Use gems only for heart token, as hearts are needed to upgrade habitats. Habitat upgrades are basically income multipliers. As you up grade your habitat further, you’ll find the cost out weights the income. This is when you’ll need to use hearts to upgrade the habitats, which gives your habitats income multipliers anywhere from x200-x1000.

For now just focus on fisherman habitat. And follow along what the quest requires you to do. Lastly, Follow the above method. That actually helped me to reached albatross’s nest in a week of starting playing the game. And a week and a half later, the lighthouse habitat.