a good video, hopefully people will watch this and realize its not as bad as everyone thinks.

Awesome love this video

Amazing video. Subbed

Good video!

Great looking tank!