WE STARTED OUR FIRST ZOA GARDEN + CARE TIPS (Nano Reef Ep 2: First Corals)

[@william4995-e8d]

what are some of your tips and tricks for growing zoanthids??

[@gvizg1989]

dosing iodine mabye?

[@Rcman1223]

Very cool set up I use 2 of the Nicrew 50 on a 20 L it’s a ok light but soon upgrading can’t wait to see more videos on you’re progress

[@william4995-e8d]

I love the Nicrew 50 so far! Its a really great light thats not too expensive. I'll be posting an unboxing and review of it soon. What are you thinking of upgrading to?

[@ksabrkan7850]

love the videos and I'm excited to watch this journey with you guys. I have a new 12-gallon cube tank, and I was debating whether to continue going freshwater tanks or dip my toes in saltwater but mostly against it because of how complicated it is... your videos made me seriously consider going with saltwater. I would love if you guys add the prices for the tank so far, it can help me gauge who the price difference is between saltwater and freshwater tanks.

[@wills_firebending]

I also was super hesitant about saltwater, but it can definitely much less complicated than people say. We don't test, dose, or do much of anything different than freshwater. We just stay on top of water changes and try to watch the tank carefully. We also don't keep any super fragile or rare corals though. Cost-wise it really depends. My first tank was a 1 gallon nano reef, and I made it for well under $100 including corals. This tank, we decided to go more "all out", which is still not actually all out in the reef keeping hobby, since there are corals and lights that cost thousands. I'll try to make an equipment breakdown video with costs so everyone knows exactly how much each thing costs, but the biggest up front costs were the light and the wavemaker. The light was $100, and the wavemaker was $60. I have unboxings and reviews of both coming up which explains why I went with some pricier options. They are still definitely lower tier for reefkeeping but upper- lower tier if that makes sense. I'd say the final total including hardscape and sand was under $400. Corals can get quite expensive though, with one coral or anemone costing > $100 easily. So far, we've stuck with fairly cheap and fast-growing corals ~$15. We go every few weeks to the aquarium store as a treat and might snag one. Now that we've gotten 5/6 it adds up, but its been spread out over months and months. Corals are also an investment for a lot of reefers, since they plan on fragging pieces off and selling them later down the line. So an expensive coral could pay for itself in a few years. We haven't really taken that approach but maybe we will in the future. All in all I would say: saltwater is definitely more expensive up-front, but has higher resell-ability. I've sold freshwater aquarium plants on reddit before and it only really gets me a few bucks, never enough to pay for the initial investment. If you have to take down your saltwater tank for any reason you can always sell the rock filled with corals (which will probably sell for more than you bought it for), and all your old equipment. Good luck on your journey! Let us know how it goes!!

[@gunnaravila6457]

love to see it change and you guys are so sick!!!!!

[@william4995-e8d]

thanks!!! The tank is already looking so different even now! I’ll have to catch up on uploads

[@marcusjustus2661]

i would up the flow more on the surface of the water!

[@william4995-e8d]

Thanks! Do you think that will help with some of the debris or?

[@william4995-e8d]

What awesome coral or animal should we consider adding?

[@MattiaDouin]

Some corals that would give movement to the tank e.g. pulsing Xenia

[@william4995-e8d]

@ 😈😈one of our favorites awesome suggestion

[@Arborpress]

Plating Montipora gives a nice horizontal shape to any reef tank. Gorgonians (photosynthetic) really make a tank have a ocean look to it adding a lot of vertical height. Seahorse Savvy site has TONS of options of these. 😃Awesome video

[@william4995-e8d]

@@ArborpressOoooooh Thanks for the tips!! We’ll look into it for sure. We definitely want some more horizontal stuff going on.

[@Zny978]

looks cool!

[@william4995-e8d]

thanks!!!

[@thaodung_]

❤❤❤❤❤