New 2.5 gallon Fluval Set-up 😎

[Theshivinator]

Alrighty well here we go !! 

 

Previously have owned a 5 gallon fluval but when I moved to NYC I decided to donate my set up back to my local store . 

 

Well now I’m back from New York and ready to take on another challenge ! This small fluval fits perfectly in this small area in my apt . Just got it set up yesterday with some rock and sand . Now just to wait and research what to put in it 🤔🤔. 

 

Any suggestions ??

[debbeach13]

Welcome back. That is a cute set up.

[minimal]

Looks like a cool little tank! What light do you have setup?

 

As for suggestions, I'd turn that into a zoa garden maybe a pair of small gobies?

[MetaTank]

You planning on upgrading the light at some point? Or just running stock?

[Theshivinator]

@MetaTank & @minimal. I’m still newish to salt water so open to suggestions but as for now I was just planning on running the stock light. Seems to be a pretty decent 7000k white & blue led. Has an option just for blue light too. 

 

Is that that enough to support it ? 

[MetaTank]

1 hour ago, Theshivinator said:

@MetaTank & @minimal. I’m still newish to salt water so open to suggestions but as for now I was just planning on running the stock light. Seems to be a pretty decent 7000k white & blue led. Has an option just for blue light too. 

 

Is that that enough to support it ? 

It may work or some low light corals. Not too familiar with it.

[minimal]

Ahh stock light  I've heard ok things about it, probably won't support much more than softies though.

[debbeach13]

You can upgrade the light later. You do not need any light to cycle your tank. As you probably remember from your previous tank different coral require different light. Once you know what coral you want then you can take a look at their lighting requirements. Most but not all people start with some mushrooms, zoa's, GSP, maybe Kenya tree, and xenia to name a few and by using the sand and different area's of the rock you may be able to use that light to get started. Most likely you will up grade but there is no rush. 

[Theshivinator]

6 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

You can upgrade the light later. You do not need any light to cycle your tank. As you probably remember from your previous tank different coral require different light. Once you know what coral you want then you can take a look at their lighting requirements. Most but not all people start with some mushrooms, zoa's, GSP, maybe Kenya tree, and xenia to name a few and by using the sand and different area's of the rock you may be able to use that light to get started. Most likely you will up grade but there is no rush. 

Thanks so much !

 I want to slowly upgrade the stuff . I’ve already been looking at lights small enough to fit the small tank . 

I actually just ordered a new pump to produce a little more water flow then the stock one . 

[debbeach13]

I do not have any personal experience with it but several people in the pico contest that is going on right now. Are using a light called asta 20 with some promising results for a light that cost about $43.00. There are about 40 tanks so if you check out the threads for some of those you could see how the corals look with many different style of lights. Search for pico old school there are at least a dozen different lights you can check out. 

[Theshivinator]

Love when amazon packages come 👌👌

 

Decided to go ahead and upgrade my pump with a rio + 180 , and decided to grab a small 10W marina heater 🙂 

 

next upgrade will will be the light ! I’m thinking that the asta 20 as suggested will be my best bang for my buck ! 

[MetaTank]

1 hour ago, Theshivinator said:

Love when amazon packages come 👌👌

 

Decided to go ahead and upgrade my pump with a rio + 180 , and decided to grab a small 10W marina heater 🙂 

 

next upgrade will will be the light ! I’m thinking that the asta 20 as suggested will be my best bang for my buck ! 

The Asta should work well for that tank. I’m one of the people who uses it in the 2.5 gallon pico competition. I wouldn’t recommend it for anything much larger than 3ish gallons though if you wanna run sps, and even then some of the more demanding species may not have quite enough light. But I’m growing less demanding sps and a lot of LPS under it.

[Wingy]

I have the Asta 20's big sister, the Pixie 30, and I am running it at less than 40%.  Everything seems to be happy and growing.  The Pixie is not a gooseneck so if you consider that one you might want to hang it.  

[Theshivinator]

Alrighty so I’m torn between two lights . 

 

Either the asta 20 or the fluval sea nano .

 

The fluval sea nano seems to be a powerful light :

LEDs: 100

Wattage: 20 W

Lumens: 850 LM

Color temperature: 25000K

I’m unsure if it would be too powerful for the 2.5 gallon. 

 

The reason I’m leaning towards the fluval is for the timer options. I work retail and work crazy hours. Is it important that lights go on and off everyday around the same time ? 

 

Thanks everyone for all the help 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[Wingy]

The Asta can be put on a timer.  

[MetaTank]

3 hours ago, Theshivinator said:

Alrighty so I’m torn between two lights . 

 

Either the asta 20 or the fluval sea nano .

 

The fluval sea nano seems to be a powerful light :

LEDs: 100

Wattage: 20 W

Lumens: 850 LM

Color temperature: 25000K

I’m unsure if it would be too powerful for the 2.5 gallon. 

 

The reason I’m leaning towards the fluval is for the timer options. I work retail and work crazy hours. Is it important that lights go on and off everyday around the same time ? 

 

Thanks everyone for all the help 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

I mean, I bought some of my timers from a dollar store. Wingy is correct, the Asta remembers what setting you have it on, so when you put it on a timer, the spectrum stays the same as you set it. 

 

 

[Theshivinator]

It has arrived !!

 

I decided on the asta 20 and I’m happy with the way it’s looking so far 🙂 

Also picked up my first gsp frag as well . 

Going to let everything settle a bit more before getting more , but very happy with the way things are coming together !

[Ratvan]

Looks a lot better with that light, hope you enjoy it

[MetaTank]

Nice! You are using the 60 degree lens that cane with it, yes? It makes a huge difference. Looks good with the Asta!

[Theshivinator]

54 minutes ago, MetaTank said:

Nice! You are using the 60 degree lens that cane with it, yes? It makes a huge difference. Looks good with the Asta!

Yes ! I switched it to the 60 degree lens when I got it 👌👍🏼

[Theshivinator]

Fits perfect 👌 

now what to add next 🧐🤨 lol

 

 

[FlytheWMark]

2 hours ago, Theshivinator said:

It has arrived !!

 

I decided on the asta 20 and I’m happy with the way it’s looking so far 🙂 

Also picked up my first gsp frag as well . 

Going to let everything settle a bit more before getting more , but very happy with the way things are coming together !

Really cool little tank.  Be careful with where you put that GSP.  It spreads like a weed and may cover a good portion of prime viewing real-estate on that rock fairly quickly (unless that's what you are going for).

[Theshivinator]

9 minutes ago, Mark L. said:

Really cool little tank.  Be careful with where you put that GSP.  It spreads like a weed and may cover a good portion of prime viewing real-estate on that rock fairly quickly (unless that's what you are going for).

Thanks for the heads up ! I was coincidentally just reading an article about it. Would it still grow ok if I put it down in the sand bed ? To sort of make its own island , or do I need a rock to put it on ? 

[debbeach13]

My GSP grows on the sand

My GSP grows on a rock

My GSP grows on glass

My GSP grows on my __

[FlytheWMark]

18 hours ago, Theshivinator said:

Thanks for the heads up ! I was coincidentally just reading an article about it. Would it still grow ok if I put it down in the sand bed ? To sort of make its own island , or do I need a rock to put it on ? 

That's what I did, I took a separate small rock and put the GSP on it.  That way it doesn't spread to my larger rocks.